Newsletter

Renew your GTSDC Membership: online,
in person at any of the events listed below, or by mail via check to
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Friends,

The 2018 General Election did not go as we hoped. I don’t need to tell you this isn’t the first time we’ve been disappointed on election night and it won’t be the last.The final results of two governor’s races, two federal senate races, ten federal house races, and a handful of other races are not yet known. I won’t make any predictions as the democratic process unfolds. I have however included additional information regarding the Florida Recount in this message.WE ARE NOT GIVING UP!We have much to do over the next 24 months to ensure we take back the White House and the US Senate in the 2020 elections and it starts right now!Join us Monday for our November Gathering and bring a friend.

NOVEMBER GATHERING
Join the Greater Tarpon Springs Democratic Club for our November meeting on Lessons Learned from the 2018 Election and the Path Forward to 2020. Special guest Amanda Murphy will be with us!

Tarpon Springs Recreation Center
400 S Walton Ave, Tarpon Springs, FL

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GOODBYE!!!

They won’t be missed.

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The Florida Recount
Courtesy of the New York TimesThe Sunshine State is in the middle of a recount for its Senate and governor’s races after county tallies resulted in razor-thin margins. (A machine recount is triggered if the difference between two candidates is half a percentage point or less). Prior to the recount in the Senate race, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, led Bill Nelson, the Democratic incumbent, by 0.15 percentage points. In the governor’s race, Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate, was ahead of his Democratic challenger, Andrew Gillum, by 0.41 percentage points.Thursday, 3 p.m.
Machine recount totals are due. Tuesday afternoon, lawyers for Mr. Nelson filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to extend the deadline.In a machine recount, all ballots are retabulated, or refed, through a county’s precinct tabulators. Ballots with “undervotes” and “overvotes” — those for which scanning machines picked up either no votes or too many votes — are set aside in case they are needed for a manual recount.Any race that remains within a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less after the machine recount will trigger a manual recount.Friday
Overseas ballots must be received by Nov. 16 but postmarked or signed and dated no later than Nov. 6. As of Nov. 12, there were about 20,000 overseas ballots outstanding, according to Daniel A. Smith, chair of the University of Florida’s political science department.Sunday
This is the current deadline for manual recounts, if they are triggered. “Undervotes” and “overvotes” that were set aside from the machine recount would be examined by hand.Nov. 20
Florida’s Elections Canvassing Commission certifies final results. The commission is made up of Mr. Scott, as governor, and two members of his cabinet. On Monday, the League of Women Voters and Common Cause of Florida, a nonpartisan watchdog group, sued Mr. Scott to bar him from continuing to oversee the election given his role as a candidate in the Senate race.

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Control of the House!

• ACA unlikely to be repealed
• Cuts to SS and Medicare less likely

Likely Committee Chairs

• Adam Schiff – Intelligence
• Maxine Waters – Finance
• Elijah Cummings – Oversight and Government Reform

Legislation

• Amendment 4 passed!
• ID, NE, UT passed Medicaid expansion, and newly elected Dem KS governor may be likely to reinstate expansion nixed by previous governor
• MO, AK passed minimum wage increases
• CO, MI, MO passed bills against gerrymandering
• NV, OR passed bills on the side of clean and renewable energy and 10 Dem governors won who campaigned on working toward emission reductions outlined in Paris Climate Agreement
• MA passed bill to protect transgender individuals
• MI legalized retail marijuana
• MS legalized medical marijuana

Diversity

• First two Muslim women elected to Congress, one also the first Somali American member (came to US as a refugee)
• First two Native American woman elected to congress, one openly LGBT
• First openly gay man elected governor
• First Hispanic women elected to Congress for Texas
• 117 women won offices
• 19 black women won judgeships in Houston area
• Ocasio Cortez is youngest woman ever elected to Congress
• First woman elected Senator in AZ and first Democrat in 30 years, also first openly bisexual member of Senate

Other

• Over 60 % voter turnout in FL and 31 million more voters nationwide than in 2014 midterms
• Minorities were 28% of total turnout, highest ever for midterm election and only one point of any election overall (2016)
• Most women in Congress ever, 110 total
• Democrats now have trifecta in 14 states, 6 newly gained in midterms
• Democrats control 23 governorships, 7 newly gained in midterms
• Lucy McBath won GA-6 which has been a Republican held seat since 1979 on anti gun platform
• Beto lost but made Texas competitive for first time in 30 years

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The good guys don’t always win and there’s no guarantee that things will get better.

However, Margret Mead was correct in saying, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Together, we can build a better tomorrow while working for more opportunity, equality, justice, and freedom for all!

I hope to see you Monday!

At your service,

Jonathan Michael Snow
GTSDC President
tarponspringsdemocrats@gmail.com
727-505-3440

Thanks to your support, we have reached our 2018 Membership goal! We are now taking new members as well as membership renewals for 2019! (Dues paid today will count for 2019) 2019 GTSDC Membership Just $20!

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