County Dems enhancing membership allure

Normally during a non-election year, you might not see much local political activity. But the Democratic Party of Carroll County (DPCC) has been working hard to recruit candidates to run for local, state and national offices, and put plans in place to help those candidates win.

Alarmed by the erosion of democracy, environmental protections, rights for women and minorities, and the demonization of desperate immigrant families, DPCC has grown its membership and been far more active than in the past doing public outreach events.  

“We’re pretty busy even though this is not an election year,” Jean Reed, DPCC vice chair of community outreach said. “Our main focus is getting good candidates and growing our membership so we can support those candidates. We would love to talk to anyone interested in running for local offices.”

Reed said their message is that the Democrats are for working families and inclusiveness.

“We support everyone having access to affordable healthcare and a good education,” she said. “We want to have clean air and water.”

“I’m a Democrat because I care about people,” Chyrl Hoyt, communications vice chair said.

The DPCC particularly is interested in recruiting members and candidates from the eastern part of the county, from Berryville to Green Forest, Alpena and Blue Eye. They have participated in the Berryville Ice Cream Social, had a booth at the Carroll County Fair, and plan to have a booth at Agri Days June 1 in Green Forest in the parking lot of the Cattleman’s Restaurant. Recently they marched in the Artrageous Parade walking alongside a float of a life-size papier mâché donkey created by Edwige Denyszyn.

“We want to show that politics can be fun,” Jillian Guthrie, an active volunteer, said. “And, we have to get busy recruiting candidates so they will be ready to file in November. We are the ones who will be seeking out candidates, recruiting them and training them.”    

Guthrie said at the Carroll County Fair and other events, they focus on talking about democracy instead of about differences between Democrats and Republicans as people are tired of the partisan divide that leads to government stalemates.

“We need Democrats, Republicans and Independents to all speak up about the need to move away from partisanship to more cooperation on common goals,” Guthrie said. “At public events, we like to ask questions instead of just tell people what we stand for. We ask, ‘What do you care most about in this county?’ We want to show people there is a new model of Democrats in the county. We are inclusive, not the former good ol’ boy network. And we have very motivated to connect with young people in the county.”

Guthrie said some people don’t realize that politics all starts on the local level. Local efforts feed state and national campaigns by developing candidates and positions on the issues.

In years past there was an active Young Democrats group in the high schools in Carroll County, including Eureka Springs and Berryville. Efforts are being made to encourage more political activity in high school students. Last year the Democrats sponsored an essay or video contest with a $200 first prize on the topic of, “Why is it important to be involved in the political process?” This year both Carroll County Democrats and Carroll County Republicans, by invitation of the DPCC to offer a truly nonpartisan essay contest to the schools, will be involved in similar efforts to get high school students interested in government.

At the bi-monthly DPCC meetings, a charity is picked each month and members bring donations to put in a basket for the charity. Every other month they have a speaker. And there is a lot of work that goes on between meetings with the candidate support and outreach committees.

For more information or to make one time or automatic monthly donations through ActBlue, visit the website carrollcountydemocrats.org.