We built political power on Sunday at our Forum
We Built Political Power Last Week
Thank you to everyone who attended our IMV NY22 Congressional Candidate Forum on Sunday! This event was a huge success, with more than 100 electoral volunteers assembled to hear from our two Democratic primary candidates. We hope that every person in the room is now energized to volunteer for one of these candidates in the next two months, and for the primary winner as we head into the general election campaign (June 26-Nov. 5). We appreciate these candidates--Sen. John Mannion and Councilor Sarah Klee Hood-- for spending time with us. We want them to seek our practical support and recognize our progressive people power in the months ahead.
Are you ready for your next electoral action step? Please sign up for our IMV Democratic Lawn Sign Network. Signing up will make you one of the first people to get lawn signs for Democratic candidates each year. You don't have to do anything except fill out this form! Our "sign ninja" volunteers will deliver the lawn signs to your yard. Easy!
By being our our lawn sign list, you help us help candidates be efficient with how many lawn signs they need to order for their campaigns. We want to map out lawn sign coverage to maximize exposure to lawn signs by as many neighbors and commuters as possible. This raises awareness about support levels for candidates and voting in the upcoming election.
Next level action: We anticipate getting some signs soon for the NYS ERA so if you are willing to help assemble signs (lawn sign party!) or be a sign ninja, please email IndivisibleMV@gmall.com.
We also heard from many of our members who attended the Democratic Rural Conference of NYS Conference in Albany last weekend that it was an excellent experience. In an "even" election year, that event involves a lot of political speeches and legislative updates. During the "odd" years there are more training workshops, so there was not very much of that last weekend. If training, tools, and tips for political activism in rural and red communities is still on your mind, Indivisible has an event for you TOMORROW! It's not too late to sign up right now:
Off to the Races: Rural Summit 2024 our virtual rural convening this Saturday, May 4 at 1 pm ET. We’re off to the races! Join Indivisible’s Rural Caucus for our annual Rural Summit, where we will hone in on the importance of having hope in rural America despite the many challenges ahead of us. We will do a deep dive into state-level electoral work, focusing on gubernatorial elections, judicial elections, state legislative races, and ballot initiatives. Come hear from experts in the field on how you can more effectively use Indivisible’s tools and resources to stand in the face of MAGA extremism and harness your own power not just this year but for years to come!
This event will be applicable to anyone in Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison counties, but especially for political activists who live in small towns or have find themselves in NY21 (heavy Republican) instead of more purple NY22.
Either way, we are now OFF TO THE RACES for our 2024 electoral work. Please start looking at your calendars and decide when you are going to help Sarah Klee Hood or John Mannion campaigns prior to the June 25th primary. And be sure you have marked your calendar for general election GOTV efforts Oct. 26 -Nov. 5. There is no margin of error for flipping the House this year. We must "leave it all on the field!"
Climate Crisis Workgroup Actions
NY HEAT ACT
We got VERY CLOSE to passing the NY HEAT Act in the budget and are incredibly grateful for this wonderful movement that has gotten the bill this far. Read the Renewable Heat Now's full budget statement here.
RALLY/LOBBY DAY: Sign up here to go back to Albany on Wednesday, May 22nd for a NY HEAT rally and lobby day in Albany w/NY Renews and Renewable HEAT Now. This is part of a full week of action for Climate, Jobs and Justice. Stay tuned for more details.
So, let's keep the pressure on! Use Renewable Heat Now's phone and e mail tool found at this link or just pick up the phone and call your member's district office. We are only focused on Assembly Democrats at this point, they are the only folks with any power to move the bill in the Assembly.
BEYOND PLASTICS
ADVOCACY/LOBBY DAY: Do you want to join in creating a cleaner, greener, healthier, more sustainable New York by helping to reduce single-use plastic packaging and advance reuse and refill?
If so, please RSVP now to join me for an in-person Advocacy Day and Rally in Albany with "New York is NOT disposable" on Tuesday, May 14 from 10am-4:00PM.
We will meet with our state legislators to urge them to pass the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.
Read Alan Cole’s wonderful LTE in the Rome Sentinel "Bill before New York lawmakers could help reduce plastic pollution," HERE.
Letter to the Editor Workshops
We had a strong IMV turnout at the Immigration LTE workshop on Tuesday. There are two more workshops in May. Please sign up!
Wednesday, May 8th, 12-pm. New York LTE Workshop on the NY ERA, Come learn how to write a letter-to-the-editor about the NY Equal Rights ballot measure. The guest speaker is Nia Alvarez-Mapp, Organizing Director from the NYers for Equal Rights Coalition. Register here.
Tuesday, May 21st, 12-1 pm, New York LTE Workshop on the IRA, We're learning about the Inflation Reduction Act from Trisha Maharaj from Indivisible's Policy Team. More people need to learn about this tremendous, historic piece of legislation. Register HERE.
Also, we can't recommend enough the workshop with Anat Shenker-Osario, our progressive values messaging guru. So be sure to sign up for the May 15th Persuasion to Power workshop, "Using Words that Won."
Petitioning Volunteers Needed For a Second Ballot Line
Jon Lipe is looking for volunteers to gather signatures for Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon to help her secure a second ballot line in November. Her opponent already has two ballot lines, and we need to match that.
Marianne is the ONLY Democrat representing Oneida County in Albany, and it’s essential that she win re-election so our county can have a voice in the majority. If she were to be replaced by a Republican, our area would be completely shut out of budget negotiations and other important decisions made by the Democratic majority. If you are willing and able to help, please contact Jon at jon@nydems.org or (315) 795-1920.
If We Each Do Our Part
In the coming weeks and months, you're going to see a lot of requests from IMV: requests to show up for canvassing events, requests to write LTEs, requests to use Neighbor2Neighbor and to phonebank. We'll be writing and stamping postcards and mobilizing on issues that alert voters to the importance of saving democracy, reproductive freedom, and basic human rights--not just in general--but specifically, as critical election decisions in 2024.
We're going to ask you to give this last ditch effort at saving democracy everything you've got. So imagine how amazing it will be on Nov. 6 when we have flipped NY22 as part of a blue wave that puts Democrats back in control of the house, saves the White House from Trump and the Republican dismantling of our democracy (as outlined in Project 2025), and keeps the Senate from a dangerous Republican control over the judiciary. We can do it, if we each do our part.
“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”
—Helen Keller
MV is built on the idea that political activism is more fun and more effective, if we each do our part, and we do it together. Join us!
Follow us on Instagram's Threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley, on X (Twitter) using @indivisiblemv and of course on our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.
