MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR – NOVEMBER EDITION
By
Kim Savage
Woo hoo! Thank you to everyone
who helped make the 2020 election historic! While it has been a tough year for
everyone, we can take pride in all of the excellent candidates who put themselves
out there on behalf of the community! Five residents of our township stepped up
to run as Democrats in this cycle; Sean Casten for U.S. Congress, Jennifer
Zordani for State Representative, Gail Cabala-Lowery for County Board, Greg
Whalen for Coroner, and Bill White for Auditor. At the time I am writing this,
it appears likely that Bill will overcome the Election Night vote deficit and
win his election.
We made some historic gains in
DuPage County by electing Candice Adams as Clerk of the Circuit Court, Kathy
Carrier as Recorder of Deeds, and Peggy O’Connell as a Circuit Court Judge.
Closer to home, both candidates in District 2 that serves the northern part of
our township won their races; Paula Deacon Garcia for County Board and Tina
Tyson-Dunne for the Forest Preserve District. Altogether, Democrats have now
captured the majority of seats on the County Board and the Forest Preserve
District. Kudos to Sean Casten and Anne Stava-Murray for their re-elections.
These historic gains and the
massive voter turnout are due to the diligence of the candidates, Precinct
Committeepersons and other volunteers who stuffed bags, distributed literature,
made calls and wrote postcards (both local and national). Thank you! We also
owe a debt of gratitude to the volunteers who kept the office open seven days
each week, as well as the Election Judges and Pollwatchers who worked on
Election Day to ensure that votes were safely cast. Thank you! We also need to
give a big shout out to Cynthia Borbas, Chair of the DuPage Democrats and Nate
Sippel, the Executive Director of the DPDC who gave their endless energy and
support to the Election effort. Thank you! Unfortunately, we did not have a
clean sweep across the board, but we are proud of everyone who ran. Thank you!
We should also mention the awesome organization of Postcard 2 Swing States by
two of our township residents Reid McCollum and Ramsey Ellis and all of the
volunteers who engaged with the project. Thank you! All of the wins were built
on the shoulders of the true believers who have volunteered to carry the
Democratic torch here for decades. Thank you!
Our thanks could go on for
pages and pages, but the important point here is the massive team effort contributed
to wins locally, as well as nationwide. Even though we may be tempted to take a
deep breath, we cannot slow down; there are two Senate races in Georgia that
need immediate attention! Beyond that, we still need candidates to step up to
run for municipal, library, park district, school boards, College of DuPage,
and Fire Protection Districts. We also need to stay engaged to make historic
gains in April by electing Democrats to the Downers Grove Township Government.
Once again, thank you to
everyone who helped make this a glorious year and please stay engaged in 2021.
The best is yet to come!
