GOTV starts now. Well, maybe on Monday.

We have TWO essential races in 2026.

Jul 04, 2025

JULY 4 is about NO KINGS, commemorating the beginning of our country’s eight year struggle to escape tyranny. As then, these are the times that try our souls; it has been a devastating week. Many of us were heartbroken and sick watching Republicans dance as they stripped healthcare from millions, took food out of children’s mouths and showed off their newest money making/enriching themselves/private prison/ concentration camp, complete with merch.

It’s easy to feel helpless and alone.

As I remind myself, “…in our country, people of color, Indigenous peoples, have suffered through colonialism, slavery, and their aftermaths for hundreds of years. If they haven’t given up, neither will I. Fascism by any name is the enemy not of the individual, but of a generation. Pushing the boulder uphill, unlike lonely Sisyphus, moving the mountain slowly, takes all of our shoulders against it.”

What can we do?

Let’s turn our attention to Getting Out The Vote (GOTV) in 2026.

"I’d seen how just a handful of votes in every precinct could mean the difference not just between on candidate and another but between one value system and the next. If people stayed home in each neighborhood, it could determine what our kids learned in school, which health-care options we had available, or whether or not we went to war. Voting was both simple and incredibly effective."

-Michelle Obama, “Becoming” p. 274

Think of that when calling, knocking doors and registering voters. Just a handful of votes per precinct. WE CONTACT ONE VOTER AT A TIME TO GET ONE VOTE AT A TIME.

It’s important that we take to the streets to make visible what those in power try to ignore.

Next, the power of the protest must be followed by our actions working to win elections.

Who we elect, who we send to Raleigh and DC to fight for us makes a difference. We need to elect those who will deliver our safety, our dignity and the well being of us all.

The 2026 NC Senate race will get attention. We need to keep our focus on the NC Supreme Court and re-elect Justice Anita Earls. Why? Because, gerrymandering.

A reminder about gerrymandering from Carolina Forward:

“Partisan rigging of North Carolina's state legislature is so pervasive that even when a majority of residents statewide voted for Democrats in the 2024 elections, Republicans still held on to 2/3rds of seats in the NC State Senate, and are just 1 seat shy of 2/3rds in the State House. North Carolina's state legislature is fundamentally illegitimate. Republican partisan gerrymandering has so distorted the voters' will that it cannot honestly be said to be a representative form of government.”

THE NC Supreme Court:

Why do the courts matter? Hint: voting rights, the environment, reproductive rights, health care, education, guns, criminal justice…and more.

For NC right now, the answer is also FAIR MAPS.

These graphics and explanations are from FLIP NC: The Path to Fair Maps

We must follow Wisconsin’s path, which took back its Supreme Court from right wing extremists after a 15 year effort by Wisconsin Democrats and just overturned an 1849 abortion prohibition. Courts matter.

TURN OUT VOTERS WITH THESE TWO ORGANIZATIONS:

JULY 8 Phonebank NOC &C2C kickoff for Bryan Cohn and Terence Everitt

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 5:45 PM - Thursday, July 31, 2025 8:00 PM ET

Learn to call voters in these important NCGA districts right nearby. Our work in these neighboring districts makes a difference!

Come to the KICKOFF (virtual) to meet Terence and Bryan, get an orientation and training, and make calls together. After the KICKOFF, make calls on your own schedule any day through July 31. We’ll talk with residents of these two overlapping districts about what issues are most important to them and how to connect with their legislators.

SATURDAY JULY 19 10-1

DURHAM FOR ALL UNION POWER CANVASS: BUILD DIVERSE COALITION IN DURHAM BY TAKING ACTION

REGISTER HERE

From DFA: Even before billionaires nearly doubled their wealth during the pandemic, income inequality had reached levels not seen since the Great Depression.

Unions and aligned organizations must lead the fight back through a multi-year strategy of new union organizing, political education, and electoral wins. To move in this direction and create a vehicle for deeper strategic collaboration, UNITE HERE, UAW, and CWA, are inviting aligned groups to participate in a shared training and canvass program this July with hopes of building longer term strategic partnership and deepening alignment.

Join us to canvass and be a part of this movement!

OTHER EVENTS

JULY 6 TRIANGLE BRIDGES TO FREEDOM Register here and more info here

On July 6th from 4pm-6pm, we will have a coordinated bridge brigade that covers all of the bridges in the Triangle to show our love for our country and our fight to protect our freedom.

JULY 7 @7 PM (virtual) from Red Wine and Blue Register here

JULY 17

Next mobilization on the anniversary of the death of John Lewis

At this point neither Durham Democrats nor Durham’s three Indivisible groups are organizing events in Durham on this day. If you have a volunteer group, organization or union wanting to organize this event in Durham, please do! We need to build coalition and all work together so that events like this can happen regularly.

Closest Event: Chapel Hill 6-8 pm Register here

Schedule:
6:00pm- Gather to share voting information, promote Vote411, and invite children to the kids' voting booth
6:30pm- Rally begins with speakers, including our LWVUS and LWVNC presidents
7:30pm - 8:00pm Event closes with a vigil to honor the many voting rights advocates who have paved the way for us

Also,

Cary 7:30-9 Register here

Morrisville 9-11 am Register here

Greensboro 5-7 Register here

Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.

From voter suppression bills like the SAVE Act to the criminalization of protest, the Trump administration is launching a full-scale attack on our civil and human rights. But we know the truth: in America, the power lies with the people, and we’re rising to prove it.

JULY 23 5 pm on ZOOM SAVE THE DATE

Justice Anita Earls and Historian and Activist Heather Cox Richardson will discuss voting rights. Details to follow.

OTHER ACTIONS

Durham Democrats: Help Fill This Bus!

Shop for Our School Supply Drive July 16 to 30. Collection sites needed in each precinct.

OR SIGN UP TO DONATE HERE

Do you have a porch to host a drop-off box for school supplies?

Many teachers in our public schools count on this supply drive. We are excited to be partnering with the Durham Public Schools Foundations as we help them Fill That Bus! Let’s see which precinct brings in the most donations! For more info, contact: secretary@durhamdemocrats.org

The Durham Democrats are supporting the Durham Public Schools Foundation in their annual supply drive for our public schools. The “Fill That Bus! Fuel the Year” campaign helps teachers provide classroom essentials to fuel students’ success. The Durham Democrats are lending a hand. Please consider donating some of the following items: 12-inch rulers, 2-pocket folders, graph filler paper, 3 x 5 index cards, blue ink pens, notebook paper (college ruled), sheet protectors, pencil grips and tissue boxes. You can get one of almost all of these (except tissues) for about $30 at Office Depot or Staples, or head to Costco or the Scrap Exchange and see what you can find!

Durham Dems Action

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