The forum will be moderated by Leslie Cockburn, former Democratic 5th District candidate.
RD Huffstetler grew up in North Carolina and served as a sergeant in the U. S. Marine Corp in both Iraq and Afghanistan. With a Harvard MBA, he went to work in Silicon Valley. He now lives in Charlottesville with his wife, an OB-GYN, and daughter. Looks forward to “solving the challenges of the future” and pledges to improve the economy of “every community” in the 5th District.
John Lesinski of Rappahannock County. A Marine Corps colonel and one-time president of the county school board, he served as a member of the county Board of Supervisors. Successful in commercial real estate, John lives with his wife Heidi in Washington, VA. He promises better access to health care and broadband in the many rural communities of the 5th District.
Claire Russo is a veteran of the U. S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq, and later as a civilian employee of the U. S. Army in Afghanistan. “I was trained,” says Claire, “to run toward the fight” and she plans to put that same determination to work for her constituents especially when it comes to affordable health care. Claire lives in Earlysville with her husband and their three children.
Cameron Webb, a UVA grad with degrees in law and medicine, Dr Webb is Director of Health Policy and Equity at UVA’s School of Medicine. He pledges that “Common sense and fairness” come first. Then promises to put health care front and center when he is in Congress. Webb lives in Charlottesville with his wife Leigh-Ann, an ER doctor, and their children.
Participate in the discussion.
Submit your questions for candidates at Chair@RappDems.org
For more information contact: Mary-Sherman Willis at 540/987-8912 or send her an email.
We missed seeing you at our last monthly get together,
cancelled for COVID19. Unfortunately, we will miss you again. Our scheduled
general meeting for April 11 is also cancelled to keep everyone distanced
and safe, following Governor Ralph Northam’s recommendations. They came not a
moment too soon. Sadly, our county reported its first confirmed case this week.
Distanced as we are, we have been busy and want to keep you informed
of events in the coming months.
County delegates to the district, state,
and national Democratic conventions have until April 9 at 5 pm to send
in their pre-filing forms to the DPVA (Democratic Party of Virginia).
Based on your votes on Super Tuesday,
the county was allotted two delegates for Joe Biden and one for Bernie Sanders.
Even though Bernie has dropped
out of the race, his delegates will go to the conventions!
To be a delegate to the 5thDistrict Convention on May 9 and State Convention on Jun 20, click HERE for the form.
To go on to the National Convention in August 17-20 in Milwaukee, click HERE to apply.
NOTE: Compared to other
counties in the CD5, Rappahannock has had a great turnout of delegate
applications! The DPVA has been accepting them all, for both candidates, to
cover the shortfall in other counties.
NOTE: Because of the
pandemic, the Party will decide, from moment to moment, whether to hold
in-person or virtual conventions. The 5th District Convention
will be held virtually. (Those details to come.)
To find out more about delegate selection and
duties, click HERE.
The 5th District Congressional
Primary is scheduled for June 9. We are urging you to vote
absentee by mail. It’s easy and complies with our distancing practices.
I’ve attached Registrar Kim McKiernan’s
instructions and the deadlines to apply for and send in absentee ballots for
the June Congressional Primary and November General elections.
NOTE: Mail-in voting is going to be crucial this year for getting
out the vote! We’re planning phone banks, texts blasts, and socially distanced
postcard parties to get the word out, and to help voters get their ballots in.
We’ll need your help.
NOTE: We have four terrific candidates to run against Denver
Riggleman in November: RD Huffstetler, John Lesinski, Claire Russo, and Cameron
Webb. Instead of live forums to let voters meet the candidates, we’re
coordinating with other 5th District committees to hold virtual
forums in our localities. Ours is tentatively scheduled for May 12 at 6 pm, to
be moderated by former candidate Leslie Cockburn. (Details to come.)
RCDC fundraising has become one of the
casualties of COVID19. Our April 4 Blue State Blue Grass Brunch and auction
were cancelled. The Yard Sale in August may be too. While our expenses will go
down, our income will too. As the season progresses, we’ll need to buy yard and
highway signs, and campaign ads. We appreciate any donations you’re able to
make along the way.
We want to thank everyone for your work and support, for
stepping up even as our world is upended by this invisible threat wreaking such
havoc to ourselves and our democracy. Thanks in particular to Ron Goodman,
Tommy Bruce, Larry Wohlers, and Rachel Taylor for representing us as delegates
to the State Convention (and beyond!).
Please send your questions and comments at maryswillis@me.com. We want to hear from
you! Keep up with our news at www.RappDems.org
and on our Facebook page.
Stay safe, stay engaged, and let us bring the light of
Democratic competence and compassion into this dark time.
Saturday January 11 2020 was the RCDC’s first meeting of 2020, and our Biennial Reorganization Caucus. Doors opened at 9 am and over 50 people walked through and joined or renewed their membership for 2020/2021. We had a visit from two of our Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress in the 5th District, Dr. Cameron Webb and Rappahannock resident John Lesinski. Thank you all for an enthusiastic start to the year!
Our newly elected or re-elected Officers are:
Mary-Sherman Willis, Chair Ross O’Donoghue, Vice Chair Ken Edwards, Secretary Bruce Sloane, Treasurer
See our Calendar of Events for 2020—a crucial year to get involved! Come to our monthly meetings on the second Saturday of every month! Get ready to knock on doors, attend a postcard party, make phone calls, get out the vote and ELECT DEMOCRATS! By the way, absentee voting for the March 3 Democratic Presidential Primary begins on Thursday January 16, 2020.
WE NEED YOU!
It’s not too late to become an active member. Print out this form and mail it to RCDC, PO Box 277, Washington VA 22747
