Our Shirley Democratic Town Committee now has a mascot—Stewart Owen.
Thank you for charming the voters, Stewart!
Thank you for charming the voters, Stewart!
November 7, 2006, what a wonderful day! The Democrats were victorious on both the state and national levels. We achieved our goals of re-electing our wonderful State Representative, Jamie Eldridge, and electing Deval Patrick as our new Governor of Massachusetts. Both Eldridge and Patrick ran very positive and hopeful campaigns. See the Shirley election results. On the national level, the Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Democrat Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman Speaker of the House. The following day Donald Rumsfeld resigned as Secretary of Defense. Victory is indeed sweet this November!
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Our Shirley Democratic Town Committee now has a mascot—Stewart Owen. Thank you for charming the voters, Stewart! |
October 3, 2006, The Committee met to prepare for the General Election to be held on November 7. We discussed the best way to elect Democrats in November, including our own State Representative, Jamie Eldridge, who has opposition in November.
September 30, 2006, Representative Eldridge hosted his third annual Harvest Fest at Westward Orchards in Harvard, MA, to thank supporters for their hard work. This combined family fun, such as face painting, pumpkin painting, apple picking, and pumpkin picking, with delicious apple cider, donuts, and hot apple crisp. Lt. Governor candidate Tim Murray updated everyone about the gubernatorial campaign, and Senator Pam Resor, and Rep. Eldridge also provided campaign information. It was a perfect Fall day! See photos of this event.
September 19, 2006. Democratic State Primary. There was a good turnout of Democratic voters who voted along the lines of the whole state; that is, Deval Patrick for Governor, Timothy Murray for Lt. Governor, and Bill Galvin for Secretary of State. See the Shirley vote tally.
August 27, 2006, the Patrick in Pepperland fundraising event for Deval Patrick at the home of Alice Peck and Mauricio Puente in Pepperell was great fun and a tremendous success. John Oelfke and Betty Keddy on our committee were among the area hosts for this BBQ fundraiser. Deval Patrick and his wife Diane attended and spoke to the very large crowd. See photos of this event.
July 20, 2006, 7 p.m., Town Hall. The committee met to prepare for the Democratic Primary Election that will be held on September 19. There are contested races for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State. The committee discussed these races and the best ways to support our favorite candidates.
June 2 and 3, 2006, elected delegates from Shirley, MA, John Oelfke, Betty Keddy, and Miriam Ursua, alternate delegate, Charline Oelfke, and add-on delegate, Liz Johnson, attended the Massachusetts Democratic Nominating Convention in Worcester. On Friday, June 2, keynote speaker, former Senator and Presidential Candidate, George McGovern, opened with an inspiring speech. Senator Ted Kennedy rocked the house with his determination and strong voice. His speech and the accompanying upbeat song "Still the One," were enjoyed by all. That evening the convention endorsed by voice vote, the following candidates, who are unopposed in the upcoming primary:
On Saturday, June 3, the convention endorsed by paper ballots, the following candidates:
Deval Patrick's speech was moving and motivating and brought all the delegates to their feet for a rousing conclusion. All candidates for Governor (Patrick, Reilly, and Gabrieli), Lt. Governor (Murray, Silbert, and Goldberg), and Secretary of State (Galvin and Bonifaz) received more than the necessary 15 percent of the delegate vote (Gabrieli squeaking by with 15.36 percent) in order to appear on the Democratic Primary ballot on September 19. These three contested races promise to be exciting. All of the Shirley delegates voted for Deval Patrick for Governor and John Bonifaz for Secretary of State. One delegate voted for Tim Murray for Lt. Governor, and three voted for Andrea Silbert.
May 25, 2006, a Meet the Candidates event was held at the Shirley Town Hall. This was sponsored by the Shirley and Ayer Democratic Town Committees and the Middlesex and Worcester Democrats. The following Democratic candidates spoke and met with those in attendance:
Note: Sam Kelley, Candidate for Lt. Governor was scheduled to speak, but that same day he withdrew from the race.
On Thursday, March 30, 2006, the Shirley Democratic Town Committee met and elected officers. Re-elected were John Oelfke, Chairman, Marian Stronach-Cardillo, Secretary, and Betty Keddy, Treasurer. Liz Johnson was also elected to full-member status from alternate-member status, replacing Hugh Field, who has moved to Western, MA. State Senator Pam Resor was our guest speaker at this meeting, and she brought us up to date about key legislation that was recently passed and legislation that is pending. We are fortunate to have Pam's voice at the State House. She is committed to a clean environment and to helping her constituents.
On Saturday, February 4, 2006, at 1 p.m., a Caucus was held at the Shirley Town Hall, 7 Keady Way, Shirley, MA, to elect delegates from Shirley to the Massachusetts Democratic Nominating Convention that will be held in Worcester at the DCU Center on June 2 and 3, 2006. The convention will endorse statewide candidates and amend the party charter. Candidates for state-wide office must garner 15 percent of the delegate vote at the convention in order to appear on the Democratic Primary ballot on September 19. The following Shirley Democrats were elected at the caucus:
All of the elected delegates and the alternate have stated that they will support Deval Patrick for Governor at the convention. Another Shirley Democrat, Liz Johnson (who also supports Deval Patrick), has applied to attend the convention as an add-on delegate. State Representative, Jamie Eldridge stopped by for a visit and spoke to the caucus attendees about what was happening at caucuses in other towns in his district.
