“Democrats have had some massive overperformances, such as in South Carolina Senate District 6, where their candidate lost by only 11 points in an R+37 district.”
By Kate Franch
Chair, Greenville County Democratic Party
Read this message in Spanish
Yes, that’s Tina’s senate race highlighted in an April 15 article posted on FiveThirtyEight.com (read it here). More from the piece:
“It’s not enough to look only at which party won these special elections — it’s also important to account for how red or blue a district normally is to understand whether a swing is happening. To do this, we compared the vote share margin in each special election with the district’s FiveThirtyEight partisan lean.3
The difference, or ‘margin swing,’ tells us how much more Democratic or Republican the district was in the special election than it ‘should’ have been in a neutral political environment.”
How did we do this? Our candidate and you.
Tina and her team ran an inspiring, strategically focused campaign. They garnered our hopes, energized our support . . . and did not fail. While the best candidate for the seat by far didn’t prevail this year, Tina’s 44% of the vote showed that our messages and quality candidates resonate with voters. Your mobilizing behind Tina gave notice, once again, that Democrats in Greenville County are growing in number and influence and galvanizing for change at all levels.
Do not underestimate that we grow closer to making change a reality with every election – the Republicans do not.
The SC House District 19 seat is our next opportunity. The special election will take place on August 20. Filing ends at noon, Saturday, April 27 with the primary date, if needed, on Tuesday, June 18. We’ve set our sights again for a win on election day.
The 2019 Greenville City Council races are also in place. Matt Johnson is running for the District 1 seat and has opposition; Ken Gibson is unopposed in District 3. Dorothy Dowe and Lindsey Jacobs are vying to be the At-Large nominee to face incumbent George Fletcher in the November 5 election. That primary election will be held on Tuesday, June 11.
The work to be done to create the state and communities we envision needs more Democratic voices in elected office. Winning those seats will take every one of us contributing in whatever way we can. Please commit to answering the call.
Precinct engagement is one of those calls. Our most sustainable road to success comes from engaging voters in the neighborhood and community where they live. We want to personally know everyone who shares our Democratic values so that they feel connected to the Party and can access the information they need to be active and knowledgeable. Join us in knocking doors or step up to being a precinct leader (aka the friendly local Democrat) as we reach out to “our people” to grow the base. (to sign up, email to volunteer@greenvilledemocrats.com)
Another exciting outcome of the political shift taking place here is having presidential candidates come our way. We’ll continue to keep you abreast of visits to our area just as soon as we have confirmed details. If you’d like to see all of them in one arena, make plans to attend the South Carolina Democratic Party 2019 Dem Weekend in Columbia on June 21 and 22 (see the calendar on pg ). There are some very interesting events in negotiation/development that will make for a once-in-a-South-Carolina-lifetime experience – watch for details to be shared soon. You won’t want to miss this.
2019 will be busy. You are needed. The momentum you have created is palpable and contagious . . . together, let’s feed it and fan it and grow it to ballot box success for Democrats in 2019 and 2020!
In solidarity,
Kate