"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” -- Amelia Earhart ____________________________________________________________
All Hands on Deck for JAX Election!
Early voting for the Jax City Election began Monday and runs through Sunday, May 14th. Though we can't know who is voting for which candidates, what we can see so far is that Democrats' early lead in Vote-by-Mail ballots is dwindling every day that people have gone to the polls. If we want to elect a Mayor who reflects BAM's values of fairness & equity, we need to do everything we can to educate and turn out progressive voters in the time remaining. Because taking action in this election is so important, BAM is not holding a membership meeting this month. Instead we urge everyone reading this newsletter to find at least one or two activities below that you can take to help elect leaders committed to unifying Jacksonville and building a city we can all be proud of. 1. VOTE and be sure all your like-minded friends have done the same. The Beaches Library is one of 19 early voting sites open 10 am - 6 pm daily. Election Day is May 16th. Find your election day voting location here. If you vote by mail, click here to be sure your vote's been counted. 2. EDUCATE: If you or anyone you know needs more information on the candidates, find more information in the 2023 BAM City Election Guide. Share what you know in conversation, or forward this email to people who need it. And remember, BAM has yard signs. If you need one email us. 3. DONATE. It's a shame running for office is so expensive, but it's a reality of our current media-dependent world. If you haven't done so already, consider making a donation to the individual candidates you support. You'll find links to all their websites in the BAM Election Guide.
4 More Ways You Can Help Turn Out Voters
In the first city election, the Beaches led all districts in turnout - at 35%. We can do better! Remind your friends and neighbors that EVERYONE - including Beach residents - can vote in this election. We can also work to increase turnout in other areas of the city! Here's how you can help Get-Out-The-Vote:
Saturday, May 6 - DWIN GOTV Social 10 AM - 2 PM. Join friends from across the county at Democratic HQ - 3120 Beach Blvd as we reach out to remind registered voters to get to the polls! Register here or just drop in for an hour or two. Questions? Contact Jessica Ransome at PresidentDemocraticWIN@gmail.com.
Northside Coalition GOTV Signwaving Saturday 12-2 PM.
Community Canvass with Duval Dems. Join the Duval Dems’ canvassing team over the next two weekends. They'll be knocking on the doors of DEM and NPA voters around the city Saturdays from 11 am-12:30 pm and Sundays from 3:30 pm–5:00 pm. Find out where and register here.
Help Package Lit for Others to Canvass. If walking door to door is not for you, volunteers are needed to help package lit for canvassing on Mondays and Thursdays from 12:00 - 4:00 pm. You can come for an hour or two or more! Just drop in at 3120 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, 32207. Call 904-390-7001 or text Hanna Moore at 904-999-8515.
Duval Dems Target Young Voters
Turnout among Duval's young people was lousy in the first of our two unitary votes. Thanks to a generous donation, Duval Dems have created a digital ad campaign targeting those young voters and set a fundraising goal of $35,000 to finance its widespread distribution. The campaign has raised $26,000 so far. If you can help them raise the rest, click here to donate.
Last Mayoral Candidate Forum a Deegan Solo
As widely expected, Daniel Davis chose to skip the televised debate hosted by TV4 and First Coast News. The result was a fascinating conversation between Donna Deegan, TV4 anchor Kent Justice, Anthony Austin of First Coast News, Melissa Ross of WJCT 89.9 and Nate Monroe of the Florida Times Union. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
Saturday, May 13 - Joyful Resistance Block Party
We can all agree that the end of this Florida Legislative session is worth celebrating. The fact that some of the elected Democrats who led the resistance throughout the session are organizing this rally is even more reason for hope. Come and thank them for their service & demonstrate with our numbers that the mass of hateful bills passed by the GOP does NOT represent our views or our values. NOW and other partner groups will be tabling at this event - registering voters and urging eligible voters to turn out for the JAX election.
Most hopeful of all: Planned Parenthood and other groups have announced their plans to gather signatures and get a referendum on the ballot to restore abortion rights for Floridians. We'll keep you posted as more details emerge, but attend this event and be among the first to join this petition drive. If Kansas voters could do it, so can we!