NELSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes – 06/02/2025
Meeting at the Faber Fire Department Station 2 at 7PM.
Called to order at 7:10PM by Connie Brennan. She thanked everyone for coming out tonight.
A remembrance and tribute was had for Ray Ashton, Peyton Coyer and Chapin Wilson; they were all active members of our Committee over the years, and they will be missed.
The agenda was approved by a motion made by Brad Johnson and seconded by Larry Stopper.
Three guests spoke briefly:
Gary Jaketic talked about the great success of the Ukraine dinner/fundraiser: It grossed about $15,000 with a net of about $12,000.00. He thanked the Dem Committee for its outstanding support.
Paul Riley announced that he will run again for Congress to represent the 5th Congressional District.
Sam Soghor announced that he is running for the Virginia House of Delegates this fall to represent the 53rd House District.
Larry Stopper announced that he is collecting signatures tonight for Sarah Beth Tracy who is running for the school board for the North district.
Business Meeting
· Motions to approve the minutes from the May meeting and the amended budget were made and both were approved.
· A request was made again by Connie for help with setting up the meetings.
· Lynn Fontana reminded everyone that the primary will be on June 17.
· A round of applause was had in appreciation of Lynn Fontana and the precinct captains for all their hard work! A brief review of the Candidates’ Night event was given. It was a great success.
· Update on elections
Ernie Reed – for Board of Supervisors for the Central District (Ernie is our only Dem candidate).
Roy White – for Board of Supervisors for the North District
Sarah Beth Tracy –for School Board for the North District
Wayne Hatchy – for School Board for the Central District
Diane Harvey is supposedly running for Board of Supervisors for the North District, as Tommy Harvey is not running. Diane has not yet turned in her paperwork. Roy White is running as an independent. There is a Republican running for North District Board of Supervisors, as well: Cameron Lenahan. Another Republican, Stephen Bayne, is running for Central District Board of Supervisors, opposing Ernie Reed. Jesse Rutherford is running again for East District Board of Supervisors, and is unopposed.
There are now 5 potential candidates for the School Board, all of whom are running as Independents: Sarah Beth Tracy and Wayne Hatchey (mentioned above) and Joe Richardson for the North District, Joe Kennedy for the East District and Stacy Rush for the Central District.
· The question of whether we can endorse an Independent Candidate was raised. The state party says we can as long as there is no Democratic opposing that candidate. Some discussion ensued.
Ann Mische moved and Larry Stopper seconded the motion that we support the idea of endorsing an Independent candidate. This motion does not include actually endorsing anyone. A vote was taken and the motion was approved. More discussion to be had at the July meeting.
· Chris Garsson explained the Workshops for tonight entitled “hit the Ground Running”. The workshops were put together in response to our listening session results. Everyone is encouraged to pick one or two to attend, and to go to the area where that workshop will be gathering.
1. Voter outreach/talking to strangers
2. GOP Accountability/Local Protest
3. Helping Immigrants
4. 4 th of July Parade
5. Celebrating Nelson
Breakout sessions were held.
· Announcements:
· Kathy Hachey announced the Meet and greet for Amy Laufer will be held on Saturday at RVCC.
· Various District groups are meeting in their districts, one at the Barrel House in Arrington and one at Bold Rock and one at Wild Man Dan’s. Everyone is invited to attend.
Our next full Committee Meeting will be on July 14.
Adjourned.
Submitted by
Angela Jones
Minutes NCDC Special Meeting for a Candidates’ Night - May 12, 2025
The regularly scheduled full Committee meeting was converted into a special meeting called Candidates Night. It was held at the Nelson Center in Lovingston, and was organized by our Candidate Coordinator Lynn Fontana, and put together by the Precinct Captains, with Lynn’s leadership.
The meeting was videotaped by Woody Greenberg and is available by clicking here.
Opening remarks made by Connie. Recognition of visiting dignitaries, Senator Creigh Deeds, and former Chair of the Amherst Democratic Committee and current candidate for House District 53, Sam Soghhor. (Connie forgot to acknowledge our Nelson County Sheriff, Mark Embrey who was in attendance.)
The moderator for the forum was Brad Johnson, who was introduced, and recognition of the Precinct Captains was requested, and applause for all was heard. Finger foods and beverages were provided in lieu of our typical potluck preceding the meeting. Brad began the forum, asking each candidate to introduce him/herself as they were called to the podium. Candidates drew numbers in advance to determine their speaking order. The candidates had each been given a list of ten questions some time ago and candidates answered or referred to this list individually as they saw fit.
Candidates for Attorney General:
· Jay Jones
· Shannon Taylor
Candidates for Lieutenant Governor:
· Alex Bastani
· Ghazala Hashmi
· Babur Lateef
· Victor Salgado
· Levar Stoney
Brad closed out the meeting and much applause was heard.
Next NCDC full Committee meeting scheduled now for June 2 and more info to come.
Submitted by Connie Brennan
May 15, 2025
NELSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes – February 3, 2025
Meeting at the Faber Fire Department Station 2 – Potluck 5:45
Called to order at 6:25PM by Connie Brennan. She thanked everyone for coming out tonight. We are here today to put our heads together on how to keep our Democracy.
Gary Jaketic spoke on the upcoming fundraiser event for Ukraine – He reported that in over 3 years they/we have raised over $30,000.00. The event will be May 9th, 2025, at the Heritage Center. There will be lots of food and entertainment.
Ernie Reed spoke briefly; He is the Supervisor for the Central District. He had a petition to sign for running again. He is the only Democratic Supervisor on the board. He stated that if anyone wants to know what the supervisor’s job is, he would be glad to sit down and talk to you.
Al Weed spoke briefly; He wanted to let people know that if they knew of anyone who is thinking about running for congress, that they have to start now. He said you should take the opportunity to write to our Senators (Kaine and Warner) about what is going on now and encouraged everyone one to do so.
Connie talked about “Do Something”. She will be working with the undocumented immigrants in Nelson County. She talked about Red Cards, and she encouraged us to pick up the literature on the table at the door.
Short Business meeting: First she asks for volunteers to be on the setup committee.
· Minutes – Brad Johnson moved, and it was seconded that the minutes be approved. Vote – All approved
· Budget 2025 – Anne Mische moved, and Bob Garrison seconded that the budget be approved. Vote – All approved.
· Candidates must submit paperwork March 17 through April 3rd to get on the ballot – Local seat are: 3 districts for Board of Supervisors Central, East and North and the same 3 districts for School Board. One of the school board members was there and talked about what they do. They have monthly meetings and around budget time they may have a few extra meetings.
· The primary will be on June 17
· Lynn Fontana talked about the campaign, and she reported on the survey results and plans moving forward. She had the precinct captains stand and introduce themselves.
· Mike Pruitt – Albemarle BOS. He wants to work with the neighboring counties
· Becky Evans – Volunteer Coordinator report – Canvasing, post card writing, Dem Fest (September 13th). They will be listing other volunteer opportunities in Nelson County and Albemarle County.
Listening Session explanation – Chris Garrison.