We are the Johnson County Democratic Women, North and South
We are sister organizations, working together to engage women in politics and help get Democrats in Johnson County elected.
North ZOOM Meeting
Thursday October 7, 2021
Online Only
Come at 6:00 to socialize or at 6:30 to hear from our speaker.
Special Guest: Rachel Sweet from Planned Parenthood
Join us on October 7 when Planned Parenthood will tell us about the ballot initiative to ban abortion in the Kansas State Constitution. Rachel Sweet will join us to explain the bill and procedure, and what we can do to fight it. Rachel has been with Planned Parenthood for several years, working in legislative action and lobbying. She was involved when we successfully blocked this bill in 2020.
South ZOOM Meeting
Thursday October 21, 2021
Hybrid Meeting
Either join us in person at the JoCo Dems office (8971 W 75th St, Overland Park, KS 66204) or on Zoom.
Come at 6:00 to socialize or at 6:30 for the meeting.
Special Guest: Sharon Rodriguez on Homelessness
Sharon has photographed and interviewed the homeless of Johnson County, Ks since 2014. She started documenting the homeless of Johnson County to dispel the perception that this wealthy county does not have a homeless population. The images in this exhibition depict the face of the Johnson County Homeless. Sharon takes this project a step further by giving her subjects the power to voice their personal story and the opportunity to write it in their own hand. These personal stories are displayed next to their photographic likeness. Throughout this work Sharon dispels the myth of “there are no homeless here (Johnson County)”. I hope you will take the time to not only see the face but hear their stories tonight.
She has published “Homeless Not Invisible” and “Homeless With Honor” which include these photographs and hand written stories. Please enjoy these stories that are being read to you by Sharon Rodriguez tonight. You can get these books from Sharon Rodriguez by emailing her.
FB: Sharon Rodriguez Photography
www.sharonrodriguezphotography.com
Women’s Rights Protest
On Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 10:30 AM, please join the women of JCDW North and South as we join the march for women’s reproductive rights. Across this nation and in the state of Kansas, the right of women to make decisions for and about their own bodies is under threat. We’ll be handing out the postcards pictured below, designed by our own Kat Hooley-Lickteig.
Visit March for Reproductive Rights for more info.
Let’s Get Organized to Fight for Women’s Rights!
The Johnson County Democratic party is gearing up to defeat the constitutional amendment to ban abortion, which will appear on next August’s ballot, and you have indicated an interest in joining our efforts. But we need your help NOW so we are prepared for the fight ahead.
We are testing a relational organizing platform for friend-to-friend outreach over the next 7 weeks to see if we can mobilize people to get out to vote in November. Our main focus will be on the two county-wide races: JCCC Board of Trustees and the WaterOne Board. But everything we do with this outreach initiative should help all Democratic candidates, if everyone works hard to reach out to their friends. If we are successful, we will continue to use the platform for the next 8 months to build our coalition to defeat the Constitutional ban.
While I know your passion is around the abortion ban, we can’t test this platform without your help right now. And local elections are super important. With this platform, it’s super easy to send specific messages (already created for you) to people we already know via text, email, and sharing on Facebook – whichever you choose!
Currently, we have 58 supporters on the platform, and we are meeting for about 30 minutes each Friday (on Zoom) to work through specific actions and talk about any problems people may be having. Once you understand how easy the platform works, you won’t spend more than 30 minutes each week (total) to change the outcome of the November election and to prepare for our bigger fight next year.
So…. Are you with us? If so, please click on the link below and create an account on OutreachCircle. Once you’ve joined you can see the Zoom Link for the Friend Banking event at 6:00 every Friday.
2021 Voter Information
The Johnson County Democratic Party has put together a terrific guide to all things election this November. Learn how to volunteer, check your registration, and most importantly — VOTE!
You can see JCDW North and South endorsements here. Please note that we only endorse candidates who meet our strict criteria, which means that this is not an exhaustive list of all races or even all Democrats running this year. If you’d like to discuss the races or candidates, our Johnson County Democratic Women FB group is a good place to ask questions and seek opinions from like-minded people. This is a private group; if you would like to join, simply make a request — and don’t forget to answer the screening questions so we know you’re not a bot!
Merchandise!
If you’re looking for a fun way to support our organizations, check out our merchandise, available NOW at the JoCo Dems office at 8971 W 75th St, Overland Park, KS 66204.
JCDW South is selling t-shirts for $15 each celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote.
JCDW North is selling yard signs for $10 each thanking Governor Kelly for her excellent leadership during the pandemic.
JCDW South September Meeting Recap
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes came out to speak to us about the critical redistricting process taking place right now. We learned that thanks to population growth in Johnson County, we will be gaining 3-4 State House seats and 2-3 State Senate seats. This is great news, but it also means that we need to get busy recruiting candidates to run in those new districts. We might not have district lines until just before the filing deadline of June 1st, 2022, so recruiting excellent candidates for the House begins NOW. Contact Deanne Mitchell if you would like to run.
Our legislators have only just received the final numbers, so we’re in a holding pattern right now while we wait for maps to be proposed. In the meantime, here are some things you can do to stay informed about this important democratic process:
1. Sign up to get weekly updates from KS Senate Democrats.
2. Visit http://www.KSLegResearch.org to research legislative action, past and present.
3. You can submit written redistricting testimony at any time. Send testimony to: redistricting@klrd.ks.gov.
Message From JCDW North
We are sorry to report the September 2 meeting of JCDW North was cancelled due to an abundance of caution. We were going to hear from the candidates for the November 2 election, but the Democratic office had some disturbing incidents. Several people have called with threatening comments, and on the day of the meeting, a man called several times before coming to the office in person. Police were called and the man departed. The Shawnee Mission Post and Kansas City Star had articles on the incident.
About Us
Johnson County Democratic Women North and South are part of the Kansas Federation of Democratic Women, which is part of the National Federation of Democratic Women.
Our mission is to empower women to run for office and to support the election of like-minded Democrats to state and local office. We do this through education and training, but especially through donations to qualified candidates. Your financial donation to either of our organizations will go directly to Democratic candidates running in Johnson County.
Donate Today!
Check out the Johnson County Democratic Party Event Calendar for more ways to get involved this month!