Eric Thorsland is running for one of two seats on the Champaign County Board representing District one. He is funding his campaign with donated scrap metals from many of his supporters, making Eric a recycled candidate who is not the incumbent. Eric is having a big fund drive kick off Monday June 2nd at 7:30am at his farm located at 480 County Road 2500 N. Mahomet Il. You are welcome to come meet Eric and some of his supporters then, as we pile the scrap as high as we can to start of Eric’s fund drive.

I’m afraid the website backend software was hacked through a known exploit, causing great havoc and lots of spam links to be inserted into the site in random places. I have cleaned up the majority of the problems on the primary pages, and will address the rest soon. It will take some time, so please be patient.

In the meantime, if you notice anything wierd—in particular any spam links—please let us know.

[Update] I believe everything is back to normal now. If you see anything amiss, let us know. Thanks.

There will be a candidate’s forum for the office of Champaign County State’s Attorney this Wednesday, January 30, 2008.  The forum will be held at 6:00pm in the University of Illinois Law School Auditorum, which is located at 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. in Champaign.

All three candidates currently running in the February 5th primary are scheduled to attend.  These include:

• Alfred Ivy
• Janie Miller-Jones
• Julia Rietz

Ivy & Rietz are running against each other in the Democratic primary.  The winner will face Republican Miller-Jones in the November 4th general election.  Julia Rietz currently holds the office of State’s Attorney for Champaign County.

This candidate’s forum is sponsored by the University of Illinois Law School Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The party maintains an announcement-only mailing list for distributing occasional information about party activities, calls to action, etc. Postings to this list can only be made by the party Chair or his/her designee.

How can I unsubscribe from the list?

To unsubscribe, visit the list management page, scroll down to the bottom where it says ‘Unsubscribe from Democrats’ and enter your email address. It will ask for confirmation, and then you’ll be off the list. If you have any trouble with this, let us know.

How can I subscribe to the list?

To add yourself to the list, go to the list management page and fill in the information under ‘Subscribing to Democrats.’ It is our policy to never sell or distribute your email address to anyone for any purpose beyond its use for this list.

How much traffic does the list get?

The list will average about one or two emails each month.

What if I want to post something to the list?

Some information is better disseminated through the blog, newsletter, or other means. If you would like something posted to the list, please send an email to the party Chair with the information you would like included. They will get back to you.

HOPE.ACTION.CHANGE
Obama Community Kickoff Event
Hosted by Sen. Mike Frerichs & Rep. Naomi Jakobsson

The Obama campaign is promoting this event to kickoff its efforts to build a network of grassroots supporters one community at a time. Thousands of these community kickoff events will be held simultaneously all across the country.

After brief remarks from Sen. Frerichs & Rep. Jakobsson, we will watch a live broadcast from a home in Iowa were Barack Obama will be conducting a discussion on the campaign’s grassroots community organizing efforts.

Following the broadcast, we will discuss what you can do right now to help the Obama campaign in Champaign County!

Drinks and refreshments will be served!

• Time: Saturday, March 31 at 2:30 PM
• Duration: 2 hours
• Host: Justin Cajindos
• Contact Phone: 708.296.8138
• Location: Democratic HQ, 14 E. Washington, Champaign, IL 61820

View Map:

• Google Maps
• MapQuest
• Yahoo! Maps

Associated Groups:

• Champaign-Urbana for Obama
• Dollar for Obama
• UIUC Students for Obama

Directions: Located near corner of Washington & Neil in downtown Champaign, close to The Orpheum Children’s Science Museum

Hope. Action. Change.: On March 31, people across America open their homes to friends, family, and neighbors to kick off a week of support for a movement Barack Obama and the movement to change America.

I have posted a new candidates page with summaries about those who are running in this spring’s general municipal election on April 17, 2007. This includes candidates for Champaign City Council, Champaign School Board, and Urbana School Board. While all three of these races are non-partisan, several of the candidates running self-identify as Democrats, so I thought it made sense to post a page on our website so that Democrats in Champaign County know who’s running. From the dismal primary turnout of 6%, it’s clear that the most important task for the general is to turn out more voters. Please read the summaries, follow the links to their websites, and help out on those campaigns you care about. Most importantly, get out and vote on April 17th!

There are also some new websites amongst this group that have gone up in the last week. These include websites for Tracy Heilman (Urbana School Board), and Annette Williams (Champaign City Council). I have met and talked with both of these candidates, and came away very impressed and enthusiastic about their campaigns. These new websites join those that were already up for Giraldo Rosales, Patricia Avery (both Champaign City Council), and Melodye Benson Rosales (Champaign School Board).

Democrats looking to elect like-minded individuals for these races have excellent candidates to choose from this year!

Here’s our print newsletter for March/April, 2007. This issue includes articles on the following:

• Champaign City Council Candidates
• School Board Candidates
• County Board 6 Appointment
• and more…

Download a copy in PDF.