Lebanon Democrats Caucus, Sanders Wins Bulk of Delegates.

The Lebanon Democrats held their caucus today, Sunday, March 6th beginning at about 2:10 pm.

As promised, anyone who was in line at 2 pm was brought inside.

67 Lebanon Residents Attended, with 44 (plus 7 absentee ballots for a total of 51) were on the side for Candidate Bernie Sanders, while 23 (plus 11 absentee ballots for a total of 34) were on hand to support Candidate Hillary Clinton. Total votes, 85.

Ellen Harris-Howard led the caucus, being voted in as the Caucus Chair, with State Rep 20 hopeful Dan Lauzon as Vice Chair and former Lebanon school teacher Rebecca Beal as the Secretary.

Several people came to the door at about 2:20 pm and were denied entry as the caucus had already begun.

 

 

 

Bettie Harris-Howard acted as the Caucus Captain for the Hillary Clinton supporters, speaking briefly on why she thought Clinton would make the best candidate to be elected President. Agreeing with Harris-Howard to "Vote Democrat no matter who that Democrat is",  and speaking in favor of Ms. Clinton was Ian Haight-Ashton. Resident Kim Adkins also spoke in favor of a Clinton vote. All three cited Clinton's experience and ability to "hit the ground running" rather than be bogged down with months of having to learn the ropes and the players of national level government.

Marybeth Stocking, of Lebanon's Two Toad Farms acted as Caucus Captain for the residents in support of Candidate Bernie Sanders, and after she spoke briefly, Jordan Pike took the floor to speak on behalf of Sanders. Pike spoke of record attendance at caucuses and primaries all over the country with many young people coming out for the first time in order to support Sanders. There was lots of hooting and hollering on the side of Sanders supporters as Pike had them fired up!!

 

 

One resident who stated he had been a Baptist Evangelical pastor for 40 years, stated that there was "Biblical reference for a shaggy haired Jew crying out for justice in the wilderness."

Residents were then given the chance to change candidates, however everyone was content with their choices. No one changed sides after the discussion.

Hands were counted and it was figured that Bernie Sanders was the caucus winner, gaining 5 Lebanon Delegates, while Clinton would receive 3 Lebanon Delegates. 8 Lebanon Delegates will make their way to the York County Democratic Convention, scheduled to take place in Portland on May 5th and 6th.

 

 

 

Candidate for State Representative, House Seat 20, Democrat Dan Lauzon of Lebanon spoke briefly on his background and his goals if voted in as a Maine State Representative. Lauzon spoke briefly on his long time as a Union Member with the Railroad, his desire to take better care of Veterans, the need for better funding of schools without tax increases, and how he had funded his campaign with donations of no more than $5 per person.

The Lebanon Democratic Committee asked for volunteers to join their Committee with only a few hands being shown. Ellen Harris-Howard was voted to continue as Chair of the group, with other officers also being reelected to their positions, Dan Lauzon as Vice Chariman, Bettie Harris-Howard as Secretary, and Henry Laviolette as the Committee Treasurer.

Members of the York County Democratic Committee from Lebanon, Ellen and Bettie Harris-Howard, Henry and Lucinda Laviolette, and Arnie and Sally Chandler were also all reelected to continue on in their positions with the county group.

Lebanon Delegates to the York County Democratic Convention in support of Bernie Sanders were chosen by Caucus goers. The five Sanders delegates are: Ruth Gutman, Jacob Downs, Sheri Lehn, Shawn Perry, and Marybeth Stocking.

Five alternates for Sanders are: Chris McDonough, River Bissonette, Janet Bruyer, Jennifer Bozak and Paula Busby.

The three delegates to attend the York County Democratic Convention in support of Hillary Clinton are: Laura Bragg, Ian Haight-Ashton, and Deven Burke.

Three alternates for Clinton will be Ellen Harris-Howard, Bettie Harris Howard, and Kim Adkins.

Thank you to the Lebanon Democratic Committee for hosting a well run, well spoken, friendly political gathering for Lebanon residents. Good Luck to all Delegates chosen to represent Lebanon in the upcoming York County Democratic Convention.

 

 

 

 

Local Residents Learn "How to Caucus", presented by the Friends of Bernie Sanders, at the Martha Sawyer Communiity Library.

The Friends of Bernie Sanders hosted an event at the Martha Sawyer Community Library - Lebanon, Maine on Wednesday night, January 20.

Marybeth Stocking, the coordinator for the event did a wonderful job of introducing the reasons why she was personally supporting Bernie Sanders and why she had asked for people to come to this meeting, to "Learn how to Caucus".....

The Chair of the Lebanon Democrats, Ellen Harris-Howard was in attendance to speak on what happens at a town caucus and why they were so important in the process of electing a president.

Many people were amazed at the importance of local caucus goers in the greater scheme of things.

The 23 or so people in attendance were not only from Lebanon, but came to our library from several other nearby towns as well.

In order to participate in the Democratic Caucus, attendees must be registered Democrats or have changed their party affiliation to Democrat at least 15 day prior to the Caucus. The Town Clerk is also in attendance for people who are not registered at all to vote, or who are registered as "Unenrolled" who are able to enter their party affiliation as Democrat on the day of the Caucus.

The day of the Caucus, Lebanon residents will gather at the Lebanon Fire and EMS Station 1 on Depot Road on Sunday, March 6th, 2016 beginning at 1:00 pm

In some caucus situations, residents are sent to separate corners to hear from each candidate's representatives, however in Lebanon we are not blessed with a meeting room quite large enough to do that. So registered Democrats will gather and hear from their candidates representatives all in one room, seated in small groups.

Because, according to Ms. Harris-Howard, Maine is not a "winner take all" state, the delegates for each town are chosen based on that town's voting preferences at the end of the caucus. In 2012, for example, Lebanon had 6 delegates, although I am still unsure of the candidates that were chosen by the Caucus.

Those delegates are chosen by the caucus group as a whole, to attend the York County Caucus, where the whole procedure is repeated, and delegates chosen from the County to attend the State Caucus, and from there, delegates chosen to attend the National Democratic Convention.

Bettie Harris-Howard, who serves as the Secretary for the Lebanon group, said that there are usually 5 or 6 delegates from Lebanon who attend at the county level, but reminds residents interested in this process that they are responsible for their own transportation and expenses for all of these events.

Ms. Stocking, Ms. Ellen Harris-Howard and Ms. Bettie Harris-Howard all reminded the event goers that the point of the caucus is to help define which Democratic candidate(s) the State would be supporting at the National Convention, asking each person present to bring 5 friends along with them to the town's Caucus

"We are all Democrats at the Caucus," said Bettie Harris-Howard, "and we all want a Democratic Candidate to win, so there's no animosity at the Caucus. It's a pretty friendly place to go and be part of the process."  Ellen Harris Howard added that the group was also planning to have light refreshments available for the afternoon event.

 The group also noted that you can caucus via absentee ballot by filling out the following form and requesting an absentee ballot be sent to you via mail or e mail

You can request an absentee Democratic Caucus ballot via the Maine Dems website by clicking HERE:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CDSfyIqjmJGPpbpzUYY4mHD1_FC3Vv8aWifn4rBGGeY/viewform?c=0&w=1