2008 Woodie Awards
Democrats Kick Off Campaign Season
Ethan Moore
Issue date: 3/31/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Arkansas Democrats are gearing up for an intense election battle in November, but are first working towards the May 23 primary. With an open seat for both governor and lieutenant governor and may other statewide officers, they realize this is a crucial time in Arkansas politics.
Conway and Faulkner County Democrats will kick off their campaign season on Thursday, April 6 at the annual Donaghey Dinner on campus in Hulen Ballroom, originally scheduled at the University of Central Arkansas, but moved because of higher than expected ticket sales. Beginning at 6:00 p.m., the dinner will feature candidates for many statewide offices.
20 tickets have been reserved for Hendrix students and may be obtained by junior Max Deitchler, president of the Hendrix Young Democrats.
Faulkner Country Democratic Party Chair, and mother of senior Travis Montgomery, encourages students to attend the dinner.
"If you meet the candidates in person it makes a difference," she said. "You get to judge the candidates yourself rather than relying on somebody else's filtered view through a newspaper article."
Following the dinner, things really begin to pick up. The Faulkner County Democrats are planning to open a new headquarters off of Prince Street within the coming weeks and several rallies and other events are scheduled ahead of the May 23 primary.
Montgomery said pre-election activities will include phone-banking, door-to-door campaigning, and distributing signs.
"These activities provide interested students lots of opportunities to get some hands-on experience in politics," she said.
The Young Democrats recently hosted Lt. Governor candidate Bill Halter, which about 40 people attended. Deitchler said Halter is a great speaker and seemed to have "innovative ideas about ways to move Arkansas forward." Halter recently dropped out of the gubernatorial race to run for the lieutenant governor's race.
Deitchler said their remaining priorities include working to get a minimum wage petition on the ballot in November, which requires 80,000 signatures, and preparing for the Arkansas State Young Democrats Convention April 22-23, 2006.
As noted in last edition's article, which focused on the activities of the Republican party in Faulkner County, this year's elections are historic because it is the first time in 28 years that no incumbent will be defending the governor's seat, with current Gov. Mike Huckabee term-limited and widely expected to make a run at the presidency.
Conway and Faulkner County Democrats will kick off their campaign season on Thursday, April 6 at the annual Donaghey Dinner on campus in Hulen Ballroom, originally scheduled at the University of Central Arkansas, but moved because of higher than expected ticket sales. Beginning at 6:00 p.m., the dinner will feature candidates for many statewide offices.
20 tickets have been reserved for Hendrix students and may be obtained by junior Max Deitchler, president of the Hendrix Young Democrats.
Faulkner Country Democratic Party Chair, and mother of senior Travis Montgomery, encourages students to attend the dinner.
"If you meet the candidates in person it makes a difference," she said. "You get to judge the candidates yourself rather than relying on somebody else's filtered view through a newspaper article."
Following the dinner, things really begin to pick up. The Faulkner County Democrats are planning to open a new headquarters off of Prince Street within the coming weeks and several rallies and other events are scheduled ahead of the May 23 primary.
Montgomery said pre-election activities will include phone-banking, door-to-door campaigning, and distributing signs.
"These activities provide interested students lots of opportunities to get some hands-on experience in politics," she said.
The Young Democrats recently hosted Lt. Governor candidate Bill Halter, which about 40 people attended. Deitchler said Halter is a great speaker and seemed to have "innovative ideas about ways to move Arkansas forward." Halter recently dropped out of the gubernatorial race to run for the lieutenant governor's race.
Deitchler said their remaining priorities include working to get a minimum wage petition on the ballot in November, which requires 80,000 signatures, and preparing for the Arkansas State Young Democrats Convention April 22-23, 2006.
As noted in last edition's article, which focused on the activities of the Republican party in Faulkner County, this year's elections are historic because it is the first time in 28 years that no incumbent will be defending the governor's seat, with current Gov. Mike Huckabee term-limited and widely expected to make a run at the presidency.