Ticket to Democracy 2024

Speak at a Public Forum

Members of the Richmond Democratic Town Committee prioritize active engagement and hands-on pursuit of democracy. We often say that the fourth branch of government is you. That means that we, the people play an active role in shaping how the government meets our needs at all levels. That includes voting but also so much more.

The RDTC takes numerous different approaches that include knocking doors to listen to concerns of neighbors, serving as volunteers on boards and commissions, attending meetings, and hosting community events.

Our endorsed candidates are all hitting the ground running as we lead up to the 2024 election, and we will continue to highlight opportunities to join them on the trail.

We also want to highlight some of the other ways you can earn your Ticket to Democracy, and stay active this summer and fall. Collaborative action is a strong and effective strategy to win at the ballot box.

Speak at Public Forum – Town Council and School Committee Meetings each have opportunities for Public Forums where residents can express themselves on matters that are not on the agenda. Do you want to express gratitude for an experience you've had in our town or schools? Do you want current Councilors and School Committee members to know your priorities for the work they do on our behalf? Do you want to share concerns you have?

Step up to the microphone and make your voice heard.

Write Postcards

In our last Ticket to Democracy letter, we highlighted the importance of being engaged in government. American democracy, at all levels, relies on the input and participation of all of us. Sharing your ideas helps identify solutions that work better for everyone.

Last week, we highlighted how speaking at a public forum is a great way to make your voice heard. It helps highlight and encourage actions that you support, and allows you to help prioritize efforts to improve the town and school district.

This week, we’ll highlight another way to earn your Ticket to Democracy, and stay active this summer and fall in making Richmond better.

Write Postcards - An important method of outreach for our candidates is to use postcards to communicate with Richmond residents. When we’re making our rounds door to door, people aren’t always available. Postcards gives us another opportunity to connect with residents and provide information on how our candidates are improving Richmond and provide folks with an opportunity to reach out to them. We’re frequently looking for folks who want to volunteer with our candidates to address postcards.

Letters to the Editor

In our past Ticket to Democracy letters, we’ve highlighted the importance of being engaged in government. American democracy, at all levels, relies on the input and participation of all of us. Sharing your ideas helps identify solutions that work better for everyone. And supporting candidates that can help implement real improvement from those ideas and others is how we create change for the better.

Letters to the Editor – Another great way to share your ideas and provide feedback to elected officials and other town members are letters to the editor. Letters to the editor provide a venue for you to share your thoughts and your values, or highlight local candidates that are working to support improvements! Letters frequently get the attention of local legislators as well as local voters, and help to share talking points and arguments with your fellow constituents. One of the most common local forums for letters to the editor is the Westerly Sun. To submit a letter to the editor with the Sun, you can use this form on their website.

We also want to remind folks about mail-in voting for the primary election on September 10th: The deadline to request a mail-in ballot for the primary is today, August 20th. If you'd like a mail-in ballot, submit your request to the Rhode Island SoS site today! There will also be early voting for the primary from August 21st to September 9th at Richmond Town Hall on Monday – Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.

We hope you'll join us on Wednesday night at our Summer Fun + Fundraiser at Pasquale Farms. It's a great opportunity to enjoy dinner and dessert on a beautiful night at the farm with neighbors. You'll hear from a live local band and our endorsed candidates for 2024.

Host a House Party

There were a lot of great speeches last week at the DNC, but Michelle Obama was particularly poignant:

“It's up to us to remember what Kamala's mother told her: Don't just sit around and complain — do something!

So if they lie about her, and they will, we've got to do something!

If we see a bad poll, and we will, we've got to put down that phone and do something!

If we start feeling tired… if we start feeling that dread creeping back in… we've got to pick ourselves up, throw water on our faces, and do something!

We have only two and a half months to get this done… only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan.”

Michelle Obama’s call to action applies all the way down the ticket. It’s just as important for us to elect responsible leaders who reflect our values locally, where they create a huge impact on your day-to-day life. And local elections are determined by margins of a few votes – the last referendum was decided by only 3 votes in Richmond. What you do between now and the election has a huge impact on the outcome of the election.

Host a House Party to introduce a candidate to your friends and neighbors - As we’ve been walking around talking to folks, people have brought up the idea of hosting a house party as a good way to meet and talk with the candidates. We love our discussions during canvassing, because it’s a great way to understand what issues are important to folks. But, we realize folks are busy, and we may be interrupting you during your afternoon off (or your afternoon of catching up on chores). House parties are a great way to engage with candidates on your schedule and help share your ideas and concerns. Find a good time for your friends and neighbors, and reach out to us at rdtc@richmonddtc.com. Our candidates would love to come meet them!