September 2025 Newsletter
Volume 17 Number 7
September 2025 Newsletter
Got Your Harvest of Hope Tickets?
Sept. 26 is coming fast!
Upcoming Events
September 4
Public Hearings on Rigged Maps & Initiative Process: HB1 at Noon in House Hearing Room 3; HJR at 1:00 pm in House Hearing Room 7.
September 4
Buchanan County Women’s Democratic Club “Democracy Rocks!”: 6:00 pm, D&G Pub & Grub Brew Haus, 1918 Frederick Avenue, St. Joseph, MO. Rock painting fundraiser for BCWDC.
September 6
Jackson County 38th Annual Truman Gala: Stoney Creek Hotel, Independence. This year’s fundraiser features Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
September 8
Platte County Federated Women’s Democratic Club: 6:30 pm, Green Hills Library, 8581 N. Green Hills Road. Guest speaker: Tracy Steele, candidate to represent MO House of Representatives District 12.
September 8
DLN/MDP Monday Night Call: 7:00 pm, weekly Zoom meeting hosted by the Democratic Legislative Network and Missouri Democratic Party.
September 9
Democratic Women’s Coalition for Northern Platte County: 7:00 pm, American Bowman, 500 Welk Street, Weston.
September 10
Mass Rally at the Capitol: 10 am and again at noon, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Jefferson City. Fight Trump’s Power Grab and Protect Democracy!
September 13
Clay County DCC “A Night in Clay County 2025”: 6:00 pm, Ameristar Hotel & Casino, 3200 North Ameristar Drive, Kansas City, MO. This year’s fundraiser features Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police officer who was on duty during the January 6 insurrection.
September 15
DLN/MDP Monday Night Call: 7:00 pm, weekly Zoom meeting hosted by the Democratic Legislative Network and Missouri Democratic Party.
September 16
Northland Democratic Club: 6:30 pm, ACA Business Club, 1400 NW Vivion Road.
September 18
Platte County Democratic Central Committee: 7:00 pm, Place TBD. Presentation of 5-year strategic plan.
September 22
DLN/MDP Monday Night Call: 7:00 pm, weekly Zoom meeting hosted by the Democratic Legislative Network and Missouri Democratic Party.
September 22
PCDCC Outreach Committee: 6:30 pm, Parkville Library, 8815 Tom Watson Parkway. Join us to help spread the word about Democratic candidates and issues.
September 26
Harvest of Hope Fall Fundraiser: 5:30 pm, Weston Bend State Park Bee Creek Shelter, Weston. Guest speakers: Jess Piper, Blue Missouri; Ashley Aune, Missouri House Minority Leader; and Peter Coyne, PCDCC Chair.
September 29
DLN/MDP Monday Night Call: 7:00 pm, weekly Zoom meeting hosted by the Democratic Legislative Network and Missouri Democratic Party.
Message from the PCDCC Chair
Our county committee’s highest priority right now remains recruiting good Democratic candidates for every local partisan office. Once again, I’m asking you to consider running for one of these offices. If that isn’t an option, think of someone you know who might be an amazing fit.
As I’ve said before, we can’t start building a base if one side of the ballot is blank. We can’t get more balance in our county and state government if we don’t have Democrats contesting every race. Are you able to step up and serve your community in any of the offices listed below?
If you would like to talk it over, please contact me. The Central Committee wants to speak with potential candidates about running and how we can support them.
Offices on the 2026 Ballot
- Platte County Presiding Commissioner (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County Auditor (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County Collector (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County County Clerk (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County Prosecuting Attorney (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County Recorder of Deeds (4-year term) Responsibilities
- Platte County Treasurer (2-year term to fill vacancy) Responsibilities
- Missouri House of Representatives District 12 (2-year term) Learn More
- Missouri House of Representatives District 13 (2-year term) Learn More
- Missouri House of Representatives District 14 (Dem. incumbent Ashley Aune)
- Missouri Senate District 34 (4-year term) Learn More
Thank you for giving this serious thought and doing your part to recruit good candidates.
Peter Coyne
Chairperson
Platte County Democratic Central Committee
Calls to Action
Oppose Republican redistricting and the destruction of Citizen Initiative Petitions by doing the following:
1. Phone these Missouri officials:
Governor Mike Kehoe: 573-751-3222
Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer: 573-751-2183
Speaker of the House John Patterson: 573-751-0907
Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin: 573-751-7985
2. Attend the Mass Rally at the Capitol from noon until 2 pm on September 10, Missouri State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Jefferson City.
Message from the Editor
United We Stand!
With all the truly terrible and destructive policies taking hold at the state and national levels, it is hard to refrain from launching wave after wave of countermeasures. The trouble is, the other side strikes an emotional chord (never mind that they frequently use distorted or blatantly false information to justify their approach). The result is that Democrats are cast in a responsive mode, trying to correct the record and repair the damage. R’s have the advantage of a quick, emotionally compelling message while Democrats sound like old scolds.
What we need to do is launch a plan to distill the essence of what it means to be a Democrat. We are not all super liberals, but we have in common a dedication to the rights of people, the value of truth, the benefits of peace and a commitment to protecting the dignity of every individual.
Here’s the thing, we know that people don’t want to read volume after volume of policy papers. We need to paint a vibrant picture of the world we hope to build. We need to rebrand the Democratic Party as the one who is for the people and who understands that the role of government is to provide the environment in which people and businesses can thrive. Parents can provide opportunities to their children, and we can all live in a world of peace and safety. United We Stand!
Alice Wadsworth
Platte County Democratic Central Committee
The PCDCC met at the Midcontinent Library Green Hills Library 8581 on August 18. Club reports were presented by Rita McGuire for Elisa Nelson for the Women’s Club, by Mellissa Hickman for the DWC, by Dawn Dolby for the Northland Democratic Club and by Kat Henry for Do Something Missouri. Sharen Hunt reported on plans for the Parkville Days Parade. Kevin Boydston reported that the State Committee has purchased a building about two and a half blocks from the Capitol in Jefferson City to serve as their headquarters.
Planning continues for the Harvest of Hope event planned for September 26th at the Bee Creek Shelter at Weston Bend State Park. Planners include Rene McCreary, Joe Schwarz, Kelly Cogan, and Dorthi Blair. They are asking members to sponsor three to five themed baskets to be auctioned at the event. If you want to help prepare baskets, please use the contact form on the PCDCC website (bottom of each webpage) or email de**@********ms.org to let us know.
The Outreach Committee responsible for the website, social media, and email needs help producing content for the website, social media and writing letters to the editor of local newspapers. The next meeting is 6:30 Monday, September 22, at the Parkville Library.
Joe Schwarz and Kelly Cogan reported on work of the Strategic Planning Committee which is creating a 5-year plan for PCDCC. So far, they have completed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (S.W.O.T.) assessment, created long term goals, and objectives for 2026. They will present the plan to the Committee for review and input at the September meeting.
PC Federated Women’s Democratic Club
The Women’s Club met at August 11 at Los Hornos Argentinian Flavors. The gathering in lieu of the regular meeting was a fun get-together with lots of new faces. The biggest news is that the club is considering changing its name to the Platte County Democratic Women. For the September meeting the club will return to the Green Hills Library.
Northland Democratic Club
The NDC met at the ACA Business Club on August 19. Two candidates spoke at the meeting: Wes Rogers, Kansas City Council 2nd District, and Tracy Steele, candidate for the Missouri State Legislature District 12. And finally Bill Ferguson gave a brief recap of the Beto O’Rourke Powered by People event in Kansas City.
