Garrett County Democratic Club

10/08/2026

Good information on the three questions on the ballot

An excellent description from Delegate Lesley Lopez (MD D-39) on the Ballot Questions. Thanks for making it easy to understand!!

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Question 1 is really about keeping our word to workers.

State employees negotiate with Maryland over things like pay, benefits and working conditions.

But here's the problem: reaching an agreement doesn't mean much if the state can simply leave the money out of the budget.

Voting YES means that when Maryland makes these agreements, the Governor has to include the money to fund them in the proposed budget.

Opponents will call this a spending issue.

But it's also a fairness issue. If we expect workers to keep their side of an agreement, government should keep its side too.

Vote YES on Question 1.

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Question 2 is about making sure accountability doesn't grind to a halt.

Maryland has an independent commission that investigates complaints about judges.

But when someone can't participate in a case, an empty seat can make it harder for the commission to do its job.

Voting YES gives Maryland a way to temporarily fill that seat with someone who meets the qualifications.

This isn't about changing the rules for judges. It's about making sure the people responsible for enforcing those rules can actually do their jobs.

Vote YES on Question 2. Accountability only works when the system works.

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Question 3 sounds complicated but the stakes are clear.

Donald Trump and his allies understad that controlling Congress isn't just about winning more votes, It’s also about who gets to draw the maps.

Maryland should not be forced to fight with one hand tied behind our back.

Voting YES makes clear that Maryland's constitutional rules for drawing state legislative districts do not automatically apply to congressional districts.

It also gives Maryland a clearer legal framework for reviewing congressional maps.

Republicans will call this partisan.

But here's the bigger question: while Republicans around the country use every tool available to protect their power, should Maryland voluntarily give up ours?

We shouldn't unilaterally disarm while the other side is rewriting the rules.

Vote YES on Question 3.

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10/07/2026

2026 Autumn Glory Street Closures in Oakland, Maryland

Saturday, Oct. 10 – Autumn Glory Parade: The usual parade route closures will be in place from 9 AM until after the parade, which starts at 1 PM.

If you're coming to join the Garrett County Democrats to either ride the float or walk with the group, we are #31 near Lake St which is near Auto Zone. Be there by Noon and wear blue! Our theme is Vote Early ~ Vote Blue! 💙

10/06/2026

TONIGHT Tuesday, October 6, Gov. Wes Moore and Dan Cox will debate ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial election. The debate airs at 7 PM on MPT & WBAL
Join the Maryland Democratic Party for a Virtual Debate Watch Party supporting Wes Moore!
Tuesday, October 6
7:00 PM | Virtual
RSVP https://www.mobilize.us/mddems/event/1042440/ See less

Maryland, tune in!

Next Tuesday, October 6, Gov. Wes Moore and Dan Cox will debate ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial election. The debate airs at 7 PM on MPT & WBAL

Join the Maryland Democratic Party for a Virtual Debate Watch Party supporting Wes Moore!

Tuesday, October 6
7:00 PM | Virtual
RSVP https://www.mobilize.us/mddems/event/1042440/

10/06/2026

The 59th Autumn Glory feature parade is just days away and the weather forecast is perfectly seasonal ~ sunny, dry, low 60s. Perfect for marching in a parade. WE will be there with our theme of VOTE EARLY 💙 VOTE BLUE.

We will gather at position #31 (near Lake St & Auto Zone) Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m. to put finishing touches on the float and hand out signs to carry and items to wave for walkers and those riding the float.

If you're in town and want to join us, if you have family visiting and they want to join in too, come find us and say hello and we will find a place for you 💙

10/06/2026

This election is vital to regaining control of Congress and righting the wrongs caused by the GOP. YOUR vote is important. Don't sit home. Vote early 🗳️ Vote Blue 💙

🗳️🌊🗳️🌊🗳️🌊🗳️🌊🗳️

"Republicans manufacture the fear, or the crisis, or the deficit, and then campaign as the only people who can protect you from it. The “product” never has to work, because fear is their real product and has been since the days of Joe McCarthy.

Ronald Reagan set it up in its modern form. In 1976 Jude Wanniski, a Wall Street Journal editorial writer, told Republican insiders they’d never win as the party of Scrooge and should instead become a second Santa Claus, handing out tax cuts as freely as Democrats handed out programs, then screaming about the debt the moment a Democrat took office.

Reagan cut the top income tax rate from 70 percent to 28, tripled the national debt, and sold it with a promise of prosperity for everybody. Republicans (and Reagan) knew it was a lie; his former budget director, David Stockman, admitted as much in The Atlantic before Reagan’s first term was half over.

And now that scam has transferred almost $80 trillion from working people into the money bins of the top 1 percent, gutting the middle class, and Republicans are still pitching billionaire tax cuts as the cure for all our ills.

Then there’s the destruction of America’s small businesses so big business fatcats would back the GOP. Reagan’s Justice Department rewrote the merger guidelines in 1982 and the share of proposed mergers the government challenged fell to seven-tenths of one percent, which is how we ended up with a small handful of companies controlling our grocery chains, hospital systems, airlines, insurance, banking, drugs, retail, and even the oil companies that Rogers is now complaining about in his bizarre new ads.

And let’s not forget freezing the wages of workers, as I mentioned here last week. Reagan fired the air traffic controllers and union membership fell from about a third of our workforce when he took office to under a tenth today, and every Republican since has campaigned on pretending to be in favor of raising your pay while, with their other hand behind their back, voting in Congress to freeze the minimum wage and make it harder for people to form or join a union.

Once they’d gotten away with these scams and still gotten elected (with the help of billionaire-owned media), governing by scam became the GOP’s go-to habit.

They’ve kept the federal minimum wage frozen at $7.25 since 2009 and are running this fall on “affordability.”

They passed a “Big Beautiful” bill last summer that the Congressional Budget Office says will add $3.4 trillion to our debt, knock 10 million people off their health insurance, and cut more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid and food assistance.

And, the CBO found, the result is (predictably) that resources will decrease for households at the bottom while rising for those at the top. Four million fewer people are getting SNAP already, because of that bill. And you can bet your bottom dollar that when this really bites over the next two years Republicans will be blaming Democrats and offering to fix the problems that they themselves created.

Then Trump began throwing around tariffs, particularly against countries he wanted to give him gifts, jets, or business deals for Uday and Qusay, all while cynically pretended it’d bring manufacturing back to the US and raise wages.

Republicans have, in other words, spent the past forty-five years telling us our “big” government is the problem while expanding its reach into your doctor’s office, your ballot, and now your constitutional right to walk down the street without getting shot by ICE thugs or having to show your citizenship papers to a masked man who refuses to identify himself.

Each of these moves was sold as a rescue from a problem the Republicans themselves had created, vibrating with urgency in the last few weeks before an election."

Full article on Substack:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/the-republican-playbook-break-america-5c2?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=6k4lf

10/05/2026

This is just one of the many reasons why this election is so important. Your vote is your voice! You can't afford to stay home.

November 3rd 🗳️ Vote Blue

10/05/2026

Vote Early 🗳️ Vote Blue 💙

Join others across the Nation for the kick-off to early voting

Your Vote is Your Voice **We decide who represents us. We decide what comes next.** For more than a year, millions of people have come together to reject the idea that power belongs to kings, billionaires, or politicians who believe they are above the people and the law. Now, we are taking the next....

10/02/2026

Got a yard???
Signs can be picked up from Democratic Headquarters or if you want signs delivered to you, email [email protected]. 🗳️🌊💙

GOT A YARD? WE HAVE YARD SIGNS FOR YOU! Show your support for our Democratic candidates. Pick up signs at Dem HQ in Oakland, across from the farmer’s market and town parking lot. We will be there Saturday and Wednesday. 10:00am-1:00pm. Can’t make it then? DM us here and we will try to get them to you. 😊. 💙🧢🌊🗳️

10/02/2026

Vote Early ~ Vote Blue 💙🗳️💙
Remember: Your Ballot is your Voice!
Your vote is only powerful if you use. Too many sit out the Midterms. We need everyone to VOTE! Don't give up your power. Don't give up your voice. Don't give up your vote!
💪🗳️💙💪🗳️💙💪🗳️💙💪🗳️💙💪🗳️💙

If someone you know who is not registered to vote, have them go to:
https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/OnlineVoterRegistration/InstructionsStep1
If you do not know your polling station, go to:
https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/PollingPlaceSearch
If you need to vote by mail, request your ballot now, as soon as it's received complete it and USE THE DROP BOX RATHER THAN THE POST OFFICE Info at:
https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/OnlineMailinRequest/InstructionsStep1

Early Voting ~ In Person
Thursday, October 22, 2026 through Thursday, October 29, 2026
Early voting centers are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
https://elections.maryland.gov/voting/early_voting.html
Election Day NOV 3rd. Voting centers are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m
https://elections.maryland.gov/voting/election_day_questions.html

SPREAD the WORD. VOTE! 💪🗳️💙

10/01/2026

We're waiting on Mobilize to give us our registration link but in the meantime, save the date and time on your calendars:
Saturday October 17th from Noon to 2pm. (11:30 to help with set up) as we join with others ACROSS THE NATION to lift our voices and say that power DOES NOT belong to kings, billionaires, or politicians who believe they are above the people and the law.
Early voting begins October 22nd... this is the perfect time to have a kick-off event: Vote Early 📥Vote Blue 💙

Saturday October 17th from Noon to 2pm. (11:30 to help with set up) as we join with others ACROSS THE NATION to lift our voices and say that power DOES NOT belong to kings, billionaires, or politicians who believe they are above the people and the law.

Early voting begins October 22nd... this is the perfect time to have a kick-off event: Your Vote 📥 Your Voice 📢

Register at

https://mobilize.us/s/AkWIsZ