Edgar County Democrat Boosters

10/16/2026

Fellow Booster: Thank you to everyone who helped out at Monday’s Mostaccioli Dinner fundraiser! Donations are still coming in, but at last count we raised nearly $2,700. We will have a chance to discuss how to use those funds during our December 5 membership meeting and year-end party, so stay tuned for details. Now, though, it’s time to focus on the midterm elections. Here are some ideas for what you can do to make November 3 a good day in our community, our state and our country:

• Work through that writer’s cramp and join us for one last push to help secure Democratic control of the Senate. Our partners at the Progressive Turnout Project asked if we write another 300 postcards to support Texas Senate candidate James Talarico in his race against Ken Paxton, someone a (Republican) judge called “the most corrupt politician Texas has ever seen.” We will gather at the same time (9:00-11:00 on Monday and Tuesday) at the same place (the JD Camp Memorial Table at the back of the Burger King in Paris), with a goal of getting all 300 in the mail by Wednesday. Call JD at (954) 802-2202 if you can join us.

• Help make the case for Jen Todd by joining fellow Booster Mason Tegeler in canvassing for her this Sunday afternoon. Contact Mason directly for more details at [email protected].

• Donate your bribe money to a good cause. If you are on Medicare, you may have received an extra $90 from the government; this is money the Trump administration illegally appropriated in a transparent effort to influence the election. If you can afford it, we urge you to use that money to support democracy by donating it to a Democratic candidate. Here are just a few ideas. If you want to keep your money close to home, send it to our own Jen Todd. If you want to support a rising star in neighboring Iowa, Josh Turek can use your help. If (in addition to winning control of the Senate) supporting a pro-union voice is important to you, no one has been a stronger voice for labor than Sherrod Brown, who is locked in a close Senate race against a corporate shill in Ohio.

• Do your homework and vote. You can vote early by going to the second floor of the Edgar County courthouse between 8:00-4:00 Monday to Friday. There are no ballot measures this year, so the ballot is pretty straightforward. The one question you may have is whether to support extending the terms of three judges (one for the Illinois Appellate Court and two for the Illinois 5th Circuit). While the ballot says they are “non-partisan” all three were initially elected as Republicans. Under Illinois law, judges only state their party affiliation the first time they run; after that, they remain in the job as long as 60% of voters support them staying on.

• Ask your Republican friends to name one thing Mary Miller has done for our district in the past two years. If they can’t, ask if they would accept that from any other employee and if we should reward that kind of performance by sending her back to Washington. If they won’t vote for Jen Todd, urge them to send a message by simply not voting.

• Mark your calendar to join your fellow Democrats at 6:30 on Tuesday, November 3 at Lot 50 for an election night watch party. As we watch the election returns come in, it will be a chance to see the work of Democrats across the country – including in Edgar County – translate into action in our community, our state and our country.

Wins of the week

• Republicans keep crossing party lines to help Democratic candidates. In the Maine Senate race, Susan Collins spent tens of thousands of dollars to run an ad in Portland, Oregon rather than Portland, Maine. In Texas, someone close to Ken Paxton leaked a video of him from July, partying in Dubai with his mistress and two fugitives from U.S. justice. You literally could not make this stuff up.

• We now know where the Trump administration draws a line on corruption. It is OK for the President, his sons and the men in his inner circle to engage in spectacularly brazen graft and self-dealing. (Wikipedia keeps a running list.) But the White House drew a line when a woman tried to get in on the fun, firing U.S. Ambassador to Greece (and, until recently, fiancée of Don Jr.) Kimberley Guilfoyle for asking a campaign donor for $100,000 in exchange for access to the President.

Thanks for helping us fight the good fight. Feel free to share these with family and friends and members of your social networks. Send your own ideas of actions that Boosters can take to [email protected].

10/14/2026

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10/13/2026

Our thoughts and prayers are with the many regular commenters on our posts who appear to have been killed in a Ukrainian strike on a Russian bot farm this week.

Ukrainian drones have hit a third Russian datacentre in Vladimir. The implications for democracy could be profound – in a good way, for once.

10/12/2026

Interesting. Last week we asked if anyone had seen Mary Miller or could name anything she has done for our district. A couple of people confirmed that she appears to be alive. No one even tried to say she has done anything for us. Nice work if you can get it.

10/09/2026

Fellow Booster: If you have been out in the fields harvesting recently, thank you. It can be hard work, but it’s important to do. You can say the same thing about working to make things better in our community, our state and our country. Here are some ideas:

• Help make Monday’s Mostaccioli dinner fundraiser a success. We will be serving from 5:00-7:00 at the Edgar County fairgrounds 4H building and can use everyone’s help. We still need people to set up, serve and clean up; let us know if you are available by calling Marge at (217) 822-7610 or just reply to this email. The easiest way to invite your friends is to go to the event on our page (here), click the grey “invite” button on the right side of the page, and then select the names of your friends you want to invite. Not only will they get a big, home-cooked meal for a very reasonable $10, they will support the work we do throughout the year. This is our big fundraiser for the year and the more we raise, the more we can do.

• Ask your Republican friends if they have seen Representative Mary Miller once in the past two years or can name one specific thing she has done for our district over that time. Would they accept that behavior from any other employee? Should we reward that kind of performance by sending her back to Washington? Even if your friends say they won’t vote for Jen Todd, urge them to send a message by simply leaving that space blank on their ballots.

• Do your homework and vote. You can vote early by going to the second floor of the Edgar County courthouse between 8:00-4:00 Monday to Friday. There are no ballot measures this year, so the ballot is pretty straightforward. One question you may have is whether to vote to extend the terms of three judges (one for the Illinois Appellate Court and two for the Illinois 5th Circuit) whose political affiliation is listed as “non-partisan.” In fact, all three were elected as Republican; Illinois law lets them conceal their partisan roots and continue in their positions as long as they receive 60% “yes” votes.

Wins of the week

• All the polls continue to point to a Blue Wave (i.e., strong and growing support for Democrats, including in traditionally Republican areas) and a “Red Undertow” (i.e., widespread revulsion with the President and fatigue from the impact of his policies coupled with his insistence that people “pretend he’s on the ballot”). And it’s not just polls of how people might vote. Polls of people who have already voted early show Democrats between 3% and 16% ahead of where they were at a comparable point in the 2024 and 2022 elections.

Thanks for helping us fight the good fight. Feel free to share these with family and friends and members of your social networks. Send your own ideas of actions that Boosters can take to [email protected].

10/08/2026

Has anyone in our Congressional district actually seen our representative in Congress, Mary Miller? She is supposed to work for us but is nowhere to be seen. Would you accept that from any other employee? Would you continue to employ any other person with that kind of job performance?

10/07/2026

It is unimaginable that we would have to say this, but can't we all agree to condemn President Trump's invitation to Iran to attack American cities? (And, yes, we would condemn any President, Republican or Democrat, for doing so.)

10/02/2026

Fellow Booster: Making our democratic system work takes more than just voting every year or two. But voting matters. A lot. And early voting has already started, so make sure you, your friends and your family get out there and do it. Here’s our “to do” list for the next week:

· Vote. Just go to the second floor of the Edgar County courthouse between 8:00-4:00 Monday to Friday.

· Support Jen Todd in her race against Mary Miller. There are several options. You can let us know at [email protected] if you want to call fellow Democrats in the area to urge them to vote. All you need is a phone and a computer; we can train you on the system in a few minutes. Another option, if you live on a street with lots of traffic, is to put up a Jen Todd yard sign. Email us for details. You can also go to Jen’s website if you want to donate money or volunteer in some other way.

· Invite your friends to our Mostaccioli dinner on Monday, October 12 from 5:00-7:00 at the Edgar County fairgrounds 4H building. Not only will they get a big, home-cooked meal for a very reasonable $10, their contribution will go to support the work we do throughout the year. This is our big fundraiser for the year and the more we raise, the more we can do. The easiest way to send an invitation is to go to the event on our page (here), click the grey “invite” button on the right side of the page, and then select the names of your friends you want to invite. It’s that simple.

Wins of the week

· A federal judge dismissed with prejudice (i.e., it cannot be refiled) the prosecution of Davey Hearn, the three-time Olympian that President Trump accused of vandalizing Washington DC’s Reflecting Pool (which, thanks to the President’s botched effort to paint it blue, should now be called the “Strait of Warm Ooze). In ending the prosecution, the judge noted that former Fox News host/District Attorney Jeanine Pirro had presented no evidence of a crime. Meanwhile, the convicted felon who destroyed the East Wing of the White House remains at large.

· Republicans made themselves look foolish and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith look like the patriot he is during his 6-hour testimony on September 29. The highlight was Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt’s effort to concoct a secret meeting between Smith and Georgia District Attorney Fani Wills in the stands of an Atlanta Hawks game, only to have his theory unravel on live TV when Smith explained that the game he attended that day was in Maryland and involved the Iowa Hawkeyes. (On a more serious note, Smith also used the hearing to detail why two grand juries indicted Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.)

Thanks for helping us fight the good fight. Feel free to share these with family and friends and members of your social networks. Send your own ideas of actions that Boosters can take to [email protected].

10/01/2026

It is worth comparing Mary Miller's campaign website to Jennifer Todd's. Mary Miller's has lots of pictures of Donald Trump but no information about where the people she represents can talk to her and hear her ideas. It's like she is trying to hide or doesn't think she has to pay attention to voters. How can you be a Representative if you won't talk to the people you are supposed to represent?

Jen Todd's is full of information about where she will be, who she is talking to and how you can listen to what she has to say.

The difference is clear.

Join Jennifer on the Campaign Trail 💙 [a blue heart shape] confirms Jennifer will be in attendance.

09/29/2026

Democrat or Republican, can we agree that people we elect to represent us in Washington should actually talk to us? I know Mary Miller is afraid people will be mean to her because gas and diesel prices are so high, but it's not too much to ask of a person who only works three days a week and is now on a two-month vacation. Edgar County deserves better.

Jenifer Todd: A Nurse, a Mom, a Fighter. Public Service is about YOU! As our next member of Congress I will fight to protect our Democracy, bring resources back to Illinois, and fight for equal protection under the law.