May in Focus: Key Moments, Voting News, and Volunteer Openings 🗳️✨

Recap from May 14 Business Meeting

Courtney Bruder, CCDC Chair

Hello Cherokee Democrats! Here’s a recap of Thursday’s meeting!

Everyone please join me in congratulating our newest Postholder and new 3rd Vice Chair, Sydney Gunter! We’re thrilled to have her aboard as not only a Postholder but also an EC member. She will be an invaluable asset to our organization as we navigate these tumultuous times. Her work as Chair of the Orientation Committee and Secretary of the Cherokee Young Dems has been outstanding, and I’m excited to see her excel on the EC!

We will miss Betsy greatly but are so excited that she will be helping Talarico win in Texas!

Committee Chair updates:

If you’ve missed it earlier, Connie Malhiot is the new Service Committee Chair! We’re so grateful that she stepped up to fill a much-needed role
We have an opening for Events Chair! If you’re interested in filling that role, please reach out!

Primary Elections:

Election Day is TUESDAY, MAY 19! If you have not voted, set aside time that day to ensure your voice is heard. And make sure to pull a Democratic ballot. I know we sometimes like to pull Republican ballots to try to prevent the worst Republican from winning the primary, but this is not the year to do that. We need to show the Republican-controlled Georgia legislature that the Democrats are energized and that gerrymandering our state could backfire on them worse than they expect. We’re here to win, and we won’t back down!
We need to get Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin on the Supreme Court and Will Wooten on the Georgia Court of Appeals. West Virginia just flipped two of their Supreme Court seats and a Court of Appeals seats. West Virginia is not a bastion of blue voters, and if they can do it, so can we. Let’s not let West Virginia show us up!

We got to hear from Jason Tanner (Candidate for HD 20) and Brett Hulme (Candidate for Labor Commissioner).

Jason Tanner stands for:

Steady, practical leadership
Listening first and focusing on results
Making sure Cherokee County’s voice is heard clearly at the Capitol

He understands that the fight is not left vs right but rather up vs down and wants to ensure that everyone has an equal shot in our country. His priorities are tackling the dangers of social media and the rising mental health issues stemming from social media, ensuring taxpayer money stays in public schools rather than going to private education through vouchers, and raising the minimum wage. Check out his website to learn more: TannerForGA.com

Brett Hulme introduced himself briefly. His priorities are:

Protecting Georgia workers
Supporting the workforce
Building an affordable Georgia

Check out his website to learn more about him: BrettHulme.com

Potential gerrymandering in Georgia
I know tensions and fears are rising now that Kemp has rolled over and called a special legislative session. Like other Republican governors across the South, he is kowtowing to the orange felon and trying to remove representation from Black communities. This is unsurprising, abhorrent, and absolutely on brand for the Republicans. MAGA only wants people who look like them to vote.

While we may not have much leverage to prevent the Republican-majority legislature from doing whatever they decide to do, we can make them regret suppressing voices they don’t want to hear. They cannot win Georgia without massive margins in Cherokee County because the plurality of their votes come from our county, and that means Cherokee Democrats can block the Republicans from winning statewide elections by turning out in droves and canceling out Republican votes in Cherokee, shrinking the Republican margins here and thereby kneecapping them.

These statewide races include Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and Jon Ossoff’s Senate seat as well as several commissioner seats and judges. Cherokee County has the ability to win these seats for the Democrats even if the spineless, corrupt, Republican racists down at the Gold Dome try to erase representation across the state.

We can be the shield that protects the rights of our friends and neighbors, but we must vote. We need to speak to our friends, neighbors, families–anyone in our circle who claims to be independent or apolitical or is beginning to waver in their faith in the Republicans. The time is now to pull these people over to our side. For the first time in more than a decade, the majority of the nation trusts Democrats on the economy more than they trust Republicans. There’s been a 33-point swing to the left on this topic since 2024. Let’s capitalize on this. Speak to your circle and get them to vote Democratic.

A statewide Republican victory must run through Cherokee County, and the blue wave of Cherokee Democrats will end any chance of that Republican victory. Let’s take these statewide seats and show the Republicans that the Democrats will never cease fighting for the good of all.

Voter Protection

Linda Kaminski, Committee Chair

Primary voting completes 5/19. We had a record number of people indicating an interest to be a poll watcher for this election. We had 28 pole watchers for the primary between advanced voting and general voting day.

During advanced voting, we had no major polling issues. The few that occurred were related to voter ID and those were resolved and polling location. These were resolved as well. Anticipate the general election on the 19th we have similar issues and that time spent monitoring will be quiet as as usual.

We begin recruiting for the June runoff on May 20, 2026. If you are interested in volunteering please sign up HERE.

GOTV (Get Out The Vote)

Julie Glade, Committee Chair

Tales from the GOTV Trail

The fine folks of the GOTV Committee are spreading the word over the weekend, hitting the doors for our GA Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and State Court Judge candidates. It’s the final push for judicial elections and it’s all hands on deck!

Pushing for voter turnout takes many forms. Promoting our candidates in our social media platforms, debating the various candidates over coffee, and even standing in line while shopping. Gerry had a delightful experience in a local cell phone store. After striking up a conversation with an employee about the primary election, it became clear that the employee, and her contacts and other customers, had very little knowledge about the election and its consequences. After providing voter education, Gerry was able to lock in a handful of votes for our candidates that didn’t exist moments before. That’s the way it’s done, folks!

Paul and Linda reported a fulfilling discussion at the doors with a Republican voter who is sick and tired of the current regime in DC as well as in Georgia, and has committed to vote blue until the ship rights itself. He thought Friday was the last day to vote in the primary, and was pleased to learn he could still vote on Tuesday. We found his polling location and garnered another set of votes for our candidates—this is why we put in the work!

We can use more help! Phone banks for the judicial candidates are ongoing throughout the weekend, and it takes such little effort to make a few calls every day and make a difference. We have GOT to get our candidates elected to the judicial branch. Please take some time in the next three days to help—you will be glad you did—it’s very fulling work. Contact me HERE for details.

I am always touched by the dedication of volunteers who care so deeply about supporting our candidates, and the community. We all are deeply impressed and grateful.

CCDVets Committee

Ryan Nellums, Committee Chair

The CCDVets held another successful meeting in April. We were honored to welcome three outstanding 2026 candidates who spoke with our members: Adrian Consonery, candidate for Georgia Secretary of State; Chris Harden, candidate for GA Congressional District 11; and Nikki Porcher, candidate for Georgia Labor Commissioner.

Members also came together in a strong show of support for the community, collecting enough food to help restock one of the Canton Pantry Angels locations. Thank you to everyone who donated and helped support families in need.

In addition, Al and Ellen Richardson were recognized for their military service to our nation and were presented with challenge coins in appreciation of their dedication and sacrifice.

We hope to see everyone at our next meeting on Wednesday, May 27. Details to follow.

Environment and Climate Crisis Committee

Roy Taylor, Committee Chair

CCDVets & Environment and Climate Crisis Committee Join Forces for Earth Day Cleanup

In honor of Earth Day, members of the Cherokee County Democrats Veterans Affairs Group (CCDVets), the Environment and Climate Crisis Committee, and local Democrats from across Cherokee County came together for a community cleanup event along Sixes Road in Canton—and made a real impact.

Volunteers gathered at the mile of roadway adopted by Cherokee County Democrats and got to work, collecting an impressive 18 bags of trash from the roadside. It was a testament to what our community can accomplish when we roll up our sleeves and work together.

This joint effort reflected the shared values at the heart of our organizations—a commitment to service, stewardship of the land we love, and showing up for our neighbors and our community. Whether you’re a veteran who has served this country, an advocate fighting for a cleaner and healthier environment, or simply a neighbor who cares about Cherokee County, the message was the same: we all have a role to play in taking care of what’s ours.

A heartfelt thank you to every volunteer who gave their time and energy to make Cherokee County a little cleaner and greener. Events like these remind us that grassroots action — one bag at a time — truly makes a difference.

Stay tuned for future service opportunities with CCDVets and the Environment and Climate Crisis Committee. There’s always more good work to be done!

Fundraising Committee

Julia Kang, Committee Chair

The 2026 Spring Fundraiser was a big success thanks to all of you!! A quick breakdown of the results:

We raised over $6000 of funds from ticket sales/sponsorships, auction items, and other donations and contributions. Final numbers are still being tallied.
A special thank you again to our generous sponsors.
The official head count was 71.
We got to hear from eight of our local candidates including both CD11 candidates.

Thank you all again for supporting this event annually, you made this one stellar for this important year for the democrats in Cherokee and beyond!

2026 Spring Fundraiser

Communications Committee

Stephanie Bolton, Committee Chair

Social Media Updates:

👍Like, Comment On, and Share our posts, this helps us spread the message farther. Be sure to also follow all our candidates on social media and Like, Comment On, and Share their posts to help more voters find out about them.

SM NOTE: All our official social media channels are open to the public. This means anyone, including Republicans, can see and comment on our posts. If you choose to engage with negative comments please remain respectful. Or, don’t feed the trolls.

Newsletter Updates:

The Communications Committee is looking for a volunteer to help put this newsletter together monthly. This will entail getting a short summary and photos from each committee covering recent events, accomplishments, and announcements. Experience using MailChimp helpful. If interested please complete our volunteer form and select Communications. Volunteer HERE