This week, which marks the beginning of Passover for those of the Jewish faith, and when Christians are celebrating Good Friday and Easter, is a time many of us long for community. Social distancing is making these connections harder, and there are many in our community who are suffering.
Miami-Dade is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Florida, and on the economic front, we know that thousands of us have lost our jobs. The true economic impact is hard to know because of how difficult it has been to apply for reemployment assistance with the state of Florida. I am proud of our elected Democrats for pushing for reforms, including the demand that all unemployment benefits be made retroactive to the date of job loss.
I am proud of the work that the Miami-Dade Democrats have continued to do during this time. We have turned our phone banks into wellness check calls. Our volunteers have continued our postcard writing campaign. In very little time, we have retooled our field program into an online field program. We continued our hiring process for Field Organizers, doing our interviews remotely, and finding candidates who are eager to continue organizing for change in remote ways.
The Democratic Party is a forward-looking party. And right now, we are looking forward to several important campaigns:
- A massive push to enroll all Miami-Dade Democrats in Vote-By-Mail. If you haven’t enrolled in Vote-By-Mail yet, now is the time to do so. Enrolling to get your ballot in the mail ensures you have a way to vote if in-person voting is unsafe. Vote-By-Mail is safe, it is free (no postage is required), and it increases voter turnout and decreases voter suppression. You can enroll by going to www.votefromhome.miami.
- We will be highlighting the August 18 election. Many voters who are great at voting in November do not bother to vote in August. We will be putting a big emphasis on why the August election matters, and encouraging everyone to do their part to elect a Democratic mayor in Miami-Dade County, and Democratic commissioners, along with many other important elections happening in August.
- Want to help with our campaigns? We need volunteers! Help us with a virtual phone bank, get involved with our text banks, or help us digitally organize: sign up here.
- We have been humbled by those who continue to give to our organizing efforts during this difficult time. Thank you to everyone who has continued to chip in. If you are able, we need funds to scale up our digital organizing efforts to reach as many Democrats in Miami-Dade with our message about Vote-By-Mail as possible. If you can, please chip in $20 to help us enroll 20 more Democrats in Vote-By-Mail.
And, last but not least, we are looking forward to November. There is no doubt that if we all do everything we can, and we push through this difficult time and come together, we can flip several State House seats, an important State Senate seat, defend our Democratic Congresswomen, flip Florida Blue and evict this impeached president from the White House.
Yours in the fight,
Steve Simeonidis
Chair, Miami-Dade Democratic Party