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Treasurer Thomas Cynor

The 2006 election cycle represented a watershed year for the McHenry County Democratic Party. We saw the emergence of a dynamic new Democratic political organization in our county that fused core veteran county precinct representatives with a group of invigorating new recruits.

For the first time in memory, the McHenry County Democratic Party elected a member, James P. Kennedy, to the McHenry County Board. In the same year, the Democratic Party carried McHenry County for Congresswoman Melissa Bean in the 8th Congressional District, as well as Democratic candidates Lisa Madigan (Illinois Attorney General), Jesse White (Secretary of State) and Dan Hynes (Illinois Comptroller). I was proud to work side by side with many of you on those campaigns and prouder still when we were able to celebrate at the Old Courthouse on November 7th, 2006.

But these victories were not by chance. These election victories occurred because the McHenry County Democratic Party embarked on an unprecedented campaign -— a campaign to energize the Party. We began with the recruitment of new and dedicated Democratic Precinct Representatives. We doubled our fund-raising efforts. And above all, we campaigned harder than ever for a host of highly qualified and motivated Democratic candidates on the local, state and federal levels of government. Our efforts paid off, and yet, as you are no doubt aware, there is much left to do before we can truly say we have painted McHenry County blue.

In January of 2005, the McHenry County Democratic Party was staffed with only 32 elected PR’s and another 24 who were appointed for a total of 56 Democratic Precinct Representatives. By election day 2006, the Party had dramatically increased its elected PR’s to 55 and its appointed PR’s to 41 for a total of 96 Democratic PR’s staffing the County’s precincts — a 70% increase. As a direct result of the Party’s PR recruitment efforts, the baseline Democratic vote in McHenry County surged from 36% to 42% in just one year.

But we can, and must, do better. We must commit to raising more money now than ever, and we must ensure that all precinct members and poll watchers be afforded appropriate training. We must increase the number of Democratic election judges, we must continue to recruit good, hardworking candidates, we must bolster the public image of the party inside and outside the county, and above all, we must not lose sight of our guiding principles, and in so doing, get good Democrats elected to public office.

This is the vision of the McHenry County Democratic Party. If you share our vision, I invite you to join with us to make a better world for ourselves and our children. Let’s work at making 2008 the year we really do paint McHenry County blue.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it
is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Want to make a difference? Come help us build the Democratic Party and break the one-party stranglehold on local government.

For more information, email us at: info@mchenrydems.com

Meetings

The Democratic Party of McHenry County meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Our meetings are open to the public. We welcome new faces, and we hope you will join us at our next meeting. More…