Thoughts from our Chair
Sept. 8, 2025
Updated Sept. 14, 2025
Updated Sept. 14, 2025
Hello Mathews Dems,
If you read Steve Schmidt, Heather Cox Richardson, and Robert Reich, among others, as I do, you may have reached the conclusion that I have that the United States has ceased to be a functioning democracy and moved over the line into a dictatorship. The US Supreme Court has overruled a lower court decision to allow the Trump Administration to resume immigration raids in LA. The courts and Congress can't stop Trump. It is up to us (with the help of Democratic governors).
Please keep protesting. Every act of resistance matters.
1. No Tyrants Tuesdays in Mathews returns this week. Please join your neighbors tomorrow, September 16, at Liberty Square from 5-6 pm. Be peaceful. Bring your signs, a friend or two, and your well-mannered dog. Last week, 40 people participated. Let's make it at least 50 this week.
2. Women's March. Saturday, Sept. 20. There will be a major march in New York City and one nearby in Williamsburg. Find out more here and sign up for Williamsburg March. https://www.womensmarch.com/
3. NO KINGS. Saturday, October 18. This will be the biggest protest to date across the country. Please save the date. Sign up here.RSVP here to join a No Kings protest on October 18, and help make it the largest day of peaceful actions in our country’s history. Sign up here. RSVP here to join a No Kings protest on October 18, and help make it the largest day of peaceful actions in our country’s history.
A nationwide virtual kickoff call will be held on Thursday, September 18, at 8 pm. Sign up here to participate in the call..
https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/839315/?referring_vol=20347&rname=Sheila×lot=5508251&referring_participation=43946406&referring_data_signature=v1-6fec81f2228199ce&share_medium=copy_link&share_context=signup-form-modal
More news:
1. The Gloucester Dems will hold their annual Seafood Dinner fundraiser on Thursday, September 18. Go to https://www.glodemsva.org/ to purchase tickets and for more information.
2. Early Voting. The polls open this Friday, September 19 at 9am at the Voter Registrar's Office, 10604 Buckley Hall Road, in the Liberty Square county office complex. Early voting is so easy, thanks to our wonderful registrar staff. The Democratic Party of Virginia is urging a big turnout on Friday.
3. Shannon Taylor, the Commonwealth's Attorney in Henrico, who ran for VA Attorney General in the Democratic Primary, announced today that she is running for Congress in VA-1 to defeat Rob Wittman in 2026. She has asked to come to Mathews to meet with us; stay tuned for an announcement of a date.
4. Signs. Hopefully, you have begun to see Democratic yard signs popping up in Mathews. Kent Willis is putting up the large (4x8 and 4x4) signs. We have a limited number of these signs, so Kent is placing them where they get maximum visibility, mainly on Rt 14 and Rt 198. Please let him know if you have a good spot and want a sign (804-399-4191). We also have a new supply of Spanberger yard signs and our first Jay Jones signs, as well as Elaine Walters signs. Please contact me (540-907-2993) if you want yard signs.
5. Canvassing. Maureen Bongarzone, Susan Riggs, and I spent several hours knocking on doors this past weekend. Canvassing in Mathews is slow, mostly because houses are spread out and addresses are hard to find. But I was reminded why I like canvassing so much.... face-to-face contact with real people, some of whom haven't started to focus on this year's election, and we were able to talk to them about each Democratic candidate. Please consider canvassing; talking to people is the easy part. Call or text me (540-907-2993) if you can help, and I will give you more details.
6. Postcard campaign. Butler Knight and her postcard crew are preparing about 1500 postcards to mail this week to local Dems and Independents to encourage them to vote early. Thanks to Kent Willis for designing the postcard again this year.Thank yous:
7. Sherry and John Hodges hosted a fundraiser for Elaine Walters at their home on August 28. We had a good turnout and raised over $1500 to help Elaine buy her large signs. MCDC will match that amount up to the cost of the signs. Thanks to Sherry and John for opening their house for this worthy cause, and to everyone who donated.
8. We had a successful two days at our "unofficial" booth near Mathews Market Days. Thanks to Storybound for giving us such a prime location. Maureen Bongarzone organized volunteers to staff the booth in 2-hour shifts (on two very hot days!). Kent Willis got our tent, tables, and chairs set up and taken down as always. We collected cash donations for Hands Across Mathews, totalling $299. MCDC is also matching these gifts, so we will be delivering $598 to HAM this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed to a successful two days.
Reminder. The next meeting of the Mathews County Democratic Committee will be Saturday, September 20, 10 am at the Chesapeake Bank in their community room. The next social event will be on Sunday, September 28. Watch for a separate announcement.
All for now. Thank you for all you do.
Sheila
Thank you,
Sheila
If you read Steve Schmidt, Heather Cox Richardson, and Robert Reich, among others, as I do, you may have reached the conclusion that I have that the United States has ceased to be a functioning democracy and moved over the line into a dictatorship. The US Supreme Court has overruled a lower court decision to allow the Trump Administration to resume immigration raids in LA. The courts and Congress can't stop Trump. It is up to us (with the help of Democratic governors).
Please keep protesting. Every act of resistance matters.
1. No Tyrants Tuesdays in Mathews returns this week. Please join your neighbors tomorrow, September 16, at Liberty Square from 5-6 pm. Be peaceful. Bring your signs, a friend or two, and your well-mannered dog. Last week, 40 people participated. Let's make it at least 50 this week.
2. Women's March. Saturday, Sept. 20. There will be a major march in New York City and one nearby in Williamsburg. Find out more here and sign up for Williamsburg March. https://www.womensmarch.com/
3. NO KINGS. Saturday, October 18. This will be the biggest protest to date across the country. Please save the date. Sign up here.RSVP here to join a No Kings protest on October 18, and help make it the largest day of peaceful actions in our country’s history. Sign up here. RSVP here to join a No Kings protest on October 18, and help make it the largest day of peaceful actions in our country’s history.
A nationwide virtual kickoff call will be held on Thursday, September 18, at 8 pm. Sign up here to participate in the call..
https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/839315/?referring_vol=20347&rname=Sheila×lot=5508251&referring_participation=43946406&referring_data_signature=v1-6fec81f2228199ce&share_medium=copy_link&share_context=signup-form-modal
More news:
1. The Gloucester Dems will hold their annual Seafood Dinner fundraiser on Thursday, September 18. Go to https://www.glodemsva.org/ to purchase tickets and for more information.
2. Early Voting. The polls open this Friday, September 19 at 9am at the Voter Registrar's Office, 10604 Buckley Hall Road, in the Liberty Square county office complex. Early voting is so easy, thanks to our wonderful registrar staff. The Democratic Party of Virginia is urging a big turnout on Friday.
3. Shannon Taylor, the Commonwealth's Attorney in Henrico, who ran for VA Attorney General in the Democratic Primary, announced today that she is running for Congress in VA-1 to defeat Rob Wittman in 2026. She has asked to come to Mathews to meet with us; stay tuned for an announcement of a date.
4. Signs. Hopefully, you have begun to see Democratic yard signs popping up in Mathews. Kent Willis is putting up the large (4x8 and 4x4) signs. We have a limited number of these signs, so Kent is placing them where they get maximum visibility, mainly on Rt 14 and Rt 198. Please let him know if you have a good spot and want a sign (804-399-4191). We also have a new supply of Spanberger yard signs and our first Jay Jones signs, as well as Elaine Walters signs. Please contact me (540-907-2993) if you want yard signs.
5. Canvassing. Maureen Bongarzone, Susan Riggs, and I spent several hours knocking on doors this past weekend. Canvassing in Mathews is slow, mostly because houses are spread out and addresses are hard to find. But I was reminded why I like canvassing so much.... face-to-face contact with real people, some of whom haven't started to focus on this year's election, and we were able to talk to them about each Democratic candidate. Please consider canvassing; talking to people is the easy part. Call or text me (540-907-2993) if you can help, and I will give you more details.
6. Postcard campaign. Butler Knight and her postcard crew are preparing about 1500 postcards to mail this week to local Dems and Independents to encourage them to vote early. Thanks to Kent Willis for designing the postcard again this year.Thank yous:
7. Sherry and John Hodges hosted a fundraiser for Elaine Walters at their home on August 28. We had a good turnout and raised over $1500 to help Elaine buy her large signs. MCDC will match that amount up to the cost of the signs. Thanks to Sherry and John for opening their house for this worthy cause, and to everyone who donated.
8. We had a successful two days at our "unofficial" booth near Mathews Market Days. Thanks to Storybound for giving us such a prime location. Maureen Bongarzone organized volunteers to staff the booth in 2-hour shifts (on two very hot days!). Kent Willis got our tent, tables, and chairs set up and taken down as always. We collected cash donations for Hands Across Mathews, totalling $299. MCDC is also matching these gifts, so we will be delivering $598 to HAM this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed to a successful two days.
Reminder. The next meeting of the Mathews County Democratic Committee will be Saturday, September 20, 10 am at the Chesapeake Bank in their community room. The next social event will be on Sunday, September 28. Watch for a separate announcement.
All for now. Thank you for all you do.
Sheila
Thank you,
Sheila
But What Can We DO?
Posted by Inequality Media, Robert Reich, professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator, tells us the 5 things we can do to protect our democracy.
Reich served in the Ford, Carter, Clinton, and Obama administrations.
Reich served in the Ford, Carter, Clinton, and Obama administrations.
August, 1927... One Hundred Years of Persecuting Immigrants
In August, 1927 Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for the murders of a paymaster and a guard during an armed robbery. To this day, questions remain about whether or not they were guilty of murder or of simply being poor immigrants who were avowed anarchists.
In the moments before his death, Vanzetti spoke about his dedication to fighting for social Justice. His words seem particularly important today.
I have talk a great deal of myself
but I even forgot to name Sacco.
Sacco too is a worker,
from his boyhood a skilled worker, lover of work,
with a good job and pay,
a bank account, a good and lovely wife,
two beautiful children and a neat little home
at the verge of a wood, near a brook.
Sacco is a heart, a faith, a character, a man;
a man, love of nature, and mankind;
a man who gave all, who sacrifice all
to the cause of liberty and to his love for mankind:
money, rest, mundane ambition,
his own wife, his children, himself
and his own life.
Sacco has never dreamt to steal, never to assassinate.
He and I have never brought a morsel
of bread to our mouths, from our childhood to today
which has not been gained by the sweat of our brows.
Never…
Oh, yes, I may be more witful, as some have put it;
I am a better babbler than he is, but many, many times in hearing his heartful voice ringing a faith sublime,
in considering his supreme sacrifice, remembering his heroism,
I felt small in the presence of his greatness
and found myself compelled to fight back
from my eyes the tears,
and quanch my heart
trobling to my throat to not weep before him:
this man called thief and assassin and doomed.
But Sacco’s name will live in the hearts of the people
and in their gratitude when Katzmann’s bones
and yours will be dispersed by time;
when your name, his name, your laws, institutions,
and your false god are but a dim rememoring
of a cursed past in which man was wolf
to the man…
If it had not been for these thing
I might have live out my life
talking at street corners to scorning men.
I might have die, unmarked, unknown, a failure.
Now we are not a failure.
This is our career and our triumph. Never
in our full life could we hope to do such work
for tolerance, for justice, for man’s understanding
of man, as now we do by accident.
Our words, our lives, our pains—nothing!
The taking of our lives—lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fishpeddler— all! That last moment belongs to us— that agony is our triumph.
In the moments before his death, Vanzetti spoke about his dedication to fighting for social Justice. His words seem particularly important today.
I have talk a great deal of myself
but I even forgot to name Sacco.
Sacco too is a worker,
from his boyhood a skilled worker, lover of work,
with a good job and pay,
a bank account, a good and lovely wife,
two beautiful children and a neat little home
at the verge of a wood, near a brook.
Sacco is a heart, a faith, a character, a man;
a man, love of nature, and mankind;
a man who gave all, who sacrifice all
to the cause of liberty and to his love for mankind:
money, rest, mundane ambition,
his own wife, his children, himself
and his own life.
Sacco has never dreamt to steal, never to assassinate.
He and I have never brought a morsel
of bread to our mouths, from our childhood to today
which has not been gained by the sweat of our brows.
Never…
Oh, yes, I may be more witful, as some have put it;
I am a better babbler than he is, but many, many times in hearing his heartful voice ringing a faith sublime,
in considering his supreme sacrifice, remembering his heroism,
I felt small in the presence of his greatness
and found myself compelled to fight back
from my eyes the tears,
and quanch my heart
trobling to my throat to not weep before him:
this man called thief and assassin and doomed.
But Sacco’s name will live in the hearts of the people
and in their gratitude when Katzmann’s bones
and yours will be dispersed by time;
when your name, his name, your laws, institutions,
and your false god are but a dim rememoring
of a cursed past in which man was wolf
to the man…
If it had not been for these thing
I might have live out my life
talking at street corners to scorning men.
I might have die, unmarked, unknown, a failure.
Now we are not a failure.
This is our career and our triumph. Never
in our full life could we hope to do such work
for tolerance, for justice, for man’s understanding
of man, as now we do by accident.
Our words, our lives, our pains—nothing!
The taking of our lives—lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fishpeddler— all! That last moment belongs to us— that agony is our triumph.
Have You Seen this?
I got this in the mail today... NOTE the language:
"Let me be clear: I will not support any changes that impact current beneficiaries or those nearing retirement. Instead, I'll continue working across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions that preserve this essential safety net."
Let's hold him to this promise!
"Let me be clear: I will not support any changes that impact current beneficiaries or those nearing retirement. Instead, I'll continue working across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions that preserve this essential safety net."
Let's hold him to this promise!
Witman Mailer
Witman Mailer page 2
"Federal Cuts Threaten Virginians"
Richmond Times Dispatch, May 15
An article by Michael Martz explains the cuts proposed by the GOP and their impact on Virginians.
"GOP committees proposed cuts that would shift the cost of food assistance to states, make it harder for people to get health care through Medicaid, and cost them more to buy health insurance."
Unfortunately, the Times Dispatch paywall prevents me from linking the article for everyone... but if you have a subscription, I think you will be able to log-in and read the article.
"GOP committees proposed cuts that would shift the cost of food assistance to states, make it harder for people to get health care through Medicaid, and cost them more to buy health insurance."
Unfortunately, the Times Dispatch paywall prevents me from linking the article for everyone... but if you have a subscription, I think you will be able to log-in and read the article.
Bud Ward with President Obama
Bud Ward worked at Anheuser Busch in Williamsburg starting in 1982. He was a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Bud was active in the Mathews Democratic Committee for many years and became chair in 2012. He also became vice chair for the Southeast Region of the Virginia Democratic Party in 2012.
Under Bud’s leadership, our annual Crab Steam grew to be one of the most successful fundraisers of rural Democratic Committees in the state. He was well known among Democratic leaders across the state and was close friends with former Governor Ralph Northam. He completed his tenure as chair of the Mathews committee in 2020, but continued to be active in local and state Democratic affairs.
In recent years, Bud became an integral part of the effort to tell the story of the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island. He helped form the association of the descendants of Black people who were enslaved by Gwynn’s Island white families and who lived and worked on Gwynn’s Island after emancipation. The first reunions of the descendants were held on Bud’s property on the Piankatank River. He was so determined that the historic marker commemorating the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island be located on the island that he offered his property as the place for it to be installed. It is a fitting tribute to Bud that this historic marker will be erected in front of his house on Old Ferry Road.
Bud was an unapologetic champion of all principles and priorities of the Democratic Party in a place where not too many people agreed with him. He loved Mathews County nonetheless.
Bud was active in the Mathews Democratic Committee for many years and became chair in 2012. He also became vice chair for the Southeast Region of the Virginia Democratic Party in 2012.
Under Bud’s leadership, our annual Crab Steam grew to be one of the most successful fundraisers of rural Democratic Committees in the state. He was well known among Democratic leaders across the state and was close friends with former Governor Ralph Northam. He completed his tenure as chair of the Mathews committee in 2020, but continued to be active in local and state Democratic affairs.
In recent years, Bud became an integral part of the effort to tell the story of the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island. He helped form the association of the descendants of Black people who were enslaved by Gwynn’s Island white families and who lived and worked on Gwynn’s Island after emancipation. The first reunions of the descendants were held on Bud’s property on the Piankatank River. He was so determined that the historic marker commemorating the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island be located on the island that he offered his property as the place for it to be installed. It is a fitting tribute to Bud that this historic marker will be erected in front of his house on Old Ferry Road.
Bud was an unapologetic champion of all principles and priorities of the Democratic Party in a place where not too many people agreed with him. He loved Mathews County nonetheless.