2024 Election
Democrats clearly lost ground. Primary issues from polling were how prices for everyday Americans had climbed (particularly in 2022) and voters held the Biden administration accountable. Border policy was poorly executed in 2021-2023 and it created a point to leverage. Surprising and disappointing to us has been the increasing support for a candidate who has a negative view of the nation and that despite personal issues including bigotry, criminal activity, and age, swayed the 2% of the voters he needed to win.
Jackson County Democrats were defeated by similar proportions, though the Mahoney campaign reduced the average local split from 70/30 to 60/40. A defeat, but that’s thousands of voters who split their tickets, indicating that there’s support for candidates with local ties and a good campaign.
Strike
The strike at Eaton Aerospace is primarily about the company trying to take away benefits from workers in the form of pensions. Boeing Aerospace tried the same approach in their NW US facilities, but their financial situation has caused them to compromise. Eaton Aerospace is unlikely to follow suit and is actively planning on bringing in strike breakers. This information is not well distributed in the community with many people thinking this is about strikers wanting more money and not about stopping the company from taking away benefits. Our support for the workers and the Union continues unabated.
JCDC
Elections are markers, a place in time, a reading on the choices that were presented to the voters. It’s important that we both consider what we run on and who are the candidates. Our local support for inclusion, worker’s rights, women’s rights, enviromental protections, and for decent and moral candidates is unchanged.
Jackson County Dems’ goals and approach are unchanged. Some of us remember working in the 1960s on equal rights, in opposition to a corrupt President Nixon including Viet Nam, and resisting Reagan as he dismantled unions starting with air traffic controllers. Like then, we remain in it for the long run.
Our work for 2026 begins today as we plan outreach to the county townships, towns, and villages. We’re starting with committed and dedicated leadership, we’ve learned from 2024 and we will not be defeated by a loss.