top of page

Chair's Message April 7, 2024

Way Too Much on The Line

Dear Friends: 

I will be blunt. There is way too much on the line with the 2024 Elections. Up and down the ballot, climate-denying, woman-hating, dictator-loving Republicans want to gain entry to public office so they can advance laws that threaten our hard-won freedoms, doom our planet, and take our country back to the dark ages of racism and isolationism. Examples of precious American assets that are on the line, include:

  • Democracy and Free-world Leadership: The Republican Party in America has a school-boy crush on dictators around the world, and they’re willing to destroy the precious system of free and fair elections that our troops fought and died for, and that gave the U.S. its reputation as the leader of the free world. 

  • Truth and Justice: The Republican Party has a serious allergy to the truth. Whether it is the history of slavery and racial injustice in our country, the fact of our dying planet, or the rights of people to seek a better life in the U.S., Republicans either deny it, or blame the victim. The last thing we need is these cowardly responses to the most serious threats facing current and future generations of humans.

  • Reproductive Freedom: The Republican war on women is being waged in state legislatures all over the country with devious policy changes that would never be passed under Democratic majorities. Generations of women fought hard for reproductive freedom. We can’t let power get into the hands of those wanting to legislate whether and when women bear children.

  • Safety: Extreme Republicans, with a straight face, claim that gay relationships depicted in books are harmful to school children, while they make it easy to buy war-grade weapons that have literally massacred innocent people. And let’s remember, too, that the hatred they preach creates so much emotional harm to LGBTQ+ youth that they are at heightened risk of dying by suicide. This is as evil and messed-up as it gets. 

  • A Middle Class: The number one Republican policy priority (after protecting their power) is to help the super-rich get needlessly richer, and to victim-blame people getting paid poverty wages for their financial circumstances. Can you imagine a more dysfunctional approach to achieving a balanced economy? 

Democrats envision something different for America:

  • A government of, by and for the people, where votes matter and power is peacefully transferred. 

  • An equitable and inclusive America where racism in all its forms is rejected, everyone is free to be who they are, and justice is restored. 

  • A safe, healthy planet for humankind.

  • A country where women have the freedom to decide whether and when to bear children. 

  • A nation where everyone has the freedom to attend school, church and public events without the fear of being senselessly murdered by weapons of war. 

  • An America where work pays a living wage and where the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share into the economy. 

To make this vision a reality, we must elect Democrats up and down the ballot. 

This is the mission of your Democratic Party. It takes work, like running for office, petitioning, registering voters, calling and texting voters, speaking up on social media, and encouraging everyone to exercise their right to vote. And here’s the thing: the Democratic Party isn’t just its committee members. It’s all of us. Together, we all make up the Party and, together, we are responsible for the work. 

Please get involved. Follow us online, sign up for our newsletter, or get in touch with us at corningcitydems@gmail.com. 

Chairman’s Message  July 23, 2022

August 23 Special Election for Congress

​

In just a few weeks, on August 23rd, we have a crucial opportunity to elect a Democrat to represent NY23 in Congress. It is imperative that we get out the vote for Max Della Pia.
As you know, the stakes could not be higher when it comes to decisions at the Federal level. We need everyone talking about this!
 
WHAT:

  • August 23 is the Special Election to fill the vacancy in the current NY 23rd District created when Republican Tom Reed walked away from his constituents to take a lobbying job. The winner of the Special Election will be our Representative until January 2023.

  • Max Della Pia has been endorsed by every single Democratic County Committee Chair in the District.

  • Max's opponent will be Republican Joe Sempolinski running as a placeholder while two extreme right-wing Republicans vie to become the GOP Congressional candidate for new 23rd in the November General Election. Max is committed to running in the General Election. Winning on August 23 will provide a big leg up in November.

  • Here is what the ballot will look like.

HOW:

  • Absentee Voting: Apply for the absentee ballot with a qualifying reason by August 8th. There are a few ways to apply.

  • Early Voting: Here is the full schedule with options in Hornell, Bath and Corning every day from Saturday, August 13th through Sunday, August 21st.

       SPECIAL NOTE FOR EARLY VOTING IN CORNING: Early voting will take place at the Southeast Steuben County Library, and not at the Steelworkers Union Hall. This is for early voting only. On Tuesday, August 23, election day, the polls will be at the Steelworkers Union Hall as usual.

  • Election Day: Polls are open from 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM on August 23rd. Find your voting location on this list or call the Board of Elections at 607-664-2260 and they will look it up.

YOU CAN SUPPORT MAX'S CAMPAIGN:

  • You can send post cards, agree to a lawn sign, commit to text / email / post to your networks, and get the people to the polls on August 23 (or for early voting, August 13-21). We will give you the tools to make it easy!

  • Fill out this form to let us know how you can help. We will be in touch right away to involve you.

Chairman’s Message  November 1, 2021

Happy Election Eve!

Your Corning City Democratic Committee has been working hard to campaign with and for our candidates. Tomorrow is Election Day, when we need you more than ever. 

To get us in the spirit of voting, I came up with this list of the 5 reasons why your vote in local elections matters:

  1. Local elections can be extremely close. We have had elections won or lost by less than 10 votes, and we have even literally had a tie. If you have ever thought that one vote doesn't make a difference, we are here to tell you it does.

  2. Local elected officials make decisions about your community. Maybe this goes without saying, but you pay taxes and you live here, so you should have a say in who makes judgments about roads, parks, safety, housing and ordinances affecting the community.

  3. That Mayor, Legislator or Councilman who won a local election may later leverage their experience and name recognition to secure election to State or Federal office. Vote locally for values you want going to work for you in Albany or Washington.

  4. Who we elect reflects of our values. When anyone looks at the makeup of local governing bodies, it should tell them something about who we are as a community, and what we believe in. 

  5. Democracy. Generations of brilliant and brave people set up the United States of America to function as a representative democracy, and to preserve and protect this form of government that relies on the people as its heartbeat. We honor the history of our great Nation, and the sacrifices made by our Military, when we vote.

       

       Voting Information

  • Tuesday, November 2, 2021

  • Polls are open from 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM.

  • Find your polling place.

  • Make a plan, and exercise your right to vote. 

​

     - Margie Lawlor, Chair, Corning City Democratic Committee

Chairman’s Message July 4, 2021

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Today we celebrate the Declaration of Independence which, in addition to enumerating just cause for the Colonies to become independent from British rule, established the unalienable right of each person to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Among our nation’s founding documents, the Declaration of Independence also asserted “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 

​

Our government “by consent of the governed,” was threatened like never before during the insurgency of January 6, 2021, when Donald Trump incited his followers to use violence to impede the U.S. Congress from certifying the results of the free and fair 2020 Presidential Election. This insurrection occurred against the backdrop of Senate Republicans issuing objections to electoral vote counts and former Republican President Donald Trump repeating the lie that the election was stolen from him. 

​

The moral of this story is that Republicans cannot be trusted to protect our democracy, the mechanism by which we are governed by our own consent. 

​

Three days ago, Joe Sempolinski (Steuben County Republican Party Chairman and ex-aide to Tom Reed), announced he will run for Congress in 2022, in a yet-to-be defined Congressional District. This comes after the disgraced Congressman Reed announced he will not seek re-election. In Sempolinski’s announcement, he referenced, “The radical and dangerous agenda of the far left,” and said, “We need to support the rule of law and those who enforce the law … we need to support small business owners who just want to get back to making a living.”If Sempolinski thinks that this worn-out Republican tactic of calling the left “dangerous” and casting Republicans as protectors of the rule of law is still effective after Republicans incited a violent attack on our freedoms and democracy, he is fooling himself. Voters know the Republican Party’s role in the January 6th violent attack on our democracy. Voters know it is the Republican Party that is advancing a “radical and dangerous agenda.” Meanwhile, not a single Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan which provides aid to small business owners and the entire agriculture industry to recover from the pandemic. So,Sempolinski can’t claim to support small businesses or farms in our district either.

​

Despite the terrorist uprising and breach of the Capitol, Congressman Lee Zeldin, Republican from New York, still supported objections to the 2020 Election Results. And, again, no Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan. Zeldin plans to run for Governor of New York, and was welcomed to Steuben County recently with great fanfare by the Steuben County Republican Committee, led by Joe Sempolinski.

​

The Corning City Democratic Committee will use its email newsletters to keep our supporters informed about the misinformation, rhetoric and political gamesmanship of the Republican Party. In addition, we plan to keep voters informed about local government, local elections and Democratic Party policy accomplishments.

You may sign up to receive these newsletters using the form below, right.

​

Please continue to follow us, and become engaged in our work to elect Democrats at every level of government. Our independence has been hard fought, and we need to preserve our democratic society by electing its true protectors and the Party that actually votes to support small business. 

​

- Margie Lawlor, Chair, Corning City Democratic Committee

bottom of page