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| As we celebrate Father’s Day and welcome the Summer Solstice today, the Cumberland County Democrats continue working to protect democracy and prepare for the important November elections ahead. We hope you consider joining us at one of our summer events, connect with like-minded Democrats at a local meeting, express your thoughts in either a letter to the editor or letter to your elected representatives, or even consider volunteering with us. The Cumberland County Democrats invite you to work with us to ensure that our county remains a great place to work, live and play in Pennsylvania. With your help, we will move towards victory this November and build a brighter future. |
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| | From the Chair
Our Time Has Come Now is our time. Let’s stand strong, be bold and get to work. Cumberland County has been trending our way for years, and last year was the first sign that the time has come for Democrats to lead across the county. We elected Sasha Sacavage — our first county Court of Common Pleas judge since World War II — and we won two county row elections, including young Democrat Montana Hartman as prothonotary! We flipped seats in New Cumberland, Hampden, East Pennsboro and Upper Allen and won seats on nearly every school board including North Middleton, where we haven’t held seats in decades. This year, we have the most flippable state house race in Pennsylvania. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has marked Sara Agerton in the 88th District as a top race in the state. Sara is primed and ready, coming off a 2024 campaign in which she raised more money and knocked more doors than any Democrat in the history of Cumberland County. Many organizations back her, including Planned Parenthood, the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council, the Climate Action Cabinet and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance. With Rep. Sheryl Delozier retiring and Jeffrey Clark, an out-of-touch, coal-loving MAGA candidate running against Sara, this is the year to flip the 88th. I highly encourage you to volunteer, donate to Sara and come to an event to meet her. Have you considered getting involved? Do you have some ideas you’d like to see discussed and potentially implemented? Do you have a lot of energy and feel the momentum for our candidates and our committee? We need you! We have precinct committee people (PCP) openings. We have openings on our Events, Communications and Strategic Planning committees. I want you involved; I want your ideas; and I want your help on committees and for our candidates. A blue wave is coming, and we need to do the work over the next few months to deliver Cumberland County for Josh Shapiro, Sara Agerton and the rest of our slate! Email me at chair@cumberlandcountydems.com or sign up on our website to get involved. Let’s go win! — Antonio Megna, CCDC Chair |
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| | Commissioner’s Corner In this time of uncertainty, it is easy for frustration and fatigue to creep in, but we will not give up or give in because we have serious elections with serious consequences to win this fall. We come from different backgrounds and have different priorities and different experiences. We don’t agree on every issue, every approach or every candidate. But our strength has never come from perfect alignment; it comes from our ability to stand together. Unity for us isn’t about erasing our differences; it’s about recognizing that our shared values — affordability, family support, healthcare, reproductive rights, energy, climate, immigration, civil rights, rule of law (fill in what matters most to you) are important and worth the fight. Progress is built by people who choose cooperation over division and who understand that meaningful change happens when many hands lift together. Let’s give one another some grace, and let’s turn out and win elections in the fall. Thank you for your time, energy and your belief in what we can accomplish together. Your commitment is the heartbeat of our local efforts. I am grateful for every moment you give and every election we together win. |
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| | | CCDC Elects New Officers Cumberland County committee people met at the Penn Harris in Camp Hill on June 7 to elect new officers: Antonio Megna, chair; Katie Juliana, first vice chair; Jeff Adams, second vice chair; Johnny Freidhoff, treasurer; and Toni Fitzgerald, secretary. Learn more about our new leaders here: cumberlandcountydems.com/who-we-are. |
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| | Candidates Make Their Case at Cumberland County Rally Democratic determination was on display at Rendezvous Run Farm in Dickinson Township on May 31 for the latest “commUNITY” rally. The home of Rick and Lorelie Coplen, the farm has hosted events for Josh Shapiro and Kamala Harris and many local Democrats. The mood was energetic and positive. Nearly 150 people heard Democratic candidates in contested and uncontested primaries vow to work together for victory in November. Representing thousands of doors knocked and stories shared, every candidate will bring energy, commitment and insight to this year’s campaigns. Event emcee and Carlisle Mayor Sean Shultz kicked off the program with a call for unity. “Campaigns are powered by people moving forward with purpose,” he said. “These are our leaders who are ready to serve and to win.” Following Shultz, Chris “Handles” Franklin, head coach of the Harlem Globetrotters, fired up the crowd with pithy comments such as “Insurrectionists get reparations, while people like me are being erased” and” Trump’s “corruption is taller than the Trump Tower.” Carlisle native TaWanda Stallworth leaned into the event theme that “this [election] is not about a single candidate. Single candidates cannot make a wave.” Commenting on the wave overtaking the whole county not just one portion, the 199th House District candidate said, “I won’t believe Carlisle is a blueberry in a strawberry patch.” The slate’s youngest candidate, Nathan Wood, who is vying for the 34th District Senate seat, said he felt called to “stand up to corruption, malevolent corporations … and to stand up for [marginalized people].” Jessica St Clair, running for the House in District 87, touted her environmental science expertise as an asset for dealing with the impact new data centers will have on water and other natural resources. House candidate for the 193rd District, Todd Crawley, declared that his campaign is “not about enriching big tech and big corporations” but about supporting education and protecting the community. Krista Anderson, who retired from her job with the commonwealth to run for office, said she is seeking the 92nd District House seat to help low-wage workers, like people she knows who work at Giant or the Dollar Tree, as well as family farmers. Janelle Stelson, who is battling U.S. Rep. Scott Perry for the 10th Congressional District, closed out the Nov. 3 candidate pitches by explaining her motivation for leaving a broadcast news career to enter politics: the 2022 Supreme Court decision that ended the federally protected right to an abortion. The overturning of Roe v. Wade “broke my heart,” Stelson said. Stelson concluded with an appeal for the audience to support the entire “strong slate of candidates,” even if they don’t agree with everything about the candidates. “Look at the alternative,” she said. The program concluded with pledges from former candidates Rick Christie and Rich Forsman to support the people who defeated them, TaWanda Stallworth and Nathan Wood, and a call to action from outgoing CCDC Chair Matt Roan. The message was clear: No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. This year Democrats can take control of Congress and the state Senate. We also can expand our one-seat Democratic majority in the state House. That’s worth voting for. Imagine what the good Pennsylvania Democrats can do if Gov. Josh Shapiro has a Democratic House and Senate to work with. That’s worth voting for. And working for. And donating to. Be a vital part of the Blue Wave sweeping Cumberland County. Support your candidate in whatever way feels right for you. And ride the wave to victory. — Tim Potts and Sherri Kimmel |
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| Former candidates (from left) Rick Christie and Rich Forsman joined newly elected candidates Nathan Wood, TaWanda Stallworth, Janelle Stelson, Todd Crawley, Jessica St. Clair and Krista Anderson to thank rally attendees for their support. |
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| Chris “Handles” Franklin, head coach of the Harlem Globetrotters, fired up the crowd before the candidates spoke. |
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| Janelle Stelson called for county Democrats to support the full slate of candidates in the fall. In the background are (from left) Sean Shultz, Carlisle mayor and event emcee, and Rick Coplen, who hosted the rally. |
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| At a picnic after the formal program, candidates met with their Democratic supporters. From left: Glen Mitchell, Todd Crawley, Carla Kungl and David Liu.
Photos by Sherri Kimmel |
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| | State Democratic Committee News In May, Cumberland County re-elected three members to the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee (Jacqueline Smith-Bennet, Sandy Wolfe and Tom Fink) and elected a new male representative, John Flood. Along with our newly elected Cumberland County Democratic Committee Chair, Antonio Megna, the group attended the summer meeting of the committee in State College, Pa., June 12–13. During the week leading up to the in-person meeting, there was a series of zoom-driven caucus and training sessions for new representatives. It was an energized meeting with a clear focus on our values as Democrats and the need to elect Democrats across the state, particularly the governor and lieutenant governor. Our new state committee member, John Flood, quickly fit in and joined the Veteran and Progressive Caucuses. Maggie Loyd was proxy for Sandy Wolfe. The committee meeting was largely focused on reorganization. Eugene DePasquale was re-elected as chair, and Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder was elected vice chair. Our Jacqueline Smith-Bennett was reappointed Party secretary. There also were elections for caucus chairs, including the South Central Regional Caucus, of which we are members. Sandra Thompson from York was elected chair of our caucus, and I was elected vice chair. Jacqueline Smith-Bennett was elected treasurer. The four elected committee members have pledged to increase communication with the CCDC and local clubs and have been meeting to discuss how this improvement can be best accomplished. — Tom Fink |
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| | News from Young Democrats In May, the South Central Pennsylvania Young Democrats held a training on VoteBuilder, given by new CCDC Chair Antonio Megna; several members have some new experience cutting turfs. We are looking forward to expanding our knowledge in this area and supporting candidates. We recorded this training, and it’s available to anyone interested. Email us at scydpa@gmail.com for access. Summer is Pride season. We are coordinating with Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster and York counties to staff their tables to make sure people are registered to vote, know their candidates and are aware of us. Check our social media for upcoming events! Become a member! Attend an event! Follow us on social media!
— Katie Juliana |
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| South Central Pennsylvania Young Democrats attended the Gettysburg Pride Fest Weekend in late May. From left: Harsha Mikkilineni, Josh Pease-Myers and Montana Sigel. |
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| Letters to the Editor Cumberland County Dems have called out injustices in our local newspapers. Here are some letters recently published in The Sentinel and Patriot-News:
Click Bait Stinks The Sentinel’s May 30 front page article by Joseph Cress could be called “good copy” or “click bait.” The headline, “Chief: Police detained 19 people for ICE” certainly caught my attention. The details therein, however, were one-sided and incomplete — a softball to Mt. Holly Springs Police Chief Tom Day. Cress has been covering Mt. Holly Springs for decades. He is a long-time writer for the Sentinel and a published Carlisle-area historian. His May article, which rated above-the-fold placement, was a disappointment.
Perhaps he expected us to believe that Mt. Holly police had stopped 30 commercial truckers since mid-April (approximately 1 per day) who, according to Day, were “suspected of being undocumented immigrants.” What created that suspicion? How do you see a truck going down the road and suspect the driver is undocumented?
Perhaps Cress counted on his readers to sort the ironies in the various quotes from Day like, “When we get them stopped and suspect they could be illegal, we snap a picture of whatever identification they are giving us and send it [by email] to our ICE representative.” If the driver has a valid CDL license, why email it to ICE? And why do you suspect the driver is “illegal”? English proficiency?
Day detained 19 of these 30 “suspected illegals.” Apparently the other 11 were, per his confab with ICE, documented immigrants following laws to become citizens. No matter! Day kept these drivers at the defunct Deer Lodge until the trucking company picked them up. Does Day make citizens pulled over for a driving violation wait for pickup? Doubtful, but I would have to do that research myself, since Cress omitted it.
Policing our roadways for dangerous driving practices is important. Targeting “suspected illegals” is bigotry. Good journalists detail the difference between the two. — Katie Daniels, Boiling Springs, Pa., published June 13
Don’t Ignore Attacks on Black Voters In case anyone thought otherwise, recent events once again proved that our nation has not moved beyond the racism and voter suppression tactics of the Jim Crow South. Just days after the Supreme Court weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act, Louisiana suspended its primary election despite tens of thousands having already voted. Meanwhile, Tennessee lawmakers approved a congressional map that dismantled the state’s only majority-Black district, centered around Memphis, reducing Black voters’ ability to elect a candidate of their choice. These actions are not just political games. They are attacks on democracy itself. Racism is immoral, anti-democratic and fundamentally incompatible with the values of equality and justice that our nation claims to uphold. Every day, school children stand, place their hands over their hearts and recite the words “with liberty and justice for all.” Those words should mean something to all Americans, not just the wealthy, the powerful, the politically connected or white Americans. Justice cannot exist when some voices are silenced. History teaches us that democracy does not disappear overnight. It erodes piece by piece when good people stay silent and disengaged. Voting remains essential, but it is no longer enough. We must organize in our neighborhoods, speak out at public meetings, support voting rights organizations and hold our elected officials accountable. Democracy requires participation, courage and vigilance from ordinary citizens, especially those who are not oppressed. If we wait until it is too late, we may discover that the freedoms we assumed were guaranteed are already gone. Black voters matter. — Jo Bitzer, published May 22 |
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| OUR vote. OUR neighbors. OUR choice. OUR flag. In the spirit of our country’s upcoming 250th celebration, Cumberland Valley Rising invites ALL WHO CAN to join us on Friday, July 3. Come RISE UP and SING OUT in defense of our First Amendment rights: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.
DATE: Friday, July 3 TIME: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. LOCATION: Corner of High and Hanover Streets, Carlisle Pick up a red, white and blue cupcake or popsicle. Grab a flag, a copy of the Constitution or a sign from our sign library. Snag a cold drink. Sing along or start a chant. Be with others, like you, who have HOPE for our country or who may have lost their way. TOGETHER, we are strong and powerful. This is OUR country. OUR vote. OUR neighbors. OUR choice. OUR flag. Come celebrate!
SIGN-MAKING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL! Democratic Headquarters (46 W. Louther St., next to the U.S. Post Office) has graciously offered space for sign making on Monday, June 29, 5-7 p.m. and Wednesday, July 2, 5-7 p.m. Bring your creative juices to make a bold statement. Cumberland Valley Rising will provide the materials and a few ideas, if you need them.
Questions? Email CumberlandValleyRising@gmail.com |
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| | We are the Democratic Party of Cumberland County. We are working year-round to elect Democrats to positions of power at every level of government. Your contributions help us organize, train and mobilize the 64,000 Democrats in Cumberland County from Shippensburg to Camp Hill and everywhere in between. |
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