Meeting to help fill handful of alternate delegate openings

AUGUSTA—The Augusta Democratic City Committee will hold a mini-presidential caucus Wednesday, April 23^rd at 6:30 p.m. in the lecture hall at Augusta City Hall to help fill a limited number of alternate delegate openings for both the Clinton and Obama presidential campaigns.

The mini-caucus follows a successful presidential caucus in February where more than 400 Democrats gathered on a snowy winter night. Veteran Democrats joined newly registered Democrats to participate and cast their vote for their favorite Democratic Presidential nominee.

With 55 delegates available to send to the state convention, United States Senator Barack Obama, D-IL, won the Augusta Caucus by a vote of 29 to 26 over U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, D-NY. Residents from all over Augusta broke up into one of four voting wards to engage in democracy in its simplest form. Clinton and Obama supporters worked hard to sway undecided voters their way until it became clear who had the most votes.

The April 23^rd mini-caucus will allow the two democratic candidates for president to officially fill openings that are available within their respective caucuses. Right now, those openings are for alternates who will attend Democratic State Convention in May alongside their delegate counterparts. Alternate’s could be asked to serve as delegates if a delegate is unavailable to serve for one reason or another.

Any Augusta Democrat who is interested in becoming an alternate or delegate should attend the April 23^rd caucus and express their interest for their favorite candidate. For more information, please contact Michael Johnson at 215-5596 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Additionally, the Augusta Democratic City Committee has launched a new Web site, which also allows visitors to the site may to sign up for e-mail updates. To check out the site, go online to www.augustadems.org.

As a reminder, Maine’s Democratic State Convention is May 30, 31, and June 1 at the August Civic Center.

Date: October 23, 2007

AUGUSTA – The Augusta Democratic City Committee tonight elected new leadership to serve until officers are elected at the February caucus. Michael Johnson was unanimously selected as the new chair of the committee, followed by the election of Rick Redmond as vice chair and Greg Olson as secretary. 

The election was called after State Representative and Acting Chair Kim Silsby announced her resignation, citing a need to focus on her re-election campaign for Maine House District 56 in Augusta. Silsby assumed the duties of chair after Chairman Arthur Lerman moved out of state earlier this year.

"It has been an honor to serve the Augusta Dems and I look forward to remaining active with the committee under its new leadership," Silsby said. "The Augusta delegation and I are very excited to see our municipal committee injected with the youth and energy we see here tonight."

Johnson, 32, is currently communications director in the Maine Senate Majority Office and has been a resident of Augusta for five years. He is also the president and founder of a Web site design and consulting firm, The Johnson Group. Johnson said the need for strong leadership and organization going into the February caucus was a deciding factor in his run for chair.

"2008 is going to be a big year for us, starting with the caucuses and continuing on with the state convention and elections," Johnson said. "We're going to need an organized and unified municipal committee if we're going to continue to elect Democrats in the Augusta area and beyond."

Redmond, 25, a native of the Augusta area, is currently employed by the Maine Democratic Party and is a former aide to Governor Baldacci. Olson, 28, is an aide to Senate President Beth Edmonds and is an seasoned campaigner for Democrats in Maine.

"The leadership team we've assembled is going to be instrumental in organizing our caucus and making sure local Democrats have a strong showing at the polls next November," Johnson said.

Both Johnson and Redmond indicated they will be seeking re-election to full terms at the Augusta caucus on February 10, 2008.