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MMPCDC will hold our next in-person monthly membership meeting on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 from 7:00-8:30 pm at the "Social Soiree" event center, 8270 Shoppers Square, Manassas, VA 20111. All Democrats are welcome. Please join us!


Two Blue Cities Celebration, April 6, 2024

 

Please join us for the Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee’s 2024 Two Blue Cities Celebration and Buffet Brunch, our oldest and largest annual fundraising and recognition event, on Saturday, April 6 , from 10am-noon, at the Greater Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad’s John S. Hutton Jr. Event Hall, 9324 Center Street, Manassas, VA 20110 (near the Social Security office).

Our Two Blue Cities brunch fundraiser celebrates MMPCDC’s outstanding Democratic elected officials and volunteer leaders, while raising the funds needed to help support our slate of Democratic candidates in the November General Election.

The doors will open at 9:30 am, the brunch buffet will open at 10 am, and the program will start at 10:30 am.

This year’s event will feature a moderated panel discussion of “Democracy on the Ballot”. 

Attendees will receive a straw poll ballot to vote for their preferred Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District and may also choose to participate in a 50/50 cash raffle in support of our local candidates. 

Enjoy a generous brunch buffet and the fellowship of your Democratic friends and neighbors, while listening to a moderated panel discussion of “Democracy on the Ballot” and speeches by a host of elected officials and 2024 election candidates.

All Democratic local and state elected officials and 2024 election candidates representing Manassas, Manassas Park, or Prince William County will be invited.

Event Tickets
   Individual Tickets:  $40
   Two Tickets:  $75
   Four Tickets:  $145
   Eight Tickets:  $280

Two Blue Cities Sponsorship Levels
 
  True Blue (includes 1 ticket): $100
   Blue Circle (includes 2 tickets): $250
   Blue Star (includes 4 tickets): $500
   Blue Champion (includes 8 tickets): $1000

Please register now on our secure ActBlue page!

(Alternatively, you may mail your check payment to MMPCDC, P.O. Box 4041, Manassas, VA 20108 and also RSVP to [email protected] or 571-358-9893.)

Two Blue Cities Celebration, April 6, 2024


MMPCDC Monthly Meetings in 2024

The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee typically holds monthly membership meetings on the third Wednesday of each month, from 7-8:30 pm.  All Democrats are welcome at all of our meetings.

After meeting only virtually via Zoom during the height of the COVID pandemic, MMPCDC resumed meeting in-person in mid-2021 on the third Wednesday of each month from 7:00-8:30 pm, at the “Social Soiree” event center, 8270 Shoppers Square, Manassas, VA 20111 .  Our in-person meetings now offer a Zoom attendance option.

Our scheduled meeting dates in 2024 are as follows: January 17, February 21, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19, July 17, August 21, September 18, October 16, and November 20.  For December, we typically have a potluck holiday party in lieu of a business meeting.  

Any changes to these scheduled meetings will be announced in the scrolling banner above.


Manassas & Manassas Park Democrats Reorganized for 2024-2025

The in-person attendees at our January 17, 2024 reorganization meeting

The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee held its biennial reorganization meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.  The hybrid-format meeting allowed participation either in person or remotely via the Zoom platform. Sixty-three members were elected to the Committee at that initial meeting.

Congratulations to the following individuals who were elected as Committee officers for the 2024-2025 biennium:

Co-Chairs: Cheryl Macias and Gretchen Almstead

Vice Chair: Yesy Amaya

Secretary: Vacant

Treasurer: Patt Fields

We extend our sincere appreciation to Donald Shuemaker, our outgoing vice chair who has served us in that capacity for more than a decade, and to Michael Laverty, who has served as our secretary for more than four years. As noted above, we are still seeking a secretary whose essential duty is to record the minutes of our meetings.


Democrats Fared Generally Well in Our 2023 Elections 

The outcome of the 2023 General Election was largely positive for Democrats, both locally and across Virginia: All four Democratic incumbents running in Manassas and Manassas Park were re-elected, while Democrats statewide captured both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate, albeit only with the narrowest of one-seat majorities.

In neighboring Prince William County, Democrats won all three state senate seats, six of seven state delegate seats (former Manassas Councilman Ian Lovejoy, who has moved to Bristow, will be the only local GOP delegate, representing HD-22) , and retained their 5-3 majority on the Board of County Supervisors.

Delegate Danica Roem (currently representing HD-13, which includes Manassas Park) defeated her Republican opponent, former police detective Bill Woolf, for the new Senate District 30 seat with 51.76% of the overall vote and a margin of 2259 votes. Danica captured 54.80% of the votes in the City of Manassas, 60.48% of the votes in Manassas Park, and 50.50% of the votes in her 30 Prince William County precincts (a margin of only 591 votes, after winning 18 precincts). District-wide, Danica actually lost the Election Day vote by 593 votes, but she won the in-person Early Votes by 190 votes, Provisional Ballots by 107 votes, and the Mailed Absentee ballots by a decisive 2555 votes (67%-33%)!

Similarly, Delegate Michelle Maldonado (currently representing HD-50, which includes the City of Manassas) defeated her Republican challenger, Sharon Ashurst, for the new House District 20 seat with 56.60% of the overall vote. Michelle captured 56.13% of the votes in the City of Manassas, 61.86% of the votes in Manassas Park, and 53.67% of the votes in her five Prince William County precincts. While Michelle won the total vote in every precinct and also won the Election Day vote district-wide, she actually lost the Election Day vote in the Round, Metz, Haydon, and Parkside Precincts by a total of 116 votes. However, Michelle won the Mailed Absentee ballots decisively by 1038 votes (72%-28%).

Clerk of the Court Jacqueline Smith, a Democratic incumbent without a Republican challenger, defeated independent candidate Hina Ansari with 79.08% of the vote. In doing so, Jackie captured 78.35% of the votes in the City of Manassas, 72.89% of the votes in Manassas Park, and 79.23 % of the votes in Prince William County.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth, another Democratic incumbent, defeated her Republican challenger, Matt Lowery, with 53.62% of the overall vote. Amy captured 53.33% of the City of Manassas votes, 57.90% of the Manassas Park votes, and 53.53% of the Prince William County votes. Amy narrowly lost the overall vote in the Round precinct by 9 votes but won the overall vote in every other precinct in the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Regrettably, Democrat Josh King lost his second attempt in four years to unseat our long-time Republican Sheriff, Glen Hill, 46.47% to 53.20%. Similar to the their previous match-up in 2019, Josh under performed in the City of Manassas with only 40.27% of the votes and also in Manassas Park with only 44.08% of the votes, compared to Prince William County with 47.03% of the votes. In our two cities combined, Josh received 2245 fewer votes than Michelle Maldonado did, showing that many of our voters split their ticket between the two major political parties.

As a result of redistricting in December 2021, the election ballots for the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park were nearly identical for the first time in many years. The only significant difference was that the Manassas Park ballot included a special voter referendum on “pari-mutuel wagering”. Manassas Park voters soundly defeated that referendum, 58.82% to 41.18%.

The importance of motivating Democratic voters to turn out in our “off-off-year” elections and of chasing mailed absentee ballots are both evident from these election results. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, the turnout of registered voters was only 40.89% in the City of Manassas, 36.33% in Manassas Park, and 43.27% in Prince William County (which additionally held elections for all County supervisor and school board seats).

Visit the Virginia Department of Elections website to view the complete 2023 General Election results for the City of Manassas, for the City of Manassas Park, for Prince William County, and for every locality and contest within Virginia.


Virginia Supreme Court Approves New State and Federal Legislative Districts

On December 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously approved three sets of final legislative district maps in the aftermath of the 2020 US Census.

The new district maps apply for legislative elections through the year 2031, starting in 2022 with elections for the entire US House of Representatives.  The entire Virginia General Assembly was elected under the new districts in 2023.

The Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park are now united within the new 20th House of Delegates District, the new 30th Virginia Senate District, and a reconfigured 10th Congressional District.

The new legislative district maps for Manassas and Manassas Park are displayed below.

Read the full court order and view all three sets of district maps here.

The new 20th House of Delegates District


The new 30th Virginia Senate District


Virginia’s new 10th Congressional District


 New Voting Precinct, Precinct Boundary Changes, and Optical Scanner Voting Machines for City of Manassas in Effect, Beginning in 2017

Beginning in 2017, the City of Manassas has a sixth voting precinct, with its polling place at George C Round Elementary School at 10100 Hastings Drive.  At the same time, the boundaries of the City’s five other voting precincts have been adjusted, to better balance the number of registered voters within each precinct.  These changes were prompted by continued residential development and population growth within the City and the requirement under the Code of Virginia that no precinct have more than 5,000 registered voters or 4,000 votes cast in a presidential election.

On February 13, 2017, the Manassas City Council adopted a new City of Manassas voting precinct ordinance that sets the boundaries and designates the polling places for all voting precincts (including the central absentee voting precinct in the Old Town Hall building at 9025 Center St).

Below is a map of the new voting precinct boundaries. In Spring 2017, the Manassas Voter Registrar’s Office mailed a voter registration letter to all voters registered in the City to inform them of their polling location.

New City of Manassas Voting Precincts, Starting in 2017 (click to enlarge)

Also in 2017, the City of Manassas has begun using the OpenElect Voting System from Unisyn Voting Solutions to scan and record votes made on paper ballots. Voters now mark their votes on a paper ballot and then insert the ballot into an optical scanner that reads the selections and takes a digital image of the ballot. After the polls close, poll workers run a tally report on the scanner to obtain the precinct results.

Thanks to the Manassas Voter Registration Office, one of the new voting machines was demonstrated at our March 6, 2017 Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee meeting.


Has Your Voter Registration Been Purged?

Every two years, the Virginia Department of Elections removes inactive voters from the voter registration rolls of every Virginia locality.

Reportedly, a voter’s registration is purged only after an inactive voter fails to respond to repeated mailers from the Virginia Department of Elections requesting an address verification and then fails to vote at all during two Federal Election Cycles following the initial mailer.

In January 2019, the Virginia Department of Elections removed 721 inactive voters from the City of Manassas voter registration roll and 302 inactive voters from the City of Manassas Park voter registration roll.

In February 2017, the Virginia Department of Elections removed 1,592 inactive voters from the City of Manassas voter registration roll and 196 inactive voters from the City of Manassas Park voter registration roll.

You might want to check if your name is on one of the four lists linked above.

These lists of purged voters are organized by numbered voting precincts, and for the City of Manassas those numbers reflect the new (starting in 2017) voting precinct boundaries, not the precinct boundaries from prior years.  The precinct codes for each city are as follows:

PCT    Manassas Polling Location
0001   Dean Elementary School
0002   Weems Elementary School
0003   Metz Middle School
0004   Haydon Elementary School
0005   Baldwin Elementary School
0006   Round Elementary School

PCT    Manassas Park Polling Location
0001   Manassas Park High School
0002   Costello Park Community Center
0003   Manassas Park City Hall

If you should find yourself or anyone else improperly purged from a registered voter roll, please let us and theCity of Manassas General Registrar or the Manassas Park General Registrar know.

The best and easiest way to verify that your voter registration is still valid is to review your voter record at the Virginia Department of Elections voter portal, after entering your name, date of birth, locality, and last four digits of your social security number.


Paul J. Reid, April 13, 1951 – February 23, 2017

Paul Reid, a stalwart member of our Committee and a good friend to many of us, passed away on Thursday, February 23, following a bout with cancer.  He died at home in his wife’s arms.

Paul was born April 13, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of the late William F. and Marcella M. Reid.  He retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, then worked for General Dynamics and Geospatial Solution Inc., finally retiring in 2015.

After leaving federal service, Paul became an active volunteer for the Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee.

EJ Scott, MMPCDC’s Immediate Past Chair, summarizes Paul’s service to our Democratic community as follows:

Paul Reid was the true embodiment of Democratic values. He believed in equality and justice and was dedicated to making this country live up to its ideals. He was a quiet man, except when talking about the craziness exhibited by the other side. No one worked harder and longer than Paul. He knocked doors, made phone calls, worked the polls and was always the first one onsite to help set up for events. He was given MMPCDC’s second Blue Victory Chair’s Award for his service and commitment to getting Democrats elected.

Paul spoke fluent Spanish and loved to dance the salsa with his wife Betsy. At our festival booths, it was reassuring to have him there to converse with our Spanish-speaking visitors. 

After the House of Delegate Districts were redrawn, and we could not find anyone to run against Jackson Miller, Paul even agreed to be our write-in candidate for the 50th District Delegate. We called and handed out write-in ballots, and he received a good vote showing.

Paul was generous. He often offered to assist with financing events, and he sponsored tickets to our events, so the less fortunate could attend. He gave to Democratic candidates and then continued to give his time and energy to getting them elected.

Paul Reid was a participant. Paul was a soldier in the fight to turn Virginia Blue. And recent past elections have shown the rewards of that battle.

When his widow was asked what can we do, she responded simply, “Take back Congress.”  Nothing would please him more.

Paul also volunteered as the Vice President of in-line hockey for the Prince William Hockey Club from 1998 to 2006, where he also coached two of his sons, Andrew and John.  In 2006, he purchased a second home in Capon Bridge, West Virginia, where he spent the weekends experimenting with home brewing recipes, reading, kayaking, fishing, biking.

Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Elizabeth F. (Betsy) Reid, three sons, Peter Reid of Falls Church, VA, Andrew Reid of Manassas, VA, and John Reid of Austin, Texas; one granddaughter, Mia A. Reid, and one grandson Luke M. Reid; daughter in-laws Alix Reid and Elizabeth Gonzales.


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