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Theres no question that the chair of the Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee operates with a specific theory in mind David vs. Goliath.

At 5-foot-2-inches tall, Cathie Hardy literally has to step up to podiums and oftentimes needs a step stool. But if ones not available, she quickly overcomes that challenge by grabbing the microphone and walking in front of the stage.

Cathie Hardy, chair of the Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee, displays the Golden Gavel award her group received at the 2019 Democratic State Party convention. The award is given for the best vote-by-mail campaign conducted by a small county.

Frankly, David vs. Goliath is a metaphor that describes Hardys entire life.

That was never more evident than when she accepted the job of leading the Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee. She didnt hesitate to take on the challenge in a county where Democrats are outnumbered by Republicans by more than a 2-to-1 ratio.

With the help of her committee members, Hardy has guided the furnishing and staffing of the party headquarters at 300 S. Main St. in Wildwood. Volunteers staff the front desk, dealing with a daily barrage of phone calls and walk-in traffic.

Volunteers also make door-to-door visits and man a call center daily. They contact registered Democrats and urge them to vote by mail and offer special greetings on their birthdays. And they have participated in fun days when Mahjong-playing members of the Democratic Womens Club gathered for social activities.

Hardy readily admits that although she was active in the Democratic organization, she had a lot to learn when she took on the job as chair of the executive committee. But utilizing knowledge gained in previous administrative positions, she leaned on her existing board and added to the volunteer base, utilizing their knowledge and skills.

In the 2018 election, candidates popped into Sumter County on short notice, often requesting that Hardy invite people to attend their appearances. Several groups used the headquarters for news conferences. Taking note, Hardy upgraded the public address system and podium to maximize candidate appearances in the 2020 election campaign.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the headquarters closed in March. But that didnt shut down the work Hardy and company needed to accomplish. With cell phones provided by the executive committee, volunteers stepped up the pace and made thousands of calls to Sumter County Democrats with the vote-by-mail suggestion.

On a high note, Sumter County Democrats made a strong showing in the 2018 election, which earned the executive committee the Golden Gavel award at the 2019 Democratic State Party convention. The award is given for the best vote-by-mail campaign conducted by a small county.

Hardy also takes pride in her support for the creation of a newsletter, which is e-mailed to up to 4,000 Sumter County Democrats each week. Another high point was a gala that drew Lilly Ledbetter as speaker. A fair pay act passed by Congress bears Ledbetters name, a tribute to her battle with the Goodyear Tire Co. after she discovered she was being paid far less than men doing the same job. And an upcoming virtual gala will be highlighted by guest speaker Congresswoman Val Demmings.

The Villages Democratic Club technically comes under the jurisdiction of the executive committee but has its own leadership and guides its own programs. As previous county chairs have done, Hardy points with pride to the clubs position as the largest Democratic club in the state.

With the numbers heavily stacked against her, Hardy says she knows getting a Democrat elected to a local or state office will be a challenge. But she also knows the votes generated in Sumter County will have an impact in the November presidential election a reminder to her that David defeated Goliath.

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Top Sumter Democrat brings 'David vs. Goliath' mentality to the table every day - Villages-News

AUSTIN (KXAN) The two Democrats vying for an opportunity to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, stepped onto the debate stage Saturday evening.

The Nexstar Media Group debate between M.J. Hegar and Texas State Sen. Royce West began at 6 p.m. at the KXAN studios in Austin. It was their only scheduled face-to-face meeting ahead of the July 14 runoff election.

Hegar, an Air Force veteran, garnered 22% of votes in the March Democratic Primary, while West picked up 14%. The winner of the runoff election will face Sen. Cornyn in November. Cornyn has represented Texas in Washington, D.C. since 2002 and is a three-term incumbent.

KXAN-TV news anchors Sally Hernandez and Robert Hadlock, as well as Dallas Morning News political writer Gromer Jeffers Jr., moderated the hour-long debate and posed questions to the candidates collected from viewers around Texas.

Ahead of the debate, State of Texas anchor Josh Hinkle, Nexstar Media Texas Bureau Reporter Wes Rapaport and digital anchor Will DuPree discussed the most important considerations for Hegar and West when it comes to the November election.

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Democrats vying to unseat Sen. Cornyn debate ahead of runoff election - KFDX - Texomashomepage.com

It all started with a 19-year-old college student from Queens.

Aaron Fernando, a rising junior honors student at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told CNN on Tuesday he began compiling police union campaign donations to New York Democrats the day before George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis last week.

When news of Floyd's death gripped the nation, though, Fernando said he felt compelled to share what otherwise may have been a side project for his own personal use.

"I've been looking at state finance disclosures for candidates in New York and I was noticing a lot of police money, law enforcement money taken by Democrats claiming to be against it," he said. "I was making this spreadsheet. Then (the death of) George Floyd happened -- so many people responded and it got, like, a hundred likes in a couple hours? So people wanted to see this."

"Your contributors are a reflection of who you are," he said. "I think it's fair to ask politicians to take money that aligns with the values they espouse. If you're going to fight to end solitary confinement in New York, you shouldn't be taking money from corrections officers."

New York Democratic officials respond

Among the most notable politicians to reallocate their campaign donations is New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who says he donated $16,650 in contributions to bail funds and mutual aid after Fernando's spreadsheet made the rounds.

"I thought this was an important thing to do," Gianaris said. "Others can decide for themselves. We're held accountable by the people we represent. I'm the deputy majority leader and highest-ranking senator from New York City, so I have a special obligation to take a stand, given what happened and what we continue to see on the streets every day."

"It's outrageous to suggest someone's public safety should be put in danger," he said. "We're not in a political alliance with law enforcement. That mentality highlights that we have a systemic problem."

Catalina Cruz, a New York state assemblywoman, said it was a mistake to take the money and that she is giving it to bail funds.

"Nobody questioned where I stood, but it was me proactively saying no one should question where I stood," she said. "I'm not going to allow anyone to question where I stand -- not even going to give it a chance. I said, 'Let's give back the money.'"

Others, such as Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, said she hadn't even realized she had taken police contributions.

"The contributions don't necessarily come from police officers," Reyes said. "They come from an organization whose sole purpose is to protect police officers even when they're in the wrong -- oftentimes when they are in the wrong. And that is counterintuitive to accountability. There is no profession where you can kill somebody without being accountable."

Reyes said her constituents made clear that they didn't want their representatives taking police money anymore, which Fernando said he "never thought" would happen when he first made the spreadsheet.

"I couldn't do anything without those people on the street," he said. "Without those protests, it wouldn't have had the momentum to take notice.

"Black Lives Matter was in the back of (politicians') minds and now it's pushed to the front," he said. "That's the way I see it."

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A 19-year-old called out New York Democrats accepting police campaign donations. To his surprise, many have listened - CNN

East Lyme Town Democrats have organized a peaceful rally and vigil to take place at noon Saturday at the Samuel M. Peretz Park at Bridebrook, 221 West Main St.

The event seeks to honor the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylorwhile alsostanding "in solidarity with Black Indigenous People of Color in the fight against racism, the fight for social justice and to support the reform necessary to break the cycle of brutality that led to their, and countless other deaths," according to a Facebook post about the event.

Floyd is the blackman who died lastmonth after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck during an arrest, andTayloris a black womanfatally shot in her own home by Louisville Metro Police Department officers in March.

Confirmed speakers at the event will include Dr. Terrlyn L. Currey, founder of Sacred Intelligence; Jean Jordan, a retired teacher and president of the New London NAACP; Janelle Posey-Green, a social worker who recently created the CT Black Mental Health Forum to support the emotional needs of the local black community; Tariko Satterfield, an entrepreneur; Kevin Booker Jr., founder of Booker Empowerment, and Elizabeth Allen, a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience onsubstance abuse, complex trauma and forensic settings.

Those coming to the event are asked to wear a mask and follow social distancing measures.

m.biekert@theday.com

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East Lyme Democrats to host peaceful rally and vigil Saturday - theday.com

MIAMI Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign is confident that its message President Donald Trump's "failed" coronavirus pandemic response and its disproportionate toll on Latino families and workers will resonate among Florida's Latino voters in this pivotal swing state.

But the Trump campaign is sticking to its own script: a constant barrage of attacks calling Biden a socialist or a communist, hammered regularly during virtual events, through social media and in campaign emails.

Some Florida Latino Democrats worry that this messaging, while false Biden is not a socialist nor does he support socialist policies is effective, and they want the campaign to fight it head-on.

Annette Taddeo, a Democratic state senator and Biden surrogate, said constant messaging against Trump's "socialist" attacks is crucial to counter the steady Republican messaging.

The campaign needs to push back, strong and quick, Taddeo said. The campaign is not doing it yet, adding that she is confident it will.

Taddeo remarked that it's Trump who's behaving like a Latin American "strongman." She pointed to Trump's recent actions like firing the State Department inspector general who was investigating possible corruption.

Winning Florida, the largest of the half-dozen typical swing states, is about moving small margins among different groups, rather than swaying a broad swath of voters. Recent polls have the two candidates in a statistical tie.

Florida is home to a diverse group of Hispanic voters, including some who have fled left-wing governments and guerrilla groups in Latin America and the Caribbean and are sensitive to Trumps messaging.

Recently, the Trump campaign attacked Biden for saying in an interview he would restore the Obama-era policy of engagement with Cuba and claimed the Cuban government endorsed Biden after a top diplomat said Trump's re-election would be a "negative scenario" for the country. While former President Barack Obama's policies, which resulted in more Americans traveling to Cuba, did have Cuban American support, Trump's hardline policies are favored by Cuban Americans who oppose engagement.

Ali Pardo, the Trump campaign's deputy communication's director, accused D.C. insiders of pushing Biden toward socialism," in a statement to NBC News.

The Trump administration touts its sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro and its tougher policies around the Cuban embargo, accusing the Cuban government of propping up Maduro.

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In a recent press release, Biden senior adviser Cristbal Alex, the highest ranking Latino in the campaign, hit back at the Trump administration's policies, saying they love to pay lip service to being allies to the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan people, while many asylum-seekers from these countries are denied parole and remain in detention centers during the pandemic, rather than being released to relatives.

Alex also hit Trump for not extending to Venezuelans temporary protected status that would allow them to legally live and work in the U.S. for a designated period of time.

For Taddeo, these kinds of responses have to be constant and regular.

The Biden campaign recently formed a "Venezolanos con Biden" ("Venezuelans with Biden") group and a "Cubanos con Biden" ("Cubans with Biden") group, aimed at showcasing his support among these voter groups.

Evelyn Prez-Verda, a Democratic strategist who focuses on Latino messaging, said she's been warning Democrats in the state against using the word "progresista," the Spanish word for "progressive," because while it can appeal to younger and more liberal Latino Democrats, some voters who grew up in Latin America associate it with socialism.

They dont realize how much theyre scaring off potential voters that are from Colombia, Venezuela or Mexico who are very moderate, Prez-Verda said.

The Trump campaign has jumped on this. A Trump campaign email that links Biden to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and accuses him of embracing socialism states in Spanish that "'progressive' is simply another way of saying 'Chavista socialism,'" referencing the left-wing ideology of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez.

Rick Wilson, a Florida Republican consultant and vocal Trump critic, told NBC News the president is more of a socialist at times, pointing out how Trump bailed out farmers hurt by his trade war with China.

But its also difficult in the current Democratic Party to push back on socialism, said Wilson, pointing out Sanders and other legislators who represent the party's left wing.

The socialism messaging is something that Biden doesnt have to address directly, but he certainly needs to push back in other ways, Wilson said.

Wilson has said previously that the Biden campaign should focus on mobilizing Puerto Rican voters in central Florida, a growing and key voter bloc in the state. Though Puerto Ricans helped vote Republican Sen. Rick Scott into office he actively mobilized as governor to help Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria they voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump has been highly criticized for his slow response to the island's devastating 2017 hurricane.

Democratic officials are banking on the ravages of the pandemic as an effective campaign strategy. The Democratic National Committee held a recent Florida webinar where DNC Chair Tom Perez slammed Trump over the lack of Latino small businesses receiving loans under the Payment Protection Program and pointed out that Latinos have been the worst hit by coronavirus job losses, at 18.9%. Taddeo participated in a virtual "charla," or talk, to discuss the bleak pandemic situation among Floridians.

Still, some Democrats want the campaign to be more forceful and call Trump a "strongman" in events and press releases, saying it would be easy to capitalize on his recent actions like regulating social media.

Asked why the Biden campaign has not been more forceful in consistently countering Trump's "socialist" attacks, a Biden spokesperson said in a email, "We've seen Donald Trump attack the free press, undermine faith in our institutions by baselessly attacking vote-by-mail and spreading misinformation, assert he could be in power for 9 to 13 more years, and fire his inspectors general."

The email statement went on to say, "This is dangerous, strongman-like behavior and we know Hispanics will hold Trump accountable in November by electing Joe Biden."

Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., who represents a district that includes parts of Miami with many Cuban and Venezuelan voters, is familiar with the socialism messaging. She lashed out at Sanders after he praised Cuba's literacy program and when he refused to call Maduro a dictator.

She also continually rips Trump for the lengthy detention of asylum-seekers and not granting Venezuelans temporary protected status.

But Shalala said she has "no problem" with how the Biden campaign is being run. One thing about our party is that people whine a lot, but at the end, we deliver.

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In this swing state, Latino Democrats want Biden to fight against Trump's 'socialist' attacks - NBC News