VALLEY CITY, N.D. (Dist. 24 Dem-NPL) – “We are fighting back with renewed vigor,” pledged Linda Brastrup Johnson (Lisbon) on February 16th, after being elected the new Chair of the District 24 Democratic-Non-Partisan League (Dem-NPL)
Party.
“I am so excited to be working with our new District Chair,” said outgoing Chair Bradley Edin, adding, “Our democracy is embattled and endangered as it has never been.”
More than 40 enthusiastic Dem-NPL supporters gathered in Valley City and elected, in addition to Chair Brastrup Johnson: Pete Gjovik (Valley City), Vice-Chair; Tom Ricker (Englevale), Secretary; Mike Ferrel (Valley City), Treasurer; and Hunter Heck (Valley City), Second State Policy Committee Member.
The spirit of uplifting the Democratic party and pushing back against harms to the American democracy was sustained throughout the biennial party-reorganization meeting, and was encouraged in remarks from Democratic National Committeeman Jamie Selzler and State Dem-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn, who were both in attendance.
“Fight back against the monster that’s taking over our country,” Selzler said, “Nobody is coming to save us and that’s okay…We have to do it ourselves.” Current events seem to be “teaching our country that ‘it’ can happen here,” he said.
In his remarks, Goldwyn decried the current Administration’s “illegal, unpatriotic, corrupt trampling of the Constitution and betrayal of the hard-working Americans who have fought and struggled so long to build this country.” It is painfully hard, he said, to “watch corrupt billionaires demolish our country and turn our democracy into an oligarchy.” “Our job is to oppose all of this, to stand up for our values… stand up for the working people of this country against the billionaires and the oligarchs,” Goldwyn said.
Selzler and Goldwyn recently returned from Washington, DC, and will be working closely with the new Democratic National Committee Chair, Ken Martin from Minnesota.
In her comments, incoming District Chair Brastrup Johnson issued encouragement for widespread participation across Barnes and Ransom Counties. She stated, “This is the time to strengthen our Democratic Party with renewed excitement and create a movement that brings together young and old, longtime supporters and new faces alike to represent the true values of our district and state.”
Feature Photo: District 24 Dem-NPL Party members recently elected district officers: (Front) Linda Brastrup Johnson, Chair; and Tom Ricker, Secretary; (Back) Hunter Heck, Second State Policy Committee Member; and Pete Gjovik, Vice-Chair. Also elected but unable to attend was Mike Ferrel, Treasurer.