By skill set, by experience, by reputation, and by vision, Garlin Gilchrist II would be an excellent City Clerk for Detroit, and I hope you will join me in supporting him. Good for Detroit, good for Michigan, and good for our country. I’m delighted to re-introduce Garlin Gilchrist II to Daily Kos.
In Their Words: Democracy for America
The chair of DFA endorsed Garlin Gilchrist II:
Garlin Gilchrist II has the skills and experience to solve the voting issues that have plagued Detroit for years, and as a native Detroiter and community organizer he knows the big things the Motor City can get done by bringing people together.
After spending years working shoulder-to-shoulder with Garlin to get more people involved in progressive fights, we know that no one will fight harder and more effectively than Garlin to ensure that every single Detroiter, from every neighborhood, and every single racial, ethnic, and economic community has the opportunity to have their voice heard at the ballot box.
Last year’s election debacle proved that the stakes could not be higher for Detroit voters. We’re excited to step out early in support of Garlin Gilchrist II in this race, because we know he has the passion, technical know-how, and dedication it will take to establish the trust, accountability, and transparency Detroiters deserve to have in their City Clerk.” - Jim Dean, Chair, Democracy for America
The social media manager of DFA endorsed Garlin Gilchrist II:
What if I told you that the Detroit City Clerk’s election on August 8, 2017, could decide who wins the 2020 presidential election?
I'm not kidding. Donald Trump shocked the world on November 8 when he won states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan -- and Trump could do it again in Michigan on November 3, 2020, if progressives don't prioritize an important local election in Detroit that few people are paying attention to right now.
Donald Trump won the state of Michigan by only 10,704 votes -- in part because voter turnout in Detroit was severely hampered by untrained poll workers, outdated equipment, and massive lines. Instead of replacing voting machines that were over a decade old, Detroit's current City Clerk certified their use.
On Election Day last November, half of Detroit's precincts experienced malfunctions resulting in the disenfranchisement of many of Detroit's 700,000 residents and making it easier for Trump to narrowly win in an important swing state.
All over the country, local voting officials up and down the ballot play a crucial but often underreported role in ensuring the basic functioning of our democracy. As Donald Trump's occupancy of the Oval Office demonstrates, voter turnout, ballot access, and voter suppression in our elections have serious consequences.
…
Garlin Gilchrist has centered his career around empowering communities to become active participants in their local, state, and federal governments.
In 2012, Garlin led MoveOn's election mobilization program, Voters Rising -- empowering tens of thousands of volunteers to fight voter suppression by turning out millions of new voters around the country. As Detroit's Innovation and Emerging Technology Director, Garlin helped design Improve Detroit -- an app that makes it easier for residents to directly connect with their government officials to report issues in their community.
Garlin knows the power that local elected officials hold over the lives of residents. He's used his technical savvy and organizing know-how to improve the experiences of Detroiters with their local government and ensure residents have a say in the systems that directly impact their day-to-day lives.
This is exactly the type of leadership and out-of-the-box thinking Detroit needs in its next City Clerk. Brieanna Fisher, Social Media Manager, Democracy for America
Garlin’s Experience in Brief
Garlin earned two degrees from University of Michigan's College of Engineering: one in Computer Engineering and another in Computer Science. As an social-media organizer in the State of Washington, he oversaw Obama's 2008 online campaign. In 2012, he was the National Campaign Director of MoveOn.org.
“That year, the Republican Governor of Florida Rick Scott attempted to use an outdated, inaccurate federal database to kick legitimate voters off the rolls. It was particularly targeting Latino voters and Black voters. I ran a campaign to block this purge by petitioning then Attorney General Eric Holder. I delivered 165,000 petition signatures to the Department of Justice, and as a result, WE WON. The voter purge was blocked!” Garlin Gilchrist II
In My Words
In case you haven’t noticed, my city, Detroit, embarrassed itself in last year’s election with voting irregularities.
Garlin Gilchrist II, a candidate for Detroit City Clerk, arrived at my local monthly Resistance group’s potluck dinner last month. I led him and his campaign manager around to the smorgasbord, and itemized the contents of my homemade organic blueberry pecan bread. While they recouped their energy, our group continued reviewing our Resistance activities. Garlin then spoke for a while, and he touched on many of the subjects noted above as well as effortless voting, engaging citizens, and an accessible city council. He described the City Clerk's office as “the Doorway to Democracy."
When Garlin asked our group of twelve for questions at the end of his talk, only one other member had a question, but I had five. Garlin nailed every one of my questions, including my questions about going negative in campaigns and protecting Detroit voters from Russian interference. Garlin’s skill set, experience, eloquence, and vision impressed me a lot. I was hooked.
At the end of the evening, as I was helping to clean up, Garlin came looking for me and thanked me for my dessert bread and to say he enjoyed it. I enjoyed being complimented a little, but I was very delighted to observe that this was how he would be relating to other voters. He is personable. Line and sinker.
Please support me, my city, my state, and our country by supporting Garlin Gilchrist II for Detroit City Clerk. As you may know, there is a campaign-finance reporting deadline on July 25, 11 days from today.
More Information about Garlin’s Campaign
How to Support Garlin Gilchrist II
- Donate to his campaign via ActBlue. Tonight our goal is $250. We welcome comments about your donations, since comments help generate excitement, but we will not fault you if you wish to remain anonymous. (As you can tell from the ActBlue URL, we will be able to track our Daily Kos contributions to his campaign.)
- Donate via snail mail. Send me a kosmail or email for details.
- Support this story as you would support any Daily Kos story, including by FaceBook and by Twitter. Sharing this story may be more important than donating.
- Follow Garlin on Facebook and share his posts.
- Follow Garlin on Twitter and retweet his tweets.
- Phonebank for Garlin: When the campaign provides me with the link to the phonebanking website, you will be the first to know.
A note about contributions: I know that many members and readers of Daily Kos regularly struggle financially but would still give their last 5 bucks until next week to support campaigns. I do not want you to give your last 5 bucks or 3 bucks — you know what I mean. Please let others donate this round. I know who you are, and I will come after you. ;o)
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments or by kosmail or email.
Support the Dream Defenders
The Daily Kos group Support the Dream Defenders has focused online activism on several fronts in the past four years since our founding shortly after Trayvon Martin’s death. With the help of our members and readers, we supported Florida’s Dream Defenders, crowd-sourced the Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act, and led a letter-writing campaign to expand Medicaid in all states. I am grateful to members of and followers of Support the Dream Defenders for contributions to this community story.
Many thanks to the diligent and responsive members of Garlin’s campaign staff.
Power with, not power over,
William 2thanks