News + Press

Hello, Courageous Democrats!

Thank you Payne County Democrats for showing up and taking action this past month! As we look at our accomplishments so far, hopefully this newsletter will encourage you to spread the word to your neighbors, friends and family that we are here, lifting up our neighbors, activating our community and we are on the path toward building an impressively strong organization promoting democratic ideals in Oklahoma. 

I'd like to thank the previous Chairman and his event team, and Leader Munson and her campaign team, and the dozens of community leaders, and each and every one of YOU who donated, volunteered and showed up to make Diamond Donkey 2025 a huge success last month. After paying for all the expenses of hosting the event, we have double the balance we started with the week before the event. We are in an excellent position to strategically invest in continuing to grow our organization -- to find those who feel politically alienated, to pull the leaders out of the woodwork, and to take Oklahoma back from the "testing-ground" fascist followers who think they can redefine our state against our values and against the will of the people. We must continue to build on our momentum, organize against tyranny and refuse to let ourselves or our communities be defined by anyone other than We the People. 

After securing our budget, we got to work training our volunteers, educating ourselves, collaborating across our communities and planning for the next steps. Our communications committee launched our new website, PayneCountyDemocrats.org. We worked with the Oklahoma Democratic Party to host two precinct-training events, an in-person local training and a cross-county online training. We attended the ODP State Chair Forum as well as a the ODP Virtual Town Hall with U.S. Senator Jamie Raskin in coordination with North Dakota Democrats. We reestablished the Payne County Dems Facebook Forum as a location for relevant announcements and discussion. We established a collaborative Community Care Door-knocking Campaign with the Stillwater Consortium and participated in their first FRIENDraiser, as well as a PFLAG Pride Picnic and a No Kings Day Protest led by Red, Wine and Blue. We established a carpool for the upcoming Fight Oligarchy Tour in Tulsa. And this Thursday our new roster of committee chairs, co-chairs and members will attend our PCD Committee Kick-Off and Planning Meeting. If you or anyone you know is interested in being a committee member, co-chair or even chair, meet us at Modella Art Gallery at 6:30pm, Thursday, June 19th. 

Its been a busy month of getting our footing and understanding what foundational steps we need to take next. In the month ahead we have just as much planned, and more. 

While we're working, we ask that you consider donating to the Cyndi Munson campaign. Leader Munson will be in Perry on June 25th and we hope you'll join us in supporting our Noble County friends and our future governor by attending and by giving toward her success. 

• Click here to RSVP to the event

• Click here to donate to Leader Munson's campaign

• Please forward this email newsletter ahead to those who you think will enjoy it.

Thank you to everyone who attended last Thursday's meeting! We filled the room wall-to-wall and we hope to see you at the next meeting on July 10th. We've started a few new traditions at our meetings that people seem to like (you'll have to show up to find out what it is)!

Please check out the events listed below and in the events section of our website (www.paynecountydemocrats.org/events) as well as our Facebook events calendar. 

We can create real progress in Oklahoma. We simply have to keep our ideals in focus, work toward them daily, and remember that the more people we have with us the faster we can achieve our goals! 

I look forward to working alongside you to strengthen our community. Feel free to call, text or email me -- anytime. Our new Payne County Dems phone number is 405-385-9219.
~ Sarah 


"Democracy is not something you have, it's something you DO!"

Forward this Newsletter to a Friend

Monthly Business

Key Highlights:
- We have new Committee Chairs identified for every committee. Want to be a committee member? Join us at 6:30pm Thursday June 19th for our Committee Kick-Off and Planning Meeting. 

- As we work toward successful midterm elections, your ideas and energy are welcome and needed. Reach out to PCD leaders via 405-385-9219 or email your Central Committee: 
Sarah - chair@paynecountydemocrats.org
Sam - vicechair@paynecountydemocrats.org
Cynthia -  secretary@paynecountydemocrats.org
Cal - aanb@paynecountydemocrats.org
Christian - aam@paynecountydemocrats.org

- The Central Committee and Delegates are headed to State Convention June 28 and 29. Want to join us? Click here for details.

- NEXT MEETING -- July 10th at 6pm for socializing with business starting at 6:30pm. Meet at the Stillwater Community Center, Room 121.

Business in the Works this Month - where you can help:
- Our precincts are almost fully represented! AND...if you are interested in helping to get out the vote so that we can elect the best candidates in 2026 and beyond -- we need your help! Email chair@paynecountydemocrats.org to let us know you'd like to help connect with your neighbors, host neighborhood events, get people registered to vote, or even go door-to-door to reach out to potential voters.

- Precinct Captains, Co-Captains, Secretaries and Members will get LOTS of support and training.

• Oklahoma Democratic Party has resources here.

• You can sign up for a half-hour Training and Planning meeting here. Let's talk about your ideas and find ways to activate each neighborhood. 

• Download the Precinct Officer Training Guide here. If you have any questions, let us know!

• Here is the code to put in the MiniVAN app so that you can access the door-knocking list for June: 53751734-99411.

Here are the precincts where we need volunteers the most!
We need a Chair for these precincts: 05, 06, 07, 09, 14, 15, 101, 102, 201, 301, 403, 405, 600406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411.

We need a Vice Chair for these precincts: 04, 07, 08.

Find your Precinct here: https://okvoterportal.okelections.gov/
See neighboring precincts by clicking here. 
If you are already a precinct officer, you can add a neighboring precinct to your "territory".

If you would like to be a committee member for your precinct to help the chair and vice chair organize in that neighborhood, they can absolutely use your help!
Email chair@paynecountydemocrats.org to express your interest in Precinct Leadership. 

COMMITTEES: We have at least one Payne County Democrat assigned to every committee. But we need more to join these groups so that real work can be done. Please read through the committees below to see what they do and consider joining! Reach out to the Chair if you are interested in joining their committee.

Precinct and Voter Engagement Committee: Creates events for Precinct Captain support, training and engagement. Creates Voter Registration events, coordinates with candidates to use timely elections as momentum for voter registration. Keeps track of voter registration deadlines. Learns and educates PCD about voter registration logistics and creates opportunities to educate Payne County residents of these details. Keeps track of local elections in Payne County and works to make sure that we are doing meaningful outreach and education around election events. Coordinates with League of Women Voters, Red, Wine and Blue and other voter-focused groups within Stillwater and Oklahoma Consortium.
* We need a Vice Chair, a Secretary, 2 researchers and all the members we can get!!

• Chair of Precinct and Voter Engagement Committee: Michelle Dickey

Political Affairs Committee: keep up with current political climates, follow bills in the federal and state government, and present this information to the county party. Sends alerts for action to party members. 

• Co-Chairs of Political Affairs Committee: Mike Shanahan and Nigel Baldwin

• Members needed

Hospitality Committee: organizes potluck style refreshments for PCD monthly meetings and other events as they come together. For the upcoming Stillwater Consortium FRIENDraiser, members of this committee would help organize our hospitality toward other groups participating in this event. 
* We need a Vicechair, Secretary and 2 members for this committee. 

• Chair of Hospitality Committee: Florence Degler

Communications Committee: works with the Sarah, Sam and Cynthia to facilitate communication on the website, social media, press, and involving recruitment campaigns for members, candidates and party leadership positions. Members would help keep up communications between PCD and other organizations we are partnering with, distribute fliers, be designated "communicators" at event we attend to get the word out about initiatives.
* We need a Vicechair, Secretary and 2 members for this committee. 

• Chair of Communications Committee: Justin Cypert-Worley

Budget and Fundraising Committee: Creates the budget alongside the Chair, maintains payment records and makes payments and tracks donations. Helps to come up with fundraising ideas throughout the year. Helps to find people to donate. 
* We need a Vicechair and Secretary for this committee. Members should have some experience in accounting, budgeting, and finances.

• Chair of Budget and Fundraising: Sam Cypert-Worley

Events Committee: Works on large events like Diamond Donkey, as well as smaller events like the FRIENDraiser, voter registration events, Precinct Training events and more. 
* We need two Co-Chairpeople as well as a secretary and 2 members for this committee. 

• Committee Members: Kim Howerton and Carolyn Gang

Veteran's Affairs Committee: Keeps PCD informed on veterans needs, as well as legislation regarding veterans issues. * We need more members here. 

• Co-Chair of Veterans Affairs: Bryon Springer and David Copley

Membership and Recruitment Committee: Prioritizes growing and maintaining membership in the county party. Keeps an eye out for potential candidates to recruit for public office. Event planning and people skills are a must for members.
* We need a Vice Chair, Secretary and 4 members for this committee. 

• Chair of Membership and Recruitment: Lisa Bozeman

Community Engagement Committee: Works to get the word out about all that we are doing and engage the public in our events and activities and conversations and initiatives. Works with other groups in town and across Payne County. 
* We need a Secretary and 4 members for this committee. 

• Chair of Community Engagement Committee: Abigail Martin

While membership in these committees is open to anyone interested, the chair of each committee will make final decisions on who is a voting member. Some groups may have more members while others may only have a handful.

Last Meeting's Minutes 

from Sec. Cynthia Gedra
Please click the button below to read the minutes. 

Read Minutes

News & Updates

• Dozens of local and regional events, meetings, trainings and online educational opportunities are happening between now and our next Monthly Meeting. Join, sign up, share and keep notes. We can't wait to hear your thoughts at the next meeting on July 10th (location TBD).

• Please reach out to the Chair or other Central Committee members if you ever need anything. We are here to discuss, collaborate and organize for Payne County success!

Upcoming Events:

There are community events, local government events, advocacy events, and civic education events happening all the time across Payne County.
Keep an eye on our events page regularly for updates:
https://www.paynecountydemocrats.org/events

LOCAL COUNTY ORGANIZING:
Payne County Democrats are having a Committee Kick-Start and Planning Meeting!

The idea is to get everyone set up such that the committees can hit the ground running, from here. 

We welcome anyone who wants to be on a committee as a member or who is interested in leading or co-leading a committee.

If you know you want to get involved in electing democrats in Oklahoma, but you're not sure how -- this meeting is for you!

NEIGHBORING COUNTY EVENT
Let's support Leader Cyndi Munson in becoming the next Governor of Oklahoma! Join the Noble County Democrats as they host a Meet & Greet in Perry, June 25th from 6-8pm.

Sign up here.

Donate to Cyndi Munson for Governor, here.

STATE AND NATIONAL DEMS
Thank you, Oklahoma Democratic Party! The ODP Team continues to lead the way hosting high-impact events and supporting local party education, logistics and plans. 

Join your PCD Delegation in attending two events that bring regional and national democrats leaders to Oklahoma.

Fight Back Luncheon: June 28, 11:30am
Get your Ticket Here

Carl Albert Dinner: June 28, 6:00pm
Get your Tickets Here