The H.I.V.E.’s May meeting focused on Local Politics and featured several candidates for the upcoming elections:

• Doug Jones, candidate for the U.S. Senate, Special Election (Facebook, Twitter)
• Danner Kline, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, 6th District (Facebook, Twitter)
• Felicia Stewart, candidate for the Alabama House, 46th District (Email)

The candidates gave brief intros and answered a few questions about reaching out to voters, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and more.

We also heard from Bob Parker with the Greater Birmingham Democrats and Forward Alabama. Bob gave us a brief overview of Alabama politics and the Alabama Democratic Party.  He also spoke about the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC) and encouraged folks to run for these spots in the next election to help make progressive changes in the state party. Each House District has a male and female on the committee, and although all spots will be open in 2018, there are several spots they would like to focus on including:

• House District 45 (Jefferson County/Shelby County, Representative Dickie Drake)
• House District 47 (Jefferson County, Representative Jack Williams)
• House District 48 (Jefferson County/Shelby County, Representative Jim Carns)

To find out what House District you live in, click here.  And please email Bob if you want more information about the SDEC, Greater Birmingham Democrats, Forward Alabama or pretty much anything else as Bob is a rock star.

And finally, we heard from the knowledgeable and amazing Pat Vandermeer with AAUW Alabama and Ready to Run. Pat encouraged us to get involved with our local campaigns, and said there were three areas where we could be the most effective:

1. Phone banking – calling independents and Democrats to see what issues matter to them, how they feel about particular candidates and encouraging them to vote. We can start phone banking now to clean up data lists and set the stage for the upcoming elections. There’s a set script and phone banking with friends can be even more fun. We plan on hosting some phone banking parties in the near future. Perhaps a little wine will make an appearance.
2. Canvassing – much like phone banking, but going door to door and talking to people. Canvassing maps lead you to houses where there are known Democrats, Progressives, Independents or people who may be open to your political views.
3. House parties – house parties are inviting your neighbors, friends and more over to meet a candidate or raise funds for their campaign.

Thanks so much for a fantastic meeting and support! We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Homewood Library, room 101 for our next meeting focusing on Human Rights.  Amanda Keller of the Magic City Acceptance Center, and others, will talk about their work and how to get involved.