Interim Democratic Committee chair shares plans

I am deeply humbled to be elected as the interim chair of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee. My political inspiration has been influenced and energized by the diverse Democrats I have met as I knocked on doors, made phone calls and listened to voters.

Volunteering for local election campaigns deepened my understanding of local government and likewise has strengthened my political convictions. As the chair of the Town of Ithaca Democratic Committee and the Political Action Team, I have employed innovative, critical thinking that has allowed me to support new ideas and positive change.

Collectively organizing communications, fieldwork, voter registration, volunteer coordination and outreach were essential for our committee’s success.

Being the newly elected TCDC chair, I would like to take a moment to honor Jim Gustafson, a friend to many and our former TCDC chair, who passed away in December. His legacy is an exemplary example of the power of grassroots politics.

Who is the Tompkins County Democratic Committee? We are your neighbors in the towns of Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Enfield, Groton, Lansing, Newfield, Ithaca and Ulysses and the city of Ithaca encompassing five wards.

As chair of the TCDC, I continue Jim’s legacy, with a commitment forward to develop and implement an action plan to broaden the diversity across our towns and wards.

With a focus on a unified visual map, TCDC members and volunteers join together, taking action throughout the year. We are working together at the grassroots level with renewed purpose to engage new members and volunteers to discover new candidates for office, deepen representation across Tompkins County and generate Democratic, progressive ideals.

Our mission for 2022 will be to connect to our Democratic voters with a voter engagement campaign to visit, ask and listen to concerns and then determine next steps for involvement. Building relationships is critical with other Tompkins County groups and organizations in establishing an active conversation of understanding. I am dedicated to seeing through these initiatives to enhance the mission of the TCDC, and we need your help.

This is an exciting time to be a Democrat in Tompkins County. Over the next five months, we expect to elect U.S. Congressional representation in light of shifting redistricting. We will have a spirited primary for the State Senate race as well.

Other state races will include our state governor, comptroller and attorney general and the 125th Assembly seat with the re-election of Anna Kelles. The city of Ithaca will have a mayor’s race, and locally in Tompkins County, we will seek to re-elect Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne and County Clerk Maureen Reynolds.

There may be other positions yet to be announced throughout the county, but we all anticipate an intense campaign season into November.

Take a few moments to go back to the visual map of Tompkins County. We are fortunate to live in a diverse and vibrant culture. We have rural and urban environments, rich farmland, fruitful vineyards, institutions of higher learning, a wealth of work opportunities and rich cultural assets.

The Democratic Committee is charged with taking action across our county. We invite you to explore the opportunities in bringing your talents, life experiences, new ideas, energy and political commitment to the TCDC membership and volunteer team. For more information about us, you can visit tinyurl.com/y7bce87b.

Linda Hoffmann is the newly elected interim chair of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee. She is the former chair of the Town of Ithaca Democrats and the Political Action Committee of the TCDC.

Her professional journey started in the field of art therapy, taking on an administrative role in a medical teaching institution and then launching into the field of fundraising in the nonprofit sector and political campaigns. She has embraced a lifetime commitment to volunteerism locally with Vitamin L, the women’s movement, Planned Parenthood and End Abortion Stigma.

The Democratic View is edited by Tompkins County Democratic Committee Communications Director Renate Ferro. Democratic residents with current topics are invited to submit them for consideration. Contact renateferroTCDC@gmail.com.