Villages Democrats Club: ALL MEMBER MEETING

2/14/2026

The Democratic Club of The Villages held its February meeting at the Colony Rec Center in The Villages, FL. The featured speaker was Royal Webster.

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TVDC is looking for a Parliamentarian

The position includes the following:

• Advises members on the requirements of the Bylaws and the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.
• Ensures that meetings are held in compliance with the Bylaws and the Rules.
• Addresses proposed revisions and keeps Club Bylaws in line with Sumter County Democratic Party and Florida Democratic Party Bylaws, as we are chartered under their authority.

Any member interested in this position, please contact: tvdc-nomcomm@googlegroups.com

March 18, 2026 8:30 PM

Virtual Call- In

Badassgrandmasfordemocracy.com

Contact:lynpinnack@gmail.com

Join Us For Breakfast

Wednesday, March 11 at 9:00 am

Panera Bread 1010 Lake Sumter Landing

Contact: Susan Houston 352.217.2626

Join Us For Lunch

Thursday, March 19 at Noon

Pho Sai Gon (Vietnamese) 11717 N 301, Oxford

Contact: Susan Houston 352.217.2626

Join the Wine Society

The Villages Democrats are forming a wine society. Members will meet once a month to socialize and share their favorite wines.

For more information contact Laura and Paul Scannevin at lscannevin@gmail.com

Please note The Villages Democratic Club does not supply any alcohol.

Meet, Greet & Eat with like minded Singles

The Club's "Meet, Greet & Eat Singles" group welcomes new members. Visit with coordinators Linda Ballou and Mary Ferguson at the monthly membership meetings, or email them.

Email

Dem Blue Crew

Live Music

Band Mpire

Thursday, March 24 at 5:00 pm

Sumter Landing

 Contact: Bill Knudson:bill.knudson@yahoo.com

EDUCATION FORUM

Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 pm

Sea Breeze Rec Center 2384 Buena Vista

Contact: Marsha Shearer

mshearerinfl@gmail.com

Register:

https://thevillagesdemocrats.com/event-6577635

Golf Cart Rally 

March 21, 2026

Various Times

Three Locations in The Villages

RallyStrong2@gmail.com

LaRae Donnellan

925-263-9518

Greetings, Courageous People!

Both of The Villages No Kings 3.0 protest sites are LIVE on Mobilize.us

Here's a link to the overall map so that you can see

where the events are taking place across the country:

No Kings

Sign up for whichever site is more convenient for you.

Tell your friends and bring them with you on March 28. Be part of history!

Click on the protest location to sign up

Villages South

Saturday, March 28

10:00 - 11:30 am

Intersection of Warm Springs Ave & Marsh Bend Trail (Near Everglades Rec Center)

Villages North

Hosted by Villagers 4 Democracy

Saturday March 28

10:00 am - Noon

Lake Sumter Landing & Morse Blvd

Both sites are accessible by golf cart or by car. Carts may line up directly next to the street along sections of each site; carpooling is highly recommended because space is limited in The Villages parking lots. Park in public spaces, not in private lots such as Aldi's in the north or CVS in the south.

Together in solidarity,

Rally Committee, Democratic Club of The Villages

Central Florida Tri-County Indivisible

Sumter County Democrats

Don't Like Where Our Country is Headed?

Join us Thursday, March 5 at 1:30 pm for a phone bank to call Sumter Democrats to encourage them to re-enroll in voting by mail. To register or for more information, click this link:

Register

Training and onsite assistance will be provided as we are trying a new Dialer phone banking system using a computer-generated phone number.

We have over 4,000 Sumter Democrats who voted by mail in either 2022 or 2024 but have not re-enrolled in voting by mail yet. They may not realize that as part of the Republican voter suppression, that this voting option expires after every November General Election.

The Liberal/Independent Voices

Friday, March 6 at 1:00

Laurel Manor Recreation Center

Washington/Jefferson Rooms

Topic: How to build a grassroots organization that legally slows/stops actions of the current administration; and replaces it with people who are aligned with our ideals, values and hopes for America.

Speaker: Gail Vanderwall earned her MBA and then moved into IT program and project management. She was eventually promoted to a leadership position, Gail has worked with many well-known companies, very expensive computers and many, many people.

GOING TO A RALLY?

HELP NEEDED!

We need to protest to show our opposition to what's happening politically, but then we need Democratic candidates on the ballot to vote for!

Help us to help get candidates on the ballot. We need people to gather signatures on candidate petitions. It's easy and a great way to meet like-minded people. 

Please call the Sumter County Democratic Headquarters at 352-794-1351 and leave a message for Anne Berg with your name, phone and email. We will contact you with details on where to meet at the rally to get the materials you will need. The next rally is Saturday, March 28th - Location to be announced. 

Can we count on you to help?

Date: Wednesday, March 25th, 1:30 - 3:30 PM

"A Secret Love"

Amid shifting times two women kept their seven decades long love a secret. But coming out later in life comes with its own set of challenges. This true documentary weaves the couple’s remarkable life story into a sensitive and intimate depiction of the two navigating the realities of growing older together in troubling times.

No Partisan Maps Coalition Action

We need your help to keep up the pressure and grow this fight. 

5 ways you can take action right now:

1. Stay plugged in: Bookmark nopartisanmaps.org and use our Linktree to keep up with upcoming actions and to find materials you can share online to your community.

2. Call your legislator: Use this quick tool to make your call today: https://act.commoncause.org/call_campaigns/tell-lawmakers-dont-rig-floridas-maps

3. Get the messaging basics: Review the 1-pager to learn how to talk about redistricting in your community: nopartisanmaps.org https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EUX4XLdNnK4S3ebbS3O8Vd3r_mzBhFZ0LMbVjHjFDOY/edit?tab=t.0

4. Organize a local event: Host something near you—a community info session, writing postcards, a phone bank, or a group visit to your elected official to bring more people in.

Please e-mail us for questions, materials, or so we can promote your event at mi...@nopartisanmaps.org or ad...@nopartisanmaps.org

1. Medicaid expansion: If you’re interested in Medicaid expansion, sign up to have a petition mailed to you: https://fl.tallyed.com/scp/4e75430f-6c10-4f14-abe3-3709b2c0bb00

Floridians have made it clear time and time again: we don’t want partisan redistricting. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to make it clear again.

Ron DeSantis is at it again - Property Tax Reform

by Ash Marwah

For more, please visit my website: AshForSD11.com or my Facebook page: Facebook.com/AshForSD11

Support Ash

The idea is to lower Property Taxes for homeowners by increasing the Homestead Exemption.  

In Sumter County, the Homestead Exemption is $50,000 for the County, $25,000 for School Board and $50,000 for SWFWMD (Water Management District).

The plan is to increase the Homestead Exemption to $250,000 , thus lowering the property taxes for all homeowners. This sounds good on the surface but it will deprive all three entities of their major source of revenue. There is no way for the County, School District or the Water Management District to make up the shortfall in revenue. They can raise the millage to maximum 10 mils by state law and the County can raise sales tax by 1% more to 8% but these measures would not be adequate to make up for the lost revenue.

The only option they will have is to layoff employees. Since the County has the largest pool of employees in Firefighters and Police Officers, they will bear the brunt of these layoffs.

ARE WE READY FOR LOWER PROPERTY TAXES AND LAYOFF OF POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS IN SUMTER COUNTY?

It’s official: David Jolly is a

Democratic candidate for governor in ’26

Following the exploratory phase of his campaign this spring, David Jolly says he’s ready to go and has officially entered the Democratic primary for governor of Florida. He acknowledges the challenges about running in an electoral landscape that hasn’t elected any Democrat to a statewide office since 2018, but says the environment is ripe for that to change in 2026.

“We will be in every community, building trust and building relationships and building a coalition that will ultimately and successfully win an election where a Democrat hasn’t won in 30 years and where the voter registration rolls are against us,” he said in a phone interview with the Phoenix on Wednesday.

Watch the Announcement

By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix

“In Florida we are in the midst of a generational affordability crisis,” he added. “Everybody feels it. I mean this has been affirmed everywhere I’ve gone, every group I’ve sat with.

Read more

CHANCES TO DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK AND BEYON

We're rounding up petitions for Barbie

and a Medicaid ballot measure

Barbie for Congress website

All of Sumter County is in Congressional District 11 and we are collecting 

Barbie Harden Hall petitions to get her on the ballot again for 2026.

We also are actively collecting petitions for a Florida Constitutional Amendment to expand Medicaid. 

You can find information and request a petition form at

https://floridadecideshealthcare.org/

Turn completed forms in the Sumter Democratic HQ on Wednesday afternoons or Saturday mornings.

You also can pick up the forms at the headquarters.

Oops, you've got to do it again!

Thanks to Florida Republicans trying everything they can to suppress our votes,

we all must reapply for Vote By Mail ballots.

Scores of legal actions have been filed to block and challenge President Trump, Elon Musk, and others in the administration. Here's a one-stop nonprofit site, Just Security, where you can keep track.

Trump litigation tracker

Food pantry donations are always welcome

The Club and its generous members support multiple local food pantries. The preferred donations include food in cans, boxes, and jars, toiletries, and laundry and cleaning supplies.

Knudson's analysis of economic data and policies

Economics in Perspective