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

The First Annual “Swing Big for Democracy” golf outing was held at Arlington Ridge Golf Course on April 2, 2026. Seventy golfers and eighteen teams participated, and the winner was team 8A – Tammy Snow, Barb Garcia, Johnnie Marston, and Jean Roberts. The fairways and greens were super, the lunch was great, and the players had a terrific time and took the rainy downpour in stride. Thanks to all who arranged the event and played like or tried to imitate true pros. We’re already planning FORE next year!

Thomas Bacher

THE VILLAGES DEMOCRATIC CLUB

All Member Meeting

was held on Saturday, April 11 at the Colony Cottage Rec Center

 The speakers were Mitch Emerson, Dianne Newhouse, Bryan Bain, and Barbie Harden Hall

Slide Show of the Meeting

Video of the Meeting

NO KINGS 3.0 was a HUGE success!!! Thank you TVDC!

Enjoy the pictures and video

Video of The Villages No Kings Rally

https://forms.gle/BtfhyDWYiyeDpsvN7

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

Don’t Like Where Our Country is Headed? Volunteer to help get Democratic Candidates Elected!

Join us Wednesday, April 22 @ 3:30 PM for a VIRTUAL phone bank to call Democratic voters to encourage them to re-enroll in  voting by mail. These  calls will allow us to call Democrats in small counties who do not have an active functioning Democratic party.  They are part of the Florida Democratic party’s Small County Coalition. The Sumter County Democratic party supports several small counties to remind voters to sign up to Vote by Mail and later in the year remind Voters to support Democratic candidates, where to vote in their precinct in order to get out the vote so that our Democratic candidates win their election.

To register  to attend our Phone bank and  for more information  click here:

Click Here

Training and onsite assistance will be provided virtually at 3:30 PM on Zoom before you use the  new Dialer phone banking system.

Voters will see on their cell  phone our Sumter County Democratic Headquarters phone number when computer generated messages are sent to their Voicemail. For personal security, no one will see your name or phone number. 

Learn to use your computer or Tablet as a phone.  The Dialer System sends out our message to voicemail so you will only be speaking to voters  who answered their phone.

We have thousands  Democratic Voters who live in these small counties that we support.  These Democrats voted by mail in either ’24 or ’22 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. Let's call them and remind them to sign up for Vote by Mail and let them know that there is an active Democratic presence where they live in Florida.

Sumter County Democrats

Neighborhood Links

Do you want to Do Something that will have maximum impact? Would you like to know who are like-minded in your neighborhood?

As a Neighborhood Link you will be given a listing of Democrats and Left-leaning Independents in your neighborhood. Neighborhood Links will contact these neighbors face-to-face to strengthen our local network and make sure people feel connected, informed, supported, and motivated to actively participate in our democracy.

We will supply you with training, tools, and materials. One of the most powerful things you can do is connect with the people around you, share reliable information, and encourage one another to get and stay involved.

Together we can win!

Contact us now at:secretary@sumterfldemocrats.com

Do you want to meet Alexander Vindman? Win your seat at an unforgettable evening of inspiration!

Hello Neighborhood Links,

We are thrilled to invite you to our upcoming fundraiser, "Voices of Change and Hope." This special evening will feature retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and a lineup of inspiring voices who have dedicated their lives to fighting injustice throughout history.

This isn't just a dinner; it's a gathering of people committed to the future of our democracy—and we want our top organizers to be in the room.

This event will take place on May 30th at the Brownwood Hotel and Conference Center.

The Challenge

The Neighborhood Link who collects the most petition signatures between now and April 30th will win two tickets to the event!

• The Goal: Get our leaders on the ballot. Every signature is a step toward victory.
• The Deadline: All signatures must be submitted by 11:59 PM on April 30th.
• The Prize: Two tickets to join us at Voices of Change and Hope to hear from Alexander Vindman and other historic advocates.

Meet the Candidates

The work you do today directly supports three candidates running to represent us. Please see the attached "Candidate Spotlight" guide to learn about their backgrounds and the change they hope to bring to office. These are the voices we are fighting to amplify!

Ready to Win?

1. Download the Attachment: Get your talking points and petition forms.
2. Hit the Pavement: Use your turf lists and focus on getting correctly filled-out petitions.
3. Submit Your Petitions: to your Precinct Captains; or to DEC Headquarters at S. Main St., Wildwood ( Open Mondays & Wednesdays 1 to 4, and Saturdays 10 to noon); or to boxes at front of 598 Bermudez Ct and 522 Society Hill Circle. Be sure to group your petitions with your name so we can give you appropriate credit for your petitions!

The clock is ticking! Let's make these final days of April count for our candidates and our community.

Note: We recognize that some of you do not yet have your turf lists, and we are working hard to get them to you as quickly as possible.

Forward Together,

Dianne Newhouse and Carol Gariano

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?

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