The Influencers were formed in February, 2017 to take advantage all the anti-Trump energy and shift it from marching to focusing on the 2018 elections.  Democrats were in a deep hole.  Republicans controlled the Presidency, the U.S. Senate, Congress, the Supreme Court, 2/3 of the governorships, nearly 2/3 of the state legislative branches and more.  We could march all we wanted but if we didn’t change who ran our government, our pleas would fall on deaf ears.   We needed to elect Democrats and we needed to do it everywhere.  Being in Boulder County, we realized we didn’t need to spend our efforts electing local Democrats as the county leans heavily towards the left.  We decided if we couldn’t change Washington in 2018, we could at least make our state blue.  We had our house and would likely win the governorship but we needed to flip two seats to gain the Colorado State Senate and create a Democratic trifecta (Governor-Senate-House).  

 

Our objective wasn’t only to flip the Colorado Senate, it was to make politics fun and impactful.  We knew if it wasn’t fun or people didn’t think they were accomplishing something, we would lose that incredible energy that existed after Trump took office.  We didn’t just want to get rid of Trump, we wanted to get people to realize that politics is not a spectator sport and we all needed to be involved every year.  Our group was mostly comprised of people who had never been involved in politics before.  We held fabulous fundraisers with awesome food, great drinks, good speeches and wonderful people.  We had postcard parties so that socialization was a central part of everything we did.  And it worked.  We met the best new friends who shared our values and our commitment to make this country a better place for all.  We were successful in our goals

 

We decided that electing Faith Winter and Tammy Story would be our best shot even though they’d yet to declare that they were running.  We contacted them and said we’d raise money for them, volunteer for them and do everything possible to flip the senate as soon as they decided to run.

 

And that’s what we did.  We had four fundraisers, two for Tammy and two for Faith.  We raised nearly $100,000.  We wrote thousands of postcards.  We knocked on doors, we texted and we called.  And we won!  We made Colorado blue and in 2019 when they were sworn in, the majority Democrats passed legislation that addressed global warming, gun control, healthcare, education, equal pay, criminal justice issues and more.

 

But to do this successfully we had to educate everyone to get them on board.  If someone can’t stand Trump, how does electing Faith Winter make a difference?  We found out most laws start in states and getting Democratic trifectas would not only enable us to live in a blue island in a red country, we’d be able to pass progressive legislation that could perhaps someday, (like when Biden is elected?) become the law of the land.

 

In 2018 our goal was to Make Colorado Blue and we did it.  In 2019 our goal was to fight the Republican efforts to recall Democrats so they could win back the senate.  We raised money and wrote thousands of postcards and every single recall failed. In 2020 our goal is to get rid of Trump (and with him, Barr).  We want to wake up November 4th, knowing that great change is coming.  We hope you will join us.  While it might not be as fun this year with the pandemic, we promise that our efforts will continue after Trump is gone and the pandemic is over.  So let’s do this!