Area Democratic group celebrate milestone anniversaries

Two area Democrat groups sprang from the same roots and are celebrating significant milestones this year.

The Democratic Women of Boulder County is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Twenty years ago, the Democratic Women of Boulder County saw that a similar group was needed in the Longmont area and made calls to get other women involved. This group became the Longmont Area Democrats. 

The Democratic Women of Boulder County started out as a group of women who gathered for coffee and talked about politics. In 1962, Doris Havice decided to run for the state legislature which inspired these women to form a formal organization that supported women candidates, according to Lisa Lesniak, current president of the political group.

The Democratic Women of Boulder County became more political as time went on through education, engagement and helping to elect candidates, Lesniak said. 

“Our members include elected officials, community leaders, grassroots activists, and volunteers. All of us are all concerned citizens who contribute to maintaining our democracy,” the group’s website states.

Lesniak joined the group after moving to Colorado as a means to meet new people who shared her political interests. Since then, she has been involved with several political groups in Colorado, but returned to the Democratic Women of Boulder County when several of its executive staff had plans to move out of the state during the same year. 

“I like being involved in making sure we have change in policy that protects our community in various manners—from housing to gun safety reform to protecting reproductive healthcare for women and protecting trans people and making sure they can get their particular healthcare that they need,” Lesniak said. “I like being involved because I feel like taking action is much better than — for me, personally —  being on the sidelines.” 

Engagement is a big part of the Democratic Women of Boulder County. As such, in 2003, the group identified that the Longmont area lacked a Democratic group. The group reached out to women in Longmont who voted in every election to gauge their interest in forming a Longmont group. 

The Longmont Area Democrats began as a women’s only political group, but just a few years in, decided to accept anyone who had an interest, said Marilyn Hughes, former president and current member of Longmont Area Democrats.

While the Longmont Area Democrats is a political group, it doesn’t nominate candidates. Its goal is to educate the community on issues and bring awareness of candidates running for office. 

“It provides some one-to-one that otherwise wouldn’t happen. And of course, legislators like to come speak to people, so it provides an opportunity to them too,” Hughes said. 

Over the years, Longmont Area Democrats have also pushed for diversifying the leadership in Longmont’s political offices, Hughes said. 

“We have encouraged candidates to run that maybe wouldn’t have run otherwise,” Hughes said. “... (adding) a little bit more variety in people because Longmont has grown quite a bit and it has quite a varied population.”

Its dedication to diversity also includes attracting younger people to get involved. 

 “I always have hope for the future …,” Hughes said. “I got started in LAD when I was relatively young — and now I’m not relatively young. I’m happy to see a lot of young people start to be interested in LAD and also paying attention to what’s going on.”

Both groups will be celebrating their anniversaries and are inviting the public. 

The Democratic Women of Boulder County will hold an in-person event at The Avalon Ballroom in Boulder on May 17. Registration is open and required. The event will host guest speakers Adam Frisch, candidate for CO District 3 and Jena Griswold, CO secretary of state. Videos, photos and the group’s history will also be presented by past Democratic Women of Boulder County presidents and board members. 

Longmont Area Democrats will celebrate at its annual picnic on August 12 at Rogers Grove. Currently, the group is in the planning stages but hopes to have elected speakers at the event.