Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
Your Vote is Your Voice | | The Voter
February 2026
The official Newsletter of the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County.
Volume 31, Issue 2
| | | | President's Message
by
Donna Roper | | | Our National convention will be held in Columbus, Ohio from June 25-28th. Prior to that event, we have the opportunity to give our opinions about what the National Board of Directors should focus on and for which they should spend their time and treasure. LWVUS Program is the education and advocacy platform that the League membership adopts at each biennial LWV National Convention. The goal of the LWVUS Program Planning process is to achieve a collective agreement around how LWV will move our mission forward over a two-year period. League lobbying is based on member study and agreement on selected issues and involves concerted efforts to achieve public policies consistent with League positions. League Boards at every level set their own priorities. League lobbying promotes or opposes specific pieces of legislation. The LWVUS public policy positions are the official statements of positions for each issue area and reflect the program adopted at the national convention. We have prepared a survey asking your opinion on what the national as well as our local League should be doing. Please give us the feedback we need to go forward.
The National Board has developed Women Defend Democracy: Democracy Under Siege and that platform will be voted on at the convention. Through the “Women Defend Democracy” campaign, the League will work to Provide Democracy Education & Election Administration Support, Restore & Defend Voting Rights Protections, Abolish the Electoral College, Protect Democracy Organizations & Institutions and Fight for Reproductive Freedoms. You can find more information on the LWV website. Other states are beginning to lobby us to concur with their positions such as Immigration Rights (Washington State), No More For Profit Health Care (New York), and Restricting a National Religion (Colorado). If any of this interests you, consider joining us at the convention! If you are committed to helping the League in the next year, we can pay for your registration. Please email me at president@lwvsonoma.org.
A great way to meet fellow Leaguers and learn more about our activities is to join us at a tabling event. An experienced member will show you the ropes. Tabling at community events helps us register and educate voters, get exposure for the League and to recruit new members. Here are some upcoming activities. You can also contact me if you are interested.
- No Kings Day – March 28
- Home Expo – March 28
- Los Cien Volunteer Fair – March 31
- Butter and Eggs Day – April 18
- Gravenstein Apple Fair – August 8 & 9
| | Voter Services
by
Robyn Bramhall | | | Register voters at the Sonoma County Home Show, March 28-29
We have secured a free table inside Grace Pavilion to promote LWV and register voters. This is an opportunity to reach 1,000+ people about our programs, membership and the importance of voting. We will have two passes for admission and parking. To keep things easy and fun, we need 12 volunteers to each take a 2-hour shift at our table over the two-day show. Show hours on Saturday, March 28 are 10:00am to 5:00pm and Sunday hours are 10:00am to 4:00pm. Training will be provided for those who have not tabled for LWV before. Write Robyn at execvp@lwvsonoma.org with your preferred times.
| | Stand Up for Democracy
by
Lynn Dooley | | | Have you been seeing a lot about the 4th Amendment in the news recently? Or have you wondered why the news has been connecting the 4th Amendment to the 1st Amendment and the 2nd Amendment when reporting on the events in Minnesota?
You may have a great handle on what rights these amendments protect. But if you need a refresher on any or all of these amendments, you can find that very thing in the LWV of Sonoma County’s STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY program.
Find a brief look at the 1st Amendment at: LWVSonoma.org/FreedomofSpeech and
LWVSonoma.org/ReligiousFreedom
OR the 2nd Amendment at: LWVSonoma.org/2ndAmendment
OR the 4th Amendment at: LWVSonoma.org/4thAmendment
Or find a full range of civics topics at: LWVSonoma.org/CivicsMenu
The STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY program is a bilingual, non-partisan civics education initiative that refreshes public understanding of the Constitution, our system of government, and why these principles matter today. Check it out. Tell your friends. Join our committee – we meet the second Monday of every month at 3pm via zoom. The link is always on the League calendar.
Want more info? Contact Lynn Dooley, standup@lwvsonoma.org
| | Protecting Our Right to Vote
by
Debbie McKay | | |
American Association of University Women - Santa Rosa Branch
and
the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County
PRESENT A VERY SPECIAL PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM:
PROTECTING OUR RIGHT TO VOTE!
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 10:00 – 12:00
FINLEY COMMUNITY CENTER, CYPRESS ROOM 2060 WEST COLLEGE AVENUE, SANTA ROSA
SPEAKERS:
Evelyn Mendez, County of Sonoma Registrar of Voters
Election Security, and Changes to Mail-In Voting, including postal stamp date
Debbie McKay, League of Women Voters
Erosion of the 1965 Voter Rights Act and How we can Protect the Act; History of Winning the Vote
We hope that you can join us! Women won the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. That right is being threatened now, and we need your help in protecting our right to vote!
Coffee and light refreshments will be provided. Please bring a friend or neighbor! You don’t need to be a member to attend this FREE event.
For more information contact Taryn Young (707) 479-5750 tarynhikes@att.net
AAUW Public Policy Committee: Lee Boylan, Barbara Hoff, Melinda Moir and Taryn Young.
| | Interview with Chris Rogers
by Leona Judson | | | The State League asks local leagues every year to interview their state representatives. This year Leona Judson and Robyn Bramhall from our League were joined by Olga Agnew from the Mendocino League to interview Chris Rogers, who represents district 2. His district includes part of Sonoma County and all of Mendocino, Del Norte, Trinity and Humboldt Counties.
He started out by saying his top priorities as an elected official have always been health, climate change, poverty and kids. He views the biggest challenge facing California this year is the impact of funding cuts from Congress’s HR 1. He acknowledged that many people have lost trust in their government and don’t feel heard. He is countering this with more town hall meetings and responsive follow-up. Based on what he learned in town halls, he co-sponsored The Good Fire Act, which calls for indigenous practices in forest management. He is concerned that recent changes to the CEQA law allow harmful industrialization and is currently working on a “fix it” bill with Damon Connelly (12th District).
We covered a lot in this half hour interview, too much for this short article. He seems interested in engaging with his constituents and to come up with legislative solutions to problems that affect their lives.
Rogers sees a role for LWV in educating voters on the workings of government, to set the stage for their full participation.
| | Hot Topics
by
Leona Judson | | | In January we had Mary Fricker, a league member & independent business journalist, give an impressive talk on income inequality outlining its causes and suggested fixes to this troubling trend that is likely a root cause to many of our country’s financial challenges. The session was recorded and on your YouTube channel, which can be accessed through our website.
On February 21st Program Planning Survey
We have prepared a survey asking your opinion on what the national as well as our local League should be doing in the coming year. Please give us feedback by Feb21. Take Survey
On February 23rd The Registrar of Voters tour has been cancelled.
On March 23rd our Hot Topic on Zoom will be an update from the First Five of Sonoma County. This is the agency managing the Measure I ballot measure, The Sonoma CountyChild Care and Children’s Health initiative that is funding many improvements to childcare access for low-income children. Find out about how our sales tax dollars are being spent to improve the lives of the most vulnerable and youngest among us. | | Board Briefs
by Sherrie Brand | | | February 7, 2026
Treasurer’s Report: Sara Ingle has updated our bank account and has set up our financials on QuickBooks online.
Fundraising: Julianne Guariglia and Brienna Doherty are setting up a fundraiser Oscar Watch Party in Petaluma.
National Convention: Will be held in Columbus, OH June 25-28.
Advocacy: Jim Masters has changed the name of Voter Registration Outreach Committee to Voter Registration Card Distribution Committee.
Membership: Julianne hopes we will all attend the membership social at Red Car Winery in Sebastopol on February 12thfrom 4 pm to 6 pm.
Voter Services: Lynn has eight requests from Rotary Clubs to present Stand Up for Democracy.
Outreach/Programs: We renamed MMLM to Hot Topics. No Kings Rally planned by Indivisible on March 28th.
| |
Welcome
New Members
It's great to have you on our team.
Terry Husebye - Sonoma
Patricia Lignola - Santa Rosa
Rick Luttmann - Santa Rosa
Jeff Mattison - Petaluma
| | | |
February 19 Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy by Joyce Vance (2025 / 224 pages)
Fresh off the press on 10/20/25, Joyce Alene Vance’s “Giving Up is Unforgivable,” has been referred to as beginning "a countermovement to Project 2025.” She "offers a blueprint for avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle.” She presents "a clarion call to action,” putting our current crisis in historical context and sketching out a vision for where we go next. Vance’s message is hopeful at its heart, even as it acknowledges the daunting challenges that lie ahead. She is the constitutional law professor you never knew you needed, explaining the legal context and the political history— and why the rule of the law still matters. Consistent with her signature “We’re in this together” sign-off for her newsletter, she empowers the reader to do something, both as individuals and collectively.”
March 19—Moderated by Sukey Robb-Wilder
Civil Resistance – What Everyone Needs to Know by Erica Chenoweth (2021/ 362 pages)
This is a scholarly book, and by combining statistical analysis with case studies, the authors detail the factors enabling nonviolent resistance campaigns to succeed, and sometimes, to fail. They conclude that successful nonviolent resistance ushers in more durable and internally peaceful democracies, which are less likely to regress into civil war and autocracy than violent resistance. Presenting convincing evidence, they systematically compare violent and nonviolent outcomes in different times and places, debunking the myth that violence is necessary to achieve certain political goals. Instead, the authors discover, violent insurgency is rarely justifiable on strategic grounds.
April 16—Moderated by Karen Rust
One Nation Under Guns: How Gun Culture Distorts our History and Threatens our Democracy by Dominic Erdozian (2024 / 191 pages)
An in depth Look into how gun rights activists have muddied the story of firearms in our country and changed our laws. In the 1960s six out of ten Americans favored a ban on handguns. Richard Nixon hated handguns and despised the NRA. How did we get here, where the leading cause of death among children and teens is gunshots? And our “uniquely American“ problem of mass shootings? It's a well written look at a topic that is uncomfortable and terrifying .
| |
Please Remember to Take
Program Planning Survey
Due by February 21, 2026
| | | Connect with the League
We want to hear from you!
| |
and Other Officers
Donna Roper, President
Robyn Bramhall, Executive VP
Open, Administrative VP
Jim Masters, VP Advocacy
Sherrie Brand, Secretary
Sara Ingle , Treasurer
Linda Rosen, Treasurer
Julianne Guariglia, Membership
Open, Community Outreach
Chris Riezenman and Robyn Bramhall, Youth Outreach
Eleni Misthos, Voter Service
Lynn Dooley, Stand Up for Democracy
Leona Judson, Programs
Rebecca Jones, Communications
Juanita Roland, Member at Large
Deborah Doyle, Member at Large
Linda Robinett, Voter Editor
| | Some Useful Links
LWV Members Portal:
| | | Become a Member
League of Women Voters Sonoma County
The most direct way to join is to go to the LWV Membership Portal. You may pay your dues online, or print out your invoice and send it along with your dues payable to LWV of Sonoma County to our office at the address below.
| Here are some links of interest. | 555 Fifth Street, Suite 300-O
Santa Rosa, CA 95401-8301
(707) 545-5943
www.lwvsonoma.org
| |