Brunswick’s Democratic Town Committee thanks all who made our 2016 caucus a success. With the help of Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Emerson and Brunswick Junior High’s Jackie Puglisi, our volunteers made careful plans to accommodate a big crowd — but when 1,500 attendees appeared, we exceeded the capacity of both the gym and the cafeteria and needed to make a call so that everyone who wanted to, could participate. We needed to comply with the fire code but in a way that would not disenfranchise any who wanted to cast a presidential preference. We decided to dispense with our traditional agenda, quickly elected caucus officials and went straight to the presidential preference, allowing some people to leave after voting, to help reduce the crowd.

Thanks to Brunswick’s elected officials and candidates, Sen. Stan Gersofsky, Rep. Mattie Daughtry, Rep. Jay McCreight, Rep. Ralph Tucker and Senate candidate Brownie Carson. It’s not often they have so many Democrats together yet they all agreed to dispense with their speeches as did the speakers for Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders so that we could get everyone the chance to make their preferences known.

Special thanks to Fran Smith and her terrific team from the Town Clerk’s office. They stayed throughout the caucus and enrolled over 225 new voters.

And thanks to all those who waited patiently in line, to the school and fire department officials for their help and to the incredible volunteers of Brunswick Democrats who handled a huge turn-out, assured we made our presidential preference known and elected delegates and alternates to the State Convention in May.

While the debate about the efficacy of caucuses continues, Brunswick showed its community spirit and made the very best of a challenging situation. Thanks to all who made that happen

Trish Riley
Brunswick Town Democratic
Committee Chairwoman