Delta County Democrats gathered for their party caucuses last Tuesday, March 6. The greatest number of attendees, 47, was in the North Fork Valley including Hotchkiss, Crawford and Paonia. Surface Creek had 17 and Delta 16 in attendance.

President Barack Obama received 54 delegates for re-election and two delegates were cast as uncommitted by the county's Democrats. There are 4,130 registered Democrats in Delta County.

"Overall, without a contested race," Delta County Democratic co-chair Judy Davies said, "I think we had a good turnout. Overall for Colorado we had 10 percent turnout for the caucuses." That figure was reported by Rick Palacio, Colorado Democratic Party chair.

Those attending the caucuses in Delta County read and voted on three resolutions. Precinct 18 in Paonia voted to send the three resolutions to the county assembly for consideration. The resolutions included one submitted by the Boulder County Democratic Party condemning the detainee provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. Another was a resolution by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund that proposed Colorado must recognize the authority of municipalities to govern and prohibit the activities of corporations involved in unconventional shale gas extraction ("fracking"), free of state preemption. The final proposed resolution wanted Colorado to regulate and tax marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, limiting its use to those 21 and older. This should appear on the Nov. 2012 ballot as Amendment 64. A straw poll will be taken at the county assembly about these and other resolutions. Davies expects the resolutions to be re-written to express the viewpoints of local Democrats.

The Delta County Assembly and Convention will be held at Memorial Hall in Hotchkiss on Saturday, March 24, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Delegates will be elected to attend the state assembly and convention which will be Saturday, April 14, at 8 a.m. at the Pueblo Fairgrounds.

Currently, there are no Democrats running for county offices. A candidate development committee is hoping to find some before the Tuesday, June 26 primary. Democrats have historically had a difficult time being elected in Delta County. Those attending Precinct 18 could only think of four Democrats­ elected over the years — sheriff Bill Blair, Mildred Hamilton, Donna Ferganchick and commissioner John Hawkins.

Sal Pace, Third Congressional District candidate, held a town hall conference call the same night as the caucuses.

The Delta County JJ Luncheon will be April 28 at 1 p.m. at Delta's Westminister Hall. Tickets are $25. Confirmed speakers and guests are Democratic Party head Rick Palacio, State Sen. Gail Schwartz, State Rep. Sal Pace and State Rep. Millie Hamner.

The Pancakes and Politics Breakfast will be held at Cleland Park Pavilion in Delta at 9 a.m. on June 15.

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