EVENTS: Lincoln County Dems to discuss dark money in politics at Nov. 16 meeting

 The Lincoln County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will hold its next hybrid meeting on Thursday, November 16, at 7 p.m., at the American Legion Post #42, 527 Main Street, in Damariscotta, and online via Zoom.

The main program will feature a discussion on dark-money funded extremist groups that are active in Maine politics. The guest speaker will be Maurice T. Cunningham, Ph.D., J.D., author of Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization and a former associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Since retiring from that post in 2021, Cunningham has continued his research into dark money in politics, authoring two reports on the dark money threat to public education for the Network for Public Education, Merchants of Deception: Parent Props and their Funders and “A Citizen’s Guide to the School Privatization Movement” (forthcoming).

Cunningham will talk about the involvement in local elections by dark-money funded extremist groups such as Moms for Liberty (M4L), a national organization that has helped organize book challenges in schools around the country over the past year, efforts largely centered around books written by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color. The civil rights and racial justice advocacy organization Southern Poverty Law Center recently classified M4L as an “extremist” anti-student inclusion group. M4L recently formed its first chapter in Maine, based in Kennebec County.

All Lincoln County Democrats and other progressively-minded voters or seasonal visitors are welcome to attend. Pre-registration is not required to attend the meeting in person but is required for non-voting members who wish to receive the Zoom link, phone-in details and reminder emails. Register at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/meet before Noon the day of the meeting to ensure access. They will also do their best to accommodate last-minute registrations.

LCDC voting members will automatically receive the Zoom log on information and reminders by email. Those interested in becoming a voting member must be a registered Democrat in Lincoln County and may make their interest known by indicating such at the in-person meeting, on the meeting registration form https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/meet, or by emailing info@lincolncountydemocrats.com.

Information about the committee, its meetings and other activities may be found at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com.