ANDOVER – Democrats in the southern portion of Ashtabula County wanted to reach more of their neighbors and approached Ashtabula County Democratic Party Chair Susan Hagan with an idea.
Hagan, sensing a need, responded, resulting in county Democrats opening a party headquarters in Andover.
“Some of the volunteers that live in this area were coming up north to our campaign headquarters and said they really want a headquarters down here,” Hagan said. “I was rightfully reluctant thinking, ‘I don’t know how we would do that.’ They said they’d help, and the community, and it just became a no-brainer. I’ve always wanted, as the chair, to have a better presence in south county. I think it’s been forgotten for a long time and now we’re here and we’re really proud of what we’re doing. We’re going to do a lot of outreach in this community.”
Hagan and Ashtabula County Democrats gathered to celebrate the opening of its satellite headquarters at 98 Public Square in Andover on Saturday, June 13.
“I have goosebumps,” Hagan said. “I get really emotional about it because we were in hard times with Democratic Party for a long time and I think people, especially down here, felt left out, and I think the people felt hopeless and now there is a real sense of hope across the county.”
The new office will allow Hagan and party members to reach more of the county’s residents.
“We’re not just doing outreach to Democrats,” Hagan said. “We’re doing outreach to unaffiliated voters and some Republicans, as well, because we’re not thinking about this on a party level, per se, we’re looking at this as we want to unite as Americans. We are in the heart of America down here in south county. I’m excited because I know people care about sick people. They care about their grandparents, their parents and their kids and education, and all of that is in disarray right now. We’re going to work really hard to turn this ship around.”
Putting the office in Andover was an easy decision.
“It was available,” Hagan said. “The first thing was we want a campaign headquarters and the next thing is where they go, ‘There’s an empty building!’ We contacted the owner and they said, ‘Absolutely!’ And that’s how that happened.”
Maria Jukic, candidate for the District 14 seat in the House of Representatives, said that the new headquarters addresses a need.
“This to me is very exciting about opening this office here because what it says is that people are interested in change,” Jukic said. “They want change and are looking for neighbors and community members to come together.”
“This is very encouraging to me, all of you are very encouraging to me, and I think the time is right for people who are open to a new message,” Jukic continued.
The new headquarters makes volunteering for the party a little bit easier, those gathered on Saturday believe.
“The fact that we’re opening this regional headquarters is a tribute to the size of the county,” Jason Noscal, candidate for Ashtabula County commissioner, said. “It takes an hour to drive north to south or east to west, doesn’t matter…There’s just that size difference. It’s a deterrent for those of us in the southern part of the county to have to make that drive up to Ashtabula just to go volunteer, to do this on behalf of the party.”
“I’m grateful that this headquarters is up and running here in Andover and in south county, and I’m looking forward to years of success,” Noscal continued.
The new office also serves a portion of Ashtabula County that might not always be represented, those gathered believe.
“It’s great to see everybody here,” Oakey Emery, candidate for Ashtabula County Auditor, said. “It’s fantastic we’ve got this office open down here. You, in the southern county, need to be represented. I don’t think this could be any better. I’m very happy to see this.”
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