On The Record: Lorna Ward

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Lorna Ward, Chair for the Rusk County Democratic Party.

What would you say are the primary issues concerning Rusk County?

A lot of people need health care. There is a lot of poverty here. Another concern is about jobs. The TXU buyout hopefully cancelled the new coal mines, but most people here work for TXU and are worried for their jobs.

Martin Creek Lake is located in my district. The electric plant is known as a large producer of mercury and CO2, being second highest in the nation for these pollutants.

Conservation is a growing concern.The new TXU owners will create new windmill farms which will provide a lot of their power along with other new techniques such as burning sawdust and wood chips. We are trying to get more economic development here.

What are you looking forward to in the coming cycle?

I am so excited, I can hardly wait. When Bush leaves, I will have the greatest celebration I’ve ever had. I will be celebrating the new Democrats we will elect, and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop celebrating. When the new Democratic Representatives and Senators are inaugurated, it will be like angels coming to lift us out of the darkness. It is very rewarding for me to be able to say that my work focusing on one precinct has turned it to the Democratic side, but it has happened.

I can find very few in my county who will get out and work the election, so we are all operating at a disadvantage to the Republicans. It is so hard to get someone who is willing to get out and work door to door to get out the Democratic message. I have had to rely on bulk mailouts, because we had no one to go door to door. People need to wake up to the fact that they need to get up and start working.

What would you say the political breakdown of your family is? Is it mostly Democratic or are you somewhat unique?

My family has never really been involved in politics, as far as working for a political Party.

When Bush came in, he was a catalyst for me to become involved. My husband went for the Republicans and he loves O’Reilly and Limbaugh. My husband and I can’t talk to each other about politics, that’s our agreement, but most of my relatives vote Democratic.

What was your personal progression from the role of activist to the role of County Chair?

I came into politics was the day after the Nov. 2004 elections; I hadn’t been active until then. I went to the Democrats because I was frightened more than I had ever been for the state of our country. Bush has destroyed this country across the board and ruined our country's reputation across the world as a freedom-loving democracy. Americans have become notorious for kidnapping innocent suspects and sending them to secret prisons in foreign countries where they are tortured.

Only people who have never served our country as soldiers could state that the Geneva Conventions were "quaint" or could start a war causing hundreds of thousands of innocents to die or be maimed just to get Iraqi oil into the hands of American and Western oil companies. This is why I joined the Democrats, our only chance for survival. Without a Democratic President, we will be lost. Republicans could not believe that Bush would even destroy the Republican Majority which took 20 years to build.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in politics?

I have not been around very long, but one thing I know as a fact is a quote from Gandhi: “You may never know what results will come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.”

If you reach out at a precinct level, they will respond and a movement will happen. I am watching a movement here, and I have to work for it everyday. You do what you need to do to make change.