New Democratic headquarters opens Downtown

By Ashley Luthans

Buchanan County Democrats are celebrating the grand opening of their new headquarters.

The new location opened Friday at 520 Francis St. A grand opening celebration will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7.

Andrew Gibson, the secretary of Buchanan County Democrats, talked about how the new headquarters will benefit Democrats in the area.

“This is huge for a few reasons,” Gibson said. “First off, it gives people a chance to come in and know that there are Democrats in St. Joseph that are active in the community. It gives them an opportunity to come in and get yard signs … We’re a big yard sign community, I love that. So it gives people a chance to come in and kind of show their support for the candidates that they’re behind. And it also gives the party a chance to kind of connect.”

Gibson said there will be a lot on the ballot in November, and the new headquarters will be a place to learn about the issues.

“There’s a lot of ballot measures that are gonna be on here through the initiative petition process, and educating people on those when they have questions and things I think is hugely influential,” Gibson said. “And we’ll be able to do that and give people the information they need so they can make the choice that they, you know, think’s gonna better their life in November.”

Gibson went on to emphasize that all are welcome at the new headquarters.

“We have an open-door policy,” Gibson said. “We want people to come in, we want people to be energized, we want people to get involved. The message that I think we should carry is that there is always room at the table for whoever you are, whatever your background is, we have a place for you.”

Leading up to the November election, hours of operation will be Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., depending on the number of volunteers.