Urbandale Democrats Invited to Come Out of Closet and Organize

Do you ever feel like as a Democrat that you're an endangered species in Urbandale?

Then Kris Winters and Mary Polson have a solution for you: Come to the first meeting of a new Urbandale Democrats group.

The two community activists have organized a for any Democrat interested in finding others of like persuasion.

"Urbandale is looked upon as such a Republican stronghold, but there are a lot of Democrats who live in Urbandale. We just haven't been very organized," said Winter, an Urbandale community activist.

"We are very aware of the fact that Urbandale Republicans are very well-organized and, hey, Democrats can be that way, too," said Winters.

Polk County Election Office statistics show 10,332 registered Republican voters in Urbandale. But there are also 7,471 registered Democrats, about the same number as independent registered voters (7,287). So while, Republicans have a definite edge, Democrats aren't as scarce as they might think.

Winters and Mary Polson, former Urbanale city councilwoman and program coordinator for the Urbandale Community Action Network, invited some local Democratic candidates and officials to speak to the group.

They also have created a Facebook page.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the with coffee and a light breakfast. There is no charge.