The Louisville Democratic Party announced on Thursday that they would hold a rally on Saturday at the IBEW 369 Hall on Preston Highway. With the last-minute notice, there was worry that the crowd would be slim, especially with the rain forecast for the day.
As it turned out, the only thing they organizers needed to worry about was the size of the room – it was not large enough for the crowd.
You can see it in the cover photo: the room is full to the brim, with people still standing outside trying to get in. Estimates placed the crowd at 500 people.
Lots of attendees brought signs, as shown below.
And even more signs, plus an appropriate costume:
(photos by Paul Wesslund)
Warming up the crowd
Roz Welch, the vice-chair of the Louisville Democratic Party, got the crowd going with chants and call-and-response.
- “Hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go!”
- “Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”
- “Today, Louisville stands up and says ‘We will not go back!’”
Then, it was on to the speakers.
Speaker notes and quotes
(from upper left) Roz Welch, Logan Gatti, Sarah Standfield, Dustin Reinstedler, Rhonda Matthies, Ricky Santiago, Kumar Rushad, Rep. Morgan McGarvey (photos by Paul Wesslund)
Logan Gatti
- Chair of Louisville Democratic Party
- Welcomes everyone.
- Asks people to get involved in their precinct (1,900 positions available as precinct captains)
- Proceeds to introduce other speakers.
Sarah Standfield
- Treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 611, serving with the Veterans Administration
- “Those of us who served, our oath was to the Constitution, not to a dictator.”
- “Musk wants to force all federal workers back in the office. But the truth is, federal workers are more productive, cost less, have less turnover, and get more work done from home.”
- (talking about AFGE) “We’re seeing more growth than ever. We are up from 302,000 members a month ago to 321,000 now.”
Dustin Reinstedler
- President of the KY AFL-CIO
- “Unions have always hated billionaires, okay?”
- “We got electricians, we got teachers, we got teamsters, we got iron workers. There’s been times in history where we laid our tools down. Where we stopped production lines, where we turned off the breakers. We took our stand and we hit the streets. And we’ll do it again if we have to.”
Rhonda Mathies
- Long-time civil rights activist
- “Musk is the nightmare – we are the dream!”
- “When the people get together, we rule the world!”
Ricky Santiago
- Secretary of the Louisville Democratic Party
- “I’m slightly bothered ... no, I’m PISSED that my family is in the line of sight of this bulldozer called DOGE. He laughs to our faces. My mother’s a teacher. My father works for the federal government. And most importantly, my son is on the autism spectrum. Collectively, we are a Latino family that has given nothing but service to Kentucky and the country. And now, a tech bro wants to gut our departments and institutions that keep us safe. ... Who does he think he is? ... He’s going to find out real quick what real Americans can do, because these colors don’t back down.”
Kumar Rashad
- Vice-President of the Jefferson County Teachers Association and former Teacher of the Year
- Does call and answer with the crowd: “When we fight ...” “We win!”
- “Anyone know the last three words Frederick Douglas said when he died? The first word was ‘Agitate.’ The second word was ‘Agitate.’ And the third word was ‘Agitate!’”
- (Calls out Jimmy Carter for his compassion, for strengthening our standing in the world. And, for setting up the Department of Education.) “Now Trump wants to dismantle that as well. But this doesn’t come as a surprise, as Trump and his ghost-writers from Project 2025 explicitly stated their intentions.”
- “They’ve come after our students with their immigration policies, when what needs to happen is ICE needs to go over there and deport Elon Musk.”
- “Tell Elon Musk that we don’t want our public school resources going to private schools – which we just defeated decisively in all 120 Kentucky counties.”
- “Tell him that educators and our allies are committed to resisting attacks on public education, because our power is in our numbers, and our faith. Our power is in our families, our power is in our unions, our power is in our communities.”
Rep. Morgan McGarvey
- Member of U.S. House from KY-3
- “I saw somebody on the streets last week and he said ‘Thank you for being there and standing up for us.’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it’s going to be a long four years.’ He looked at me and said ‘Hell, it’s been a long four minutes. We don’t know what they’ve done since we started talking.”
- “The time for being nice is over. ... We’ve seen what they truly want to do. So we don’t have to be nice. Doesn’t mean we have to be them. The truth still matters. A government that works for the people still matters. And calling out their bullshit still matters.”
- “How we do things matters. So even if you agree with the policy, or you like the person, please look five minutes beyond where we are right now. We set up a system where we would not have a king. We set up a system where we would not have a dictator.”
- (Notes Congress established the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and says Trump and Musk can’t just unilaterally get rid of them.) “And if we allow them to do it, they are remaking American democracy and turning it into a dictatorship.”
- “You think they’re stopping there? Project 2025 called for getting rid of birth control. You think they’re stopping there? They are, honest to God, putting Medicaid on the chopping block.”
- “The two questions I’ve been asked for the past two weeks are ‘What are you doing?’ and “What can we do?’ ... We’ve got a three-part plan. We’ve got to legislate. We’ve got to litigate. And we’ve got to agitate.” (Lists three bills House Dems have filed to stop what is happening.)
- (In a letter to his kids, after starting in Congress) “I know I’m not home for you. I know I’m going to miss games, and recitals. But I hope, when my time on this earth is done, you will think that what we did mattered.”
- “We cannot let this moment pass us by. This is the time that we must literally put it on the line.”
- (Quotes Thomas Jefferson) “When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.”
- “So here’s what you’ve got to do: Call your representatives. Call your senators. Do not tell people you were silent in this moment. Do not let your kids know you were silent at this time.”
- (Goes into detail about the three upcoming special elections in the House: Matt Gaetz, Michael Waltz, and Elise Stefanik. Notes that if Dems win all three, they take back the majority.) “You know what that means? It means Jamie Raskin is chair of the Judiciary Committee, and has subpoena power to drag these Teenage Mutant DOGE Boys in front of the committee and ask them what they’ve been doing with our information! ... It means Hakeem Jeffries is Speaker of the House!”
Roz Welch
- Vice Chair of the Louisville Democratic Party
- (Goes into detail about party reorganization, and about finding three people in each precinct to be the precinct officers.) “So you can knock the doors in your neighborhood. So you can let people know. So you can have coffee and tea at your house, or maybe walking in your neighborhood, and have conversation about how this is affecting us, and how it affects you. But it requires your involvement.
- Tells everyone to go to the website at LouisvilleDems.com and sign up for the newsletter, and look for ways to get involved.
- (Closes with the opening call and answer) “When we fight? We win!”
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