Our mission is simple: To organize our “brigade” of concerned and committed Berkshire Democrats to elect and re-elect Democrats at all levels of government. Our elected officials and candidates are committed to making the changes we need, but they can only do this with your help. We can only bring change if we work together to elect Democratic candidates. Accordingly, Berkshire Brigades is committed to:

·Building the Democratic base in Berkshire County by improving communication, local organization, education, and participation by people of all ages, creeds, color, ethnicity, race and gender

·Organizing Democrats and Independents to support and elect Democratic candidates in Massachusetts

·Working with Democratic organizations in other states to elect Democrats

·Gathering and disseminating information to the general public on critical local, regional, and national issues to promote Democratic principles of fairness, equality, opportunity, and community at all levels of government and civic life

Our Roots

Berkshire Democratic Brigades (BDB) had its beginnings back in 1999, when former State Representative and attorney Sherwood Guernsey and Lee Harrison, both of Williamstown, MA, realized Berkshire County Democrats would be stronger working together, especially with the critical 2000 Presidential election approaching. At the time there was no countywide Democratic committee to organize events or campaigns; each city and town Democratic Committee operated alone – and the county regularly elected Republican State Reps and Senators.

Wanting to change this dynamic and empower Democrats from Williamstown on the Vermont border to Sheffield on the Connecticut border, Sherwood and Lee reached out to friends, including Mary K. O’Brien, then the Central Berkshire Register of Deeds in Pittsfield and others to organize the first countywide Democratic event, a dinner at The Springs Restaurant in the town of New Ashford.

The event, which drew 150 local Democrats and statewide Democratic candidates was a huge success, and two more dinners at the Springs followed. But it was the 2004 Presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John Kerry that really solidified the still budding organization.

The Kerry Campaign

With the stakes so very high, Democrats from North, South, and Central County began meeting at Sherwood’s Pittsfield office to plan for the fall campaign. We all knew Massachusetts was going to go BIG for Kerry, and that freed up our volunteers to travel to other states. We sent “brigades” of volunteers to New Hampshire every weekend – in the winter when it was 6- degrees and the summer when it was 96-degrees – but we also sent people to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. We even collected donations of office supplies and sent them to our volunteer running Kerry’s Orlando office.

Despite our efforts, Kerry lost, but at our first meeting just days after that loss, 75 people showed up at the American Legion Hall in Pittsfield, saying basically, “Yes, we lost, but what can we do now.” It was then we knew we had a real, durable organization. We gave it a formal name, Berkshire Brigades (to celebrate the “brigades” of people we sent to campaign in four states), elected Sherwood Chair, and he organized BB into a formal PAC, allowing us to raise money for future campaigns. (NOTE: in the mid-2000s the organization changed its name to Berkshire Democratic Brigades.)