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On Sunday, March 26, Blackbird Wineshop and the Ox cooks are hosting a Southern-style meal to raise money to flip a red-state Congressional seat to the Democrats.
The event will bring in cooks from Ox to cook an interpretation of a Southern feast—think grits and Brunswick stew—with Blackbird selecting the wine pairings. It's $60 for five wine pairings and food.
They're putting together money for Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who's been consistently ahead in the polls in a special election for a Georgia Congressional seat vacated by Trump appointee Tom Price. The election will take place April 18.
This marks a major opportunity to flip a seat in Congress from red to blue—and while Oregonians can't vote for Ossoff, we can support him from afar.
Multiple news outlets, including the New Yorker and The Daily Beast, have written about this special election as a major opportunity for for Trump resistance—one that's a lot more pragmatic and concrete than all those ACLU donations.
Odds are stacked against Ossoff. The seat hasn't been occupied by a Democrat since 1965.
But in a poll of 694 likely voters taken last month, it shows that Ossoff was leading a broad field of candidates with 32 percent support. Last week, the national PAC End Citizens United announced they had raised $250 thousand for his campaign.
He also has the support of Civil Rights leader Rep. John Lewis, who told Ossoff that if there's anyone who could take the seat, it's him.
There are many ways to resist Donald Trump, but few as delicious as this.
RSVP is required. You can call the shop at 503-282-1887 or email blackbirdwine@gmail.com. There are only a couple of spots left, says organizer Laura Bartram.
Bartram, who works as a wine steward at Blackbird, had been wanting to put together a wine dinner with Ox for awhile, and saw this as an opportunity to do something productive.
"This is the first special election since the general election, so it's kind of like a referendum on Trump," she says. "The ACLU is fantastic and everything, but I think the problem is we don't really know what's going on in other parts of the country."
If the event is successful, they plan on hosting more.
"We'd like to have one for each election that comes up and the idea is kind of like pairing Oregon wine with the cuisines from whatever state or area," says Bartram.