Moorpark Democrats now have a new opportunity to get involved with their party, support campaign efforts and address issues following the recent formation of the Democratic Club of Moorpark.

The Ventura County Democratic Central Committee (VCDCC)—the official governing body of the Democratic Party in the county—approved a charter request for the new club on June 26 during the group’s first official meeting.

Colleen Graven, a 25-year resident of Moorpark and an active member of the Performing Arts Association of Moorpark, co-founded the club with City Councilmember David Pollock. Graven serves as the new club’s president.

“It has been wonderful how much support we’ve gotten from the community so far,” Graven said. “For the most part, Democrats have been very quiet here. It’s not popular to be a Democrat in Moorpark. And most of the time we’ve been here, we haven’t spoken our minds because it doesn’t go over well. I guess you can say we’re coming out of the closet.”

Prior to the creation of the new club, Moorpark Democrats could get involved with the county committee through the Simi Valley/ Moorpark Democratic Club, which is primarily run in the neighboring city of Simi Valley.

But last year, voters in the two cities were separated when the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission redrew district boundaries.

“It created a greater need for Moorpark to have its own club,” Graven said.

Moorpark now lies in the new 26th Congressional District along with most of Ventura County, while a large portion of Simi Valley sits in the neighboring 25th Congressional District.

Ventura County was once a GOP stronghold under U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, who is retiring at the end of his 13th term this year.

The newly-drawn 26th Congressional District has 31 percent registered Democrats and 25 percent registered Republicans. Another 20 percent of the district’s voters are registered as “decline to state,” while the rest are affiliated with parties other than Democrat or Republican.

“Ventura County is now on the state and national political radar because of some key battleground districts,” VCDCC chair Richard Carter said in a statement.

“Moorpark lies in the intersection of both the new 26th Congressional District and the 27th State Senate District, so there will be a lot of focus on Moorpark in the months ahead.”

Graven said she got the idea to start a Democratic club in Moorpark while volunteering at a phone bank for 26th District Democratic candidate Julia Brownley back in May. Another volunteer told Graven that “Moorpark needs to be awakened,” she said.

“So I spoke with David Pollock, and together, he and I decided she was right, and we moved forward to create the club,” Graven said.

As of this week, the Democratic Club of Moorpark has 19 official members.

The group meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month inside the conference room of Clinicas del Camino Real, 4279 Tierra Rejada Road in Moorpark, in the Vons shopping center. The next meeting will take place on Aug. 16.

For more information or to join the club, send an email to moorparkdemocrats@gmail.com or call Colleen Graven at (805) 338-5582.