I'd like to tell you about one of my national colleagues, another Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate, Elaine Marshall, a Democrat from North Carolina. Like me, she was told to stay out of her state's U.S. Senate race. Like me, she didn't look back.
On May 4th, she was the top vote-getter in a five-way Democratic primary in North Carolina. She now faces a runoff election on June 22nd (she needed 40% and she won 36%). Her prospects look promising to win the runoff, and the latest Public Policy Poll shows the Republican incumbent, Senator Richard Burr, vulnerable when pitted against Secretary Marshall (Burr 43%, Marshall 42%).
Here are some of the things I really like about Elaine Marshall:
Secretary Marshall, like me, is benefiting from direct help on the ground from the Women's Campaign Forum. One of my key Senate race supporters contacted me Monday when she received a WCF email supporting Elaine Marshall. My supporter forwarded the email to her adult daughter, saying:
"This is the group of the future; one that truly supports women who run for office. Sign up on their website and support them. Only by standing and working together will we make the necessary advances. Thank you Sam Bennett & WCF!"
Sign up with the Women's Campaign Forum to stay in touch with a longstanding national organization that "gets it" that women don't move ahead by trying to fit into the way that it's always been done. WCF understands that, especially in primaries, when fund raising is tough and times are unpredictable, party machinery often characterizes diversity and a fresh approach as "inexperienced" and not worth the risk. (Elaine Marshall is the first woman elected to statewide executive office in North Carolina; she defeated legendary NASCAR driver Richard Petty, who, less than a year earlier, had been considered virtually unbeatable.)
WCF is helping Secretary Marshall. I can't say enough about the difference the Women's Campaign Forum meant to my campaign. When funds were being shut down, WCF didn't walk away from me because I couldn't meet a moving-target-money-threshold test. Sam Bennett at WCF said to stay tough, and WCF would be there for me. They were. WCF donors contributed to my campaign as our silver bus criss-crossed the state. Now they're fighting for Elaine. And we need to, too.
A U.S. Senate race in North Carolina is important to more than the people of North Carolina. Elaine will be there for you and me. Let's help her get elected in North Carolina. Please offer her your financial support and help WCF help others like her, because progressive grassroots campaigns and a tough fight on the ground need our money.
The campaign we ran for U.S. Senate taught us a new way to campaign in Ohio.
That's why I'm not done, and I hear from so many of you that you are ready for the next challenge. That's why we're forming an organization to help candidates, especially those outside of the special interests that have dominated campaign funding for years. We know that women and people of color and differing national origins, sexual orientation and gender identity have not typically been afforded easy access to the mainstream of campaign funding, even though they are increasingly moving into the mainstream of our communities.
We are in a time of profound social change and seeing it in health care reform, banking regulation reform and immigration reform. These are tough issues. With new challenges like the Citizens United decision that allows corporations to become directly involved in candidate campaigns, the stakes for preserving real democracy are even higher. It's important that our government "look like us" and represent the diversity of our experiences.
New candidates who step up buoyed by a passion for public service to solve problems of our complex communities can no longer sustain the established ways that force money to the top of all the issues in a campaign. Candidates must be able to run consistently with their values. When candidates actually spend time with voters and supporters, both in person and virtually through online communication and video, everyone benefits. Voters can see and hear directly from the candidate, and the candidate better understands their needs. In the end we all get better, people-centered government. So, let's get started.
I'm working on closure for my Senate primary campaign and will be transitioning activities to a new organization called, "CouragePAC." We call it CouragePAC, because candidates who are willing to push through the trappings of big money and the naysaying of established machine politics will need a little courage. We want to help them.
But first, I need a little help to get closure on my Senate race. We have a modest debt to be paid so we can move forward and help others. Will you chip in? Your contributions were so helpful in making our grassroots campaign strong and to prove there is a new way to campaign. Just a little more, and we can help others do this, too. The contribution limit is $2400, but we're happy with $5 or whatever you want to contribute. Your contribution will help us quickly pay off primary election debt so we can move forward to help other candidates get started.
I congratulate Lt. Gov. Fisher, our nominee for the U.S. Senate, and I join all Democrats in Ohio in looking forward to a vigorous campaign in the fall.
Early on, we decided to try and campaign in a different way. I got out of the call room and onto a bus. I traveled 6,000 miles to make 96 stops in 43 cities and talked directly to Ohioans about the issues that are at the center of their lives. I urge candidates and voters to embrace the spirit of this new campaign and call on the candidates to come out from the call room and talk to the voters.
Thank you very, very much to the many people who gave so much, in so many ways, to support our campaign.
Today is Election Day. This is when we can make a difference. The latest poll shows that 35% of the voters are still undecided. A contact with a voter on Election Day could win us vital votes. We are still recruiting volunteers to hand out literature at the polls and do visibility to remind voters that it is Election Day. Please call our office at 614-255-4255 if you can volunteer all or part of the day.
All of you are invited to join us at our campaign office after the polls close. We'll watch as the results come in and cheer Jennifer on. One segment of the campaign will end and the next portion will just be starting. The press and TV and radio stations are planning to be here. Help us show them Jennifer's grassroots team. Our address is 35 North Fourth Street, fifth floor. Parking is free at the meters after 6pm.
The national progessive organization 21st Century Democrats has sent this email to supporters in Ohio:
21st Century Democrats has endorsed four excellent candidates in Ohio. We are proud to support Governor Strickland, who has worked tirelessly to rebuild communities and create jobs in Ohio, Jennifer Brunner a strong progressive candidate for the U.S. Senate and Representatives Mary Jo Kilroy and Steve Driehaus, who both worked tirelessly to ensure that all Americans have access to quality affordable health care.
The only way to ensure that progressive change happens is by going tot he polls and supporting progressive candidates. These candidates need you! Vote Today!
Voting has already begun -- and polls stay open until 7:30pm. People often intend to vote but never carve out a few minutes to do it. This race will be close, so please think now about what time you can go vote.
During the public option fight, Brunner was willing to stand proudly with us as we fought to take on the insurance industry.
Our friends at Democracy for America endorsed Brunner because she is "a proven progressive leader, not another corporate Democrat."
When the United Food and Commercial Workers, Ohio’s largest private sector union, endorsed Jennifer Brunner, they pointed out that she "has never backed down from a challenge. She cleaned up a Secretary of State’s office plagued with dysfunction [after the 2004 presidential election] – and made it a model of reform."
Jennifer Brunner can win today -- but she needs good people to go to the polls and vote. Please support her in today's primary.
I urge you to exercise a right that students at Kenyon College waited nearly 10 hours for in 2004--the right to vote. It amazes me as Secretary of State how priceless this right is to Ohioans. And it's demonstrated time and again by people who go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their vote--their voice--is heard: the friend of mine who drove back to Columbus from Toledo when she remembered she had forgotten to mail her absentee ballot, or the friend who texted me to find out what her uncle in the hospital could do to be able to vote today, or the young man whose father flew him back to Ohio from New York in 2004 when his absentee ballot did not arrive on time, or the dying wish of a friend that her nursing home room mate vote at this election.
This primary election is one where voters must request a party ballot to be able to vote for any candidate--not a great system by 21st century standards, instead, a vestige of party and machine politics of old that could use some reexamination. My opponent has tried to take advantage of my holding an office in which I must protect a fair and accessible election system, yet abide by laws that need modernized. Some have fallen for his poll-tested, recycled Republican rhetoric. Others have not. This kind of negativity does not help us nominate or elect our best and brightest. That's why I ask you to vote FOR the candidate you want to see in office and not AGAINST either candidate.
Recently, my opponent has engaged in a political smear of my honoring my duty to not take a partisan stance after the primary election, regardless of the outcome. As Secretary of State I am often required to take stances for the integrity of our elections and to protect Ohioans' voting rights. Our election system is better for it. As a U.S. Senator I will carry out my role with this same kind of strength, dignity and objectivity, because courage is needed in public office today.
So, please, vote FOR the candidate you wish--and most importantly, please vote.
Jennifer Brunner has fiercely guarded the independence of the office of Secretary of State. She has said for months that if she wins the primary she will continue the delegation of authority she signed that shifted some of her responsibility to senior staff. If she loses the primary, she will resume all of her duties and continue to be an impartial secretary of state.
Jennifer has said all along that she is a Democrat and will continue to be a good Democrat but she has never endorsed in a race or publicly supported or campaigned for any candidate – including President Obama - since she became Ohio’s chief elections official. She has no plans to change that.
There are two well-qualified candidates running for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate. Let me tell you why Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, has distinguished herself as the better candidate. Jennifer is a hard working, courageous and a visionary leader.
It took hard work and much courage to fix Ohio’s broken election process. She was committed to protecting fair and honest elections to insure that your vote counts. In addition to creating efficiencies to eliminate long voter lines and malfunctioning voting machines, Brunner had the courage to replace ineffective board of election members throughout the State.
Brunner is a visionary as she looks to the many issues currently challenging our country. She recognizes the interconnectedness of these issues – jobs, health care, availability of credit and consumer protection – and the urgent need for sustainable solutions. Her grassroots campaign strategy to spend time listening and understanding the needs of Ohio residents positions her to be a leader in creating the new solutions that are needed.
Brunner will bring a collaborative model of leadership to Washington and the strength of character to facilitate cooperation. She is not a career politician, but has served the public well since 2000 when elected for 2 terms to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court and then the statewide election for Secretary of State. In her private practice of law, Brunner counseled clients on election law and campaign finance – issues that still require greater accountability and transparency. While serving as judge, she worked closely with her colleagues to develop a drug court which improved the system of justice.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has worked tirelessly for all Ohioans, setting tough goals and building consensus to reach them. These qualities will serve her well as Ohio's next US Senator. We have seen the difference strong leadership - the leadership Jennifer offers - can make in building a better Ohio in these tough economic times. Please join me in support of her candidacy for US Senate.
-Mary Ellen Withrow, Former Marion County, Ohio and US Treasurer
I love Ohio. And it's because of Ohioans. That's why I want to represent you and Ohio in the U.S. Senate. It matters to me what happens to my state and its people. This Tuesday, May 4th, we have the opportunity to take bold steps for Ohio and for the Democratic Party.
Our campaign has been like no other. "The Courage Express," our silver school bus we bought for $2050 on eBay, has taken me to every corner of Ohio. Our "Courage Campaign" has given me the opportunity to meet and talk with Ohioans in a personal way and for them to see the kind of Senator I will be--one who cares about people ahead of money--and who will fight to end for them.
I don't take money from banks we bailed out with our tax dollars, because I know there is tough work ahead in ending the harmful financial schemes that put us in this grinding recession in the first place. Neither my primary opponent nor my general election opponent can say the same. And I believe the full culpability of these financial institutions has yet to be revealed.
I've been described as "unscripted and uncensored" as opposed to a "retail politician," because I will tell it to you like it is. I'll answer you honestly and directly, explain my positions, listen to your perspective and work harder than anyone to improve the quality of life for Ohioans and Americans.
I've fought in this Democratic primary for a level playing field for Ohio women to see one of their own elected for the first time to the U.S. Senate. Imagine how I'll fight for you.
Yesterday the Cincinnati Enquirer published its endorsement of my candidacy in Tuesday's primary. My general election opponent is from Hamilton County, the readership area of this publication. The tide is turning. You can get on board The Courage Express like many others and move Ohio forward in bold steps. Join us. Volunteer, tell your friends or contribute.
Referring to her as a "feisty underdog," the editors note that "she has shown resilience and policy-making skill as secretary of state, a difficult post on which both parties exert great pressure," and "she has stood her ground credibly on reforms" and has worked out snags in the voting process.
They also write that "er ability to work with people of divergent views, while holding true to her liberal roots, shows she could be effective in the Senate" and that she has leveraged her limited campaign funds "with grassroots organizing and online campaigning."
I write to you as we wind our way north from Marysville to Lima on our $2050 bus bought on eBay--The Courage Express. With me are a Columbus Dispatch newspaper reporter, a super volunteer from Columbus who calls Latino voters and tells them about our campaign in Spanish, a full-time staffer from Washington, D.C. from the Women's Campaign Forum and my exceptionally dedicated campaign staffers. This is how campaigns are won. This is how David beats Goliath.
Today's Quinnipiac poll shows us beating Republican Rob Portman 40-36 if the election were held today. Our primary opponent does not perform as well, and he is not likely to if he is our nominee in the general election.
I don't and won't take money from executives and PACs of banks that were bailed out with our tax money. Our campaign relies on funds from people like you, whose interests I want to represent when I'm in the U.S. Senate. We're running what I call a "new, old-fashioned" grassroots campaign. Now is the time to volunteer, tell your friends and contribute.
When David beat Goliath in the Old Testament story, it wasn't because David used Goliath's style of fighting. David kept it simple, caught Goliath off guard, exercised his skills with courage and focus and slayed the giant. David had the courage to do it, even when no one thought he could.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has worked tirelessly for all Ohioans, setting tough goals and building consensus to reach them. These qualities will serve her well as Ohio's next US Senator. We have seen the difference strong leadership - the leadership Jennifer offers - can make in building a better Ohio in these tough economic times. Please join me in support of her candidacy for US Senate.
Our campaign has been like no other. "The Courage Express," our silver school bus we bought for $2050 on eBay, has taken me to every corner of Ohio. Our "Courage Campaign" has given me the opportunity to meet and talk with Ohioans in a personal way and for them to see the kind of Senator I will be--one who cares about people ahead of money--and who will fight to end for them.