by on 04.07.2010
The Morgan County Democrat Political Action Committee held its spring dinner recently at the VFW in Malta. The featured speaker was Jennifer Brunner, Ohio secretary of state and Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate.
. . .
Regarding her bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, Brunner talked about her grass roots campaign, and that most of her contributions are from people who have donated less than $200.
“The best way to return this country to prosperity is from the ground up. If we empower people to be more financially independent, take better care of our families, it will in turn make our economy vastly more profitable,” Brunner said.
She talked about the importance of public service and that even in tough times it is important to focus on fairness, equality, and respect.
“When public service is done right, it is what makes miraculous things happen in people’s lives. With the right kind of leadership, it knows no bounds,” said Brunner.
. . .
Source: Morgan County Herald
by on 04.06.2010
Taking a page from the campaign of the late Paul Wellstone, Jennifer Brunner’s U.S. Senate campaign has bought a school bus to tour the state and try to rustle up votes in Brunner’s campaign for the Democratic nomination against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.
“We want you to be part of helping us name it,” Brunner, the secretary of state, said in an e-mail to supporters and potential supporters on Monday, April 5. Click here for more information on the bus.
Wellstone, a Minnesota Democrat, traveled across Minnesota in 1990 in a converted school bus en route to his upset victory in the U.S. Senate race there. His bus was green.
Brunner’s is silver. It once carried students in Licking County, according to her e-mail.
Source: Dayton Daily News
by on 04.02.2010
Mr. Chip Kussmaul’s letter (“No loyalty oath,” April 2) demonstrated misplaced anger towards Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Ohhio is a closed primary system. That is, Democrats vote in the Domocrat primary and Republicans vote in the Republican primary. At least since 1953, Ohio law required an elections judge to challenge the right to vote of a person who is a member of the other political party trying to vote in the opposite party’s primary. That law still exists today. As recently as 2004, the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court ruled that if a Board of Elections adopted a no challenge policy, and divested elections officials and judges of their statutory authority and responsibility to challenge an improper voter, it was cause for a contest of election lawsuit.
All the secretary of state is doing is enforcing the law. She has no choice. That is her job.
Timothy M. Burke
Chairman
Hamilton County Democratic Party
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer (Letter to the Editor)
by on 04.01.2010
Ohio law allows 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections, as long as they will be 18 years old on or before the General Election. That’s the message Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner took to Whetstone High School in Columbus Thursday.
Brunner told the crowd of juniors and seniors the only thing they can’t vote on are one-time questions like school levies or statewide ballot issues.
An electronic voting machine was available in the hallway for students to become oriented and practice.
. . .
Source: NBC4i-TV Columbus
by on 03.31.2010
In two very different Federal-level races, female candidates are fighting back against blatant examples of sexist Old Boys’ Club behavior.
In the Ohio Senate race, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is no stranger to being bullied by the big boys—essentially being told to stay in her place and mind her manners. Most recently, Brunner discovered that her primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, was covertly angling for a last-minute endorsement from the State Democratic Party before early voting began for the May 4th primary. A state party endorsement would undermine the purpose of the primary, especially in a race where all candidates are neck and neck.
Brunner fought back by rallying her supporters with the slogan, “Hands Off Our Primary!” There was a resounding grassroots response, and Brunner supporters sent over 74,000 emails to party leaders, demanding neutrality until the primary was over. Fisher and the State Democratic Party both backed off under this considerable pressure.
. . .
To say that both of these stories reveal women’s uphill battle in politics is an understatement. There cannot be a level playing field until voters and politicians send the message that backroom deals and boys-only schmoozing are not acceptable. We must elect a critical mass of women who will dismantle the Old Boys’ Club and demand transparency in our political world.
Otherwise, we might as well post a sign on the Capitol that says “No Girls Allowed.”
Source: Women's Campaign Forum
by on 03.28.2010
. . .
If you're from Ohio, a state whose economy is nearly prostate from trade policy caused job losses, you may have noted the last two names on the list, the favored Republican nominees for governor and senator this year. In fact, that very last name, Rob Portman, graduated from pushing crappy trade policies in Congress to actually devising and implementing them in his post-Congressional career as a lobbyist and Bush's Trade Representative. Friday was the anniversary of Portman's ill-starred appointment as Trade Rep and the occasion was marked by working people in Ohio with the sorrow it merits.
. . .
Portman's campaign called the anniversary a "distraction," although they did note that his presumed opponent, Lee Fisher, has a record that is just as bad as Portman's. I can't say that Fisher is that bad but... well, Clinton was an improvement over Bush I. Just don't tell that to the millions of American workers who's jobs were lost because of the bipartisan corporate trade policies both pursued. Then again, that might be why the one Ohio Senate candidate who does not support these catastrophic trade policies, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, is climbing the polls and why the other two stagnate.
In fact "Trade" is the #2 issue mentioned on Jennifer's campaign website, right after "Jobs." Her way of looking at Trade policy rejects the catastrophic approach that Reagan, both Bushes and Clinton took.
. . .
Source: DownWithTyranny!
by on 03.25.2010
Hardly any Chillicothe High School students raised their hands Wednesday to show they have registered to vote. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner hopes after her discussion with them about the importance of voting, every student will get registered.
Brunner's visit at CHS is part of the Vote At 17 initiative to inform students of their voting rights. In Ohio, teens who are 17 at the primary election but turn 18 before the Nov. 2 general election can vote for candidates in the primary, but not on issues.
"A lot of people don't know that. We have been letting people know around the state what their voting rights are. ... If you are younger, you have a greater stake in voting," Brunner said.
. . .
Source: Read more
by on 03.23.2010
The Ohio Democratic Party won’t endorse in the race between Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, party spokesman Seth Bringman announced on Monday, March 22.
“The Lee Fisher for Ohio campaign has informed us that, in the spirit of Party unity, they will not pursue an Ohio Democratic Party endorsement,” Bringman said in an e-mail.
“The party remains neutral in the primary and united toward defeating Rob Portman and winning at all levels in November.”
. . .
In a press release, Brunner said:
“I am pleased that the voters, not the party elite, will decide this contest.”
Her campaign had launched an e-mail campaign with her supporters urging executive committee members not to endorse. Her campaign said supporters sent more than 74,000 e-mails to executive committee members.
Brunner said she would not be able to pledge do do everything in her power to help Fisher win if he gains the nomination because of her position as secretary of state, Ohio’s chief elections officer.
Source: Dayton Daily News
by on 03.23.2010
Source: Buckeye State Blog
by on 03.21.2010
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner doesn’t want the Ohio Democratic Party to make an endorsement in her race with Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
“Hands Off Our Primary” is Brunner’s battle cry. In an e-mail, she said that Fisher has sent the state party a letter asking for its endorsement.
“Until now, the party has remained neutral. We need your help to keep it that way—not just for me, but for Ohio,” Brunner wrote.
“A state party endorsement at this late date provides no conceivable benefit for anyone but my opponent. As Democrats, we’re all in this together. A party endorsement would alienate supporters of the candidate not endorsed and hurt party unity after the primary election.”
Her request comes just before the party’s executive committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, March 24.
. . .
Source: Dayton Daily News
by on 03.05.2010
Brunner defeated Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher after collecting 28 of 53 possible votes from the local democrats Thursday. Both were in attendance at Thursday's executive committee's endorsement session at Simpson Park. More than 75 people, including several students, watched the candidates make their cases for endorsement.
The candidate winning May's primary will get the official endorsement and backing of the Ohio Democratic Party. The next U.S. Senator from Ohio will replace incumbent Republican Sen. George Voinovich after his 12-year Senate career.
Source: Bowling Green News
by on 03.05.2010
By Sam Bennet of Women's Campaign Forum
I know I'm not the only one to find myself watching the news in disbelief day after day. We listen to pundits, elected officials, and even the vice president call our government "broken." This sentiment was only reinforced at last week's White House health care summit when the partisan stalemate continued -- only four women had been invited.
Who's at fault and how do we get out of the seemingly endless deadlock? Some dare to argue that men are to blame. Somewhat earlier in the health care debate, Representative Carol Shea-Porter said of her sister House members: "We go to the ladies room, and we just roll our eyes at what's being said out there. And the Republican women said when we were fighting over the health care bill, if we sent the men home, we could get this done this week."
A bold statement? Yes. But studies have shown that women, who hold only 90 out of 535 seats in Congress, legislate differently -- often being more collaborative and ensuring more win-win outcomes -- than men. Women in the House and Senate stood together against the Nelson and Stupak amendments, just as women's organizations banded together to ensure health care reform's effectiveness and prevent the elimination of any existing rights.
. . . For our Women's Campaign Forum (WCF) Parties of Your Choice Gala in New York next Thursday, we've gathered prominent leaders from the fields of business, media, theater, politics, fashion, and publishing. . . .
. . . To underline the need right now to elect more women to fix our broken government, we will debut our national awareness campaign (Who Needs More Women in Government? Everyone.) via a performance piece written by and starring a broad array of female leaders. Performers -- including former CEO Christie Hefner, WNBA President Donna Orender, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth "Liz" Shuler, and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner -- will be perched on ladders in the middle of Christie's Auction House at the gala reception to command attention in a launch of a campaign designed to disturb the complacency of our nation. . . .
Source: Huffington Post
by on 03.02.2010
By Jennifer Brunner.
NO ONE is safe from domestic violence. It's found among the elite and the poor, the educated and the ignorant, the old and the young. Ohio can and must do more to prevent family violence and to help its victims.
That's why I support a proposed new state law that would allow victims of domestic violence to shield their voter registrations and addresses from public disclosure, under a confidentiality program housed in my office.
The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Kathleen Chandler (D., Kent), comes as demand for domestic violence services is rising across Ohio. At the same time, funding for shelters and other crisis programs is dropping, according to a recent survey by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
Nowhere is the spike in demand greater than in northwest Ohio. The sharpest increase in the state - 145 percent - occurred in Wood County. Hancock County reported a 67 percent increase. A Lucas County shelter reported a 30 percent spike. But the survey shows that more than 70 percent of domestic violence programs report a decrease in funding.
To be eligible for the address confidentiality program, participants must believe they or their children are in danger of being threatened or harmed by another. Mail for these people would be sent to them in care of the Secretary of State's office, which would place it in an envelope and forward it to them each day.
Source: Toledo Blade (op ed)
by on 03.01.2010
I respond to the Thursday Dispatch article "Voter anger is bipartisan, poll shows." I want to underline the point that 48 percent of those polled remain undecided. I believe that as more information comes out, these undecided voters will see that U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state, is the right choice.
Recent discussion on the race has focused on money. Brunner's fundraising and grass-roots campaign draw snickers and criticism from her opponents. These opponents mock her for speaking directly to regular voters, while other candidates and respective campaigns court big money from banks, corporations and Wall Street executives.
I will be excited to vote on May 4 for Democrat Brunner, the candidate who does not accept money from these corporate interests.
The idea that a candidate would put regular citizens first is a much-appreciated change from the status quo. It is refreshing to see a candidate who will owe her success to the people, rather than to the usual suspects who so often negatively influence our campaigns and government.
Source: Columbus Dispatch (letter to the editor)
by on 02.23.2010
Jennifer Brunner's Senate primary campaign in Ohio is one grassroots / netroots Democrats can rally around. Many of us are rightfully frustrated, even livid, with our party's leadership. The source of frustration may vary, but in every case supporting Brunner's candidacy makes sense.
If you're angry with the most timid, and in some cases just flat - out corrupt Senate Dems, who are clearly a major problem (probably the biggest), sending Brunner to the Senate makes sense.
If you think a lack of leadership from the White House (especially on health care reform and the public option) is part of the problem, sending Brunner to the Senate makes sense.
If you see reigning in the influence of K Street and Wall Street as a constant fight that is extremely difficult but also absolutely necessary, sending Brunner to the Senate makes sense.
And if like me, you fall into all three of these categories, sending Brunner to the Senate makes sense. This is an opportunity for those who are somewhat more critical of the Obama Administration, and those who are more prone to defend it, to work together on something that we can all agree on -- the need to send strong Democrats to the US Senate.
Substantively, Brunner is the best candidate on the issues. As far as ability to win the general election goes, she's a fresh face and she has run statewide before. Her straightforward stands, as well as the foundation for a powerful coalition that she has built, could serve her well in a very anti-establishment cycle.
. . .
Source: Progressive Blue
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