The big news this past week out of MA-09 is that progressive challenger Mac D'Alessandro will make the Democratic primary ballot against anti-choice, anti-health care reform ConservaDem incumbent Stephen Lynch. He submitted 5,000 signatures to city and town clerks offices by the May 4 deadline. As long as at least 2,000 are certified valid (should be no problem with 5,000 submitted), Mac submits the 2,000+ certified valid signatures to the Secretary of State by June 1 and he'll give voters a choice against ConservaDem Lynch.
Mac took to YouTube to thank his grassroots supporters for their help making the signature drive a big success:
Progressive Democrats across the country have reason to be active in this race. There were 34 House Democrats who ultimately opposed health care reform; and Lynch's vote was among the most perplexing:
Then there are the real head scratchers. Reps. Michael Arcuri (D-NY) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA) famously abandoned the reform push late in the game, after having voted for the House bill. Lynch, in particular, went on a very public crusade of opposition to the bill from the left, and cast his vote despite pleas from President Obama and AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka that he vote with the party.
Of the 34 anti-health care reform Dems, some are running for other office (Senate or Gov), some are retiring, but most are running for re-election. Best I can tell though, few if any have serious primary challengers. MA-09 will provide progressive Democrats nationally with an opportunity to send a message to a ConservaDem who abandoned one of the Democratic Party's central pillars - expanding access to health care and moving toward truly making quality health care a right instead of a privilege.
That appears to be why Mac's campaign has found itself on MoveOn.org's radar screen as a viable primary challenger worthy of progressive support:
In the wake of Rep. Stephen Lynch's vote against health care reform, many progressives have expressed frustration with him-and now he's facing a serious primary challenge.
Mac D'Alessandro is the New England Political Director for the progressive Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and he's pledging to "be on the side of consumers and workers, and not on the side of health insurance companies and big banks."
So get in the game! Now that Mac has demonstrated grassroots strength through the impressively successful signature drive, he has to raise money - and ConservaDem Stephen Lynch starts off with a $1.3 million campaign war chest. So, please, please, please head over to Mac's ActBlue page and contribute as generously as you can!
Mac D'Alessandro of Milton, Massachusetts, has spent his career fighting on behalf of working families. For the past nine years, Mac has worked for the Service Employees International Union, most recently as New England Political Director. Prior to working for the SEIU, Mac worked for Greater Boston Legal Services, directing legislative efforts to help families combat poverty. Mac earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Human Ecology and Environmental Policy from Rutgers University and his Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School. Mac, 40, is married to Jennie Mulqueen, an early childhood arts educator, and is the proud father of five-year-old Sophie and three-year-old Atticus.
SEIU's New England regional political director Mac D'Alessandro has taken the primary plunge against incumbent Stephen Lynch. (Lynch, for you Progressive Punch score followers, gets a lousy 2 rating, coming from Massachusetts, and has a lifetime progressive score on "Crucial Votes" of 81.87, which drops to 71.95 when focusing on 2009-2010.)
Greetings, Blue Mass Group! My name is Mac D'Alessandro. I'm the New England Political Director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); and, as of this week, I am a candidate for United States Congress from Massachusetts' 9th district. I am a progressive Democrat, and I'm running for Congress because I believe that the working families in our communities deserve a Congressman who will fight for them and who will actually be a leader on key issues that matter to them - from reforming our health care system (and building on the recently-passed reforms) to holding Wall Street accountable to investing in job creation for our communities to protecting our civil rights and ensuring equal protection under the law.
I have spent my career fighting for working families. I've been with the SEIU for nine years. Prior to that, I worked for Greater Boston Legal Services, directing legislative efforts to help families combat poverty. I live in Milton with my wife Jennie, our children Sophie and Atticus, and our cat Nile. Like most families throughout the district and across Massachusetts, my wife and I sit at our kitchen table on a regular basis, going over our bills and the family budget, paying for today while trying to save for tomorrow. We see too often that the well-being of Fortune 500 companies are put in front of the good fortune of working families like ours. That is why I'm running. The 9th district deserves more than just another representative; the district deserves someone who will champion our Democratic ideals in the U.S. House of Representatives as we fight to balance the playing field for working families like ours.
There were 34 House Democrats who opposed health care reform. Lynch was the only one from Massachusetts. And, of those from the 34 who are running for re-election, I still don't see a lot of primary challenges. Supporting Mac D'Alessandro's campaign can send a message nationally to Democrats wavering on other issues (like Wall Street reform). Mac very much represents what it means to be a "Better Democrat." Please spread the word, join the Facebook group, and contribute any amount you can.
Beltway political pundits are pointing to Scott Brown's recent U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts as a sign that Republicans nationwide should be excited about their prospects in November.
You know what would be a terrific rebuke to that false logic: a progressive Democrat winning the historically Republican state senate seat that Scott Brown gave up upon his election to the U.S. Senate. Turning the Scott Brown seat from dark red to bright, progressive blue would make a resounding statement with these political pundits and be a big victory for progressive change.
Dr. Smulowitz is a health care expert and progressive Democrat, very much in the proud, progressive tradition of Dr. Howard Dean. He will bring to Massachusetts government innovative ideas on reducing health care costs while focusing on primary and preventative care - ideas that can be duplicated in states across America. Dr. Smulowitz will fight for economic growth and job creation, particularly by easing the tax burden on small businesses and promoting investment in green industries. He will fight to make government more transparent and responsive to its citizens. And he will always fight for civil rights and privacy rights, including protecting marriage equality for same-sex couples and reproductive rights for women.
The primary in the special election to fill Brown's old state senate seat is in just a few weeks, on Tuesday, April 13. Dr. Smulowitz needs your help in the Democratic primary to make sure that a Howard Dean progressive can succeed the conservative Scott Brown. Dr. Smulowitz has a primary challenger, a hack in the state legislature who was formerly a member of the state House leadership under two consecutive House Speakers, Tom Finneran and Sal DiMasi, who both eventually became convicted felons and who both represent what is wrong with Massachusetts state government. This hack's ties to the convicted felon former Speakers make her completely unelectable in a general election.
On the other hand, Dr. Smulowitz can help champion progressive change by winning conservative Republican Scott Brown's old State Senate seat. But we need your help in the progressive blogosphere!
Please join our fight to help a progressive Democrat, rather than an establishment hack, win the primary and have the opportunity to turn the Scott Brown seat blue. Please make a contribution today via ActBlue!
The pundit class thinks that Senator Ted Kennedy's seat going to Scott Brown is a big, bad omen of what is to come for Democrats in November. Electing a Howard Dean Democrat, Dr. Peter Smulowitz, to succeed Scott Brown would turn that omen on its ear and send a poweful message of its own. Please join our fight!
Crossposted at Daily Kos and EENR Blog. I didn't see much discussion of this race, so thought this might be helpful for readers here.
Most of you probably remember me from all of the hard work I put in blogging about Rick Vilello, former candidate for the PA-05 nomination. Well, during that time I also got very sick. So sick that I was unable to go to work and they eventually had to let me go. The good news is that my sickness was apparently an allergic reaction to something in the area, and now that I have left the area, I'm no longer sick. I'm returning to the PA-06 and noticed that there has not been a single diary on our very progressive candidate down there. I would like to rectify that situation. Bear in mind that I do not work for the Bob Roggio campaign, although I do look forward to volunteering for it.
Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley has his first TV spot up on the air!
The ad highlights Jeff's history as a fighter for Oregon's progressive values and Jeff's commitment to going to the U.S. Senate to end the war in Iraq, protect a woman's right to choose and gain accessible health care for all.
The Democratic field is cleared for State Senator John Unger (campaign site) to challenge Foleygate/Page Board scandal star and incumbent Wall Street Journal Republican Shelley Capito for West Virginia's Second Congressional District seat.
The Democratic House leadership seems to be lining up behind Unger's bid to unseat the increasingly vulnerable Capito, hopefully giving Unger vital early support in a district the Democratic leadership dreadfully under-invested in the 2006 cycle. Unger has even been honored as one of Rahm Emanuel's "Six Pack", one of only six candidates to whom he has donated so far in this cycle.
It is a very encouraging sign that Monday evening six of the leading House Democrats (including Hoyer, Emanuel, and Van Hollen) will host a big old fundraiser (info) for Unger.
In 2006 Democrats picked most of the low-hanging fruit in regaining the House majority. Seats in which we have a legitimate takeover opportunity are few and far between (and we have several seats we won in 2006 we are going to be hard-pressed to hold and need to offset).
John Unger's campaign in 60-some percent Democratic registration WV-02 offers us a chance to pick the GOP's pockets of a seat which traditionally belongs to us. Read on for the who, how and why.
I've been puzzled lately as I watch netroots activists support old school, DLC type Democrats.
I thought the point of the netroots movement was to elect progressives. To "crash the gate" with new candidates. To bring fresh ideas into the Democratic Party.
This is my first posting on Swing Space Project. I'm here not only because I care about the outcome of elections - I do - but because how we elect them matters, and what they stand for matters too.
And I'll come right out and say it: while it's exciting that a new wave of members of Congress just swept into office in 2007, I'm worried that the way campaign finance works and the rigors of fundraising will keep them-and their colleagues in Congress and in statehouses-from realizing their full potential as representatives. So I'm here to voice my concern. We need "clean elections," or the full public financing of elections, as a way to restore faith in the political process and to make sure that a wide range of folks can run and win.
Jason Altmire in PA-04 was featured in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story on February 5th describing his fundraising prowess since November 7.
Just three months after his victory over incumbent Melissa Hart, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire is keeping a brisk fund-raising pace.
Sounds like he's no slouch-and that's critical if he wants to remain in his seat in a battleground district.
Drew Pritt, a Democrat who became the first openly gay candidate to run statewide in Arkansas, says a progressive Democrat challenging Pryor in 2008 would be the best thing to happen for Arkansas Democrats, and he said he might as well be the one to do it.
"Senator Pryor should know better," said Pritt. "However, he has voted too often with George W. Bush and against the people. Now Senator Pryor says he wants to be bipartisan and work for progress. Senator Pryor needs to remember the Democratic Party is the party of progress and the people of Arkansas want a Senator who is progressive and partisan in that regards."
Pritt says Pryor should follow more of the example his own father, as well as Senator Dale Bumpers, set while serving in the U.S. Senate. He says the results of the November 7th Election show that the Democratic Party returned to its roots of fighting for progressive causes and nominating progressive candidates.
