Last cycle, the Secretary of State Project did tremendous work in raising money and awareness for several contested SoS races across the country. These unheralded but crucial state-level office-holders are crucial for protecting the voting franchise. Corrupt Republicans like Ken Blackwell in Ohioa and Katherine Harris in Florida have used their powers for evil; keeping these offices in Democratic hands is a vital mission.
So I’m very pleased to see that the SoS Project is once again in effect, raising money for four races this year:
There are two states we are targeting with open races for Secretary of State in 2008: Oregon and West Virginia. In Oregon, Democrat Kate Brown is running against GOP nominee Rick Dancer. In West Virginia, Natalie Tennant won the Democratic primary on May 13, despite being outspent 6 to 1 by her competitor. She is now fighting for the seat currently occupied by Betty Ireland, a partisan Republican who is currently working hard to oppose Election Day Registration.
In Montana, Democrat Linda McCulloch is trying to unseat ultra-conservative Brad Johnson. Johnson has been involved in an attempt by conservatives to rollback the state’s Election Day Registration laws.
We are also working to protect the seat of a progressive Secretary of State in the key battleground state of Missouri. Democrat Robin Carnahan is a strong reformer who should win reelection. But given the importance of a fair election in Missouri, we need to be vigilant in this state.
They’re also looking further downballot, as well:
Not all the action is happening at the state level. This year, the Secretary of State Project will also help elect reform-minded Democrats to key county-level posts in battleground states. A number of stark examples from 2004 and 2000, like Cuyahoga Co. in Ohio and Broward Co. in Florida, prove that manipulative county-level elections officials can exert a tremendous amount of influence over their results. Removing Republican operatives in three or four key counties could have a profound effect on the election. County-level targeting will be announced soon.
If you’d like to help out the Secretary of State Project, you can find their ActBlue page here.
Our Secretary of State is Karen Handel. Handle has drawn the ire of Democrats here for a very partisan abuse of power. Jim Powell is running for a seat on the five member Public Service Commission, the body that regulates utlities. There are currently no Democrats on the PSC. Commissioners are elected at-large but must be elected from districts to ensure all of the state is represented.
Powell’s residency was questioned by his primary opponent. The matter went before a judge, who ruled in Powell’s favor. Despite that, Handle kicked Powell off the ballot THE DAY BEFORE THE PRIMARY and DIDN’T NOTIFY POWELL. Remember, this was after a judge had ruled Powell meets the requirements. Powell got a stay, however, some voters reported that fliers saying votes cast for him would not count were still up at polling sites.
Handel’s reasoning was clear. Powell was immensely qualified (more than his primary opponent, in my opinion) and the probably (and eventual) Republican nominee was said to be a pawn of the utlities. Powell won his primary with 85% (my vote included) but we didn’t know for a few weeks if he was going to be our nominee or not. He did win his case. However, it cost him time and money.
It is really important to call attention to these races. Here is where people either tend to vote a straight party, or vote for the person whose name is familiar, without knowing anything about it. But in many respects, these folks can directly impact peoples lives more than other offices. Here in Marion County, three years ago we threw out an incompetent Republican City/County Clerk. Why is the Clerk important? They run the mechanics of elections in the city, and there only seemed to be problems with machines and registration rolls in heavily Democratic and minority neighborhoods. HMMMM. (As an aside, the Democrat we elected has done a far-less-than-bangup-job, but that’s another story!).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
Could tip the presidency to Democrats single handedly.
About 10k so far dontaed to this years. Let’s do this!
this is becky bond from the secretary of state project.
thanks for the nice shout outs. it takes a special kind of organizer to appreciate an infrastructure-focused, leverage play like the SoS Project.
this cycle the big race is really Montana. McCulloch is a challenger who has won statewide. Johnson is a real bad guy who wants to roll back Election Day Registration. Election Day Registration essentially provided the margin for the Tester win in 2006.
there are very low limits for McCulloch — $250 max — and so we need to move a lot of small dollar donations to her.
The missouri, west virginia and oregon races look to be wins. but we must be vigilant — in oregon and missouri unlimited donations are permitted which could allow republicans to come in at the last minute, run a bunch of TV and shake up a race.
please be in touch — in addition to the 2008 races, we are working now to get our 2010 targeting together. most SoS races happen in the midterm. and it will take several cycles to get the republican operatives out our chief election officer positions.
the good news from our 2006 work comes in everyday. for example a month ago jennifer brunner, the new Ohio SoS we helped elect, said there would be no “sleepovers” with election machines the night before the election. mike mauro who we helped elect in 2006 helped the legislature pass election day registration in that state in 2007. the list goes on and on.
feel free to hit us up with advice and questions — secstate (at) gmail (dot) com
This is an important project deserving of support. And not just for the reasons stated. SoS is also a great position to hold waiting for a gubernatorial run.
Tennant will roll to victory in WV. If Betty Ireland had run for reelection, well, that would be a different story. But Ireleand seems to have lost her taste for public life in the wake of family tragedy. The GOP and their business allies are not making much of an effort in the statewides except for AG and Supreme Court and in backing their one remaining top-shelf political talent Shelley Capito in WV-02.
The GOP has conceded the governor’s race, where they are pretty content with Manchin and had no one willing to take the drubbing (hence drafting a former legislator to take the loss). Their candidate recruitment for the other elected statewide offices was abysmal, save for AG (where they know there is plenty of business money itching to take shots at lightning rod incumbent AG McGraw) and Supreme Court (where the scandals involving perks from and favors for Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship have derailed their favored candidates).
Essentially, Tennant has a bye in the general. The big question is the 2012 shakeout when Manchin will be term-limited, Byrd likely to step down, and every Democratic pol blocked from higher office for nearly a generation starts scrambling for a promotion. On top of this, Capito will likely run for governor, opening WV-02.
In Missouri, Carnahan is safe. Still some magic left in that name.
here in MN is an absolute God-sent and I thank SoS project for all the work they did to get him elected. I remember running around on election day doing all the GOTV stuff and then I found out the former SoS, Mary Kiffmeyer (who is now going to be in the state house, hahahaha) was being sued for not allowing college students to vote. And then she cried during her concession speech. GOOD RIDDANCE!
But I definitely agree, we all want to elect as many Democrats as we possibly can but its important to see how to get them elected and the obstacles we have, and ridiculous hyper-partisan SoS’s in office who work against Democratic voting blocs who are already easier to disenfranchise to help them win.
Again, this is why we need federal election laws that get rid of this bs and when we all get Obama elected, we need to make sure these laws are reviewed and updated before the 2010 elections. We are a democracy so let’s act like one.
Minnesota’s secretary of state Mark Ritchie is one of the reasons we started the SoS project.
and with community organizers in the news so much these days, it’s important to note that’s how he got his start in politics — as a community organizer.