Gov. Howard Dean and Democracy for America Endorse Twelve Candidates - "The Dean Dozen"

Released: May 26, 2004 8:40 AM

Gov. Howard Dean and Democracy for America Endorse Twelve Candidates - "The Dean Dozen"

BURLINGTON, VT - Today, Gov. Howard Dean and his organization, Democracy for America (www.democracyforamerica.com), endorsed twelve socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates that represent the spirit of grassroots democracy in this country - the "Dean Dozen."

On behalf of the candidates, Democracy for America will reach out to their supporters to inform them about the Dean Dozen. Many of these enthusiastic supporters have already expressed interest in financially supporting and volunteering for candidates Dean endorses.

"These twelve are fighting to take our country back from the special interests," said Dean. "They are working to protect our civil liberties. They are building communities and encouraging economic growth. They are the future leaders of this country."

Two weeks ago another group of Dean Dozen candidates was announced. Within hours, candidates running for all levels of government saw the impact of this powerful endorsement: Rob MacKenna, candidate for supervisor of elections in Hillsborough County, Fla. had 22,840 visits to his Web site the Friday after the endorsement, up from a daily average of 420. Jeff Smith, candidate for the U.S. House from Missouri, saw a 600% increase in Web traffic in the first 24 hours after the endorsement and has received national media interest in his 10-way primary to fill the vacant seat of Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.). This intense Web traffic led to increased donations and volunteer support.

Democracy for America is a political action committee dedicated to using its resources to support candidates in their fight to take our country back from the right-wing conservatives who dominate our government. These will be tough races and not everyone on the Dean Dozen may win. However, they will all spread the message that to change America is important.

The Dean Dozen are:

Assemblyman Jonathan Bing for New York Assembly. Manhattan needs representatives like Jonathan Bing in Albany. That's why Howard Dean is kicking off Bing's re-election campaign with a reception in New York tonight! www.bing2004.com

Tom Potter for Mayor of Portland, Ore. On the strength of local Democracy for America volunteers in Portland, Potter won his recent 20-way primary with 41% of the vote. That's unprecedented. Now he heads into the general election. www.tomformayor.org

Alisha Thomas Morgan for Georgia General Assembly. Running for re-election, 25-year old Representative Morgan is the first African-American to serve in the General Assembly from Cobb County (home of former Congressmen Newt Gingrich and Bob Barr.) www.alishathomas.com

Kayln Free for United States Congress from Oklahoma. A member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Kayln has won the support Democracy for America because the grassroots want her to win the July 27th primary. www.freeforcongress.com

Representative Vicki Walker for Missouri State House. A 100% record on pro-union, pro-education, environmental and women's issues. www.electvickiwalker.com

Samara "Sam" Barand for United States Congress from New York. The 29th Congressional District is an open race this year. Barand is an energetic, young candidate capable of winning the seat for the Democrats. A victory will mean economic development for New York's Southern Tier. www.samaraforcongress.com

Peter Corroon for Salt Lake County, Utah Mayor. Encouraged by his cousin - Howard Dean - Corroon is running for mayor. He won the endorsement of the Salt Lake County Democratic party with 70% of the vote in April. As a fiscally responsible Democrat he is campaigning against an incumbent who runs the county like a "mini-Enron." www.votecorroon.com

Patrick McCormick for DeKalb County, Ind. Council. Inspired by the grassroots of the Dean for America campaign, McCormick has answered Howard Dean's call and is running for local office. www.mccormickfordekalb.com

Christine Cegelis for United States Congress from Illinois. Cegelis is running against Cong. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). www.cegelisforcongress.com

Nelson Thompson for Cumberland County, N.J. Freeholder. A member of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (District Council 711) seeks the county seat to represent the working men and women of New Jersey.

David Van Os for Texas Supreme Court. Grassroots activists are strongly behind progressive Van Os. The Texas Supreme Court is 100% Republican and it's time to take it back. www.vanosforsupremecourt.com

Don McDaniel for Georgia General Assembly. This Meetup host and co-founder of Georgia for Democracy is running a grassroots campaign in Ralph Reed's home district. Don is a first time candidate, inspired by Howard Dean to make a difference in his community. www.electdonmcdaniel.com

Gov. Howard Dean Visits Philadelphia

Released: May 23, 2004 10:34 PM

Participates in Town Hall Meeting

PHILADELPHIA - Gov. Howard Dean, founder and honorary chair of Democracy for America (www.democracyforamerica.com), will conduct a town hall meeting in Philadelphia this Sunday, May 30. Dean and U.S. Senate Candidate, Cong. Joe Hoeffel will also participate. Dean will lay out his vision for recruiting progressive candidates at every level of government and the upcoming presidential election. He will attend a fundraiser for Hoeffel at a private home in Lower Merion following the town hall meeting.

Democracy for America is a political action committee dedicated to building a grassroots network to support progressive candidates at all levels of government. Philly for Change is a grassroots community working to transform the political process in the Philadelphia area by encouraging citizen action and promoting progressive values.

Who: Gov. Howard Dean, Gov. and U.S. Senate Candidate, Cong. Joe Hoeffel
What: Democracy for America and Philly for Change Town Hall Meeting
When: Sunday, May 23 at 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Where: PACE Local 2-286 Union Hall
410-24 North 8th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19123; 215-829-9212
Contact: DFA: Laura Gross, 802-651-3200, ext. 134; cell: 202-255-2054
Philly for Change: Mike Carvalho, cell: 484-995-6453
Hoeffel for Senate: Kristin Carvell, 215-789-3700

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Gov. Howard Dean and Democracy for America Raise $503,822 in One Day for Senator John Kerry

Released: May 19, 2004 1:39 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Laura Gross, 802-651-3200
May 19, 2004 lgross@democracyforamerica.com

BURLINGTON, VT—Only 24 hours after an e-mail solicitation was sent from Gov. Howard Dean on behalf of John Kerry's presidential campaign, $503,822 was raised. The e-mail was sent by Gov. Dean to the supporters of Democracy for America (www.democracyforamerica.com), Sen. John Kerry and the Democratic National Committee.

At a campaign rally in Portland yesterday, Sen. Kerry praised Gov. Dean and said "thank you for helping to awaken the Democratic Party, to awaken our country. Thank you for putting your country ahead of everything else and joining together in this great effort."

The well-known Dean bat was brought back and posted on democracyforamerica.com, johnkerry.com and dnc.org to track the amount of donations that began rolling in immediately.

"If our party stands united behind John Kerry, we will be able to send George W. Bush back to Crawford," said Dean. "The current right-wing ideologues that are shaping the policy of this country must be stopped and John Kerry is the best person that can stop them."

Democracy for America is a political action committee dedicated to building a grassroots network to support progressive candidates at all levels of government. Gov. Howard Dean is founder and honorary chairman of the organization.

# # #

Governor Howard Dean and Democracy for America Announce Dean's Dozen

Released: May 13, 2004 11:13 AM

BURLINGTON, VT - Today, Governor Howard Dean and his grassroots organization, Democracy for America, announced Dean's Dozen - twelve diverse candidates that represent the spirit of grassroots democracy.

"This year the race for the presidency is unbelievably important," Governor Dean said today. "But beside our efforts to evict George W. Bush from the White House, we must expand the base of the Democratic Party by competing in tough races across the country. The Dean Dozen represent some of the bravest candidates in the nation. Democracy for America is proud to support them."

Democracy for America is dedicated to using its resources to support candidates in their fight to take our country back from the right-wing conservatives who dominate our government. These will be tough races, and not everyone on the Dean Dozen may win. However, they will all spread the message that to change America, progressives must compete.

These twelve candidates will be followed by hundreds of additional candidates in the next few months.

No incumbents are on the initial Dean Dozen, though Democracy for America will be announcing its support of incumbent candidates soon.

The Dean's Dozen are:

Mary Ann Andreas for State Assembly in California. The 80th Assembly District has some of the highest unemployment rates in California. Jobs are Mary Ann's focus in her race against a Republican incumbent. www.andreasforassmebly.com

Ken Campbell for South Carolina State House. Oconee County has a chance to put a real community activist and small business owner to work with Ken Campbell. www.takebackoconee.com

Maria Chappelle-Nadal for Missouri State House. Maria has won the support of the grassroots in this race. Democracy for America is behind her in her campaign to take back the State House for Democrats. www.maria2004.com

Scott Clark, Mark Manoil & Nina Trasoff for the Arizona Corporation Commission. The Corporation Commission is a watchdog agency protecting consumers from fraud and corporate abuse. Clark, Manoil & Trasoff became politically active on the Dean campaign and are running as a ticket for the commission: corpcomm04@hotmail.com

Kim Hynes for State Representative in Connecticut. 28 Republican state representatives in Connecticut ran unopposed in the last election. Democracy for America is behind Kim Hynes and is looking for candidates to run for every seat: http://kimhynes.smartcampaigns.com

Richard Morrison for United States House of Representatives from Texas. Richard Morrison is running in the Texas 22nd Congressional District. Governor Dean will be in Houston to stand with the candidate who is hitting back at Tom "The Hammer" Delay: www.richardmorrisonfordistrict22.com

Barack Obama for United States Senate from Illinois. In the race to regain control of the U.S. Senate, Democrats have few better chances to pick up a seat than in Illinois. DFA volunteers all over Illinois helped Obama win his primary, now they are helping him win the general. Governor Dean will be on the trail with Barack soon. www.obamaforillinois.com

Rob MacKenna for Hillsborough County, Florida Supervisor of Elections. Rob is a computer systems expert and is using his campaign as a vehicle to promote youth participation, registration and voting in the all-important state of Florida. www.rob2004.com

Monica Palacios-Boyce for Massachusetts State Representative. Inspired by Governor Dean's race for the White House, Monica launched her campaign for state representative when she learned that the Republican incumbent had faced no opposition in his last two elections. www.monicaforstaterep.com

Lori Saldana for State Assembly in California. After an upset victory in the primary, grassroots activists want Lori to win in her race for the environment, education, economy and community of San Diego. www.lorisaldana.com

Jeff Smith for United States House of Representatives from Missouri. Campaigning in a 10-way primary for the opportunity to fill retiring Representative Richard Gephardt's seat in Congress, Jeff is an articulate young progressive running an energetic grassroots field campaign. www.jeffsmith2004.com

Donna Red Wing for Colorado House District #25. After serving as the GLBT Field Advisor for the Dean for America campaign, Donna has returned to the mountains of Colorado to mobilize progressive activists in communities across her district. www.donnaredwing.com

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