DFA-NJ is the Jersey homebase of Democracy for America, the nation's largest progressive political action community. With local groups meeting monthly all over the state, DFA is a grassroots engine to change the Democratic Party from the bottom up. We provide campaign training, organizing resources, and media exposure so our members have the power to support progressive issues and candidates, up and down ballot. We're proud of every one of these candidates, they're our progressive standard-bearers. And some of them might be local to you. Full disclosure: Jeff Gardner & I both serve on the DFA-NJ executive board.
Jon Corzine & Loretta Weinberg It's enough that Jon Corzine's running against a candidate as unacceptable Chris Christie. But above that, we find Corzine an admirable governor struggling uphill against a national economic downturn (read: George Bush). Expanding health coverage for NJ kids. Paid family leave. First-in-the-nation economic recovery program, ditto return-to-work. Ready to sign Marriage Equality. Expanded early childhood education. Choice. Ends the death penalty. Corzine stands with Obama, and that's the future. Christie's a product of Bush, and we don't want to go back. But for us, when Corzine chose that corruption-busting, pro-transparency, no-nonsense progressive hot chick Loretta Weinberg, this race took off. She's our ally. There's nothing tempered, or guarded about the way we admire her. Website.
Doug Singleterry & Cecilia X. Birge for Somerset Freeholders Cecilia was born in China and spent part of her childhood in Chinese labor camps where her Western-educated parents were sent. As a student, she was in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, then came to America for college. She put her Wall Street background to work on Montgomery Twp council. And in 2007, she became the only Asian-American woman mayor in NJ history. Cecilia & North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry focus on DFA core issues: transparency, accountability, fiscal responsibility, pay-to-play. Website.
Marianne Rampulla & Chan K. Leung for Raritan Twp Committee Raritan Twp's the center of one of the toughest GOP strongholds in the state. Every race is uphill. But this year, the Dems already have one of their own on committee, so if Marianne & Chan both win, the population center of red Hunterdon swings to Dem majority. Running for the 2nd time, they started early, came on strong. They're both very well-known in the community, both professionally and in high-level municipal and volunteer capacities. Website.
Naomi B. Collier for Hawthorne Mayor First woman ever to run in the general election for that position. An attorney, Naomi is sensitive to issues that face families, both young and old. Serves on the Executive Board of Woman Lawyers in Bergen County, & Trustee/Treasurer for the Jean Robertson Foundation. Volunteers for Alternatives to Domestic Violence. Instrumental in bringing the hugely successful farmers market to the borough. Priorities include developing a sustainable economic plan, revitalizing downtown & improving services to seniors and families. Website.
Dan Benson for Mercer Freeholder Dan Benson was appointed March 2008 as a Mercer Freeholder to an unexpired term and won a special election later that year for a 1-yr term. Dan's priorities are to expand on his progressive record of fiscal responsibility, open space preservation and job creation through infrastructure investment, and ensure Mercer County has a progressive voice in government. He is running for a full 3 year term. Website.
Tammeisha Smith for NJ-23 Assembly First time Hunterdon DFA members heard Tammy speak, it was on the need for health care reform, with a strong personal story and concern for her elders. It was a surprise that she works in the insurance industry. But there, she manages outreach programs to bring access to affordable medical/prescription coverage to the community. Health care reform is her passion. Website
Randy Bishop for NJ-11 Assembly Randy is a Neptune Township Committeeman and the 3rd openly gay Mayor in NJ history. Randy believes that service to your community is one of the highest callings. His community background includes time serving on boards. He's been the local Chamber of Commerce President. In his professional background, Randy has both corporate experience, and is a small business owner. His priorities: job creation, meeting resident's health care needs and stemming the flight of families and businesses spurred on by our tax and regulatory structure. Website.
Jeff Grayzel for Morris Twp Committee Elected in 2007 with the help of many DFA members, he was the first Dem elected to Morris Twp. Committee in 34 years. Since Watergate. Jeff works hard for open & participatory government and citizen involvement, against pay to play & for improved land use. His grassroots efforts have won him the support of many Independents. Seeking a second three-year term. Website.
This year there is a real chance that Democrats can take one or two seats on the Somerset County Freeholder Board. For years the myth of the "good managers" Republican Freeholders has kept them in power as they're raised tax collections by millions every year with unchecked spending.
Shockingly, Republican Freeholder Peter Palmer voluntarily said "So What" to the fact that many managers in the county are paid more than 90 percent of Governors in the United States. Democratic councilman Doug Singleterry from North Plainfield nails him by noting that Palmer may pass out high salaries all he wants, Singleterry has voted against pay raises in these difficult times.
You can donate to Singleterry and his running mate Cecilia Birge at Change for Somerset.
I am asking you to take Election Day off from work and come to Somerset County to make this election as painful as possible for the Republican bosses. We can win this county for Barack Obama and put some serious dents in the Republican hold here.
Just last month Somerset's registration advantage moved from the GOP to the Democrats, we have awesome candidates for Freeholder in Doug Singleterry and Cecilia Xie Birge, have four different Congressional races (Pallone, Holt, Wyka and Stender), and candidates running in just about every town. This is an opportunity we haven't seen in a long time, and we need your help to make it happen.
We will be working out of Bridgewater (Martinsville), Hillsborough, Montgomery and maybe one other town but our goal is to reach every single district in the county at least once. We need you to give us a few hours to make this happen.
This is an amazing opportunity to put NJ7 in the Democrats' pocket, elect Democratic Freeholders in Somerset for the first time since 1979, take some of the wind out of Rodney Frelinghuysen, and win control of at least four towns.
We need challengers at the polls, van drivers for our volunteers, people to go door-to-door to our voters reminding them to get to the polls, and others to staff the staging areas. Anyone 16 years or older can volunteer on election day and make a real difference.
If you can give us one, two, three, four or eight hours on election day, please give me a call at (908) 561-6387 or e-mail me at nathanrudy@gmail.com .
If you can't come to Somerset, please be sure to volunteer in your home town or county. The more workers we have the more votes we'll get!
[This is mostly in Linda Stender's NJ7 -- throwing these two candidates some ducats means more help getting Linda and the rest of the ticket the last mile so pony up! -- huntsu]
Somerset County Freeholder candidates North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry and Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Birge on on the air!
Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Xie Birge is running for Somerset County Freeholder, but neither her current gig nor the one she's running for are her first shots at political activism. Cecilia was born in China and ... well, I'll let her tell you.
Cecilia Xie Birge was born in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution and spent part of her childhood in Chinese labor camps where her Western-educated parents were sent. As a student in Beijing, she participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and came to America the following year on a full scholarship to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
That's a pretty good pedigree, demanding democracy in a terrible dictatorship like China. Cecilia wants to bring that dedication and work to Somerset County, as well.
From family and friends in China, she has learned the government has blocked access to her website, www.birgegroup.com.
China's internet censors, "clearly have targeted me as a person," Birge said. "It's disappointing and puzzling. What does a county campaign have to do with the Olympics?"
While odd and ridiculous, the situation "shows the extent to which the Chinese government will go to present its, and only its, image to the world," said Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch.
In a massive reversal of fortune, the Democrats in Somerset County actually got column 1 for the November election. The last time that happened was ... well, I don't know when it was. It was a long time ago, though. At least six or seven years.
Somerset County has been tightening of late, and the massive surge in Democratic registrations this winter put the two major parties essentially in a tie. Of course, there are a ton of undeclared voters who consider themselves Republicans, but they can't be that interested if they don't vote in primaries.
Had Linda Stender had the first column in 2006 ... she still would have lost, but it would have been a little closer. Yeah, sad but true. This year, however, it's possible that the column could mean enough extra votes for Linda or lost votes for Leonard Lance to put her over the top.
And Michael Hsing, the Republican Councilman from Bridgewater who is running for Congress as an independent, is bracketed with the Libertarians in the third column instead of being buried somewhere in column 15 with the Marijuana Party like independents often are.
The GOP is in column 2.
All in all, this is the best case scenario for the Somerset County ballots. It's not gonna deliver a heck of a lot of votes, but it will help the Democrats a little bit. And in a tight race, that little bit could put us over the top.
Yesterday we brought you the news that Cecilia Birge and Doug Singleterry, Democrats for Somerset County Freeholder, went after the all-GOP Freeholder Board for buying $50,000 in self-promotional giveaways.
Buying that much crap just to promote yourselves is pretty bad, but this rationale for why they need the mood pencils (they change color with the heat of the skin) and beach balls for the annual 4H Fair.
"The county government tent is extremely well attended by the visitors, and the visitors are 20,000 plus each of the three days," Palmer said about the 4-H Fair. "They check out the various services that the county offers and typically they pick up, for lack of a better word, 'tchotchke' items."
"It's the one of the few opportunities that the county government has an opportunity to get out there and educate its customers about what services it offers," said Somerset County Counsel Thomas Miller.
One of the few opportunities? Pencils that change color when heated and beach balls are what the Somerset County Republican Party consider public education of the role of county government in their "customers'" lives.
After a few years of coming really close, the Democrats in Somerset County are in a position to really take on the all GOP Freeholder Board. Their excellent candidates -- Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Birge and North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry -- aren't taking advantage of the past years' momentum or the current environment.
They're taking it to the Freeholders -- tonight!
Singleterry and Birge will attend tonight's Freeholder meeting and ask why the hell in this tight budget year they are spending $50,000 on mood pencils (yeah, you read that right) and other toys with the names of elected officials all over them.
The County last week released a request for quotation that includes the above items and many more. Most of the items are to be custom printed with the names and positions of various elected officials. For example, the very first item on the bid request is for 1,500 ?mood pencils? imprinted with ?Frank Bruno, Surrogate.? The single largest line item in the package is for 9,000 beach balls imprinted with ?Somerset County Freeholders.? This item alone will cost taxpayers approximately $10,000.
It's good to see this kind of early, aggressive action by Birge and Singleterry. Their fight could not only put Democrats on the Somerset County Freeholder Board for the first time in more than 25 years, but will also help bring out Democrats who will vote for Linda Stender for Congress.
Show these two excellent and aggressive progressives some love on their donation page. Your $15 could be what puts them over the top!
As some of you know -- and all of you should know (at least for the benefit of my ego - lol) -- I ran for Somerset County Freeholder as a Democrat in 2003 and 2004. Somerset County is a pretty unforgiving environment for Democrats, and 2003 (Iraq War) and 2004 (Presidential) were particularly brutal years.
Needless to say I got my ass handed to me. It wasn't worse than previous years, and better than some, but I had expected to do better.
Well, this year things are different for any number of reasons. We have a more active party grassroots thanks to DfA, Blue 7th PAC, Melonie Marano's Freeholder campaign last year (so close!), great local party organizations taking hold, etc. We have a changing national environment that makes things more likely to go the D way. We have an open seat in the 7th district and a great candidate again in Linda Stender. And frankly the demographics for a ticket headed by an African American man or a woman actually help us in this county.
Speaking of that presidential race, we have more than 10,000 new Democrats in Somerset County thanks to the February primary. Nice.
But the real reason we have a shot, besides all that nice environmental stuff, is we have two awesome candidates: Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Xie Birge and North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry.
