Top Democratic House Candidates (with pictures)

[KingFlorez]

Descriptions from the DCCC



Darcy Burner has worked in the high tech sector for more than a decade, most recently as a successful manager at Microsoft. Darcy left Microsoft to work for policies that will help families who work hard and play be the rules get the opportunities they deserve to achieve the American dream. Darcy comes from a military family - her father served 20 years in the Air Force and her brother completed a tour of duty in Iraq. Darcy has been actively involved with several professional, youth, and community organizations and has a young son, Henry. Washington's 8th Congressional District is ready for change and Darcy's campaign continues to gain momentum. After outraising the incumbent in the first quarter of 2006, President Bush visited the suburbs of Seattle for a fundraiser with her opponent.



Busansky co-founded Boston Careers, Inc., which trained and counseled women seeking part-time employment. She subsequently served as Boston’s Deputy Director for public service employment. In 1988, Busansky was elected to the Hillsborough County Commission; she served as Chair in 1991 and was elected to a 2nd term without opposition in 1992. As a County Commissioner, she spearheaded an effort to create a healthcare program for the poor that gained national acclaim and saved taxpayers $100 million in its first four years; she was named an Outstanding Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine. Busansky was also the initial director of Florida’s Welfare Reform program and the founding President of the Community Health Leadership Network.




With a Democratic performance of almost 60%, this is one of the bluest districts held by a Republican Representative in the country. Courtney served as the popular State Representative for much of the district from 1987-1994. Courtney held Simmons to 54% of the vote in 2002, a year where Republicans made gains across the nation. Courtney outraised Simmons by $40,000 in the 1st Quarter of 2006.



John Cranley was the top vote getter in his 2005 City Council re-election campaign giving him strong momentum going into his Congressional bid against Chabot. Cranley has gained substantial experience since his 2000 run against Chabot, when at the age of 26 he lost only 53% to 45%, despite being outspent $1,099,555 to $465,561. He was appointed to the Cincinnati City Council in December 2000, and was officially elected to the Council in 2001. Cranley serves as a visiting professor for the University of Cincinnati Law School and co-director of the Urban Justice Institute and the Ohio Innocence Project.



Since 1988, Jill Derby has represented a five-county district in western Nevada on the state Board of Regents overseeing public higher education. Jill has deep roots in the state, with the Derby Dam and Derby Airport named for her family. Running in a seat that is trending Democratic, and out raising her Republican opponents two of the last three quarters, Derby is well positioned to take this critical seat.



Prior to her service in Iraq, Duckworth served as Staff Supervisor for the Rotary Club Int., establishing community service projects in the developing world. A graduate of the University of Hawaii and George Washington University, Duckworth was working on her doctorate in political science and public health when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. Major Duckworth sustained serious injuries when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down over Baghdad. After spending time at Walter Reed, she returned home to Illinois to continue her recovery and with the encouragement of her family and friends, she decided to continue to serve her country and community by running for Congress.



In 1999, Ellsworth was elected Sheriff of Vanderburgh County in his first campaign for public office. He began his law enforcement career as a patrolman in 1982. While a sergeant supervising the Narcotics Section, Ellsworth instituted the first DARE program in Vanderburgh County schools. Ellsworth has twice received the Sheriff’s Silver Merit Award, was named the Sons of the American Revolution Police Officer of the Year in 1996, and served as President of the Indiana Sheriff’s Association. In 2003, he was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor an Indiana governor bestows.



Served two terms as the First Selectwoman of the town of Westport, Connecticut. Elected in 1997 by 59% of the vote and by 71% in 2001, where she fought to successfully provide tax relief for seniors, adequate funding for the public schools, strengthen public safety, improve the town's infrastructure and recreational facilities, and markedly improve Westport's quality of life. As the Democratic candidate in 2004, Farrell received almost 48% of the vote against Shays. Recently was awarded the 2004 Woodlands Coalition Environmental Gold Award and the 2003 Upper Fairfield County Distinguished Leadership Award from The Anti-Defamation League.




During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo. Gillibrand played a key role in furthering HUD’s Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, working on strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas. Currently, she is an attorney in the Albany office of Boies, Schiller, & Flexner.



For the past 8 years, Hafen has served Nevadans while working for Senator Harry Reid, most recently as press secretary and senior advisor. Public service has been a way of life for Hafen and her family, led by her father Andy Hafen, a 20-year Henderson City Councilman.



First elected to Congress in 1998, Baron Hill lost his seat last cycle by a mere 1,500 votes. He grew up in Seymour, the small town of John Mellencamp's song "Small Town," and played basketball for Furman, which later won him induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame with the more famous Larry Bird. In 1982, at 29, he was elected to the state House and served eight years. In 1990, then-Governor Evan Bayh appointed Hill to head the state’s student assistance agency; a position that he eventually left to work for Merrill Lynch. In the House, Hill was a Blue Dog, and he is currently working for a law firm in Indianapolis.



Mary Jo Kilroy served 8 years on the Columbus School Board before being elected to the Franklin County Commission. On the three person Commission, she manages over $1.2 billion in taxpayer funds. She had widely expanded access to affordable health care to low income families and the previously uninsured without placing additional burdens on employers. Kilroy continued her service by successfully promoting urban development policies and improving Franklin County’s schools’ standards. For her service, she was awarded the Public Official of the Year award from the Central Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She is currently a partner in a private practice firm of Handelman and Kilroy.



Klein has represented constituents in both Broward and Palm Beach Counties in the State Senate. While in the Senate, he directed the Caucus’s recruiting efforts and campaign tactics in the ’04 cycle. A business transactions attorney by trade, Klein also served in the State House from 1992 to 1996. Klein has aggressively gone after Shaw for being out-of-step with the district – contrasting his own record of fighting for Florida’s middle-class families with Shaw’s plan to privatize Social Security and years of voting in lockstep with Republican Leader Tom DeLay.



The DCCC’s original 2005 Red to Blue candidate, Nick Lampson signed up to take on Tom DeLay last year and won that battle before Election Day. Running against the House Majority Leader, Lampson outraised DeLay and surpassed his cash on hand this year. Lampson continually put the pressure on DeLay forcing him to withdraw from the race. Republicans in the 22nd district are in disarray as questions remain over whether or not DeLay can legally remove his name from the ballot. Their best replacement candidates bowed out of the race, and Republicans are going to bench warmers with little name id and negative issues of their own to take on the well-funded Lampson campaign. With almost $2,000,000 cash on hand, Lampson has the resources and the momentum to win this open seat in November.



After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1955, Lucas served in the United States Air Force and in the Air National Guard. His political career began with election in 1967 to the Florence City Council, where he served until becoming Boone County commissioner in 1974, a position he held until 1982. Ten years later, Lucas re-entered politics as judge-executive of Boone County and served until 1998 when he was elected to represent Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District in Congress. After serving three terms, Rep. Lucas decided not to run for re-election. But, as widespread public corruption continues to emanate from the Capitol, Lucas couldn’t sit idly by, and decided to challenge freshman Rep. Geoff Davis, whom he defeated in 2002.



In 1978, Madrid became the first woman elected to the district court bench in New Mexico. Madrid became New Mexico's first female Attorney General in 1998. In 2002, Madrid was re-elected to a 2nd term, receiving the highest number of votes of any statewide elected official. Attorney General Madrid has placed a priority on violent crime prosecution, established a Violence Against Women unit, helped establish an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and led numerous prosecutions of caregivers for the abuse, neglect or exploitation of senior citizens.



Harry Mitchell has served the people of Arizona’s 5th Congressional District for more than 40 years. Mitchell served for 28 years as a public school teacher, 24 years on the Tempe City Council – including 16 years as Tempe’s Mayor – and 8 years in the Arizona State Senate. As a tribute to his many years of service to the city of Tempe, the town has erected a 30 foot statue in Mitchell’s honor.



Currently serving his 2nd term representing the 16th State Senate District, where he is Chairman of the powerful Public Health Committee and has been praised for passing the state’s historic stem cell research funding initiative. Previously served 4 years in the State House of Representatives. Before holding office, Murphy was the campaign manager for Charlotte Koskoff’s campaign in 1996, which almost defeated Rep. Johnson.



Lois Murphy, the 2004 candidate for this seat, is an attorney and an adjunct professor at Temple University's School of Law. Despite starting off in 2004 as a relative unknown who trailed far behind in early polling, she raised over $1.94 million and came within 6,400 votes of winning this seat, the closest of any challenger. Previously, she has served as president of NARAL-PA and also headed up Gov. Rendell’s 2002 campaign in Montgomery County.



Former NFL quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers and Washington Redskins. After retirement from the NFL, Shuler created the Heath Shuler Real Estate firm, which has grown to 200 agents. Shuler founded the Heath Shuler Foundation, a leadership program for middle school and high school students.



In 1980, Welch was elected to the Vermont State Senate, and became Senate Minority Leader in 1982. Welch is a partner in the firm of Welch, Graham & Manby, where he has performed a substantial amount of pro bono work. For his efforts in public service, he received the President's Award from the VT Trial Lawyers’ Assn. Welch has worked to balance budgets, to resolve an $80 million Medicaid deficit largely caused by the federal government, and to alleviate the property tax burden on working Vermonters.

[Olney Blue]

1. Dems!!!!!!!!

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

[madame defarge]

2. Add to that list...

Dan Seals from IL-10, http://www.dansealsforcongress.com even though the DCCC hasn't officially decided to support him yet. He's a great candidate who is up against a rubber stamp republican (Mark "Rooster" Kirk). A recent study by CQ has recently recognized this as a real race, even though it's still favoring the republican. We've made a lot of headway so far and we've still got almost 3 months to go.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20060810/pl_cq_politics/bigbatchofratingchangesreflectsstrongerdemocraticbreeze_1"
Big Batch of Rating Changes Reflects Stronger Democratic Breeze

The following is a roundup of changes that CQPolitics.com is making to its forecasts of three Senate races and 15 House races. The changes are the result of a thorough review of all races that we’ve done as part of an elections overview that will be published in the Aug. 14 issue of CQ Weekly and subsequently on CQPolitics.com.

--snip--
Illinois 10
• New rating: Republican Favored
• Old rating: Safe Republican
After a narrow open-seat win in 2000, Kirk was twice re-elected by astronomical vote margins reminiscent of his successor, Republican John Edward Porter, whose GOP centrism and political independence Kirk shares. But his district, which takes in suburbs north of Chicago, backed Kerry in 2004, when the political environment for Republicans was better. The Democrats have a credible candidate this year in Dan Seals, a marketing executive who had $508,000 banked in his campaign account as of June 30. Kirk nonetheless maintains big advantages, including his membership on the influential Appropriations Committee and his $1.9 million cash on hand.

[SharonAnn]

6. Bruce Braley - IA Turning my hometown BLUE Again!

Bruce Braley - IA 01

Tops on the list, did the Dems Response to the Bush Saturday radio speech a couple of weeks ago. On the front page of the www.dccc.org website.

"This seat is one of the best Democratic pick-up opportunities. Bruce is a strong independent voice and a grassroots hero who personifies the best of the next generation of American leaders. "

http://www.brucebraley.com/default.asp

And he's unapologetically Pro-Choice!

[David Zephyr]

3. Nice post!

Thanks.

[AX10]

4. k&r

[skipos]

5. Good list. nt