LA-01—A Personal Candidate Story From An Orphaned District

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 15, 2008 · 5:05 PM PDT

2008/05/15 · 17:05

I am thrilled with the House voting NO to the Iraq War funding today. I am thrilled with CA passing marriage legislation for gays today. I am thrilled that MS and LA and IL picked up Dem seats recently. I am disgusted with the crack-pot we have as commander-in-chief, his golf "sacrifice" and his fear-mongering, low political blow in Israel yesterday. But I have a personal story to tell. Campaign finance reform cannot come soon enough! I have given myself almost 2 weeks post-election to let things settle. ‘Tis time for me to record what I have learned in the political arena for 18 months. I initially entered the congressional race for LA-01 because not enough was being done to help us recover from the broken levees fiasco and Hurricane Katrina. 15 months after the tragedy, the landscape looked hardly different than the day after the storm had passed. Knowing my district needed a fighter who would not take no for an answer, I dove in head-first. My district’s needs were paramount and I would defy even my own party if it stood in the way.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday May 04, 2008 · 9:06 AM PDT

2008/05/04 · 09:06

Please do not hurt for me. I am fine with my election loss last night and, in fact, am relieved to become a regular American mom, grammy and teacher again. Many of you worked hard and I fully appreciate every single thing you did to spread the word. I have made life-long friends among you.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 11, 2008 · 7:43 PM PDT

2008/03/11 · 19:43

To my dKos friends and supporters---

We won the primary with 70% of the vote! We are making the naysayer "experts" eat their words. And there is more on the menu for them with the next election. Bon appetit!

A feisty, independent-minded, fiscally conservative Democrat is not any run-of-the-mill candidate. I cannot be bought and am a fighter who will give our district the only chance it has to fully recover from the aftermath of Katrina. Scalise is a right-wing extremist Republican who is masquerading as a conservative and funded by big money fat cats. He has little chance of getting legislation passed in a Democratically-controlled House. (Former FEMA director Michael Brown has more chance of being elected LA governor!)

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 07, 2008 · 9:25 PM PST

2008/03/07 · 21:25

In between campaign stops, I came home to find a majestic American bald eagle perched in the cypress tree next to our home. Stirring the soul of neighbors, this national symbol completed a picture of patriotism with our waving U.S. flag and big red, white and blue campaign sign.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday February 21, 2008 · 11:41 AM PST

2008/02/21 · 11:41

"Round-The-Clock Gilda Reed Fundraiser Finale!"
(This is the last diary in a 24-hour fundraiser for Gilda Reed, Democratic Candidate for Katrina-Burdened LA-01.)

My name is Gilda Reed and I am a loyal patriot and strong Democrat who fervently believes that our government belongs to us. We can take back what is rightfully ours!

This is not a government of, by and for a few large corporations and those who make over $250,000 a year. It is a government of, by and for WE the people. It is a government that enables its people to take care of themselves without unneeded giveaways. It is a government that reprioritizes to put people first again and manages its funds more equitably. It is a government that reverses the class warfare policies of some in Washington who give tax breaks to the upper 1% and raw deals to the remaining 99% of us.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday December 24, 2007 · 8:59 AM PST

2007/12/24 · 08:59

Christmas Eve is not the best time to post, but last night I saw another newscast that ignored the viable Democratic candidate in Louisiana’s 1st District race for the U.S. House and I am angry. The Democratic candidate is me. NBC News spent several minutes covering Republican candidates, including those who have not made a decision yet and even those who have opted against the run. An afterthought was added at the end saying that there was one declared Democratic candidate. Indeed, they underestimate my threat.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 10, 2007 · 3:59 PM PDT

2007/10/10 · 15:59

My name is Gilda Reed. I am a life-long resident of Louisiana’s Katrina-burdened First District and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. I am determined to make a positive difference in the lives of my people.

Representatives are NOT supposed to bend over backwards for big businesses allowing their interests to take precedence over the welfare of the rest of us. Representatives ARE supposed to fight tooth and nail for their constituents like I have done for years for my children and my community. Beat on doors when your people are hurting! Leave no stone unturned when your people need you! Be a thorn in the side of those on Capitol Hill until the plight of your people is reconciled!

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 23, 2007 · 5:04 PM PDT

2007/09/23 · 17:04

My name is Gilda Reed. I am a life-long resident of Louisiana’s Katrina-burdened First District and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Fifteen months after Katrina, I was powerfully moved to enter the political arena to make a positive difference in the lives of fellow Louisianans. There was still destruction all around me and so many people in all 6 parishes (counties) in District 1 were desperate. I am not at all happy with the Iraq War, the Katrina insensitive fiasco, the unfair shake that our working men and women receive, the reality that the richest nation in the world has so many medically uninsured citizens, the travesty of "No Child Left Behind", the disregard for protecting our environment, the band-aid approach to rebuilding our levees or restoring our wetlands, the erosion of our Constitutional rights, our border insecurity, and fiscal irresponsibility. This disdain compels me. It is time for a change.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 12, 2007 · 4:55 PM PDT

2007/08/12 · 16:55

My name is Gilda Reed, and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana's 1st Congressional District.

In the Washington Post, Spencer Hsu wrote that the Bush administration ignored local and state emergency officials when recently revising the National Response Plan. Behind closed doors, with Bushesque secrecy, the plan's revision was formulated. If Katrina taught us anything, it is that waiting for a centralized "response" from Homeland Security is no more than a trickle down policy leading us down the path to needless death and suffering of our people.

Why were disaster officials, who are the first responders to any tragedy, not consulted?

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 31, 2007 · 9:25 PM PDT

2007/07/31 · 21:25

Climate change and environmental stewardship are important issues that we must begin addressing now. The consequences of doing nothing are too grave. It will take extended effort over several decades to counter and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, so we must develop constructive solutions now. We must shift our cultural, political and corporate mindsets towards protecting that part of our environment of which we have some control.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 27, 2007 · 11:54 PM PDT

2007/07/27 · 23:54

Why should taxpayers be forced to make the profit margin of wealthy investors fatter? For over 4 hours on Thursday, July 26, I sat through a Louisiana State Bond Commission meeting in Senate Room A in Baton Rouge. Covington Mayor Candice Watkins and Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price defended the interests of their communities as did many local residents and myself, as candidate for the U.S. House, Louisiana District 1.

Nor Du Lac is a privately owned development planned for the intersection of I-12 and Highway 21 near Covington, Louisiana. The developers had applied to fund infrastructure of their retail shopping complex with Tax Increment Financing bonds (TIF). TIF bonds use tax revenue from sales tax or property tax to develop blighted, depressed areas. This would have required a ¾ cent additional local sales tax plus 1-cent out of the state's 4-cent state sales tax netting the developers $24 million to pay for infrastructure.

gildareed

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 19, 2007 · 8:14 AM PDT

2007/07/19 · 08:14

I am Gilda Reed and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 1st District to give my people the representation they deserve. All of us are Katrina survivors. We must have a Democrat who feels the pulse of the people. Republicans have held the seat for 30 years and it is time for a change. Government is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people—not a government created by the rich to protect their own interests. Over 90% of our Congress members are millionaires. I have no ill will for rich folks and can properly represent them. However, I do not know too many who have walked a mile in the shoes of my constituents. How can a person empathize when he/she is so far removed from our wants, needs and desires? A few courtesy visits, handshakes and empty rhetoric are not what we need. My people need me, one of their own, to fight for them.

Am I up to the task? You bet I am.

Newer
Older

RSS

LA-01—A Personal Candidate Story From An Orphaned District

No Tears From Me

LA-01, One Down and One to Go!

LA-01 Omen?

Everyday, Mainstream Americans Deserve a Voice

LA-01 Unbalanced Press At It Again

LA-01 Must Escape Republican Rule!

LA 01: A Winner in Dean's 50 State Strategy!

LA 01: May My Katrina, Not Be Your Katrina (Take Action)

The Environment & the Oil Industry

Getting rich off the backs of the public

Hypocrisy no more