First there were 30 uncontested state house districts in Florida: Now there are none, zero, nil, nada, rien
Through the heroic efforts of Dr. Fergie Reid Jr. of 90for90.org, with the help of Janelle Christenson, ZenTrainer et al., the void has been filled with candidates, and no Republican Florida Man legislator remains uncontested. So the first of the two goals of the FL 140 District Project has been achieved!
And Florida media has taken notice: Daytona Beach News Journal: Democrats recruit candidates for all state House, Senate races
Since April 1, Janelle Christensen, president of the Democratic Environmental Caucus, led the effort to recruit 33 candidates for state legislative races that had not yet involved a Democrat.
Christensen said she partnered with Dr. William “Fergie” Reid, who in 1967 became the first African-American to be elected to the Virginia Assembly since the Reconstruction, and his son, Dr. William “Fergie” Reid Jr., to get candidates for every seat in that state’s election. Democrats won the Virginia House in 2019, giving them control of the House, Senate and governor’s office for the first time since 1994.
We started the 140 District Project to Beat Trump on about April 12 with two goals:
1. Recruit Democratic candidates for all 140 legislative districts on the ballot in Florida; and
2. Raise the $1,800 needed to get them all on the ballot
No. 1 is done. We have candidates to run against Republicans in every district!
No. 2 is just $9,950 away from the goal. Less than $10,000.
Don’t tell me Kossacks can’t raise that in three days!
1,000 donating $10
500 donating $20
250 donating $40
100 donating $1,00
10 donating $1,000 (a couple of have done that)
So here they are
District 3: Angela Hoover $1375
District 4: John Plante: 800
District 10: R. Aboujaude 400
District 18: Leroy Edwards 750
District 19: Jaiden Hamilton 400
District 34: Dushayant Gosai 1180
District 56: James Davis 350
Senate
District 27 Rachel Brown 1100
Plus two more candidates in the process of setting up donations! ($3,600 total)
Why do this?
- Merely having Democratic candidates in a District increases Democratic turnout for President and Congress
- Having Democrats in “safe” R districts forces Republicans to spend there, taking away resources from other Districts.
- Having a candidate energizes Democrats in the district to participate and donate on state, congressional and Presidential levels.
- The recruited candidates will help contribute to future Democratic leadership, and maybe even a “star” will emerge.
- The candidates will promote Democratic issues, helping educate voters, many of whom don’t know it’s R’s who have kept the minimum wage at $7.25 for 11 years or it’s R’s who want to cut off unemployment insurance by July 31.
So — click on any or all candidates and let’s get over the top!