Several months ago I put out a call to the hundreds of thousands of grassroots activists who had worked on my campaign to run for office themselves. Hundreds of volunteers answered this call. Our new organization - Democracy for America - is dedicated to using its resources to support those candidates in their fight to take our country back from the right-wing conservatives who dominate our government. Today, Democracy for America announces the Dean Dozen - twelve diverse candidates that represent the spirit of grassroots democracy. These will be tough races, and not all of 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 Dozen are:

Mary Ann Andreas for State Assembly in California. The 80th Assembly District has some of the highest unemployment rates in California, so it's all about jobs for Mary Ann in her race against the Republican incumbent. www.andreasforassembly.com

Ken Campbell for South Carolina State House. A Dean inspired candidate! 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. If you live in Arizona and can help them get on the ballot, contact them by email here: corpcomm04@hotmail.com

Kim Hynes for State Representative in Connecticut. 28 Republican state representatives in Connecticut ran unopposed in the last election. We won't take our country back if we don't compete. Kim is doing her part. You too can get involved. http://kimhynes.smartcampaigns.com

Richard Morrison for United States House of Representatives from Texas. Want to get rid of Tom DeLay? Here's your chance. Morrison is hitting back at "The Hammer" by competing against him in the Texas 22nd. Join me and get involved in the fight today. 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 it's time to help him win the general. Stay tuned: I will be on the trail with Barack soon. www.obamaforillinois.com

Rob MacKenna for Hillsborough County (Florida) Supervisor of Elections. Rob is a computer programmer and is fighting to add a voter-verifiable paper trail to the touch-screen voting machines in the largest swing county in the all-important state of Florida! www.rob2004.com

Monica Palacios-Boyce for Massachusetts State Representative. Inspired by my 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 that - with your help - could surprise the pundits. 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

This year the race for the presidency is unbelievably important. 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.

Sincerely,

Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

Posted by Alison Stanton at 10:32 PM
http://www.blogforamerica.com/

By now you have seen I hope, the first dozen grassroots candidates DFA is supporting. There will be many dozen more. These candidates have been proposed by DFA folks at Meetups and on conference calls. They have been looked at carefully by the Burlington staff, and they represent all the best personal and policy values of the Democracy for America campaign. Many of them worked in the Presidential campaign as volunteers, none of them are incumbents, and all challenge the status quo in politics!

For a few weeks, a lot of DFA activists have wanted me to suggest something concrete to do. This is the start. Each of these campaigns is well worth working on and contributing to. If they are in your state, work for them. If not, send them a donation, or wait until two weeks from now when the next list comes out. There are over 600 candidates, including some great incumbents, who want to change this country, in nearly every state, and we will do our best to shine a spotlight on all of them.

I also want to thank you again for your loyalty to change. It has been alot of work to transition from a presidential organization to an organization which is using all we learned to continue to try to change this country by getting a lot of previously disillusioned or disinterested folks back into the political process by having us all stick together and speak out for real change, and against this administration's penchant for taking from ordinary Americans and giving to their cronies. I deeply appreciate that you hung in there while we made that change.

Posted by Howard Dean at 08:38 AM
http://www.blogforamerica.com/