Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website.
NORTHEAST: Political Note #363 Tom Malinowski NJ 07, Political Note #394 Susan Wild PA 07, Political Note #397 Eugene DePasquale PA 10
SOUTHEAST: Political Note #385 Carolyn Bordeaux, Political Note #388 Elaine Luria VA 02
MIDWEST: Political Note # 398 David Palmer IL 13, Political Note #376 Lauren Underwood IL 14, Political Note #398 David Palmer IL 13, Political Note #378 Elissa Slotkin MI 08, Political Note #357 Haley Stevens MI 11, Political Note #355 Angie Craig MN 02
SOUTHWEST: Political Note #389 Tom O’Halleran AZ 01, Political Note #375 Steven Horsford NV 04, Political Note #356 Susie Lee NV 03, Political Note #377 Lizzie Fletcher TX 07, Political Note #362 Vicente Gonzalez TX 15, Political Note #399 Colin Allred TX 32
WEST: Political Note #403 Jay Chen CA 39, Political Note #383 Harley Rouda CA 48, Political Note #404 Kerry Donovan CO 03, Political Note #384 Peter DeFazio OR 04.
SPECIAL ELECTIONS: Political Note #364 Jana Lynne Sanchez TX 06 (lost), Political Note #382 Melanie Stansbury NM 01 (won, now the incumbent for November 2022), Political Note #393 Allison Russo OH 15 (Election is in November, 2021)
August 13, 2021 Political Note #404 Kerry Donovan CO 03
2022 General Election
In general, the truly awful Members of Congress are from districts where the Republican nominee or, worse, the Republican incumbent is extraordinarily difficult to defeat.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA 14) was elected in 2020 78-25
Matt Gaetz (FL 01) was elected in 2020 67-33
Mo Brooks (AL 05) was unopposed in 2020
Paul Gosar (AZ 08) was elected in 2020 70-30
Jim Banks (IN 03) was elected in 2020 68-32
Jim Jordan (OH 04) was elected in 2020 68-29
Louis Gohmert (TX 01) was elected in 2020 73-27
On the other hand, Lauren Boebert was elected in 2020 51-45. Erase a 6 point deficit? That can be done. Can Kerry Donovan https://kerrydonovanforcongress.com do it in 2022? She is one of several Democrats running for the seat, but the only one raising enough money to be competitive.
Republican conservative financiers know that Boebert is vulnerable. They have begun giving her money to defend her seat. So far, in 2021, she has raised more than $2 million. Kerry Donovan is no slouch. She has raised one million dollars in 2021. Half of what Boebert has raised, but still a lot of money.
Kerry Donovan is a Colorado State Senator, serving as the President Pro Tempore. As a State Senator, she had a flair for passing legislation that connected to the public. Responding to the frustration of people proud of their vote who did not want to incur a big fine, she introduced and helped pass legislation to repeal the prohibition of voters taking a photo of their ballot. To recognize the importance of public land to Colorado, she introduced and helped pass Public Lands Day as a state holiday. When a proposal could not get legislative support, she pressed forward. She had introduced a generous family leave law, saw it fail in the legislature, and helped put it on the ballot as a referendum which passed into law. This work and more increased her popularity. In 2014, in her initial election, she won by two points. In 2018, she won by 20.
Where is Kerry Donovan on the political spectrum? She was an early supporter of Elizabeth Warren for the presidency. Her role in the Colorado State Senate has been described as centrist. Think of her has a practical politician.
Her family connection strengthens her candidacy. Her husband, Shad Murib, has a long history in Colorado politics. Currently, he is Senator John Hickenlooper’s state director. He has worked for Jared Polis, now Colorado’s governor, for the organization Future Colorado of which he was a co-founder, as chief of staff for Colorado’s State Senate Democrats, and for the Colorado Secretary of State. Read Colorado news clips about him – no one questions his name, no one questions that his connections with the Colorado State Senate. The only question that arises was when he was appointed communication director for New Era Colorado. A snarky commentator said: “Shad is the editor of New Era News, a news site brought to you by New Era Colorado Foundation. After traversing the political landscape for years, he is now pretending to be a journalist. God save us.”
As a State Senator, Kerry Donovan earns $30,000 per year. She had another job. She runs her family ranch, a ranch owned by her family since the 1980s. They raise cattle. They have horses, mules, and chickens. They grow vegetables to sell to area restaurants. The ranch serves as a great back drop for Kerry Donovan’s introductory video. The theme she wants presented is her toughness. She rides a horse in the snow while the video comments on how tough she is. She’ll need to be and appear tough in order to defeat the gun-slinging far right restaurateur and first term Member of Congress.
Before returning to the family ranch and after graduating from Notre Dame and majoring in archeology Kerry Donovan put her degree to work. She describes her role as a cultural resource manager. She worked for the Vail Valley Foundation and for another community foundation.
The foundation work led to Kerry Donovan serving as the Director of Academics for one of the most unusual public schools in the country – the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. The Academy attracts the highest-level young skiers in the country as they prepare for national and international competition including the Olympics while going to school. With 200 students and fees substantially below private academies that do the same thing, much of each student’s education is via laptop. Running the academic program at this pre-professional middle school and high school requires thinking outside of the box and enough toughness to ensure that kids whose focus is on their sport address the academics required by any school.
If the Democrats are going to maintain and expand control of the House of Representatives, defeating Lauren Boebert is a must. You can help achieve that priority by helping Kerry Donovanhttps://kerrydonovanforcongress.com – volunteer, if that works for you, or give money. Politics is getting more and more expensive. This Congressional race will be one of the most expensive. Kerry Donovan will be the Democratic nominee. Start supporting her now. She’ll need a lot of money to compete with Boebert.
The following are candidates working to flip Republican seats
California 39 Jay Chen https://chenforcongress.com
California 48 Harley Rouda https://harleyforcongress.com
Colorado 03 Kerry Donovan https://kerrydonovanforcongress.com
Illinois 13 David Palmer. https://palmerforillinois.com
Ohio 15 Allison Russo https://allisonrusso.co (Special election November, 2021.)
Pennsylvania 10 Eugene DePasquale https://eugeneforcongress.com
These are vulnerable incumbent Democratic Members of Congress. We have to play defense. Choose a few to support. You can learn about them by looking at their website or at my Notes about them in my website lenspoliticalnotes.com.
Members of Congress who won with less than 52% of the vote
Georgia 07 Carolyn Bordeaux https://www.carolyn4congress.com Received 51.39% of the vote in 2020
Iowa 03 Cynthia Axne https://cindyaxneforcongress.com Received 48.9% of the vote in 2020
Illinois 14 Lauren Underwood https://underwoodforcongress.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 08 Elissa Slotkin https://elissaforcongress.com Received 50.88% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 11 Haley Stevens https://haleystevensforcongress.com Received 50.2% of the vote in 2020
Minnesota 02 Angie Craig https://angiecraig.com Received 48.21% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 03 Susie Lee https://www.susieleeforcongress.com Received 48.75% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 04 Steve Horsford https://www.stevenhorsford.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
New Mexico 01 Tom O’Halloran https://www.tomohalleran.com Received 51.61% of the vote in 2020
New Jersey 07 Tom Malinowski https://malinowskifornj.com Received 50.61% of the vote in 2020
Oregon 04 Peter DeFazio https://www.defazioforcongress.org Received 51.26% of the vote in 2020
Texas 07 Lizzie Fletcher https://www.lizziefletcher.com Received 50.79% of the vote in 2020
Texas 15 Vicente Gonzalez http://www.vicentegonzalez.com Received 50.5% of the vote in 2020
Texas 32 Colin Allred https://www.colinallred.com Received 51.95% of the vote in 2020
Virginia 02 Elaine Luria https://elaineforcongress.com Received 51.6% of the vote in 2020
Washington 08 Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com Received 51.79% of the vote in 2020
Organizations to support
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) https://dccc.org
The Democratic National Committee (DNC). https://democrats.org The official organization of the Democratic Party.
Fair Fight https://fairfight.com Promotes fair elections around the country
Three Cautions while donating through Act Blue (most Democratic candidates use Act Blue for online donations)
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Support Democrats. Sadly, Republicans have become enemies of democracy. And of the public’s health.
