Political Note #188 Jennifer Boysko VA SD 33

December 8, 2018
Win / State Elections / 2019 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Special Election / Type of Election / Political Notes / Virginia

Jennifer Boysko grew up in Alabama. She went to college in Virginia -- Hollins University. Still a women's school. With a reputation for gentility. And for literacy, for writing. For personal attention. Fewer than eight hundred undergraduates.Her first political job was for an Alabaman. She was an aide to Senator Richard Shelby - when he was a Democrat. She became a policy maven. Federal policy and local policy. She worked for a township supervisor in Virginia. She did particular work with homeowners groups. Governor McAuliffe appointed her as a Citizen Member of the state Real Estate Board. After training from Emerge, she ran for HD 86 for a second time in 2015. The incumbent retired. Maybe he knew she was coming back. Other Democrats knew. No one opposed her in the primary. She won the general election 54 -- 42 despite being outspent. She is now running for the State Senate from a position of strength.

Political Note #181 Flipping State Legislatures

October 31, 2018
General Election / Political Summary / State Elections / 2018 / State Senate / Year / State House of Representatives or House of Delegates or Assembly / Type of Election / Political Notes

This Note summarizes the political circumstances of selected states where Democrats have aspirations of gaining in State legislatures, of gaining a majority in State legislatures.

Political Note #151 Jessica Ramos NY SD 13

August 10, 2018
Win / General Election / State Elections / Primary / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Type of Election / Political Notes / New York

Jessica Ramos is an organizer and activist in Queens, NY. She has created a campaign for the state Senate that focuses on what would have passed with a Democratic majority in the Senate. She asserts that the parental leave and minimum wage increases would have just been a beginning had Democrats controlled the Senate.

Political Note #134 Julie Goldberg NY SD 38

June 20, 2018
Lose / State Elections / Primary / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Type of Election / Political Notes / Nevada / New York

Teacher and librarian, Julie Goldberg is neither apolitical nor focused on New Jersey. Her local cultural interests are in New York. She is a board member and editor for River River -- a New York community arts organization. She is a founding member of the Hungry Hollow Coalition. This New York community improvement group sponsors fund raising musicals and helps the homeless. It contests zoning issues and supports candidates. The Coalition does the candidate supporting bit in New York and does quite a lot of it. Goldberg is a beneficiary of that support in her run for the State Senate.

Political Note #124 Alessandra Biaggi NY SD 34

May 21, 2018
Win / General Election / State Elections / Primary / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Type of Election / Political Notes / New York

Alessandra Biaggi is taking on the Democratic establishment, running in a primary against the head of the IDC. This role is unexpected. She interned for the King's County District Attorney's office, for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. and for Congressman Joseph Crowley of Queens, the Chair of the US House Democratic Caucus and of the Queens County Democratic Party. Look at Alessandra Biaggi’s jobs. She worked for Hillary Clinton, for Andrew Cuomo on women's policy issues. She worked for the Governor on the Executive Clemency team and on health and human service initiatives. She was a young member of the establishment before deciding to challenge it.

Political Note #116 Zellnor Myrie NY SD 20

April 19, 2018
Win / General Election / State Elections / Primary / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Type of Election / Political Notes / New York

Zelmore Myrie's mother was an immigrant from Costa Rica. She raised him mostly alone, focusing on ensuring that he get the best possible education -- Brooklyn Tech. Fordham, Cornell Law School. He got a job is a large, New York firm, but his interest was politics.

Political Note #111 Shelley Mayer NY SD 37

March 29, 2018
Win / General Election / State Elections / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Special Election / Type of Election / Political Notes / New York

Republicans complain that Shelley Mayer is an insider. Shelley Mayer is an insider. She worked in Robert Abram's Attorney General office, was senior counsel for the National State Attorney General Program at Columbia, was vice president of government and community affairs for Continuum Health Partners, and served as chief counsel to the senate Democrats -- all before being elected to the Assembly. She is a state representative. She promises, in the Senate, a cleaner political atmosphere in Albany, stronger ethics requirements, more effective ways to address sexual harassment.

Political Note #99 Robert Jackson NY SD 31

February 8, 2018
Win / General Election / State Elections / Primary / 2018 / State Senate / Year / Result / State / Type of Election / Political Notes / New York

Robert Jackson ran for and was elected to City Council, but later lost campaigns for Borough President and twice for the State Senate. The 2016 State Senate loss was close. Three top candidates in the Democratic primary were within 1,000 votes of each other. Jackson is running again for Senate District 31 which covers the west side of Manhattan. He is running in the primary against an incumbent Democrat who is a member of the Independent Democratic Caucus, a group of eight state Senators who organized with the Republicans, allowing the Republicans to control the Senate.

Political Note #74 Michele Rylands WA SD 31

October 30, 2017
Lose / State Elections / State Senate / Year / 2017 / Result / State / Special Election / Type of Election / Political Notes / Washington

She is endorsed by the local sheriff. She is a 911 Operator and was an MP in the military. Her husband is a federal law enforcement official. She shut down her small oil and vinegar business to run for office. As close as she is to law enforcement, her focus has been education since her children entered school. President of the City of Auburn Council of PTAs, Michelle Ryland says. “Our schools should not be funded by raffles or carnivals or box tops...."

Political Note #53 Annette Taddeo FL SD 40

August 13, 2017
Win / General Election / State Elections / 2018 / State Senate / Year / 2017 / Result / State / Special Election / Type of Election / Political Notes / Florida

Annette Taddeo was born on an American military base in Colombia. She is the daughter of an American World War II and Korean War fighter pilot and a Colombian mother. At age seventeen, Annette Taddeo immigrated to the US on her own. She put herself through college on her own. She married psychologist Eric Goldstein, converted to Judaism, and has a family of his two children and one child of theirs. She founded LanguageSpeak, a language services company that offers translations in over 240 languages. Diversity Business describes LanguageSpeak as one of the top 100 small businesses in Florida and one of the top 500 Hispanic owned businesses in the United States. She has been a power in the Democratic Party. Chair of the Miami Democrats, she helped create Hispanic Democratic Clubs and initiated candidate recruitment in south Florida toward the goal of gaining seats in the Florida legislature. In 2013, the Democratic National Committee appointed her to leadership positions.