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After Teach for America
…When I was young and interested in teaching, I went to an MAT program. Interested in teaching? That’s what graduates of competitive schools did. No longer. Not for a while.
……Young and interested in teaching after graduating from a competitive college? This generation and the last try Teach for America. That’s what Betsy Dirksen Londriganhttp://www.betsydirksenlondrigan.com/ did. She taught in a middle school in Baltimore. She moved on. She moved home.
……She moved toward politics, but not all the way right away. She’s from Springfield, Illinois. Illinois’ capital. Barack Obama announced for the presidency in Springfield. Abraham Lincoln’s home and his Presidential Library are both Springfield.
……Betsy Dirksen was from a long time Springfield family. Everyone there is connected to Illinois politics somehow. She is a distant connection to the second most powerful Illinois politician since Lincoln, the late Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan moved toward politics by marrying into a political family. Her mother-in-law had worked in Washington for an Illinois Congressman. Her father-in-law, a campaign volunteer, met her when she returned to Illinois for the campaign. Carol Londrigan stayed in Illinois to marry and raise a family rejecting an offer to work in the Kennedy White House.
……No surprise that her son Jack would be interested in politics. After graduating law school, he was an assistant US Attorney. He worked for the Democratic Party. He worked in the legislature. He joined a law firm. He lobbied. He did litigation, especially litigation related to government issues. Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, who had returned to Springfield from Baltimore and married him turned out to be the politician.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan‘s first non-teaching job was not political. She became a fund raiser. She started and headed the alumni association for the University of Illinois – Springfield as it became Sangamon University.
……Raising money became her work. Some of it political. She raised money for Senator Richard Durbin. Some of it quasi-political. For the seven years prior to her decision to run for Congress, she raised money for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.
……Her son, Jack Londrigan III, was central to her decision to become a candidate. He nearly died as a result of a tick bite. He was given last rites. Twice. The struggle to get him well was exhausting. It took over her life.
Many women decided to run for office when Donald Trump was elected president. Not Betsy Dirksen Londrigan.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan decided to run for office when her Congressman voted to abolish the Affordable Care Act, when the Republican fake replacement bill nearly passed the Senate. She had a deep understanding of what going through the experience of her son’s illness would have been like without health insurance.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan had been around politics for a long time. She put together a campaign. Jack III is healthy and is part of the campaign. He is the campaign’s youth field coordinator.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan had been raising money for a long time. She raised some money for this campaign — well over $1million, roughly triple the next highest Democratic fundraiser. She won the primary handily.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan has a task ahead of her, though. She has $650,000 on hand for the general election. The incumbent, the one who voted to slash health care in America, has $1.6million.
……Betsy Dirksen Londrigan also comes equipped with a platform to run on.
- Health care, she says, is a right. She describes a plan to get to universally available health care.
- Women’s issues, she says, are matters of economic and social justice.
- Improving life for members of the middle class, she says, requires a tax system that helps them and small businesses, infrastructure investments that strengthen the economy and put people to work.
- Access to quality education, she says, opens doors for a better life — whether through apprenticeships, community colleges, four year colleges, or mid-career training.
- Improved infrastructure, from waterways to broadband, she says, is essential to strengthening rural communities.
- Clean air and clean water, she says, are human rights. Preventing the acceleration of climate change is essential for humanity.
- We are obliged, she says, to care effectively for veterans, active service members, and their families.
- DREAMERS and other immigrants, she says, deserve a path to citizenship in this country that was built by immigrants like her great grandparents.
- She says gun owners and non-gun owners can come together to find ways to reduce gun violence.
No matter how effective at raising money for her campaign, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan http://www.betsydirksenlondrigan.com/ will need more. Consider providing her some help. Democrats are doing a good job of raising money for Congressional candidates. Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is one of those who has done well. She has needed to. Democrats need resources to win and so does she.
Don’t forget the special election on August 7. Franklin County (Columbus, Ohio) Recorder Danny O’Connorhttps://dannyoconnorforcongress.com/is running in a special election for the open 12th Congressional seat. The most recent poll shows him behind by a few points. He has come up with a distinctive appeal for the resources he needs to close out this race and get to 50% plus 1. He suggests that a Democratic victory would make Democratic defections in the battle over confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court less likely. Whether that reasoning is persuasive or not, O’Connor’s race is very close. Money sent directly to his campaign can make a difference in getting out the vote and other late efforts. Consider providing some support.…
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