Your Vote is your Voice, when it comes to a government Of, By and For the People.

Help Progressives Win is a WEEKLY column,

posting at 9 am Pacific Standard Time each Saturday.

There are thousands of Progressive candidates running for office across America in 2016, and they need your help to win.

Please don’t forget those running for office in your city and county this coming year — those down-ballot races make a big difference in your daily life, from deciding which Traffic Engineer to hire this spring which translates into which potholes get fixed on your daily commute to work; to which Port Commissioner gets elected and has a massive amount of influence determining if a foreign corporation wins a bid to build and maintain a new Oil Terminal at the port in your town, putting the safety and health of your family and those of all your fellow residents at risk, just to line the pockets of investors on another continent!

So please step up and make some time in your busy schedule to help local candidates, who often have no resources or staff. You can find a local candidate by contacting your Local County Democratic Party. If you don’t know how to find yours, start at at the website of the DNC and their link to State Parties.

Click on your state and look for a Get Local link, like this:

The Washington State Democratic Party website at www.wa-democrats.org

It begins right at home in our towns and cities and with our own family, friends and circle of acquaintances. Far too many of our fellow citizens refuse or forget to vote regularly. They tell themselves “it just doesn’t matter if I vote, no one listens to me anyway. Besides, I HATE politics. None of those politicians know what my life is like and they don’t really care about my family or our problems.”

The following candidates for office in 2016 DO CARE and they are espousing the policies and ideas which will help those dejected non-voters. But they need your help to be successful, to reach out to the millions who just can’t be bothered to be participants in their own democracy. So please, consider helping these candidates in any of the following ways…

VOLUNTEER

DONATE

SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

All three of these actions are helpful to a candidate trying to reach a larger audience or promote an event or action. Candidates need money to put on events and to pay salaries for staff and to buy the signs and ads which help to spread the messages they are putting out to the prospective voters in their city, county or state.

We need to start banging the drum for Progressive candidates today in order to have enough victories this November to stave off or even undo the advancement of the conservative lunatics who inhabit the current version of what’s left of the Republican Party.

Here are this week’s PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES

They need your help TODAY, to win this November

Christy Matthews

Candidate for Statehouse Representative, 77th Legislative District

State of Connecticut

Campaign website: ElectMatthews.com

URL Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/ElectMatthews

Campaign Twitter: @tristychristy

YouTube Channel: I love Bristol more than Leslie Knope loves Pawnee.

Where is the District?

Full Scale US Census map of the State/District

Connecticut’s 77th Legislative Statehouse District, encompasses the City of Bristol, Connecticut.

Vision for Connecticut; love for Bristol

No nonsense, no negativity campaigning. Real integrity, honesty, and passion for the work that needs to be done. Really? Really. Meet Christy Born and raised in Bristol, Connecticut, I have spent the majority of my life volunteering in various programs throughout the town to help fix, in my own small way, the things which I knew were lacking. Almost all of my work in life has been motivated by the desire to fix those broken systems which made my life and the lives of those around me unpleasant; child abuse, domestic violence, childhood obesity, and even homelessness. I've always tried to channel my motivation into the community in meaningful ways, be that fundraising with charity dances in high school or painting storefronts in the West End with Bare Bones. When Bristol Rising came around I contributed in whatever capacities I could to push for a some version of the town I wanted to live in. As my skills and capacities grew I ended up getting involved in the West End Association (WEA) of Bristol and heading up projects of my own. I ran the WEA’s social media for about 2 years and helped organize/market for their summer festival. Under the WEA’s approval I approached city council to organize free concerts in Rockwell Park on summer Friday nights with my dear friend Carmine Sesto, which acted as a free alternative to more negative activities teens might get into on a Friday night. I love Bristol because, as I’ve discovered, I’m the kind of person who wants to fight to fix things when they’re broken rather than leave the responsibility to someone else. I recently was at a summit for my fellowship program in DC, the deciding factor in my running, where one of our speakers quoted the words “If not us, who? If not now, when?” and in that moment I realized that I needed to run for office. If elected Christy Matthews would become the youngest person ever elected to the Connecticut Statehouse. Please consider helping her get there.

Volunteer | Donate

Deray Mckesson

Candidate for Mayor

City of Baltimore, Maryland

Campaign website: www.DerayforMayor.com

URL Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/derayformayor

Campaign Twitter: @deray

Where is the City?

City of Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore: a city of promise and possibility

DeRay Mckesson is an organizer, activist, and educator focused primarily on issues of innovation, equity and justice. Born and raised in Baltimore, he graduated from Bowdoin College and has advocated for issues related to children, youth, and families for over 15 years. DeRay has served as an educator, student leader, and founding director of an after-school/out-of-school program. Spurred by the death of Mike Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, DeRay has become a leading voice in the effort to confront the systems and structures that lead to the mass incarceration and police killings of black and other minority populations. The co-founder of the Protestor Newsletter and Campaign Zero, DeRay has worked to connect individuals with knowledge and tools and provide citizens and policy makers with commonsense policies to end police violence. As a civil rights activist, DeRay’s work has had national impact - leading Fortune Magazine to name him one of 2015’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders. The child of two now-recovered addicts, DeRay has intimate knowledge of the struggles facing Baltimore families impacted by addiction. He also knows from personal experience how far-reaching the effects of a successful recovery can be. Both he and his sister have thrived under the love and guidance of his father, Calvin, and a host of extended family committed to their success. DeRay knows that for Baltimore to be a city where more and more people work and live and where everyone can thrive, our local government and our community must cooperate to make Baltimore a place where we are generous with second chances, where families are healthy and parents are gainfully employed, where children are actively and enthusiastically engaged in learning, and where young people have opportunities to prepare for and participate in college or career-oriented work. We must build neighborhoods that are safe places with vital commercial and cultural activity, where we understand addiction as a public health concern, and where we know that the safety of our communities is predicated on more than the presence of police. x YouTube Video

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Khary Penebaker

Candidate for US House

State of Wisconsin

5th Congressional District

Campaign website: www.KharyforCongress.com

URL Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/KharyforCongress

Campaign Twitter: @Khary4Congress

Where is the District?

Full Scale US Census Map of the District/State

The 5th Congressional District of Wisconsin includes Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha Counties and includes portions of Milwaukee and Jefferson Counties and includes the cities of Hartford, Cambridge, Watertown and Farmington.

committed to making our economy thrive, our public education system strong & our communities safe.

As a father, husband and business owner, I see the challenges southeastern Wisconsinites face. I've relied on my faith, my family and my work ethic to guide me through the difficult times that all of us have experienced. We can do better. Which is why I want to be your Congressman. As a job creator, we grew a company from 3 to 50 employees. Making the payroll at a multi-million dollar firm. and creating family supporting jobs has taught me the skills required to make tough choices. We need an environment that helps small businesses to grow, from the kitchen table to the warehouse floor. The cornerstone to growth is ensuring that people of all ages are receiving the education necessary to thrive in a new economy. As we move from typewriters to iPads, our public education system needs to be agile and strong. We need safe communities as increased violence has touched us all. I know first hand because my mother was a victim of gun violence when I was very young. We need to work together to make our communities safer. I know we can work together to create common sense solutions. x YouTube Video I’ve personally interacted with Khary on Twitter for a number of years, and hope that every person who supports progressives and lives in the southeastern area of Wisconsin helps Khary win this race and replace the odious Jim Sensenbrenner who has held this seat since 1979. TIME FOR A NEW FACE IN THIS DISTRICT!

Volunteer | Donate

Peter Jacob

Candidate for US House

State of New Jersey

7th Congressional District

Campaign website: PeterforCongress.com

URL Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/peterjacob2016

Campaign Twitter: @PeterJacob2016

Where is the District?

Full Scale US Census Map of the District/State

The 7th Congressional District of New Jersey contains all of Hunterdon and parts of Essex, Morris , Somerset, Union and Warren counties and includes the cities of Millburn, Dover, Springfield and Wharton.

My Story, My Public Service

My name is Peter Jacob, and I want to represent you, your family, and your community in the United States Congress. In 1986, my parents immigrated to United States with just twenty dollars in their pockets and hearts full of hope for their children’s futures. My parents have been able to achieve the American Dream of being able to provide a better life for their children. Many families across the 7th District and across New Jersey have been able to do the same. But the sad reality is that, for a growing number of American families, such a Dream is being crushed under the weight of rampant greed and a rat race that constantly pits neighbor against neighbor. The ability for ultra-rich individuals and corporations to funnel unlimited sums of money into our elections has resulted in the most corrupt, ineffective, and unresponsive federal government and highest amount of wealth and income inequality in nearly a century. Whether you are from the working class neighborhoods in Phillipsburg, Dover, or Clark; the farming communities of Franklin, Readington, or Branchburg; the small business driven main streets of Somerville, Summit, or Westfield; or the estates of Roxbury, Chester, or Alexandria, the crises of climate change, income and wealth inequality, deteriorating infrastructure, and endless war affect us all, and will have dire impacts on generations long into the future. It is time to return to the ideals of American icons Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, and join together with modern political revolutionaries in reclaiming our democracy and returning our government to one that is truly of, by, and for, the people. I will put the public back in public service, and together, we will fight to make sure all New Jerseyans, and all Americans, can once again relish in the Dream we all share.

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Finally, your host, who is also running for office. You can see my full entry at this link

Angela Marx

Candidate for US House

Washington State

3rd Congressional District

Campaign website: www.Angie4Congress.com

Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/Angie4Congress

Twitter: @AngieinWAState

TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT THINGS!

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If you have a favorite progressive candidate who should be featured here, please leave me a name and a race (State/County/City) in a comment, so that I can feature them in a future edition of Help Progressives Win.