More kinds of folks are needed here.

Dear Kossacks,

My name is Douglas Smith and, as of last week, I am officially the Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan’s 3rd district. It wasn’t easy. Michigan requires 1000 signatures to make the ballot and since this is often a throwaway race, I had to go out and gather them myself. I went door to door. I did it and filed 1527 signatures. This is your absolute guarantee that you are getting a hard working candidate.

Michigan’s 3rd district encompasses Grand Rapids, a place where Democratic candidates have been competitive but just barely. In 2008, President Obama was able to carry this district by 1%, and in 2012 he took 45.8% of the vote. The Democratic congressional candidate got 44% that year. It is a tough district but one that is within striking distance and therefore requires a challenger. This year it looked like we might not have one and so, when it seemed as if no one was going to step up and run, I decided I had not only to step up but to commit to an all out effort.

I am not a traditional congressional candidate. I am a construction worker in Grand Rapids. I have no family name or fortune upon which to rely. Part of the reason Congress is so messed up is that the kinds of people who get to run and win often represent a small fraction of society. My opponent, Republican Rep. Justin Amash, is a total ideologue, so much so that he was the only member of the Michigan congressional delegation to vote against federal aid for Flint. It is easy to be an ideologue when you are disconnected from what people are going through but hard when you see it yourself and see it happening to your family and neighbors. We need more people from diverse backgrounds in Congress.

One of the ways the system is stacked against a campaign such as ours is in terms of fundraising. Someone who has not been in elected office or who doesn’t have a lot of well-off friends has basically been unable to run for Congress. This is an incredibly self-defeating circle. Congress prioritizes the very wealthy. Even progressive candidates prioritize the very wealthy because that is who their donors are. Progressives don’t challenge everywhere, not because they don’t want to run, not because their perspective would not be valuable or they would do a poor job, but simply because they do not know enough wealthy people. Wealthy people also do not like hard races.

My campaign is about winning this seat but it is also about breaking this cycle. We intend to run a people-powered campaign with a maximum donation limit of $100 dollars. This will quickly turn our campaign into a people-centered one, not a money-centered one. We need lots of people to believe in us and our cause in order to win. We want to light a spark that shows our party that small money can fuel this party in the absence of big money and win.

We also want to use our opponents’ big money against him. It is hard to make much of this issue when your hands are only a bit less dirty. Our crystal clear message is that by relying on small donors alone, we can truly represent this district in a way someone who is dependent on big money contributors cannot. We will be making our case to every progressive group we can find. We want to start on Daily Kos because many of the best ideas of the modern progressive movement were born here. We believe a winning campaign can lead to a better Congress and a better system by breaking the worst big money conventions without needing to change our laws. We will keep Kossacks updated every step of the way. Check us out at our website smithformichigan.com and of course our Act Blue Page secure.actblue.com/....

Thanks,

Doug