The Daily Kos community came through for me in a big way 2 years ago when I was working up to 16 hours a day compiling and reporting on Obamacare enrollment data over at ACA Signups. I’m eternally grateful to everyone who supported that effort, especially Markos himself.

Today I’m writing to ask for your help on a different project.

I first joined Daily Kos on November 22, 2003. I was newly married and was inspired to get involved in politics at the age of 33 by a dynamic, exciting, statewide elected official from Vermont running for President...by the name of Howard Dean. I joined the Oakland County Democratic Party here in Michigan and have been an active member ever since.

The rallying cry at Daily Kos has long been “More and Better Democrats”, and Dean pushed the Democratic Party hard for his “50 State Strategy”, which was quite simple: Compete everywhere, at every level from President all the way down to precinct delegate and every race in between.

As DNC Chair, Dean’s strategy, combined with a general disgust in the Republican Party that year, led the Democrats to pick up 6 U.S. Senate seats, 31 U.S. House seats and 6 Governorships, along with over 300 state legislative seats nationwide.

So you lived in a deep red stronghold like Alabama or Mississippi? Didn’t matter; compete anyway. Long-time Kossacks will remember that Democrat Gary Trauner managed to come within 0.5% of winning Wyoming’s at-large Congressional seat in 2006. Dean’s point was that even in districts which are extremely difficult to win, you at least force the entrenched Republicans not to take their seats for granted, while also making sure the message and values of Democrats are kept visible.

For the 12+ years since then, I’ve been tempted to take Dean up on his rallying cry (pun intended!) but aside from 1 stint as a precinct delegate, didn’t actually make my move...until now.

This brings me to the point of this diary:

That’s right; after 3 years being best-known as “The Obamacare Tracker Guy”, I’ve decided to refocus on improving things at the local level.

If elected, my main focus would be on things like:

Promoting increased use of renewable energy and green technology as quickly as possible

Reducing the use of fossil fuels, including reducing (hopefully eliminating) fracking

Repairing roads/bridges and increasing the placement of sidewalks/safety paths

Bringing an environmentally-friendly transit solution for the 21st Century to Southeast Michigan

Protecting our air, water and environment in general

Good government, including increasing data transparency, fair districts and more

I’m going to be perfectly frank: This is not an easy district for any Democrat, much less a progressive, to win. The district consists of the cities of Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, along with most of the surrounding Bloomfield Township (which is where I live).

If “Bloomfield Hills” rings a bell, that’s because that was literally Mitt Romney’s hometown growing up as the son of auto executive-turned-Governor George Romney.

Remember the final rap battle at the end of 8 Mile, when Eminem taunts Papa Doc for attending the Cranbrook private school? Yeah, that’s in Bloomfield Hills.

x YouTube Video

The point is, this is a pretty Republican district. In a normal year, I probably wouldn’t have a chance.

THIS IS NOT A NORMAL YEAR.

The Birmingham/Bloomfield area may be Republican, but they’re generally sane. They don’t like Donald Trump one bit, and they’re not fans of Ted Cruz either; this was Kasich territory in the Presidential primary. In addition, the Republican incumbent is facing a strong primary challenge. The Republican brand in general has been badly tarnished by both the ongoing Flint water crisis as well as the Michigan road repair debacle (we have the worst roads in the nation, and the “fix” which they finally passed last fall hurts a lot of people without actually solving the problem).

Finally, this year’s election will be the first one in which Michigan doesn’t have straight-ticket voting, which is kind of a wildcard; it’s expected to help the GOP statewide (which is why they passed it, of course), but no one knows how that will actually play out.

In other words, if there’s any year where anything can happen, 2016 seems to be it.

I’m not trying to hide my ideology for this race. I’m a progressive Democrat, proud of it, and am wearing my “D” as a badge of honor.

Perhaps a higher contrast on the font color?

My son is certainly excited; he’s already created a concept lawn sign for my campaign. It needs a little work, but he has the right spirit.

In order to have a shot, however, I’m gonna need all the help I can get.

I should be around on and off throughout the day to answer any questions. In the meantime, Pesach Chag Sameach (Happy Passover) to all who celebrate, and thanks for your support!

UPDATE: First, thanks so much to everyone who’s donating (several hundred dollars have come in so far), as well as for all the kind words of support.

I did want to clarify a couple of points which have come up in the comments so far:

The reason I didn’t go with ActBlue is because when I checked, they only seem to cover a handful of local counties/cities, and Oakland County isn’t on the list. However, as benamery21 notes in the comments, this may no longer be the case. I’ll look into it, but I’m already set up and ready to go, and the rates are actually pretty close to what I’m already paying, so this is likely a moot point; I don’t want to mess with this part anymore than I already have.

A couple of people have made references to being short on cash or to shifting a donation to me from some other candidate for another office. In cases like those, please DON’T! I tremendously appreciate the thought, but I don’t want anyone to miss a bill payment over my race, nor do I want to risk some deserving House/Senate/etc. candidate in a close race losing theirs.