The elections are over and the dust is starting to settle. Change for Kentucky and DFA had some great victories, both in the Bluegrass State and around the country.
Below are reports from a few of our Change for Kentucky & DFA county coordinators, detailing their organization's efforts for candidates and campaigns this year. For Change for Kentucky, a large measure of success is HOW MUCH we were involved, and WHAT WE OFFERED to a campaign.
Change for Northern Kentucky - Linda Nesbitt
Change for Northern Kentucky officially endorsed only one candidate, Linda Klembara for State Representative in House District 68. While this race was the focus of much of our attention, individuals also worked for Ken Lucas, Randy Blankenship, and several local candidates. Klembara ran a strong grassroots campaign, pulling in scores of workers previously not involved in politics at all. In the end, however, she was unable to overcome the 1800 voter registration advantage of the R's and lost by a final margin of nearly 7%.
We recruited and organized volunteers, and organized much of the fieldwork, including the door-to-door campaign, based on the DFA model of precinct analysis and tiering. Basically, there were several key people in addition to the candidate who strategized, organized and implemented everything.
Since the election we have been contacted by two top Campbell Co. Democrats who are interested in initiating conversations about re-energizing the party. Additionally, CFNKY has been asked to co-sponsor a candidate forum next spring.
Simon-Barkley Democracy for America - Charles Schneider
S-BDFA opened a McCracken Co. headquarters to help in their support of the following candidates: Frank Rasche – St. Rep; J.R. Gray – St. Rep; Jon Hayden – Sheriff; Robert Coleman and Gerald Watkins –City Commissioners. The candidates won on their own merits and with their own campaigns, but opening a headquarters provided our members and other poiticos a central place for material storage and pick up.
We were also able to extract the raw data from Frankfort Secretary of State voter files and import it into an Excel file and manipulate it into walk and phone lists. This gives us some independence from the campaigns and consultants.
Change for Kentucky- Frankfort - Jim Call
We supported and worked for a variety of candidates:
DFA/Change for Louisville - Mike Bailey
Change for Louisville played a big role in November 7th victories.
Vicki Welch, a local Louisville city councilwoman (and Change for Louisville endorsed candidate,) emerged victorious on Tuesday. The support of Change for
Louisville helped fill the gap caused by her husband's absence from the
campaign trail, and Vicki's time spent at home nursing him back to health.
Furthermore, DFA had helped canvass Vicki's precinct for data when she was a
precinct captain, a year before she became a candidate, and Vicki feels that
foundation helped her win her own precinct by over 300 votes. This is
significant because the race was won by only 500 votes.
Unfortunately our star State Rep. candidate Amy Shir was defeated in her bid
to unseat KY House Minority Leader Bob Deweese. Amy probably raised more
contributions for her race than any House race in KY, and she outperformed the
voter registration numbers for her district. A massive GOTV effort by the
Republicans in a last-ditch (and unsuccessful) effort to save Anne Northup
from losing her U.S. House seat in KY-03 brought out the Republicans in Amy's
district in droves, which contributed to Amy's defeat. We are proud of this
effort by a first-time activist candidate with no name ID, and Amy's organization pushed large quantities of Democrats in KY-48 to the polls, which helped John
Yarmuth's narrow victory.
DFA Change for Kentucky and DFA Change for Louisville will continue to develop
new candidates, create support structures for candidates, and educate voters.
In 2007, the Governor and state-wide constitutional offices are up for grabs,
and there will be a heated primary that could make DFA/CFK an even bigger
player in the state.
Change for Kentucky - Boyle County - Diana Linville
Change for Kentucky-Boyle County members worked for David Sparrow, Democratic candidate for Ky. 54th district. David Sparrow won the vote in Boyle County, but lost his race against the incumbant Mike Harmon by a margin of 39 votes due to the results from Washington County.
This experience showed that the efforts of even a couple dedicated volunteers can make a big difference, and I believe that with more DFA people working in Washington County David would have won. (Last that I heard, the votes would be recounted since the margin of the win was so small).
Change for Kentucky- Mason County - Janice George
In the general election, CFK Mason County endorsed Carol Rice Allen for the 18th District State Senate seat. She was knowledgeable about campaigning due to her late husband serving 14 years for the same district. CFK assisted with canvassing and hosted a CFK For A Day event. Also, support at public events, media endorsements and phone banking were provided. Carol lost to senate leader and fifth term, Republican, incumbent Charlie Borders 53% to 47%. She trailed in Mason County by 250 votes. Carol felt CFK Mason County’s support was vital to her campaign.
Also in the general election, CFK endorsed Ken Lucas’ bid to reclaim the fourth Congressional District. CFK assisted with canvassing, phone banking and support at public events. Ken lost to Republican incumbent Geoff Davis in a bitter battle earning approximately 44% of the vote. However, Ken narrowly won in Mason County.
CFK often heard from county residents that robo phone calls and negative television advertisement soured their desire to vote in the congressional election. It seems there may have been reverse robo calls in an effort to negatively impact the Democratic candidate.
Change for Kentucky - Fayette County
In Fayette County, Change for Kentucky endorsed three candidates:
Andrea James (LFUCG 1st District Council). Andrea was a first-time candidate who attended the 2006 DFA/Change for Kentucky Campaign Training Academy in Elizabethtown. Andrea put her campaign skills to work with a great Voter ID and canvassing project. She walked every precinct in her district, and kept a great database of voter contact information. Change for Kentucky assisted her with campaign strategy, walking, visibility materials, and especially an 11th-hour GOTV phone bank.
Result: Andrea WON, defeating a former councilperson, to become the first African-American female to sit on the LFUCG City Council
Tom Blues (LFUCG 2nd District Council). Change for Kentucky supported Tom's 2004 council bid, where he lost to incumbent Jacques Wigginton by almost a 10 point margin. Tom never gave up, and came back to run a great, targeted campaign in 2006. The 2nd District is one of Lexington's fastest growing areas, and Tom's emphasis on responsible government was key to his victory. Change for Kentucky provided two major pieces to his race:
A large GOTV walking effort on Sunday, November 5, where we reached every single house in the key Masterson Station precincts. Tom's good voter lists combined with CFK's GOTV skills helped us drag many Blues supporters to the polls.
Change for Kentucky PAC produced its first-ever independent expenditure radio spot. We had some fun with our take on incumbent Jacques Wigginton's record of traveling on taxpayer's money:
The $3700 production and ad buy played on five local radio stations. Not only that, but the ad generated plenty of buzz in the local media, and through "earned media" alone, our radio ad impacted the race right up to election day.
Result: Tom Blues WON, defeating Wigginton by almost eight points (a nine point turnaround from 2004).
Chris Frost (State Representative, 88th District). CFK made a concerted effort to work with the local Democratic Party in their campaign for Chris Frost, who ran a tough race against incumbent Bill Farmer. Turnout was very high in his district, and the Republican Party did a great job of turning out 4/5 and 5/5 voters. Chris was a great candidate, full of new ideas and a promise to bring a new thoughtfullness to the State House. If he runs in 2008, we'll surely support him again!
Posted by Change for Kentucky at January 4, 2007 05:54 PM