Tag Archives: Durston

Growing Our Democratic Majority in the House

House Dems could pick up 20 or more seats this year, building on remarkable successes winning three special elections this year in long-held Repub districts:  Mississippi Travis Childers (54%) beat Greg Davis (46%) in a district Bush carried with 63% in 2004; Louisiana Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. (49%) beat Woody Jenkins (46%) in a 2004 59% Bush district; Illinois Bill Foster (52%) beat Jim Oberweis (48%) in a 2004 55% Bush district held by former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert for 21 years.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s nearest competitive Congressional races include Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11), a top target of the Repubs, and Dem challengers Charlie Brown (CA-4), Bill Durston (CA-3) and Jill Derby (NV-2). You can meet and support them all at a Sunday June 1 Champagne Brunch Reception, details at http://www.democracyaction.org…

• Congressman Jerry McNerney knocked off Environmental Enemy #1 Richard Pombo in 2006, brings renewable energy expertise to the House and constituent services to his district, and now faces former State Assemblyman, former State Board of Equalization conservative Dean Andal.

• Lt. Colonel Charlie Brown (USAF-retired), a decorated Vietnam veteran with a son serving multiple tours of duty in Iraq, and a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Red to Blue Candidate, nearly beat (2006 49%-46%)and subsequently drove out corrupt incumbent John Doolittle (R), and now likely faces opportunistic ultra-conservative Tom McClintock, a Southern California carpetbagger.

• Dr. Bill Durston, former Vietnam Marine platoon leader and now emergency room physician, has been endorsed by Progressive Democrats of America and faces Dan Lungren, a Bush lock-step voter, in a district that now has the smallest Republican advantage of any GOP-held California Congressional District.

• Jill Derby, born on the Flying Flapjack Ranch and running to bring Nevada values to Congress – independence and straight talk – has a rematch (2006 50%-45%) with first-termer Dean Heller after her year as Nevada Democratic Party Chair registering 30,000 new Dems in this critical Swing State – her voters will be Presidential voters in this critical election year.

Overall, Dems have 33 House seats in potential jeopardy (6 toss-ups), and the Repubs 43 (13 toss-ups), per the Cook Political Report http://www.cookpolitical.com/r… The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza also ranked House races at http://blog.washingtonpost.com…

Take Back Red California – Detailed Norcal Volunteer Edition – GOTV

(Thanks for the info! If anybody else has similar information for other areas, please post it. And hey, don’t forget about Jerry McNerney’s virtual phone banking. You can do it from home, and Skype provides free long distance calling. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Take Back Red California Volunteer Bulletin

SPECIAL 11/3 UPDATE

GOTV Special Bulletin

TIME TO GET OUT THE VOTE!

NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE BACK CONGRESS!

Four days til the election, folks–and it’s all coming down to turnout, getting voters to the polls.

The Republicans have a well-funded, well-oiled machine to Get Out The Vote. The Democrats have
YOU . . . the grassroots volunteers…You’re the key!

Every single voter contact is critical right now–every knock on a door, every phone call.

Four days are key for GOTV:

Saturday, November 4
Sunday, November 5
Monday, November 6
and Election Day, November 7

It’s crunch time. Pick a day, pick a campaign, and let us know how you can help. Here are some of the jobs that might be part of GOTV:

        Canvassing, knocking on doors
        Literature drops
        Distributing door hangers
        Phoning voters, either from campaign headquarters or closer to home
        Poll checking on Election Day (visiting the polls to see who has voted)
        Getting voters to the polls, by knocking on doors, calling, driving
        Visibility activities–signs, waving, showing support

The first order of business? Go to the candidate’s web site and sign up as a volunteer, so you’ll get all the news of activities, needs, and updates by email, directly from the campaign. Second, talk to one of the TBRC or Project BlueBridge coordinators listed below–we will do our best to organize carpools when possible, so people can travel in groups. (If you are traveling on your own, call the campaign directly to let them know you’re coming and to see what they need that day.)

Jerry McNerney for Congress

Latest polling gives Jerry a 2-point lead, but countering the Republican GOTV machine will be tough. Jerry needs you! It’s going to take 5700 hours of volunteer help over the next four or five days to win this race–but we can do it!

Sign up to volunteer at http://www.jerrymcnerney.org, for whatever you can do–4 hours all day, all weekend. On the web site, see the TeamMcNerneyActionCenter, and click on Get Out the Vote. You can sign up for specific times and locations.

TBRC is focusing our GOTV activities on Brentwood, for purposes of carpooling. Other campaign priorities are Stockton, Tracy and Manteca. Drivers are needed!

McNerney headquarters is in Dublin; 925-833-0643.

The organizer for Brentwood activities is Oscar Gonzales, 323-388-6383, [email protected].

For carpool arrangements to Brentwood from Marin/SF, contact TBRC volunteer coordinator Bill Sims, [email protected], 415-331-3899., for details and carpool arrangements.

Other carpooling contacts, from Project BlueBridge:

To Stockton:
     from Oakland: Raphael at [email protected], 408-203-0934
     from San Leandro: Leah at [email protected], 510-636-1756

To Brentwood from the East Bay:
     Kari at kariham@earthlink, 510-207-7257 or
     Heather at [email protected], 510-531-6075

To Tracy: Laura at [email protected], 510-525-5355

Saturday, Nov. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 5
Canvassing in Brentwood, Tracy, Stockton.

Monday, Nov. 6
For canvassing and literature drops in Brentwood, call Oscar Gonzales, 323-388-6383, for times and details.

Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7
Need poll checkers, phoners, drivers, and other helpers
Call Oscar Gonzales, 323-388-6383, for times and details for Brentwood.

Or sign up for another location on the web site.

Phone Banking
Thanks to a new predictive dialing system, you can now make calls for the McNerney campaign from the comfort of your own home or in the company of neighbors or friends without paying long distance charges or burning inordinate amounts of fossil fuels. Visit http://www.jerrymcnerney.org/…  to get started.

Phone Banking in Oakland – EastBay for McNerney
Nov. 4-7: expanded hours–all day, every day**
SEIU Local 535
447 29th St. (between Broadway and Telegraph)
You need to RSVP, to help the organizers plan.
To RSVP, please send an email to
[email protected] and type OAKLAND PHONE BANK in the subject line or call Eden at 510-499-4862

Phone Banking in San Francisco, Nov. 5
Sunday evening, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
Come anytime, stay as long as you can.
Bring your cell phones, campaign is providing computer-assisted dialing and call scripts.
You must RSVP to Alec Bash, [email protected], 415-999-6273

Charlie Brown for Congress

Another close race that’s really heating up. MajorityWatch’s latest poll shows Charlie surging, to within the margin of error–a statistical dead heat! Boots on the ground can send Charlie Brown to Congress! Sign up to volunteer at http://www.charliebrownforcongress.org.

TBRC is focusing our activity on Roseville, for purposes of carpooling, but there are also GOTV activities in Auburn, South Lake Tahoe, and other parts of the district. The Roseville office is at 342 Lincoln; call 916-78-BROWN.

To contact the campaign directly, call Nick Shepard, field director, in Roseville: 916-782-7696, or email [email protected].

Contact TBRC volunteer coordinator David Hyams, [email protected], 415-924-8828, for directions to the Roseville office or carpool arrangements.

There will also be joint GOTV activities with Rob Haswell’s campaign for California Assembly.

Saturday, Nov. 4, Sunday, Nov. 5, and Monday, Nov. 6
Canvassing and literature drops in Roseville
Three shifts: 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.
Phone banking 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7
Need poll checkers, phoners, drivers, and other helpers
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or 3:30 to 8 p.m.–or all day!
Call Nick Shepard, 916-782-7696, to see how you can help.

Sunday, Nov. 5
Weekly phone bank for Charlie Brown every Sunday
10:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. in San Francisco
Contact [email protected] or 415-921-0743 for directions and details

Sunday, Nov. 5
Phone bank in San Rafael
3:00 – 5:30 p.m.
You’ll need to bring your cell phone and charger, with free minutes; we will provide lists and scripts.
For address and directions, RSVP to Tamra Peters and Bill Carney, 415-457-7656, [email protected].

Bill Durston for Congress

Hundreds of volunteers are working all around the district, and Bill is steadily gaining ground. Contributions hit a record last week, and TV ads are on the way. The excitement is palpable. But nothing can replace those volunteers! Sign up to volunteer at http://www.durstonforcongress.org, and get those voters to the polls!

TBRC is focusing on GOTV activities in Fair Oaks and Elk Grove. On election day, there are also activities in Rancho Cordova.

To volunteer for canvassing or phoning, contact TBRC volunteer coordinator Stephanie Friedman, [email protected], 510-841-3861, for details about these and other events and for carpool arrangements.

To contact the campaign directly, call campaign manager Cathlyn Daly, 916-479-5961, [email protected]. To reach the Elk Grove office, call 916-421-0202. To reach the Fair Oaks office, call 916-961-2866.

Saturday, Nov. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 5
Canvassing and phone banking in both Fair Oaks and Elk Grove
Noon to dusk; you can pick a time

Visibility Events, Sunday, Nov. 5, Monday, Nov. 6, Tuesday, Nov. 7
Join the crowd with Durston signs during commute and heavy traffic hours in various locations
Call the campaign office for times and locations

Monday, Nov. 6
Phone banking from the Elk Grove office
and from other locations
Call 916-421-0202, for details.

Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7
Need poll checkers, phoners, drivers, and other helpers
Call Cathlyn Daly, 916-479-5961, for times and details.

Massive GOTV efforts from several locations on Election Day! Visibility and phoning from several locations–phone Stephanie, 510-841-3861 for details.

Phone banking in Marin, Sunday, Nov. 5
Phone bank in San Rafael
3:00 – 5:30 p.m.
You’ll need to bring your cell phone and charger, with free minutes; we will provide lists and scripts.
For address and directions, RSVP to Tamra Peters and Bill Carney, 457-7656, [email protected].

the above is reprinted with permission from the Founder of TBRC