I'm here to introduce many of you to the man who can be, with your help, the next Congressman from New York's 26th District, Jon Powers.
I first met Jon while I was organizing the Netroots Candidate's Celebration at YearlyKos last Summer. We had lunch in Manhattan and I was immediately impressed with his poise, sense of self and confidence in his ability to lead. He spoke of the importance of "Leadership by Example" and then laid out his vision of where he wanted to lead the country. Big ideas for a young man.
But, I shouldn't have been surprised, because he had honed those leadership skills during the time he spent as a Captain in the Army; time he spent on the mean streets of Baghdad during the Iraq War.
The video above tells his story better than I. Take a look.
Why is this important now? This afternoon, Jon's Republican opponent,Tom Reynolds, will announce that he will be retiring, and that means an open seat, and a great opportunity for New York to pick up yet another Democratic Congressman. This year, Eric Massa, Dan Maffei and Jon hope to join John Hall and Kirsten Gillibrand in Washington.
This announcement is great news for the campaign and for the people of the 26th District, but we need to keep the good news coming.
You can help
Jon has a donation program called Club26,
where people can donate just $26 a month to support Jon in his campaign. I am already a member and I'm asking for 10 others to join me.
Here is a list of some of the other organizations and people who have endorsed the Powers Campaign:
- Niagara County Democratic Executive Committee
- Genesee County Democratic Committee
- Livingston County Democratic Committee
- Orleans County Democratic Committee
- Wyoming County Democratic Committee
- Town of Clarence Democratic Committee
- Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee
- Service Employees International Union Local 1199
- United Food and Commercial Workers
- Communications Workers of America
- International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
- United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers Industrial Union District 4
- International Union of Painters & Allied Trades
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 86
- AFSCME Local 264
- VoteVets
- VetPAC
- General Wesley Clark
- Senator Bob Kerrey
- Senator John Kerry
This is an important race, not only for New York, but for the entire country. Donate if you can. Drop me a line, if you have any questions.
brian at thealbanyproject dot com
Disclaimer: I am working with the Powers Campaign, but I speak for myself.