Shelley Madore won the primary last night, taking the endorsement from Dan Powers. If elected in November, she will be an outstanding Congress-critter--right up there with Wiener and Grayson.
Shelley is a former MN House representative from Apple Valley, MN. I think she'll be an outstanding challenger--already she has demonstrated creative campaigning on a budget--and she has been campaigning against Kline, not against other Democrats.
Shelley's website is still set up for the primary, but take a look at it--and while you're there--take the 35 cent tour.
more....
My favorite Shelley story is part of the reason she was targeted so heavily with Republican attack ads in 2008. When the debate was coming up about cutting funding for sex ed in the local schools "because so many parents opposed it"--Shelley had her staff contact her local school district--and within hours she was able to announce on the floor that in her district, only an incredibly tiny number (something like 7 out of 3500) of the students opted out. She makes the contacts--and she does her homework! Then, she speaks up!
Hopefully there will be an official campaign blog up at DKos in the very near future. Until then, you'll have to put up with just me.
Shelley's VoteSmart Bio.
Excerpted from her website:
From volunteering with ARC Greater Twin Cities and the local school district to provide networking and resources to families like hers to self-publishing a newsletter to support families with special needs children, Shelley has always rolled up her sleeves and stepped up to help....
As her advocacy work grew, Shelley became involved in the political issues surrounding special needs families. As an advocate, Shelley would often go to St. Paul to testify or support bills and legislators. For Shelley, this was more than a lobbying opportunity, it allowed her to better understand the complicated process of passing bills.
[In 2003] Shelley heard a state representative on the radio, justifying his position to cut money from a program to assist children with special needs by saying their families should just budget better for uncovered expenses, like he did to cover sports participation fees for his son. She [drove] to the State Capitol and summon[ed] the legislator off the voting floor. The man [brushed her off, telling her] that she wasn’t his constituent because she didn’t live in his district, and went back to his seat.... [T]he next year she ran for State Representative in District 37A, Apple Valley.
[After her second run] in 2006, [Shelley became] the first Democrat in 30 years to be elected in that district.... She is a devoted public servant who does not waffle on controversial issues but stands up for what she believes in. Shelley fights, not for the elite and their special interest groups but for average people who just want to provide opportunity and economic security for their families....
Education and Experience
Shelley holds a degree in business administration and has spent fifteen years working in marketing and business management. For the past two school years, Shelley worked at a Minneapolis charter school and took public transportation to work. She is a graduate of Partners in Policymaking through the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.