For those of you who don't follow Wisconsin politics, in Madison we have the unenviable task of replacing (D) Tammy Baldwin as our U.S. Representative. She is running for the U.S. Senate against (likely nominee) former governor (R) Tommy Thompson. That leaves us the greater Madison area with an opportunity.
This past weekend on Saturday February 11th, Mark Pocan kicked off his campaign for congress from 12 to 2 at Hawks Bar and Grill on State Street near the capital. What a kickoff it was, the finance director for the campaign told me the headcount of people broke 90 in the 2 hours they were there (I had guessed 60-70 but I had to leave in the first hour to go to work)
Mark Pocan has represented the Madison area on the county board for four years and in the state assembly for 14 years. In that time, Mark has made some friends. One of his most proud moments came when he passed the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act. He was the author of it and it took 8 years to get the bill passed (Republicans are strong at the state level here). He is the only candidate to receive a union endorsement (19 and counting). If you would like to see a list of all Mark's endorsers check out the link here: http://pocanforcongress.com/...
One of Mark's opponents (in the primary, it's a blue seat) has written a check for himself for $200,000! Closed the gap pretty fast with self funding like that. Mark could use a hand if you want to help me raise a little money for a true and proven progressive on ActBlue I made a page, Progressives for Pocan that can be found here: https://secure.actblue.com/...
Mark isn't the man I want representing me and the Madison area, he's the congressman I want representing all of us as a leader of (what will be) a great 2012 class. I'll try and keep you updated with the campaign as we keep going here, (new office and nominating papers will be all the excitement when you hear from me in March!) The finance director also gave me some pictures from the event to share with you guys under the jump:
^- Mark Pocan speaking to the crowd
^-A shot of the crowd
^-Another shot of the crowd