Last night I went to one of our local watering holes to support Democrat Barbarann Keffer, who lives less than a mile from my house. She’s one of our town councilwomen and is running against the incumbent (R) Jamie Santora for the state house’s 163rd district seat. We’re in Delaware County, not too terribly far from the Philadelphia city line. The town is about 8 square miles and actually does border Philly, though the 163rd has been carefully gerrymandered to exclude the large minority populations that border the big city.
Contrary to what I might have expected, the function room at Tip O’Leary’s was very brightly lit (aren’t local events supposed to be smoky and dim?) and the campaign had sprung for a couple of hours of open bar and a small buffet. I arrived a few minutes after the nominal start time and was a little surprised to see the parking lot was not particularly full. It was raining, so that probably had something to do with it.
Barbarann was circulating already, though, and we got a chance to gab before the room filled up further. She reminded me that we had met in 2009 when she first ran for the council (and lost). She had many people to schmooze, of course, so we didn’t talk too long. I found myself talking with another Dem officeholder, a very nice lady on the school board. [Side note: the school board has been in the news quite a bit lately because the school superintendent “retired” in July, at the strong encouragement of the board <wink wink, know what I mean?>.] We had a great chat about running for office, the time commitment, and raising money. She pointed out that local candidates often have to pool their money to get even a minimal campaign postcard mailing done. But for her, the most important part of winning downballot is to find good people.
That’s what Barbarann is. She’s a good person. And she was tired of the entrenched Republicans being in charge in our town and county. So she ran for town council. The first try was to run in her council district and she lost. That was the 2009 election where I met her. Then, with a little experience under her belt, she ran for at-large and won. The Republicans still have a majority on the council but Barbarann’s been the camel’s nose peeking into the tent. We Dems have more than one member on the council after years of none. Now there is some energy among the local Dems and some willingness to push for seats at the many tables that have been all or almost-all Repub here in suburbia.
Thus Barbarann is taking the next step, trying to wrest PA House District 163 from the Republicans. It’s an uphill fight because it’s been held since the 70’s(!) by the R’s. But she is a seasoned campaigner now, after the experience of running for an at-large seat in our big township. [Wikipedia says our township population >80,000. That seems high, but we definitely have more than 10,000 households, so this is no small place.]
The small fundraiser last night was certainly a success. She probably got someone to donate the cost of the function room, food, & drink. I didn’t think it was my place to ask. By the time I left, an hour after arriving, the room was pretty full, the parking lot was pretty full, and there was a lot of chitchat all over. She has some more money for yard signs and mailings now. She’s got a few more firm commitments to volunteer now. [As I’ve done in the past, I’ll be at my polling place (6th precinct) with literature and a poll watcher nametag on election day.]
Barbarann is a realist and knows that turnout will be the key. In 2012, the prior rep from 163rd won his last election by less than 1,000 votes. Then he retired (after 35 years as the state rep) and his handpicked successor got a helpful gerrymand but still only won by less than 1,000 votes. This election, somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 votes will be cast for PA163 candidates. And, even after the gerrymander, you can bet it will be close again. So GOTV is the key.
If you know someone running for a downballot office, be sure to support him/her as best as you can. One person’s few hours makes a big difference at the local level. If you don’t know anyone running, start asking around to find a friend/acquaintance who does know one of the downballot Dems. And get connected so you can help. You’ll feel more a part of the community and you’ll be helping a good person. We need good people to run, and we need good people to support them.
Do what you can, so folks like Barbarann can win. They’re good people.