I hope you have heard about the great candidate we have in AL-07 Shelia Smoot
I've known Shelia for quite some time and I can tell you that she means it when she says
You need someone in Congress who will impact your life not their own
Shelia is not going to be a here today gone tomorrow progressive and fighter. We don't need another one of those. She's already been at it her entire career as an investigative journalist and an elected official. She's been underestimated before. Now she's considered the underdog to go to Congress in a July 13 runoff. That's fine, Shelia thrives as the underdog. Shelia Smoot is on our side.
Just yesterday Shelia received the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers Local #2143
"Commissioner Shelia Smoot worked hard to help build a number of new schools in Jefferson County resulting in a better environment for our teachers to teach and our students to learn," said Vi Parramore, President of AFT Local #2143. "Her support and passage of the Stellar Program allowing our teachers to gain national certification further shows her tremendous dedication to our children and their educators."
Smoot has a solid record of working with organized labor and was instrumental in funding new school construction throughout Jefferson County.
"It shows her great leadership and love of education, her concern for children's futures," added Parramore. "We look forward to working with her as our 7th Congressional Congresswoman."
"We're truly humbled by the strong support from our friends at AFT" said Smoot. "I remain steadfast in my support of Alabama Teachers and Teachers throughout the US."
"Today more than ever, our schools and our teachers need a candidate who will stand by them and be 'On their Side'," urged Smoot. "I have been and will remain the candidate who stands up for working people not the interests of big business or Wall Street."
Shelia Smoot has proven time and time again that she gets results.
- In 2002 Shelia was the first African American female elected to the Jefferson County Commission - Shelia came in and increased the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from the U.S. Dept of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) from 16% to approximately 87% in Jefferson County’s communities with the highest levels of poverty and need.
- Shelia Smoot is not just talking about providing quality affordable health care to the least of these. Shelia Smoot has fought hard to save Cooper Green Hospital, the indigent care facility in Jefferson County. She has continued to denounce attempts to cut the budget for indigent healthcare. Shelia Smoot is the candidate in this Runoff with a long-standing history fighting for healthcare for all people regardless of economic standing in the community. Therefore, Shelia Smoot is the candidate in this race that you can trust to stand firm on protecting the progress in Federal Healthcare Reform based on sound past practices. She's been an advocate for low-income adults and children and their right to receive affordable health care.
- Shelia Smoot has substantially provided support for environmentally friendly projects that have created a higher quality of life for citizens throughout Jefferson County. Shelia Smoot created the first-ever Jefferson County Greenway Commission that is charged with developing hiking, biking and walking greenway trail systems all across the county with the first 20-mile trail already underway to benefit some of the county’s most underserved communities. Shelia Smoot is the only candidate in this runoff that has the vision to capitalize on historic preservation and greenway developments for the benefit of the Black Belt and its natural beauty with compatible rural development.
Shelia Smoot would start from a position of strength not scratch when elected to Congress. Our opponent talks about what she might do and could do, but we need someone who we can trust to fight for the least of these. This is a little lady with a big heart and a great spirit. Don't underestimate her ability.
Shelia is tough as nails and that is one of her greatest attributes. I've been working on campaigns in numerous positions over the past 8 years, but I've not volunteered like I have for this campaign.
We need to hit our goal of $10,000 on this page so we can keep our strong presence. If we can just get a little bit closer tonight, we can continue to push hard over this next month. A $20.10 donation will help us keep our troops on the ground and get up another radio ad.