I would like to introduce Mary Schneider to the blogosphere. Schneider is a fantastic candidate for State Representative in Illinois' 50th district.
Mary has already earned national media, Chicago media, local media and had her story used on the floor of the United States Senate by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois).
Mary has a fascinating story to tell about her son, Ryan. Ryan Schneider had cerebral palsy at an early age until Mary persistently sought a medical solution. I am not a doctor so I will let Mary describe the procedure that essentially allowed stem cells from Ryan's cord blood to be infused back into his system. It cured him and Schneider has not stopped advocating for more stem cell research since then.
Below the fold for more on Bush's veto...
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Please welcome our future State Representative, Mary Schneider. Illinois' 50th District is an open-seat race in 2008. It is a largely rural area (Kane and Kendall Counties) that has traditionally gone Republican.
After watching Bush veto the Stem Cell Research Act (H.R. 810), Schneider became active in Illinois politics.
She testified in both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate on behalf of the Cord Blood Banking Bill (SB 19). She also provided advice on drafting the legislation, which earned bipartisan majorities in June 2007.
The bill was recently signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in September.
Mary Schneider is now running for State Representative in Illinois' 50th District; an open seat within Illinois' 14th Congressional District. I ran into Mary during my 2006 campaign; she spoke on my behalf at several events during the final months of Laesch vs. Hastert.
Mary is a special candidate who will make a great representative in Springfield and I am asking you to help her. She needs to raise $3,000 by the end of September to meet Mike Madigan's fundraising goal. In Illinois, Mike Madigan has fairly strict fundraising goals for candidates to test viability. Because Kane County Chairman, Mark Guethle, has been successful in electing two State Senators, a State Representative and several county officials, it seems that Madigan might be giving Schneider a break. (I'm speculating a bit here, but there's no question that this is a low "buy-in" and no question that Mary Schneider is a great candidate.)
Mary is a stay-at-home mom and full-time activist on stem cell issues. Recently, we worked with local party officials to recruit Mary to run for office, so she does not yet have a website. We did however help her set up an Act Blue page. Mary is also new to blogs and she is going to answer questions in the comments section.
Take care,
John Laesch
Democrat for U.S. Congress
Illinois' 14th District
www.john08.com
