Put your change to work!

Join the “Healthcare NOT Warfare” campaign!

Site Search

PDA Site   Web
Search provided by Google®

Find Chapters

Select Area Abroad Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York N. Carolina N. Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island S. Carolina S. Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington W. Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

CD Point People

Find yours here.

Podcasts & Videos

Hear PDA podcasts.

PDA 2006 Election Video
» 56K modem   » broadband

Stop Funding War Video
» All formats

Action Alerts

Take action now!

PDA-Backed Candidates Roll to Victory From Coast to Coast

By Roger Bloom
November 8, 2006

 A dozen PDA-endorsed candidates for U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives won their elections yesterday, spearheading the stunning Democratic victory that will see the party take over the House of Representatives and, at this writing, very possibly the Senate as well.

“This is a great day for the country and for PDA,” said Executive Director Tim Carpenter.

Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Rep.-elect John Hall in New York and Rep.-elect Jerry McNerney in California defeated Republican incumbents and will bolster the progressive presence on Capitol Hill come January. (See our blog for more details.)  

Also winning their races were PDA board members Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Diane Watson, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey – all of California – along with Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, who is set to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when the new Democratic majority sets up shop in that chamber at the start of the new year.

The other PDA-backed winners were Rep. Bob Filner in California, Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Ohio and Rep. John Olver in Massachusetts.

Noting the PDA was founded shortly before the 2004 election, Carpenter said, “This is the first national election in which we’ve taken an active role, and we’ve definitely succeeded with our inside/outside strategy in making our presence felt, both within the party and out among the voters.”

Among the PDA-endorsed candidates who did not win outright on Election Day, most ran well ahead of Democratic registration in their heavily red districts, building name recognition, organizations and goodwill -- and gaining valuable experience – all to be put to use in the 2008 election.

“The 2008 campaign starts tomorrow,” Carpenter said. “We’ll be there.”