Archive for June, 2005
We are thrilled to announce that Melissa Mattingly, who served as a rock-star organizer during the Primary campaign, has joined us as Campaign Manager for the push to November.
“I am thrilled to continue to work for a candidate I believe in, and for a purpose I am passionate about: electing more Democrats in Virginia,” said Mel. “I look forward to reconnecting with all of our tremendous Team Englin volunteers as we do the hard work our statewide Democratic candidates need from us in order to win in November.”
We are also proud to see Stephen Davis, our Primary Campaign Manager, and Mara Lee, our Field Director, move on to much larger responsibilities in Democratic politics.
Mara is heading to the Corzine gubernatorial campaign in New Jersey, where she will serve as Statewide Volunteer Coordinator. All of our volunteers can attest that it’s a role she’s perfect for, and she’ll make a huge difference in the fight to elect a Democratic governor in New Jersey.
“I will miss Team Englin, but I know that the campaign is in terrific hands with Mel. I’ll be watching from New Jersey as David and crew make good on their promises to help turn Virginia blue,” said Mara. “Thank you so much to all of Team Englin for an incomparable experience these last six months. And don’t worry: Mel will be harrassing you to get involved just as frequently and fervently as I did, I have no doubt.”
Stephen has been named the Campaign Director for the Young Democrats of America/Virginia Young Democrats Young Voter project. He’ll be managing a statewide campaign to register, identify, and turn out young Democrats across the Commonwealth.
“I’d like to add my thanks to Mara’s. Working with Team Englin has been an honor,” said Stephen. “David is a terrific Young Democratic candidate, and I know I’ll put him and all of Team Englin to work in my new role turning out young Democratic voters. They won’t have a chance to miss me at Campaign Central – I’ll be around.”
“I couldn’t be happier to have Mel stay on as my Campaign Manager. Stephen and Mara leave big shoes to fill, and I know that Mel is up to the task,” said David. “I’m incredibly grateful to Stephen and Mara, and I’m thrilled to see them both continue to be leaders in the fight to take back our commonwealth and our country. But no matter how far they go, they’ll always have a home at Campaign Central.”
As we at Team Englin regroup from the primary and start looking toward November, please take a moment to read what a couple of bloggers have written about their experiences with our campaign:
An Antidote to Political Alienation – Get Involved!
(Click here for complete article.)
Many Americans say they feel alienated from politics. Many don’t even bother to vote. That’s too bad for a whole host of reasons, including some serious ones related to the health of our Democracy, etc. For the moment, though, I just want to focus on another reason: they’re missing out on a whole lot of fun! Food, friends, comaraderie, team bonding, meeting new people you never would have met otherwise, getting a lot of great excercise, working up a sweat, pushing yourself to the max, talking, laughing, crying, taking up a challenge and then accomplishing it.
That’s what grassroots politics can be all about. And that’s exactly what I had the chance to experience yesterday, with the David Englin campaign.
A Victory for the Politics of Conviction and the Tactic of Hard Work
(Click here for complete article.)
I began my day today at 5:00 am and spent 14 hours on my feet in temperatures that approached 100 degrees helping David Englin win the Democratic nomination to represent the 45th district in the Virginia House of Delegates. So why am I blogging at a quarter till midnight instead of sleeping? Because what David his incredible volunteer effort accomplished in the 45th’s 25 precincts is truly remarkable. And it has implications for the Commonwealth of Virginia that extend far beyond the boundaries of this Northern Virginia district—I hope Tim Kaine and the other Democratic nominees are paying attention.
David Englin discovered the secret to winning elections, a strategy so clever that long-time political professionals haven’t been able to figure it out. And I’m so excited about David’s discovery that I’m up tonight to share it with the world. Yup, that’s right, I’m going to put this secret strategy for success on the internet for the whole world to see. (This is freeware, folks!)
It’s never too late to join Team Englin’s efforts to help elect other Democratic candidates. Click here to volunteer or contact us at volunteer@davidenglin.org or 703-549-3203.
Raising Kaine, the blog dedicated to electing Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine the next governor of Virginia, interviewed David recently about his primary victory and next steps for Team Englin:
In an exclusive post-election interview with RaisingKaine, David Englin looks at high points and low points of the campaign that just was, and looks forward to his plans for the next weeks and months. Among other topics, Englin discusses grassroots politics, progressivism’s prospects in Virginia, and his intent to help other Democrats — Greg Werkheiser, Bruce Roemmelt, David Poission, Kaine/Byrne/Deeds — win this November. Needless to say, we here at RaisingKaine are looking forward to helping David, and his “grassroots army,” do just that!
1) So how are you feeling at this point, Delegate-elect Englin?
Of course, winning the nomination feels great, but I mostly feel incredibly grateful to everyone who poured so much of themselves into our campaign. Watching so many new people become empowered to make a difference gives me immense hope for the future. I also feel a deep obligation not to let them down, either in November or in the General Assembly. By the way, as much as I appreciate the vote of confidence, I prefer “Democratic nominee” to “Delegate-elect.” Regardless of how strong my chances are, I do have a Republican opponent, and it’s important that we respect the democratic process.
1a) Do you have any voice left or any leather on your shoes now that the primary campaign is over?
We all worked so hard that I’m sure it took everyone a couple of days to fully recover, but now I’m fine. Shayna and I celebrated the day after the primary by going out and buying me a new pair of walking shoes for all the work we have in store between now and November.
1b) Is your house back in one piece?
I think the victory party was harder on our house than the campaign was, but it’s slowly but surely recovering from both. I used to be a bit anal about certain things in the house, but now pushpins stuck directly in the walls don’t bother me as much. Truth be told, Shayna and I miss the barely-controlled chaos that we had in our home for the last several months. We miss having our organizers and interns in here all the time. It’s just not the same without the daily sing along (seriously, there was a daily sing along among our organizers and interns).
2) What would you rank as the high points and low points of the campaign?
The high point was realizing a few weeks from election day that our plan and our months of hard work was actually paying off. Our volunteer ranks started to swell with people we first met by knocking on their doors, and random people from around the district started calling to volunteer or donate money or just pledge their votes. Every time I saw a person go from occasional voter to committed activist because of our campaign, it was a high point for me.
There were a couple of weekends when we expected several volunteers and only one or two showed up. Those were definitely low points for a grassroots campaign entirely dependent on volunteers. But we persevered and had faith in our plan and our strong, positive, progressive message, and the volunteers were there when it mattered most.
3) What do you feel went better than expected, and worse than expected, over the past few months?
Our field operations went better than expected. We thought we had an outside chance of going into the weekend before the election with our ideal number of supporters identified, but we actually surpassed that goal two weeks early and went into the election with several hundred more identified supporters than expected. That’s why we were able to still win decisively even with a number of forces arrayed against us. We ended up exceeding our vote goal in every single precinct. In several Fairfax precincts, we pushed up turnout by several hundred percent. We organized in precincts like Mount Eagle (where we won 58% of the vote) where we heard again and again and again that nobody had really worked before.
As I mentioned before, there were a couple of times when we expected more volunteers than we got. Other than that, nothing really went worse than expected. That’s a real testament to Stephen and Mara’s leadership, in my opinion.
Click here to read the complete interview.
by Michael Lee Pope
Alexandria Gazette Packet, June 16, 2005
David Englin won the Democratic primary for the 45th district of the House of Delegates with 2,092 votes, 30 percent of electorate in Alexandria, Arlington and Mount Vernon. He carried nine of the 13 precincts in Alexandria and four of the six precincts in Mount Vernon.
“This was a real grassroots effort, and we wanted to make all of our volunteers feel like they were personally empowered,” said Englin at his victory party in Del Ray. He was surrounded by supporters who worked during the campaign knocking on doors, calling potential voters and handing out campaign literature. “We had a message of not apologizing for our progressive views, and I think that resonated with voters.”
Englin, 30, was raised by a single mother who was a special education teacher on American bases overseas. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He joined the Air Force at 17, and voluntarily deployed to the Balkans to participate in counter-genocide and peacekeeping operation. On Sept. 11, 2001, Englin was on duty at the Pentagon when it was struck by American Airlines Flight 77.
After moving to Del Ray, he became a member of the Alexandria Democratic Committee and the Del Ray Citizens Association, where he chairs the Traffic Committee. Englin and his family are active congregants at Alexandria’s Beth El Hebrew Congregation, where their son attends religious school. In 2003, he was appointed by the City Council to serve on Alexandria’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, and affordable housing was a recurring theme in his campaign for the House of Delegates.
Englin’s six-month campaign focused on creating layers of identification and making multiple contact with individual voters. Potential Democratic voters were identified, and volunteers would appear several times at their door to talk about Englin and his campaign for the House of Delegates. Finally, after the campaign had made several contacts in person and on the telephone, the candidate would arrive to make that final layer of contact.
“In the military, we always say that hope is not a plan,” said Englin. “We put together a solid plan and had a dedicated and wonderful army of supporters who went out and did the hard work.”
FUNDRAISING REPORTS on file with the State Board of Elections show that the Englin campaign raised $102,793, spending $50 for every vote. Jim Lay has the biggest fundraising total — $135,209, spending $166 for each vote. Laura Mandala raised $117,226, spending $142 per vote.
“These candidates certainly raised a lot of money — I think it’s about half a million dollars if you add all the candidates together,” said Del. Marian Van Landingham, the retiring incumbent for the 45th district. She was resting under the shade of several trees in Market Square at midday, talking to voters on their way to the City Hall precinct — analyzing the election and sizing up the candidates.
“I was at home a few minutes ago and got another robocall from Laura Mandala,” she said, referring to the automated calls that were used by several campaigns. “I just slammed the phone down.”
IN THE END, old-fashioned grassroots campaigning won the day. Englin’s campaign team set out early to conduct a door-to-door campaign that engaged potential voters several times. In January, the Englin team set a goal of identifying 2,040 supporters before the election. On Election Day, Englin received 2,092 votes — surpassing their initial goal, and winning the election by a margin of 366 votes.
“We set a goal that probably seemed just out of reach,” said campaign manager Stephen Davis. “But we put together a wonderful team of hard-working volunteers to make it happen. Some of these volunteers have worked more than 30 hours a week, and that’s in addition to having a full-time job.”
At the campaign victory party at Englin’s house in Del Ray, about 100 supporters and volunteers celebrated the end of a six-month effort. When asked the key to Englin’s success, Davis pointed at Englin’s house. Since January, the 1500 block of Wayne Street has been the Englin campaign headquarters.
“We had well over 200 volunteers,” said Davis. “We wanted to make volunteering an empowering activity, and we wanted the volunteers to feel like they were making a difference. On Tuesdays, we would have volunteer night — and that was very popular. People would come to volunteer and end up staying until late in the evening.”
VOTERS RESPONDED to the personal style of retail politics that was used by the campaign. After voting at the Lee Center, Susan Lampshire put on her “I voted” sticker and headed over to the Starbucks at the corner of King Street and St. Asaph Street. Sipping a coffee and talking about the candidates, she felt that Englin had the qualities that she was looking for in a candidate.
“I voted for Englin because I think he understands the issues that are important in this part of Virginia — solving transportation problems and doing something about affordable housing,” she said. “He seems like the kind of person who can get things done.”
Barbara Bamford is another voter who was won over by Englin. She arrived at the Ladrey precinct in the heat of the afternoon to vote.
“More than anything, I’m sorry that we are losing Marian Van Landingham because she has been such a wonderful asset to this community,” she said. “But, after reading all of the literature and the campaign coverage in the Alexandria Gazette Packet, I decided to vote for David Englin. I agree with the issues he put forward, and I think we need some young people in the House of Delegates.”
All of those doors, all of those phone calls…it all paid off. The voters responded overwhelmingly to David’s strong progressive message, our grassroots campaign, our dedicated volunteers, and David’s commmitment to using this seat to help elect other Democrats in Virginia.
Here are the results:
Englin: 2,092 votes, 30.42%
Garvey: 1,726 votes, 25.09%
Mosqueda: 893 votes, 12.98%
Mandala: 823 votes, 11.97%
Lay: 823 votes, 11.97%
Hobson: 528 votes, 7.68%
Dozens of volunteers braved record heat and humidity to go door-to-door, make phone calls, stand in front of polling places and turn out those voters. THANK YOU so much to everyone who made this happen. We can’t wait to keep working with you!
“I want to thank my opponents — Libby, Elsie, Jim, Dick, and Laura — for a hard-fought race. I look forward to working together to fight for the values I know we all share.”
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
We just can’t thank you enough for your support these last many months. We’ve been overwhelmed by the dedication and commitment of our many volunteers, the generosity of our many donors, and the support of so many of the people we met at the doors.
This victory is all of ours – THANK YOU!
Now What?
After getting some sleep, turning Campaign Central back into our house again (well, at least partly), we’ll be back to work – doing our part to build the Democratic Party here in Virginia, and helping other great Democrats get elected outside of our blue bubble.
