Twenty-Two Camp Wellstone Grads Elected to Office on Tuesday

11/08/2007

Last Tuesday, at least 22 graduates of Camp Wellstone and other Wellstone Action training programs were elected to local offices across the country. With much of the national political attention already focused on 2008, these candidates worked hard to build energetic, grassroots campaigns using skills learned at Camp Wellstone. Many of these candidates unseated incumbents and secured progressive strongholds in a diverse range of cities.

John Marchione is the new Mayor of Redmond, WA; Martina Hone is now serving on the School Board of Falls Church, VA. And two major Minnesota cities now have progressive majorities on their city councils thanks to our alums - Russ Stark and Melvin Carter in St. Paul, and Tony Cuneo, Jeff Anderson, and Sharla Gardner in Duluth.

Nine candidates in total were elected throughout Minnesota, demonstrating that training a critical mass of organizers and candidates, as Wellstone Action has invested in the state, produces results even in an off-year election.

In fact, local races are often an important entry point to public service for new leaders who never considered a run for office but want to step up to improve their community. The 20 candidates elected include community activists, union leaders, social service providers, teachers, and small business owners.

“Camp Wellstone teaches skills for campaigning, but those skills are steeped in a deeply-held set of values about how politics should be practiced,” explained Jeff Blodgett, Executive Director of Wellstone Action. “We teach that our elected leaders should truly represent and understand their community.”