Week of November 8, 2004

Electing the next generation of women candidates

Now more than ever, we need strong, pro-choice Democratic women to fight for our progressive values in Congress and in state houses across the country. Thanks to your support, Republican challengers failed to unseat Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, Governor Ruth Ann Minner, or any other EMILY's List incumbents. And they couldn't keep us from adding five new impressive Democratic women to the U.S. House: Allyson Schwartz (PA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL), Stephanie Herseth (SD), Gwen Moore (WI), who will be the first African-American to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. House and Melissa Bean (IL) who defeated the longest serving Republican in the U.S. House. EMILY's List has not elected this many new women to the U.S. House since 1998!

At the beginning of this election cycle, EMILY's List put together a long-term plan to "win today and build for tomorrow." We made a significant investment in our Political Opportunity Program (POP) to help women at the local and state levels develop their political skills and cultivate resources so that we could build the pipeline and bring more women into politics and elected office.

We made substantial progress over the past 24 months. We're pleased to report that POP helped 140 women win state and local office in 28 states – electing the next generation of progressive leaders who represent the hope, spirit and future of the Democratic Party. In Colorado, for example, all 13 of the legislative candidates supported by EMILY's List won, capturing both houses. Two pro-choice Democratic women, Alice Madden in the House and Joan Fitz-Gerald in the Senate, have been elected to lead Colorado's Senate and House. EMILY's List also helped promising women candidates take control of the state Houses in North Carolina and Vermont and the state Senate in Oregon.

Counting down to Democratic victory in Washington's governor's race

Washington state officials are still counting ballots cast in the razor-close governor's race – and EMILY's List-endorsed candidate Christine Gregoire is currently in the lead by just over 4,000 votes. While many of the still unopened ballots were cast in Gregoire-friendly King County, there are still over 350,000 absentee and provisional ballots to count, which will take at least another week.

We are cautiously optimistic of the eventual outcome of the race, with signs pointing to a Gregoire victory. Democrats in Washington not only delivered the state to John Kerry, but also re-elected Sen. Patty Murray to her third term, and a pro-choice Democratic woman was elected as the Majority Leader to head the state Senate. We'll keep you updated on the progress of the Governor's race as the votes are counted.

Historic spirit and activism in Florida

With help from you and other EMILY's List members, EMILY's List ran a tremendous voter mobilization campaign in Florida's Palm Beach and Broward Counties, where 547,340 voters went to the polls and gave EMILY's List-endorsed candidate Betty Castor 60 percent of the vote over Republican Mel Martinez in those counties. While it was not enough to push Castor over the top -- she lost to Martinez by 2 percent -- this amazing grassroots effort of 1,400 volunteers communicating directly with key voters over four exhausting but exhilarating days will be the model for future EMILY's List GOTV campaigns. Visit www.teamemily.org for video footage and photos of the FLWV operation, fondly dubbed "Air EMILY." Also, check out the Team EMILY blog for inspiring personal stories from volunteers who made a difference on the ground in Florida.

We're continuing our review of the 2004 elections and we'll keep in touch over the next weeks to share what we've learned and what our plans will be for the 2006 election cycle. Thank you for your continued support and commitment.