Electing the first woman senator from Massachusetts
By Ellen R. Malcolm on 09/15/2009 @ 10:30 AM
EMILY's List has endorsed Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in the race to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and we are sounding the alarm to make sure our members know that she needs immediate help to win the fast-approaching December 8 special primary election.
Martha, Massachusetts's first female attorney general, is an engaging leader with a long record of success as an advocate for women and children and for civil and criminal justice. She first came to national prominence when she prosecuted the famous Louise Woodward case, involving an au pair accused of shaking a baby to death. She later became a Middlesex County district attorney, prosecuting high-profile cases of physical and sexual abuse.
In 2006, she won 73 percent of the vote to become Massachusetts attorney general, and quickly went to work fighting fraud in the pharmaceutical industry, protecting families facing foreclosure, battling cyber-crime, and using her considerable skill to safeguard reproductive freedom.
She is exactly the right leader to carry on the progressive legacy of Senator Kennedy.
A new Rasmussen Poll shows Martha with an early lead over other potential and declared candidates. But the poll also underscores how important it is that we help elect a progressive like Martha: her closest likely competitor is an anti-choice Democratic congressman who, like other members of Congress eyeing the race, has a solid political base from which to run. It's clear that this race is far from over.
It's great to have an early lead in a poll, but make no mistake: Martha Coakley is up against a force that could easily swamp her nascent campaign - MONEY.
As a state official, Martha started with zero in her federal campaign account. But as federal officeholders, members of Congress are free to tap their massive campaign war chests. Her potential competitors already have an astonishing amount of money to begin a Senate race! These men have been in safe congressional seats for years, raising money and waiting for a chance to move up. They'll soon begin using these funds to try to pass Martha in the polls.
This race is a case study of why EMILY's List support is crucial to electing progressive women. Martha has been working at home to protect the citizens of Massachusetts, unable to raise federal funds that could compete with her likely opponents' war chests. But EMILY’s List - our grassroots network of 100,000 members - levels the playing field by helping Martha and other women candidates across the country build their own war chests with thousands of small contributions. We are harnessing the power of women to build a more progressive America.
For its progressive reputation, Massachusetts lags seriously behind other states in electing women. For a generation, its congressional delegation was all-male. That changed in 2007 when EMILY's List helped elect Congresswoman Niki Tsongas in a special election.
Now it's time to take things up a notch - and EMILY’s List is committed to helping the Bay State make history again by electing Martha Coakley as its first woman U.S. Senator.
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