For Immediate Release
Nov 4, 2008
EMILY's List Celebrates the Victory of Suzanne Kosmas in Florida
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The following is a statement by Ellen R. Malcolm, president and founder of EMILY’s List, on the victory of Suzanne Kosmas in Florida’s 24th district.
“Today, Florida’s 24th congressional district chose to restore integrity and accountability to its representation in Congress. EMILY’s List was proud to help Suzanne Kosmas make history as the first woman and the first Democrat to represent this district. We worked hard from the earliest stages of this campaign to help recruit her into the race, build a strong team, and we used our WOMEN VOTE! Program to help smooth her path to victory by channeling national energy into local votes. Kosmas is precisely the kind of experienced, principled leader the people of Florida need and want representing them in Congress.”
Facts on Kosmas and EMILY's List in Florida
- Suzanne Kosmas is the first woman and first Democrat to represent Florida’s 24th district in Congress. She was first supported by EMILY’s List in her successful run for Florida’s House of Representatives in 1996.
- Kosmas now joins three other EMILY’s List candidates in Florida’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Overall, EMILY’s List members contributed more than $500,000 to efforts in Florida.
- This cycle, EMILY’s List supported Christine Jennings in FL-13, Annette Taddeo in FL-18 and Suzanne Kosmas in FL-24.
EMILY's List Political Opportunity Program in Florida
EMILY’s List also works to recruit, train, and support pro-choice Democratic women running for state legislative, constitutional, and key local offices through our Political Opportunity Program (POP). In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List invested more than $2.3 million in helping women win these offices across the country.
EMILY’s List provides training to pro-choice Democratic women, whether they are thinking of running for office for the first time or are incumbent legislators facing tough challenges. EMILY’s List helps candidates build winning campaigns by providing strategic guidance, from advising candidates as they write a campaign plan to helping them develop a voter outreach strategy, and by making contributions to the campaigns of pro-choice Democratic women running in key, targeted races.
- EMILY’s List held POP trainings in Miami, Orlando, and Sarasota this cycle for women running or thinking of running for office in Florida.
- EMILY’s List helped support the campaign of Eleanor Sobel for the state Senate.
- EMILY’s List also supported the state House campaigns of Betty Reed, Linda Bird, Michelle Rehwinkle Vasilinda, Amy Tidd, and Yvonne Yolie Capin.
- EMILY’s List supported Julia Boseman, Katie Dorsett, and Eleanor Kinnaird for their campaigns for state Senate in 2008.
EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE!
In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List invested nearly $7 million in its WOMEN VOTE! Program. The nation’s largest voter engagement strategy designed specifically for women voters, WOMEN VOTE! seeks to understand and educate women voters around the country and mobilize them on behalf of Democrats up and down the ballot. EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE! reaches out to women voters through telephones, radio, direct mail, the Internet and personal door-to-door contact to motivate them to support Democratic candidates.
In Florida, WOMEN VOTE!’s ‘Don’t Stop at the Top’ campaign used social networking sites and college newspapers to encourage younger voters to vote for Democrats like Christine Jennings all the way down the ticket.
About EMILY's List
In the 2007-2008 cycle, EMILY’s List raised more than $43 million to support its mission of recruiting and supporting women candidates, helping them build strong campaigns, and mobilizing women voters to turn out and vote. EMILY’s List and its members directly contributed more than $9 million to EMILY’s List candidates for federal and gubernatorial office. With more than 100,000 members across the country, EMILY’s List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation. Since its founding in 1985 through today, EMILY’s List has worked to elect 71 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 13 to the U.S. Senate, eight governors, and hundreds of women to the state legislatures, state constitutional offices, and other key local offices.
