EMILY's List Names Candidate Training after Lael Stegall

First Training on February 24th

Today, EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced it would honor the life and commitment of a co-founder, Lael Stegall, with the first recurring “Lael Stegall Candidate Training” in Portland, ME on February 24th.

“EMILY’s List is proud to name the Political Opportunity Program candidate training in Maine in honor of the memory of one of our founding mothers, Lael Stegall,” said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY’s List. “Lael’s commitment to electing strong pro-choice Democratic women has had a profound influence in Maine and across the country. As one of the founding mothers of EMILY’s List, Lael leaves behind a legacy of changing the face of power in America. Her dedication to women candidates up and down the ballot in Maine will live on in the Lael Stegall Candidate Training.”

EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program (POP) was created in 2001 to train and support women to run and win campaigns for state and local offices. The Lael Stegall Candidate Training will continue to offer campaign guidance to pro-choice, Democratic women throughout her home state of Maine in honor of Stegall’s inspiring contributions to the world of women’s rights and politics. The inaugural training will take place on February 24th, 2012 from 8:00am-5pm for pro-choice Democratic women candidates in Maine.

Please join EMILY’s List Executive Director Amy Dacey and for a reception honoring Lael Stegall’s work on behalf of women.

Where: The Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland Maine 04101

When: Friday, February 24th, 2012. 5pm-6:30pm

RSVP: Jessica Byrd at jbyrd@emilyslist.org

In Maine EMILY’s List has helped elect Rep. Chellie Pingree, former Portland Mayor Jill Duson, and trained over one hundred women for state and local office. Maine was the site of the first Political Opportunity Program training.

In 1985, Lael Stegall helped to launch EMILY’s List., which harnessed the power of women to create a tidal wave of support for women candidates for the first time in history. She went on to co-found the Strategies, Training, Advocacy and Resources (STAR) Network to help women in the Balkans recover from war, become a lobster fisherwoman and lived in Deer Isle, Maine with her husband Ronald until her death in October, 2011.

In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List raised more than $38.5 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. With a community of more than 1,000,000 members across the country, EMILY's List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has worked to elect 87 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 16 to the U.S. Senate, nine governors, and hundreds of women to the state legislatures, state constitutional offices, and other key local offices. In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List had the largest number of members and donors in our 27 year history.