GEORGIA'S WIN LIST E-Newsletter

November 2008

GEORGIA GENERAL ELECTION NEWS

Georgia’s WIN List Candidates Win Tough Races

   With the help and financial support of Georgia’s WIN List supporters, 3 of our 5 endorsed Democratic candidates with General Election opposition—Pat Dooley (HD 38), Alisha Thomas Morgan (HD 39), and Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (HD 85)—won on November 4th, making a total of 23 of Georgia's WIN List’s 30 endorsed candidates who were elected on Tuesday! These 3 women ran tough races and won despite heavy spending and nasty attacks by their opponents. Congratulations!

   Election night was not without disappointment for Georgia’s WIN List. While Georgians had the opportunity to elect 1 additional WIN List-endorsed woman, Sherry Jackson, to the Senate and 2 additional women, Michelle Conlon and Jaki Johnson, to the House on November 4th, they did not vote to do so. Our candidates who lost ran admirable campaigns, and we expect to see great things from them in the future. (Of note, the 1 Senate incumbent who lost was replaced by a pro-choice Democratic woman.)

   There will be 3 "new faces" when the Georgia General Assembly convenes in January—Freddie Powell Sims (SD 12), who made the move from the House to the Senate and Pat Dooley (HD 38) and Dee Dawkins-Haigler (HD 93), who were elected to the House. In addition, your financial support helped to protect 20 of our 21 incumbent women in the Georgia Legislature. We congratulate Senate winners, Valencia Seay (SD 34), Nan Orrock (SD 36), Horacena Tate (SD 38), and Gloria Butler (SD 55). In the House, there were 14 additional incumbents who were winners, Kathy Ashe (HD 56), Pat Gardner (HD 57), Robbin Shipp (HD 58), Margaret Kaiser (HD 59), Georganna Sinkfield (HD 60), Roberta Abdul-Salaam (HD 74), Mary Margaret Oliver (HD 83), Stacey Abrams (HD 84), Karla Drenner (HD 86), Michele Henson (HD 87), Pam Stephenson (HD 92), Debbie Buckner (HD 130), Carolyn Hugley (HD 133), and Nikki Randall (HD 138).

   The supporters of Georgia's WIN List can be very proud of the more than $50,000 in contributions made to endorsed candidates during this election cycle. WIN List endorsed outstanding, hard-working candidates this year, and because of you, we were able to write checks for the maximum amount allowable to all of the candidates with opposition.

   We look forward to working with you as we begin recruiting and training women willing to run in 2010. We would love to hear your thoughts about women who need to be encouraged to run. Some of those who ran this year had been recruited for four years before making the decision to run. It is a long process and it starts today.

Other News from Georgia’s WIN List

Fall Event a Huge Success!

   We threw caution to the wind and talked about all of them—Sex, Religion, Race and Politics—at our October 29th event at Artistry in Midtown Atlanta. Our panelists had fascinating insights into these controversial subjects—things we were told never to discuss at a dinner party. Led by moderator Dr. Beth Schapiro, who is a pollster and strategic consultant and founder of The Schapiro Group, Rev. Patricia Templeton, Pastor of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, spoke of the issues of faith in public life and the role of religion in political campaigns. Dr. William Jelani Cobb, Professor of History at Spelman College, addressed the topic of racial politics and talked of the divisions within the civil rights movement in the 2008 presidential campaign. We explored the experiences of women and sexual politics in questions for Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College and Emory University.

   To those of you who couldn’t make it, you missed a great event. To those of you who were there, you will agree the panel was great. Any one of the panelists could have kept us entertained for far longer than we had. We all left eager to hear more from them.

To see pictures from the event, go to the Events page.

LOOKING AHEAD

   For more than 8 years, Georgia’s WIN List has counted on strong-minded activists like you to change the face of politics in Georgia and to serve as a counter-weight to the tide of conservatism in our state. As soon as our newly elected and incumbent women are sworn into office, we will turn our attention to the next election cycle, which begins in 2009.

   As you might imagine, we spent every available penny to support our candidates in the final days of their campaigns. It is time to refill our coffers. Your contribution today of $100, $50, or even $25 will start us on the path of continuing to change the face of politics in Georgia.

WHAT’S ON THE WIN LIST CALENDAR?

Tuesday, December 2   Runoff Election Come out and vote! Remember, you can vote by absentee ballot, too.

2009   Join us in 2009 for the WIN List Legislative Breakfast at Central Presbyterian Church during the General Assembly. Watch your e-mail for details.

Quote of the month

“I am asking not that you believe in my ability to make change….I am asking that you believe in yours.”

                                                          President-elect Barack Obama

                                                          November 4, 2008