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Democracy for America group blog for Northside DFA

the chicago teabaggers

Written by: mo cahill on Sep 17, 2009 10:49 AM EDT

Linked to groups: 49th Ward DFA, Northside DFA, Democracy for Chicago, Illinois Sixth Progressive Dems

not sure how many of you are crazy enough to delve into "the chicago news bench" too often. but they did take part in a 912 event, held in millenium park. there is a slide show and a video up. i won't link directly, but here is the youtube link-

if you can stomach it, you will see one woman saying that they have lipinski on their side. is anybody running against this clown?

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Jeff Smith Endorsed for 18th District State Representative

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Aug 9, 2009 6:14 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Chicago-Goose Island, Northside DFA, DFA-Evanston North Shore, Loop DFA

UPDATE: At our September meeting Jeff Smith's campaign was "adopted" with a unanimous vote. An "adoption" means our group will be committing its resources to the campaign.

At the August 6th Northside Democracy for America (NDFA) meeting Democrat Jeff Smith was endorsed for State Representative by a vote of 41 to 1. Jeff is running to represent Illinois 18h District, a seat currently held by Julie Hamos who will not be running for re-election so she can run for Congress.

To sign up for campaign emails go to:
http://www.electjeffsmith.org/

To donate to Jeff's campaign via our Northside DFA Act Blue page go to:
http://www.actblue.com/page/ndfa2010

Jeff Smith is an experienced community leader who has done the hard work of fighting for change. In his decades-long record of activism he has run -- and won -- against a Democratic machine incumbent, helped elect reform candidates like Abner Mikva, Harold Washington, Paul Simon, Barack Obama and Mike Quigley, and worked for causes from habitat restoration to affordable housing. He has volunteered thousands of hours at local schools and with community groups including:

- Sierra Club (Life Member, Air/Energy Committee member; Executive Committee member, Chicago Group, 1985, volunteer)
- Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze) (10 years on Board of Directors)
- IVI-IPO (Board of Directors; chapter chair)
- Central Street Neighbors Association (President)
- Evanston Citizens Lighthouse Community Land Trust (Board of Directors)
- Lincolnwood School and Haven Middle School PTA
- District 65 Candidate Nominating Committee
- Skokie Indians Baseball and Evanston Youth Baseball/Softball boys' and girls' teams (manager, traveling team assistant coach)
- Haven Middle School Chess Team (coach)
- AYSO girls' and boys' teams (assistant coach and volunteer)

 

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Links to Cook County Candidate Questionnaires

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Apr 6, 2009 8:27 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

Below are links to pdf's of the questionnaires filled out by the five candidates who participated in Saturday's forum. 

- Jay Paul Deratany
http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/6449/Jay_Paul_Deratany_IVI_IPO_Questionnaire.pdf

- Bridget Gainer
http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/6448/Bridget_Gainer_Cook_County_Commissioner-10.pdf

- Michael Hickey
http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/6450/Hickey_IVI_IPO_final.pdf

- Michele Smith
http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/6451/Smith_Cook_County_Commissioner-10-2.pdf

- Kim Walz
http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/6452/walz_CountyCommissioner.pdf

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Mike Quigley endorsed

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Mar 18, 2009 4:51 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

At our March 2009 Northside DFA meeting we voted to endorse Democratic Nominee Mike Quigley for the 5th CD General Election.  It was a unanimous vote, with one absention.  Mike Quigley is now an official NDFA endorsed candidate.

I had a chance to speak with Mike and the first thing he asked me was if we would be able to come and help get out the vote for the April 7th general election.  Though it seems likely he will win, we don't want to take anything for granted. You can sign up now to help out (and since Mike is an endorsed candidate these activities count towards voting membership):

Quigley GOTV Saturday, April 4th
http://democracyforamerica.com/events/32588-saturday-gotv-for-mike-quigley
Quigley GOTV Sunday, April 5th
http://democracyforamerica.com/events/32589-sunday-gotv-for-mike-quigley
Quigley GOTV Tuesday, April 7th
http://democracyforamerica.com/events/32590-election-day-gotv-for-mike-quigley

You can learn more about Mike Quigley, or sign up for other volunteer activities, at his campaign website at:

http://www.quigleyforcongress.com/

 

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No endorsement, Quigley and Geoghegan are top vote getters

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Feb 14, 2009 12:43 PM EST

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

No endorsement for the 5th Congressional District race was made at our February 5th Northside DFA meeting.  Our group bylaws state that candidates must get 75% of the vote in order to be endorsed.  This is a high threshold but one that has allowed us to make sure that we have broad group consensus before endorsing candidates.  Last night's lack of an endorsement reflects one of the realities of this race -- that there are numerous strong candidates.

There were two candidates, however, who got over 50% of the vote.  (Each candidate was voted on individually, which is why two candidates with 50%+ is possible.)  Those candidates are:

Mike Quigley
http://www.quigleyforcongress.com
- Weekend volunteer canvasses every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and Sundays at 12:00 p.m. Contact Magen at Magen@QuigleyForCongress.com or (630) 209-6248

Tom Geoghegan
http://www.tom09.com
- Weekend volunteer canvassing Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Tom Geoghegan for Congress Field Office, 4419 W. Irving Park Rd.  Call (773) 853-0687or email Jacob@tom09.com.

I am including their campaign information because even without out an official endorsement, NDFA volunteers can be an important part of their campaigns.  The election is just a few weeks away; I urge everyone to contact one of these campaigns, or the campaign of your choice, and offer your support -- AND let them know you are a Northside DFA member.  Though an official endorsement would have been great, I know they will still appreciate our individual support.

The first step of the endorsement process was a call for NDFA voting members to nominate candidates for endorsement consideration.  There were five candidates nominated:  Jan Donatelli, Sara Feigenholtz, John Fritchey, Tom Geoghegan, and Mike Quigley.  After the nominations an up or down vote was taken on each candidate individually.

ROUND ONE VOTING:

Donatelli: 7 Yes, 23 No, 8 Abstain
Feigenholtz: 10 Yes, 22 No, 5 Abstain
Fritchey: 1 Yes, 25 No, 11 Abstain
Geoghegan: 19 Yes 12 No 6 Abstain
Quigley: 14 Yes, 11 No, 12 Abstain

After additional discussion, a second vote was taken on the top two candidates.

ROUND TWO VOTING:

Geoghegan: 19 Yes, 13 No, 5 Abstain (59% -- did not meet 75% threshold)
Quigley: 18 Yes, 13 No, 5 Abstain (58% - did not meet 75% threshold)


Thank you to everyone who participated in our endorsement meeting.

Peace,
Sandra Verthein
Chair, Northside Democracy for America
http://www.dfalink.com/NDFA

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QUIGLEY FOR CONGRESS PHONE BANKING

Written by: Jeff Waldhoff on Feb 8, 2009 1:26 PM EST

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

I'm helping organize a Mike Quigley phone bank at Quigley HQ on Tuesday evening, February 10, at about 6:30 PM:

Mike Quigley for Congress
2035 West Irving Park Road
Chicago, IL 60618

Please RSVP to me and join me there at about 6:30 PM!

jwaldhoff@hotmail.com
(773) 255-3271

-Jeff Waldhoff

 

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Northside DFA endorsement vote February 5

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Feb 3, 2009 7:26 AM EST

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

On Thursday, February 5, the date of our next Northside DFA meeting, we will be voting on endorsing a candidate in the Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District.

We will NOT be hearing from any candidates at that meeting -- that is why we really need everyone to, if possible, attend the candidate forum this Sunday.  If you really can't attend video of the forum should be available on-line afterwards and it will be live on Chicago Progressive Talk Radio (http://www.chicagoprogressivetalk.com/).

Also, do your homework. There are 14 Democratic candidates, so even though we have allowed a generous time for the forum we still won't hear that much from each candidate. We need everyone to come to the February 5th meeting ready to vote.  The election will happen before our next meeting so there is no putting off the vote while we do more research! The candidates websites are a good place to start your research, and there are links to all of them at the forum website:

http://www.illinois5th.com

Here's how it will all work:

 

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IL-05 Election Date Set; Tom Geoghegan enters race

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Jan 7, 2009 5:30 AM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Illinois, Democracy for Chicago, Northside DFA, Chicago-Goose Island

March 3 will be the primary election to replace Rahm Emanuel as congressman for Illinois 5th Congressional District, with the general election happening on April 7.  But in this heavily Democratic district this will likely be decided at the primary, so there is no time to loose!

What you can do NOW:

 

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Download Judicial Election Guide

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Oct 14, 2008 7:30 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Northside DFA

Once again our ballots will contain a long, long list of judicial retention votes and judicial vacancies.  What should the responsible voter do? Click this link to download our Northside DFA Judicial Election Guide -- a one-page PDF that you can take into the voting booth with you:

http://democracyforamerica.com/uploads/0006/2141/Judicial_Election_Guide_NDFA.pdf

The information on the guide is from the website www.voteforjudges.org and gives ratings from 10 different bar associations as well as much more information.

If you would like copies of these guides to give to neighbors and friends please email me at Northsidedfa@gmail.com.  We have also set up two nights when we will be distributing the guides these guides door to door, and we are looking for volunteers to help distribute them on election day.  To help with that sign-up below:

Distribute NDFA Judicial Election Guides - Three Dates to Choose From
Help NDFA distribute election guides for Judicial Retention votes. The guides are based on information from the website www.voteforjudges.org and give the ratings of 10 different bar associations. These guides are a convenient way to help voters make an informed decision.

- Sunday, October 26, 1:00 p.m. meet at Pier 1 parking lot, 5306 N. Broadway
RSVP at:
http://democracyforamerica.com/events/31419-judicial-election-guide-flyering

- Wednesday, October 20, 6:00 p.m. meet at Pier 1 parking lot, 5306 N. Broadway. 
RSVP at:
http://democracyforamerica.com/events/31419-judicial-election-guide-flyering

- Tuesday, November 4 - election day
Distribute guides at your local polling place.  If you are planning to volunteer for a campaign that day, consider handing them out just during the morning rush before going to do your campaign work.

- email northsidedfa@gmail.com for more information.

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Join Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Ald. Joe Moore and Ald. Scott Waguespack

Written by: Luis Klein on Sep 15, 2008 9:01 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Young Democrats of IL, DFA-Evanston North Shore, Northside DFA, Democracy for Illinois, 49th Ward DFA

In supporting NDFA adopted candidate Daniel Biss, Democratic  Candidate for State Representative, 17th Dist.

September 19, 6pm-9pm

at the home of Justin Oberman

1962 N Bissell St. Apt 3

Chicago

$50 suggested contribution

RSVP: 847-674-1298 or info@DanielBiss.com or www.actblue.com/page/sept19

paid for by Daniel Biss for State Representative. A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is (or will be) available for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, IL.

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