When Howard Dean gave up his 2004 campaign for president, he didn’t dismantle the grassroots organization that gave such vitality to his improbable run, for a while making him the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Instead, Dean for America morphed into Democracy for America, a PAC that is dedicated to electing progressive candidates to office at all levels of government, from city councils to Congress. DFA, with more than one million members, has endorsed two of our own for the November House of Delegates election: Jennifer Boysko in the 86th District and John Bell in the 87th District.
Since 2008, Boysko has served as Legislative and Herndon Aide to Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust. This race is definitely one to watch since Barack Obama carried the 86th District with 61% of the vote, showing that if Democrats get their voters to the polls, this is quite winnable. The DFA endorsement will be extremely helpful as Boysko runs to unseat Del.Tom Rust. In addition to DFA, Boysko has been been endorsed by over 80 grassroots activists and 21 current and former elected leaders in Northern Virginia.
The DFA also has endorsed John Bell, who is running in the 87th District against first-term Del. David Ramadan. The 87th was moved from Norfolk to NoVA with the redistricting in 2011, and Ramadan won the general election. Barack Obama carried this district with 57% of the vote. Bell, a retired Aur Force officer, served as Comptroller in the Middle East in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bell says that he plans to run a grassroots campaign and “reach out to voters as never before in a House of Delegate race.”
A DFA endorsement brings a national network of activists together, providing key resources to an endorsed campaign: time, people, money and media. If you are interested in being part of this progressive, grassroots PAC, go to DFA and join. Also, don’t forget to donate to the two DFA-endorsed candidates in Virginia. The money to make these two races winnable will come from small donors. Be one of them.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
