Cindy Trigg ends bid for Congress

From my inbox:

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters:

As of today, I am ending my campaign for Congress.  This decision came after a sudden series of unforeseen professional obligations that required and will continue to require more of my attention than a campaign for Congress will allow.  As long as I sit on the School Board Trustees, school board responsibilities are my priority, issues affecting our children in Douglas County, advocating for our parents will continue to be and always be my first priority.

While I believe that Dean Heller can be defeated next year, I cannot dedicate the time required to mount a winning campaign.  I stand ready to assist the Democratic nominee in 2010 in pushing a message that Democrats are the party of job creation, economic recovery, healthcare reform, energy independence and most importantly to me education reform. 

I would like to thank all the wonderful people who contributed and supported my short campaign.  I am forever grateful to all of you. I hope to continue to work with you as I still believe together we can make a difference and bring about change to the citizens of the 2nd congressional District.
 
Sincerely,

Cindy Olivas Trigg

 

Butt Out, Brian

Steve Sebelius:

And, not for nothing, but we think it’s totally ass (as the young people say) for the guy in charge of electing Democrats to governors mansions nationwide to come out and favor one candidate over another more than a year before the primary election is even held. It smacks of intimidation, of good old boy, backroom politics. And we’re not sure how they do things up in Montana, but here in Nevada, voters tend not to like that kind of thing. Especially Democratic primary voters. Just ask U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, who enjoyed their generous support in 2006.

So, Gov. Schweitzer, with all due respect, drop your money on the tables and then fly back to Montana. We’ll call you next year, once we’ve decided who best to defeat the Republican nominee, OK? And then we expect you to make with the campaign cash — regardless of who we pick, even if it’s not the candidate you like — because, well, that’s your job.

Spot on. I like Brian Schweitzer. I think he’s doing a bang-up job in Montana, but like Sebelius, I’m shocked that the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association would publicly support one Democratic gubernatorial candidate over another, even though he is mandated to remain neutral. Go read Molly Ball’s article. It’s stunning what he admits to. If this is the road he wants to go down, then he needs to step down from the chairmanship. As in: right now.

On another note, further into Molly’s article linked above we find this little gem:

Jack Schofield, a member of the university system Board of Regents, has a Web site touting him as a 2010 congressional candidate.

The site, http://www.jack2010.com, touts a lifetime of experience for Schofield, 86, who was a fighter pilot in World War II. But it doesn’t say what seat in Congress he’s interested in.

Reached for comment, Schofield said the campaign is in the “making preparations” stage. A Democrat, he said he would run for the only Nevada congressional seat currently held by a Republican, the 2nd District, represented by Dean Heller.

Schofield doesn’t live in the 2nd District — he lives in Democrat Shelley Berkley’s 1st District — but that’s not a requirement. Another Democrat, Douglas County School Board President Cindy Trigg, has already announced a challenge to Heller.

It may not be a requirement, but we voters in CD-2 prefer to have our representative actually live in our district. We’re funny that way.

Cindy Trigg for NV-02, Campaign Kick-Off

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the campaign kick-off event for my good friend, Cindy Olivas Trigg, who has thrown her hat in the ring for NV-02.  The event was well attended and I had my video camera in hand.  This is a Republican dominated district, but I firmly believe that Cindy can win.

I’ve known and worked with Cindy for years. She is passionate about the working class, children, education, civil liberties, health care and veterans. I can say with no reservation:  Cindy is never is in it for herself.  I’ve seen her work on behalf of others to the point of exhaustion, yet the fire continues to burn and she continues to smile through it all. She will work for us in Washington.

Cindy needs our support now, both in time and treasure, so please click  here to donate at my ActBlue page (permalink in the sidebar) and start showing Cindy your support now. If you can’t swing a large donation, do like I did and set up a recurring monthly donation. You won’t even notice it come out of your account.  If you are interested in volunteering or attending any events, email me at bluelyonblog@gmail.com

Video of Cindy’s announcement speech (I am awaiting a transcript from the campaign and will post it as soon as I have it).

More shameless pitches for $$ – Alison Gaulden

It’s official!

From my inbox:

Dear Carissa,

It’s official: I’m running for Congress!

This coming Friday, I’ll be announcing my campaign for Congress, and I’d like to invite you to the campaign kickoff:

Campaign for Congress Kickoff
Friday, April 24 at 7pm
The Agave Restaurant
1575 Vassar Street
Reno NV 89502

I have been an active voice in the Democratic Party in Northern Nevada for many years now, both as an activist and an elected official. I currently serve as the President of Douglas County School Board and sit on the Board of Directors for the Nevada Association of School Boards because I want to be a champion of progress and a voice for all children and families in the district. It is this dedication to helping people that has led me to explore a run for U.S. Congress.

For the past two elections, my good friend Jill Derby ran and proved that a Democrat could be a strong voice for progress and leadership in Nevada. With her support and yours, I am very happy to take the torch from her and continue the amazing work that she has done in Nevada to win this race for all of us!

Here are some issues that I want to talk about during my campaign for Congress:

• Our Economy has become a tool by which those who are more fortunate are able to excel while those who are less fortunate simply get left behind. We need to restore economic justice and access to economic opportunities to all people in Nevada.
• Renewable Energy can bring progress to Nevada and give us much needed jobs. Furthermore, renewable energy can serve as a new a tax base so we can continue to invest more money in education and reviving Nevada’s economy.
• I have always been passionate about parental advocacy in education and know that I can make a difference for children. Quality Education is the cornerstone of creating a sustainable economy and good jobs, and I want to continue to give children more opportunities to graduate from high school with meaningful educations that empower them to be agents of progress in Nevada.

I’m very excited about kicking off my campaign for Congress, and I want you to be a part of it from the beginning. Please come out to our campaign kickoff. Together, we can take back this congressional seat and bring real solutions to the people of Nevada!

Sincerely,

Cindy Olivas Trigg

If you can’t make the Kick-Off and you want to help Cindy, click on the ActBlue donate link to the right and make a donation! Thanks!

Cindy Trigg: Not “a journey of revenge”

Remarks given by Cindy Trigg at the Carson City Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on March 19th.

Someone once said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

And as I stand here I want you to know a couple of things.

I am exploring a run for Congress against Heller but rest assured that I am not embarking on a journey of revenge.

I am exploring the level of support out there for a different kind of campaign. And while I’m already getting overwhelming support from donors and voters … I want to talk about the type of campaign I want to run and get your feedback.

But rest assured, if the signs keep looking as positive as they are right now, I will be making a final decision very soon.

Let me start by saying that while I disagree with Heller on a lot of things, I really want to focus my remarks on what we need to do better to beat him.

One, we can’t wait until next year to get started. If I run, I will begin raising money and organizing this year. Dr. Martin Luther King talked about “the fierce urgency of now”. If I run, my campaign will have the fierce urgency of now.

Two, we can’t just talk to Democrats. If I run, I’m going to talk to Republicans and Independents about issues their party hasn’t solved for them. And I’ll do this over and over until I find enough of them to turn Heller’s concrete base into very soft quicksand.

Three, we have to offer solutions. If I run, I will run a serious and competitive campaign but I won’t be beholden to sound bites. I’m going to challenge Heller to talk about big ideas and solutions. If he won’t join the conversation, I’ll take the challenge to TV, radio, direct mail and any other place it takes to show he’s not serious about solutions.

Four, we have to spend less time talking about what he hasn’t done and spend more time talking about what Washington can do to make a difference here in Nevada.

The conversation I want to have with this district is about what we can do in Nevada to create jobs, reform education and healthcare and ask the tough questions on foreign policy so we don’t make the same mistakes in Afghanistan that we made in Iraq.

Finally, we have to quit confusing activity with progress.

If I run, I will focus on the things it takes to win, not the things that make us proud to be Democrats. I will not take a journey of revenge, but I do have the fierce urgency of now. If this interests you, let’s talk. If you’re skeptical, let’s talk.

But whatever we decide to do, let’s all leave here today agreed that we won’t allow another day to come and go without us making progress towards bringing Heller home from Washington!

Thank you.

Donate if you can, at the link to the right. If you wish to help, drop me a line.  I am so behind Cindy!

Cindy Trigg for NV-2

I am so excited. My good pal and long-time Democratic Party activist, Cindy Trigg is throwing her hat in the ring to oppose Dean Heller in 2010!

I’ve known and worked alongside Cindy for years and a harder working soul you are not going to easily find. She will be an excellent voice for CD-2 and I am happy to do what I can to support her candidacy. I will be posting more as time goes on, but for now, if you’ve got a few extra dollars, please send some Cindy’s way at my ActBlue Fundraising page:

http://www.actblue.com/page/bluelyon

If you can’t afford a lump sum, consider doing a $5 or $10 recurring per month donation. Thanks so much!