Contest Every Race

My idea is simple, provide training and support to new candidates running as Democrats in traditionally red districts. I will promote an outward facing grassroots voter-centric campaign model.

Here is why:

I had an epiphany a few weeks back, the Republican Party is only 24 state legislative seats away from being able to amend the constitution any way they choose. That is out of 7,383 state legislative races nationwide.

Here is a post I wrote detailing how the Constitution can be amended, how focused Republicans are on this objective and the states that are their easiest path to achieving that on DailyKos:

Protecting Our Rights by Defending the Constitution - State Legislative Races are Critical

Being liberal minded, I found the potential outcomes alarming.

Reproductive Rights - Eliminated
Marriage Equality - Rolled Back
Voting Rights - Restricted

And those 3 things are the best case scenario if Republicans gain this power.

Being a data guy, I did a little more digging into the numbers and found that Democrats do not even compete in 1,479 state legislative races. Republicans did not contest in 1,442 of these races themselves.

The two major parties ran in uncontested races in 2,921 out of 7,383 races. A full 40% of the seats. 

That means Democrats did not compete to represent 117,058,570 Americans and Republicans did not compete to represent 117,696,601 Americans at the state legislative level. That leaves only about 100,000,000 million Americans having a choice for who represents their district in their state legislature.

It is no wonder there is such a growing political divide in our country today. We must fix that.


My idea is simple, provide training and support to new candidates running as Democrats in traditionally red districts.

To do that I plan to offer my services as a political consultant to conduct some initial data analysis on the voters in their district and then provide these new candidates with training in order for them to launch outward facing grassroots campaigns.

Once we are not so close to the precipice of one party being able to amend the constitution on their own ideological grounds, I will expand my consulting services to all comers, no matter party affiliation.

America created the model and movement for modern democratic governance, we must restore a robust dialogue and a politics in service to one another. In order for our system to function properly and to mend the political divide growing in our nation today, we must have political parties that provide a full slate of candidates for the voters to choose from.

That is why I am launching Full Slate Consulting LLC.

I have a unique skillset that will help me provide full campaign launch services to these fledgling campaigns. My strategic thinking and analytical skills combined with my real world experience in political field organizing, campaign-oriented fundraising, development of system processes and all aspects of training will add value difficult for any potential client to find in one source.

The funds raised from this campaign will be devoted to the following start-up expenses

Equipment
- Computer $1,000
- Projector  $500

Professional Services
- Attorney $1,000
- Accountant $500
- Logo Design & Business Card Services  $106
- Insurance Broker $200

Software & Web Services
- Hosting & Page Design Platform  $216
- QuickBooks  $336
- Office $84

Miscellaneous
- Printing (marketing and training materials)  $400
- Contingency funds $500
- Business Filing with SOS Oregon  $100

I appreciate any support anyone can give for this endeavor. A gift of any size will be put to work. $25, $50 whatever you can afford would be appreciated

Please share widely, I know many others must share my concern and a commitment to build a stronger country through a climate of robust political debate and engagement.

Encouraging the two sides of the growing political divide in our country to listen to one another by competing for their votes will restore a belief in our shared values once more. It will only help us address the challenges we all face in an ever more rapidly changing world.

I can not thank you enough for your support. I will be forever grateful.

About Me
I grew up the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant. world traveller by age 4 who settled in Ohio by age 8.  From the time I earned the rank of Eagle Scout at age 12, to the decade training young leaders in a Boy Scout Junior Leader Training  Program my strong ethic of public service and civics is deeply embedded in my character.

I graduated with two bachelor degrees from the Ohio State University, one in Political Science and one in Art History. I am an avid reader, have a decent eye for a good photograph and I enjoy hiking. I have a firm belief in finding and following that which you love to do. Providing these campaign services is a true calling for me to serve our body politic and leverage my passion, my unique skill-set and my experience.

Beginning with managing a field office for the Bill Bradley for President campaign nearly 20 years ago, where I won the 3 counties of my territory in the North Country of New Hampshire, and 12 years as a successful campaign fundraiser, growing my portfolio that started at less than $2 million per year to an annual amount in excess of $6.5 million per year, I have acquired a thorough understanding of conducting grassroots, voter-centric mass appeal campaigns in political and fundraising settings.

I earned a reputation for dealing with challenging campaigns due to my ability to translate basic participation data into an effective planning tool leading to the execution of successful campaigns. From doing a deep dive on constituent data to asking a room of people for their support, from identifying, recruiting and managing volunteers to coordinating impactful events, to selecting communication channels to training other staff I have deep and varied experience related to the design and implementation of powerful campaigns.