Election results in the Detroit City Council race have Maureen 'D for Detroit' Taylor with 8,947 votes or approximately 1.0%. That puts her in 24th place in a race in which 18 advance. Only a little over 4000 votes separate her from the 18th place finisher, police officer Tia Davis with 13,129 votes.
Maureen ran a very strong campaign, hobbling on an injured foot, she covered this city like blanket of snow (I'm trying to ignore the heat) while maintaining the services she always provides through Michigan Welfare Rights. Along with Marian Kramer, Sylvia Orduno, and scores of other volunteers, this was a grassroots campaign that was all over the ground.
The endorsements of the AFL-CIO of Metropolitan Detroit, Committee for the Political Resurrection (CPR) of Detroit, Detroit Green Party (GPMI), Detroit Million Worker March (MWM) Movement, Keep the Vote/No Take Over Coalition, League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA), Operation Uplift, Riverfront East Alliance, Sierra Club of Southeast Michigan, Socialist Party of Michigan, Solidarity and the Triangle Pride Political Action Committee show the depth and breadth of support for the grassroots candidate.
All Taylor for Council volunteers worked long hours, starting off armed with hand copied and cut flyers and just 100 yard signs, they used face to face organizing to draw in more supporters and get the campaign message out. While other campaigns relied on TV and print advertising, the Taylor volunteers worked the streets in their neighborhoods and at large gatherings in the city. All along they kept it real. It was not uncommon for folks who took a flyer to come back and ask for a button to wear. Now everyone wants a Taylor Campaign Volunteer t-shirt of their own.
While Maureen will not be on the November ballot, this grassroots campaign serves as a shining example of the power of the people.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
So close you could taste it!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I hope Maureen decides to try again, either in the next council election or in some other capacity. Over the course of the campaign, as I grew to know Maureen better, the more impressed I became with her forthright manner and excellent grasp of the issues that matter most to the people of Detroit.
I was proud both as a Green and as a member of the Detroit Million Worker March to endorse her candidacy, and I'm proud of her and her amazing staff of volunteers who built a truly grassroots campaign from the ground up. They put up one heck of a fight, and almost pulled it off!
Keep giving 'em hell, Maureen!
You should also point out that Muareen nearly tripled her vote count since she ran in 2001 as one of the CPR candidates. In that election she got around 3300 votes.
I think that Maureen and her campaigners did a terrific job; and I think the Detroit Green Party folks that worked on it, Lou and Priscilla, deserve special mention for developing and deepening our ties to this important group of Detroit activists.
Fred
I wish Maureen well in the future. I was glad to vote for her; she was clearly one of the most thoughtful candidates in the race, and would have been great on the Council.
A bit of good news: Lisa Weltman is in the runoff for District 4 (NW Detr.) Board of Ed! Support this very special lady with time, money and word of mouth; anyone and everyone in District 4! http://www.weltman4schoolboard.org
Post a Comment