Know your enemy - Democrats's "100 rising stars to Watch"

Democrat Leadership Council ^ | May 15 2003 | Al From

[Dan from Michigan]

100 to Watch: A Letter from DLC Founder and CEO Al From The Next Generation of Leadership

By Al From

The end of Bill Clinton's presidency in 2001 closed a remarkable chapter in the New Democrat success story. Yet it also marked a new beginning -- the passing of the torch to a new generation of New Democrat leaders. Here we feature 100 who are making their mark in cities and states across our land.

This is our second such listing. In the summer of 2000, we introduced you to 100 of these rising stars beyond the Beltway and below the rank of governor in a special edition of The New Democrat. As we predicted, many have moved up the political ranks to become their states' and cities' chief executives, statewide officeholders, and leaders in their legislative chambers. We are proud to cast the spotlight once again on 100 New Democrats who are making a difference in their states and communities. As we did last time, we have singled out 10 of these stars, all of them new to our list, for closer attention.

Some of these names and faces may be familiar, many others may not. What they all share is a dedication to seeking out modern means to advance the Democratic Party's traditional values of opportunity, responsibility, and community. They are solving real problems with practical solutions and championing the beliefs and interests of Americans who work hard and play by the rules.

Al From is the Founder and CEO of the DLC.

The 10 they singled out
Loranne Ausley, State Representative, FL (Tallahassee)
Karen Carter, State Representative, LA (New Orleans)
Rocky Delgadillo, City Attorney, Los Angeles
Shirley Franklin, Mayor, Atlanta, GA
Gabrielle Giffords, State Senator, AZ (Tucson)
John Morrison, State Auditor, MT
Ken Salazar, Attorney General, CO
Ron Sims, County Executive, King County, WA
William C. Thompson Jr., Comptroller, New York City
Steve Westly, State Controller, CA

BY STATE

ALASKA
Ethan Berkowitz, State House Democratic Leader

ARIZONA
Ken Cheuvront, State Sen.
Ken Clark, State Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords, State Sen.
Greg Stanton, Vice Mayor of Phoenix
Leah Landrum Taylor, State Rep.

ARKANSAS
Steven B. Jones, State Rep.

CALIFORNIA
Phil Angelides, State Treasurer
Lou Correa, State Assemblymember
Rocky Delgadillo, Los Angeles City Attorney
Ron Gonzales, Mayor of San Jose
Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles City Councilmember
George Nakano, State Assemblymember
Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Alex Padilla, Los Angeles City Council President
Juan Vargas, State Assemblymember
Jack Weiss, Los Angeles City Councilmember
Steve Westly, State Controller

COLORADO
Joan Fitz-Gerald, Senate Minority Leader
Michael Garcia, State Rep.
Dan Grossman, State Sen.
Ken Salazar, Attorney General
Jennifer L. Veiga, House Minority Leader

CONNECTICUT
Dannel P. Malloy, Mayor of Stamford
Eddie A. Perez, Mayor of Hartford

DELAWARE

Christopher Coons, New Castle County Council President
Jack Markell, State Treasurer

FLORIDA
Loranne Ausley, State Rep.
Ron Greenstein, State Rep.
Bob Henriquez, State Rep.
Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg City Councilmember
Stacy J. Ritter, State Rep.

GEORGIA
Thurbert Baker, Attorney General
Cathy Cox, Secretary of State
Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta
Mark F. Taylor, Lieutenant Governor
Michael L. Thurmond, Labor Commissioner

ILLINOIS
John A. Fritchey, State Rep.
Daniel W. Hynes, Comptroller
Barack Obama, State Sen.

INDIANA
John Fernandez, Mayor of Bloomington
Bart Peterson, Mayor of Indianapolis

IOWA
Preston A. Daniels, Mayor of Des Moines
Matt McCoy, State Sen.
Thomas Miller, Attorney General
Phil Wise, State Rep.

KANSAS

Annie Kuether, State Rep.

KENTUCKY

Ben Chandler, Attorney General
Jonathan Miller, State Treasurer

LOUISIANA

Karen Carter, State Rep.

MARYLAND

Doug Duncan, Montgomery County Executive
Martin O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore

MASSACHUSETTS

Barry R. Finegold, State Rep.
Peter J. Larkin, State Rep.
Charles A. Murphy, State Rep.

MICHIGAN

Gilda Z. Jacobs, State Sen.
Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Mayor of Detroit
Bill McConico, State Rep.

MINNESOTA

Steve Kelley, State Sen.
Randy C. Kelly, Mayor of St. Paul

MONTANA

John Morrison, State Auditor

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Lou D'Allesandro, State Sen.
Peter M. Sullivan, State Rep.

NEW JERSEY

Louis N. Magazzu, Cumberland County Freeholder
Michael J. Wildes, Englewood City Councilmember

NEW MEXICO

Al Park, State Rep.

NEW YORK

Adolfo Carrisn Jr., Bronx Borough President
Peter Derby, Village of Irvington Trustee
Eva S. Moskowitz, New York City Council
Andrew J. Spano, Westchester County Executive
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General
William C. Thompson Jr., New York City Comptroller
David Yassky, Brooklyn City Council

NORTH CAROLINA

Roy Cooper, Attorney General
Richard H. Moore, State Treasurer
Beverly Eaves Perdue, Lieutenant Governor
Eric Reeves, State Sen.

OHIO

Jane L. Campbell, Mayor of Cleveland
Michael B. Coleman, Mayor of Columbus
Eric Fingerhut, State Sen.

OKLAHOMA

Robert A. Butkin, State Treasurer

OREGON

Ryan Deckert, State Sen.

PENNSYLVANIA

Jamie Fleet, Gettysburg Borough Councilmember
Dan B. Frankel, State Rep.
Jennifer L. Mann, State Rep.
Michael A. Nutter, Philadelphia City Council
William Peduto, Pittsburgh City Council
Allyson Y. Schwartz, State Sen.
Constance H. Williams, State Sen.

RHODE ISLAND

Matt Brown, Secretary of State

SOUTH CAROLINA

Douglas Jennings Jr., House Democratic Leader

TENNESSEE

Carol J. Chumney, State Rep.

TEXAS

Jaime Capelo, State Rep.

UTAH

Patrice M. Arent, State Sen.
Karen Hale, State Sen.

WASHINGTON

Aaron Reardon, State Sen.
Laura Ruderman, State House Caucus Vice Chair
Ron Sims, King County Executive

WISCONSIN

Jeff Plale, State Sen.

[Dan from Michigan]

These are people they will be pushing and those we need to watch and defeat as soon as we have a possibility.

Gilda Z. Jacobs, State Sen.
She took Gary Peter's spot. She's an ultraleftist out of Huntington Woods in Southeast Oakland County which is one of the most liberal areas of the state(Ferndale, Southfield, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge). Unfortunatly, not much outside a tough primary candidate from Southfield or South Macomb(more 'moderate') can stop her from congress. She's in Sander Levin's congressional district. She'll be around for awhile. That district is near perfect for her, and Levin is older than his more famous brother.

Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Mayor of Detroit

Well, he has his own problems right now. He's young so he still has a long future possibly ahead of him. His star has lost a lot of luster so far as mayor though. It's early yet, and I can see him going for statewide office at some point, especially since the dems have a fairly weak farmclub.

Bill McConico, State Rep

I don't know hardly anything about him except he's from Detroit.

[mafree]

Don't know where he's at on RKBA but Jeff Plale of Wisconsin is pro-life and considered a "conservative" Dummycrat. Nice guy.

[LiteKeeper]

lest we forget

[Guillermo]

I'm sure the vast majority of them are scum, just like their older cousins in DC>

[canuck_conservative]

Stars?

Dim (if not burned-out) light-bulbs, maybe.

[KarlInOhio]

Can we toss in another 4 and print two decks of cards of them?

[lilylangtree]

Interesting!

[tracer]

A list of turds bubbling their way to the surface of the American Punchbowl......

[WarSlut]

As I see it, Evan Bayh of Indiana is the only potential star in Democratic Party.

Thankfully, the Democrats are too stupid to see this.

[kcordell]

GEORGIA:

Thurbert Baker, Attorney General...I'm mot sure he's electable. Will probably end up being appointed to a Federal position.

Cathy Cox, Secretary of State...This gal is a player.

Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta...Not known except in Atlanta and surrounding areas. Might run for State office.

Mark F. Taylor, Lieutenant Governor...If Perdue doesn't shape up, our next Governor.

Michael L. Thurmond, Labor Commissioner...Unknown.

[NeoCaveman]

OHIO

Jane L. Campbell, Mayor of Cleveland
Michael B. Coleman, Mayor of Columbus
Eric Fingerhut, State Sen.

Campbell is annoying beeatch in the Di Feinstein mold, maybe replaces Kuchinich in the House at most that's as far as she could go.

Fingerhut lost his House seat to LaTourette in 1994, got to admire the Dummycrats, they are into recycling...recycling defeated pols.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I guess the Missouri Dem's are on life-support.

[ilgipper]

As I see it, Evan Bayh of Indiana is the only potential star in Democratic Party.

Thankfully, the Democrats are too stupid to see this.

I agree. He is a threat, but they list John Fernandez of Bloomington, who just lost a statewide race. Some rising star. Hopefully, they continue to overlook the obvious.

[Dan from Michigan]

Didn't Fingerhut get walloped in 94 because he's a bigtime gun grabber?

Unfortunatly, Voinovich sucks on that issue too. Bad, but not Fingerhut bad. I'd back Springer in the primary if he runs, just for embarassment reasons.