Returning Democratic control to the U.S. Senate is in some ways as important as electing a Democrat to the White House. The Senate maintains control over the approval of administrative and judicial appointments as well as the legislative proposals that reach the president.
The Senate now has 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats (this number includes the two Independents who caucus with the Democrats). For the 2016 election, 24 Republicans and 10 Democrats are up for election. To regain control of the Senate, Democrats need to maintain all their present seats (the most endangered of which is in Colorado) and pick up five Republican seats.
We encourage Democrats to support the candidates listed below. They are in states which President Obama carried in both 2008 and 2012. All have one Democrat already in the Senate. Colorado, Illinois, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania have Democratic governors. Most have received support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Emily’s List and various other political organizations.
Perhaps most important, all have held public office in their state. We urge residents of the Valley to use their social and family networks to support these candidates:
Colorado: Michael Bennet, P.O.Box 87, Denver CO 80201.
Florida: Patrick Murphy, 4521 PGA Blvd., #412, Palm Beach Gardens FL 33418.
Illinois: Tammy Duckworth, P.O.Box 10742, Chicago IL 6060742.
New Hampshire: Maggie Hassan, P.O.Box 298, Concord NH 03302.
Ohio: Ted Strickland, P.O.Box 2196, Columbus OH 43216.
Pennsylvania: Katie McGinty, P.O.Box 22447, Philadelphia PA 19110.
Wisconsin: Russ Feingold, P.O.Box 620061, Middleton WI 53562.
Rhoda Honigberg and George Goodwin
Amherst