Democracy for America: Ben Jealous Should Run for Governor of Maryland
National Progressive Group Mobilizes Members in Support
Today, Democracy for America announced that it wants to see Ben Jealous run for Governor of Maryland, and began mobilizing its members to pledge their support for the progressive leader in an email. In the event that Jealous does run for Governor, this will provide him with a ready base of volunteers and grassroots donors to fuel his campaign on day one. DFA has 26,239 members in Maryland and has raised more than $86,000 for progressive Maryland candidates in the 2016 cycle alone.
Democracy for America Executive Director Charles Chamberlain:
“Replacing Maryland’s Republican Governor will require a candidate with strong progressive values who can inspire and mobilize voters throughout the state. There is no one better than Ben Jealous for this task. He has spent his life fighting for economic and racial justice, and has never shied away from speaking truth to power.”
“When the news surfaced recently that Ben Jealous was contemplating a run for Governor, we heard from our members in Maryland and across the country who are fired up to support him. There’s not a moment to lose in organizing to elect a progressive Governor of Maryland in 2018. That’s why our work starts today.” - Charles Chamberlain, Executive Director at Democracy for America
Ben Jealous began organizing with the NAACP while he was a college student, and in 2008 became the youngest person to serve as its President and CEO. Before taking on that role, he built a track record of fighting for progressive values by exposing corruption as a journalist and fighting back against hate by advocating against the racial profiling of Arab Americans while working at Amnesty International. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he was an early and outspoken supporter of Bernie Sanders.
Democracy for America is a people-powered political action committee with 1 million members nationwide. Since its 2004 founding, DFA members have raised and contributed more than $40 million and made more than 11.1 million volunteer calls to help successfully elect 916 progressive candidates nationwide.