Pick A Progressive Patriot: Senate Challengers These are the candidates featured in Senator Feingold's third "Pick a Progressive Patriot" event of 2008.  After reading their bios, be sure to go vote for your favorite candidate. Mark Begich - Alaska Mark Begich, 46, is in his fifth year as mayor Alaska's largest city, which under his administration is entering its 20th consecutive year of economic growth. Under Mayor Begich, Anchorage's bond ratings have improved to among the top 5 percent in the country and some 9,200 new jobs have been created Begich has worked to insure that Anchorage's increasingly diverse population - where 95 languages are spoken among public school students - share in the city's prosperity.   As mayor, Begich is especially focused on transforming Anchorage into a progressive, international city capitalizing on its Pacific Rim location. After two decades of inactivity, hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private investment is underway across Anchorage as three-quarters of residents believe the city is headed in the right direction.   Visit Mark online at http://www.begich.com   Vivian Davis Figures - Alabama Vivian Davis Figures is not like any politician you know. She doesn’t give lip service to good values. She lives them. She doesn’t fit into the labels of “liberal” or “conservative.” She brings people together... sometimes, literally, as she loves to cook and feed family and friends when they are in Mobile. She believes in hard work. She is a woman of deep faith. She has a sharp intellect, the courage to do what’s right regardless of the political ramifications.   As a politican Vivian authored the Child Protection Act to bring all public and private personnel who has unsupervised access to children in schools and daycare centers into compliance for background checks. Senator Figures sponsored Vanessa’s Law to allow women on Medicaid who suffered mastectomies to have reconstructive surgery, and worked for six years to pass the Clean Indoor Air Act to ban smoking in public buildings. The first part was getting smoking out of the Capital corridors, which she did almost single handedly. Visit Vivian online at http://www.figures2008.com/   Erik Fleming - Mississippi The Honorable Erik Robert Fleming, the 2006 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi, was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, on behalf of the 72nd District, which encompasses parts of Hinds and Madison Counties. Fleming was first elected to the post in January 1999 to finish the unexpired term of Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green. Fleming was re-elected to two full four-year terms in the Mississippi Legislature, before being defeated seeking a third four-year term in August 2007. Currently, Fleming is a paralegal with the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance. Most recently, Fleming was an abstinence educator with the Mississippi Community Development Corporation. He has also previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for New Horizon Ministries, Inc. Visit Erik online at http://www.erikfleming.org/   Al Franken - Minnesota An award-winning satirist, author and host of Air America Radio's "The Al Franken Show," Al Fraken was born in New York on May 21, 1951. After moving to Minnesota, his friendship with Minnesotan Tom Davis and their performances in school and comedy workshops led him to try his hand at comedy after graduating. Al and Tom Davis soon joined the show “Saturday Night Live” as “apprentice writers. Al would be awarded five Emmy awards and seven nominations for his work on the show. Al can be credited for his influential radio talk shows such as “The Al Fraken show”, which cover current political issues with a comical undertone.   Al attended Harvard University when he met his wife Franni Bryson, a freshman at Simmons. Marred for 32 years, they have two kids, Thomasin and Joe. After Joe left for college, Al and Franni decided to move back to Minnesota. There, Al founded a political action committee, Midwest Values PAC, which raised over $1.1 million for Democrats across Minnesota and around the country. He made more than 50 appearances on behalf of DFLers and local party units in the state in 2006 alone. Visit Al online at http://www.Alfranken.com   Kay Hagan - North Carolina During her five terms in the North Carolina Senate, she has proven to be an effective leader who is not afraid to do the hard work necessary to bridge partisan divides and always puts people before politics. As Chairman of the Budget, Kay put a premium on accountability and has no tolerance for wasteful spending. Kay has consistently done the hard work of turning out balanced budgets, and she has made the tough decisions to ensure that North Carolina can continue to invest in quality schools, job training, and middle class tax cuts. In Kay’s ten years as a state senator, the legislature has created innovative tools for economic development, invested in technology and infrastructure to help develop the next century’s medicine and jobs. Kay recognized that greater financial literacy means expanded access to the everyday opportunities that define the American Dream: paying for college, owning a home, and saving for retirement. She wrote the law which requires every public school student in NC to have a class in financial literacy. It is that kind of common sense forward-thinking that Kay takes to work with her every day. Visit Kay online at http://www.kayhagan.com/   Scott Kleeb - Nebraska Scott's family roots in Nebraska run four generations deep. Born on a military base overseas, he spent his summers fixing fences on his family's ranch back home.  He returned to the states for college, earning two Masters and a PhD from Yale.  While researching his dissertation on cattle ranching, Scott lived in the back of his pickup truck traveling across rural America.  The disconnect he saw between the problems facing rural communities and discussions taking place in Washington spurred him to run for office.    Scott's commitment to a new brand of politics continues to inspire a new generation of Nebraskans to demand more of their elected officials, and of themselves.  On issues ranging from transforming our energy policy to supporting family farmers and ranchers, Scott is an emerging leader committed to making the changes we need a reality.  Scott teaches college in Hastings, where he lives with his wife and daughters.   Visit Scott online at http://www.scottkleeb.com/   Larry LaRocco - Idaho Larry’s heart is with the working people of Idaho who have been forgotten in Washington, D.C. As a former two-term Congressman, he earned a reputation for hard work, bi-partisanship and honest brokering. He helped preserve Idaho's precious natural resources and the access to public lands that hunters, fishermen and all Idahoans treasure as their birthright. Larry also authored the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Act, which preserved a unique part of Idaho for sportsmen, conservationists and all Idahoans to enjoy. Most recently, Larry stood up as the only Idaho leader to call for stopping shipments of 6,700 tons of radioactive sand from Kuwait into Idaho.   Idahoans have told Larry they worry about stagnant wages, costly health care and energy prices. Larry listened to them while working 25 jobs-for-a-day—as a farmhand, carpenter, cheese-maker, nursing home aide, fire fighter's aide and garbage collector—and he says he looks forward to the jobs ahead.   Visit Larry online at http://www.laroccoforsenate.com/   Bruce Lunsford - Kentucky Bruce Lunsford is a successful entrepreneur and former Kentucky Commerce Secretary.  Bruce was raised on a small Northern Kentucky farm with no indoor plumbing where he cut tobacco and tended to livestock.  His father told him he could go from the outhouse to the penthouse with education and hard work, so Bruce put himself through the University of Kentucky by laying blacktop.  He then served in the U.S. Army Reserves before starting a hospital business that grew into a Fortune 500 company with 62,000 employees.  Bruce believes the Bush administration has taken away the opportunity to live the American dream.  Bruce wants to use his real-world experience to make universal health care a reality, create good-paying jobs, bring our troops home safe and give our veterans the care they deserve.  Visit Bruce online at http://www.bruce2008.com   Jeff Merkley - Oregon Born in the small town of Myrtle Creek, Jeff Merkley has spent his lifetime fighting for change for Oregon families. Jeff, with his wife Mary, led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home. Eighteen months ago, Jeff led a band of progressives to take control of the Oregon House and became the first Democratic speaker in sixteen years. He fought special interests to make health care more affordable, clamp down on pay day loan scams, pass landmark environmental legislation, and create thousands of family-wage jobs in Oregon.   Jeff Merkley will bring Democrats, progressives, and independents together to build a better future with family-wage jobs, affordable healthcare, a clean and healthy environment, and safe and thriving communities. Visit Jeff online at http://www.jeffmerkley.com/   Be sure you vote today for your favorite Progressive Patriot!