Expand the Map We've identified 10 House challengers in emerging races, all of whom were nominated by you.  These candidates have worked hard and made their races competitive, often without much support from traditional Democratic institutions.  I'd like to give their GOTV operations a big boost, but to do that we're going to need your help.  Our goal is to raise $50,000 so that we can contribute $5,000 to each of these 10 candidates. Let's Expand the Map - Contribute Today! Anne Barth (WV-02) As a wife, mother, and native West Virginian, Anne Barth is running for Congress to provide compassionate leadership and effective representation for the people of West Virginia’s 2nd District. In January 2008, Anne completed twenty-one years of service to the people of West Virginia as a Senior Aide to Senator Robert C. Byrd. As Senator Byrd’s State Director since 1992, Anne has a clear understanding of the needs and concerns of the people of the Second District, and is uniquely skilled in how to get results for West Virginians in Washington Born in the southern coalfields of Bluefield, West Virginia, Anne was raised with a strong tradition of service to others. As the daughter of a United Methodist Minister, she lived in parsonages around the state, including Pineville, Kingwood, Clarksburg, and Charleston. Growing up, Anne was taught the values of fairness, justice, and compassion, and was raised with the moral obligation to serve our fellow man. Anne was educated in West Virginia’s public schools and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Communication from West Virginia University. Anne currently lives in Charleston, with her husband of 25 years, Nick, who has his own law practice. They are proud parents of two daughters, Sally and Claire, who are both students at West Virginia University. You can visit Anne online at http://www.annebarthforcongress.com   Bob Alexander (MI-08) Bob Alexander grew up in Berkley, Michigan.  In 1966, Bob Alexander received a B.A. in American history from the University of Michigan. After graduation he joined the Peace Corps as an adviser in an intensive agricultural program that raised the quality of life in rural India. This work profoundly influenced him and ignited his career. To this day, Bob is known as a tireless organizer and problem solver, building coalitions to help improve all of our lives. Upon his return from the Peace Corps, Bob joined the National Teacher Corps. He interned and then taught at Hopkinsville Junior High in Kentucky, then at Webster Elementary and Earhart Junior High in southwest Detroit. In 1970, Bob earned his M.A. in teaching from Wayne State University. He taught for five years in the Willow Run Community Schools in Ypsilanti and substituted at Whitmore Lake, Hamburg and Pinckney Schools. In 1979, Bob started working for State Senators Edward Pierce and Lana Pollack in Lansing. Bob was a Policy Analyst for the state Energy Programs and Medical Services. In 2000, Bob Alexander became Assistant to the Director of Citizens for Better Care, advocating for Nursing Home residents. In 2003, he returned to his roots in education teaching at Davenport University and subsituted in the Lansing Schools. During this period, Bob also worked on programs for international humanitarian relief. Currently, Bob owns and runs Alexander Consultants, L.L.C., a governmental and business management consulting firm in East Lansing. Bob’s recent successes include co-directing a local petition drive that helped raise Michigan’s minimum wage by 29% and extending the Ingham Health Care Plan to cover 16,500 additional Ingham County residents who did not have health care. Bob and his wife, Julie, live in East Lansing and enjoy in an active life dedicated to helping people. Julie is an administrator in the State Human Services program. They have three adult children, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. You can visit Bob online at http://www.alexanderforcongress.com/   Colleen Callahan (IL-18) My name is Colleen Callahan, and I want to be the next Congresswoman representing the 18th District of Illinois. The reason I’m running is simple. I want to give our communities a voice in Washington, and I want to be a public servant, advancing the interests and needs of all the constituents of the 18th Congressional district. I want to work alongside the people of Central Illinois to enact changes that are needed to improve our lives, our state and our country rather than work to advance my own interests. I am not a career politician, and I have no intention of becoming one. Without getting myself wrapped up in the all-too-common political pressures of Washington, I will be able to truly and faithfully speak for the interests of the people of Central Illinois.  Working together, we can address the issues that are of concern to us all. In short, I am running for Congress to help people. You can visit Colleen on line at http://www.colleencallahanforcongress.com/   Debbie Cook (CA-46) Debbie was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in 2000, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 2004. She currently serves as Huntington Beach’s Mayor.  She helped lead the fight to prevent the Orange County Sanitation District from massive dumping of partially treated wastewater into the ocean. In 2007, she co-sponsored the proposal that led Huntington Beach to become one of only seven cities in Orange County to join the U.S. Mayor’s Agreement on Global Warming. Debbie is a regional leader and is serving on the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council. As Chair of the SCAG Energy and Environment Committee, she guided energy and transportation policies for all of Southern California that take into account the future scarcity of oil and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She also has served as President of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, Chair of the League of California Cities Administrative Policy Committee and Chair of the Orange County Parks Commission. Cook has ties across the 46th congressional district which stretches along the coast from Costa Mesa to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She has an honorary degree from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa as a result of 25 years of volunteer work. While in her 20’s she purchased her first home in Westminster and volunteered in the Fountain Valley schools and the Fountain Valley neighborhood watch program. She has been a resident of Orange County for more than forty years. You can visit Debbie online at http://www.debbiecookforcongress.com/   Elwyn Tinklenberg (MN-06) I began my career as a Methodist pastor in Blaine, Minnesota. It was in 1982, when people from my church convinced me to run for city council, that I first entered public service.  As mayor, I helped bring jobs to the Blaine area.  By having a vision and working together, we were able to turn two soccer fields into the National Sports Center—the world’s largest amateur sports facility.  Later I served as Transportation Commissioner under Governor Jesse Ventura, where I helped develop the Northstar rail, completed Highway 10, and brought the first light rail to Minnesota.  I know how much we can accomplish when we put partisanship aside and work together.  Being endorsed by both the Democrats and the Independence Party means I understand the importance of working across party lines to get things done.   I’m running for Congress because we need change in the Sixth District. Rep. Michele Bachmann has voted against raising the minimum wage, against making college affordable, against health care for kids, against mortgage reform, against veterans’ benefits, against renewable energy, and against a timeline to get out of Iraq.  She wants to “drain America first” by drilling in Alaska and extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent.  This isn’t the path that will help Minnesota families make it through these difficult times.  We need to get back to working together to help middle class families weather the economic downturn, and I’m ready to be part of the change we need. You can visit Elwyn online at http://www.tinklenberg08.com/   Linda Ketner (SC-01) Linda formed South Carolina Citizens for Housing in 1991 after learning that thousands of South Carolinians had no plumbing and more than 800,000 lived in dangerous housing. It troubled her to see working people with children, the elderly and frail, living in these conditions. Linda and her group saw the problem and came up with a unique partnership to solve it; one which included private businesses, public works, Democrats and Republicans. She led this coalition of business leaders, elected officials, community groups and every-day citizens to bi-partisan passage of the Housing Trust Fund Bill, signed into law by Governor Carroll Campbell. This solution continues to bring affordable housing to tens-of-thousands of working families, Veterans and elderly as well as providing thousands of new jobs and millions in sales to South Carolina businesses. Linda will continue to bring the same practicality and principled leadership to represent the people of South Carolina's First District in Congress. "I have an arcade of Live Oaks on some land I own in the country and to me those oaks are living art. Their roots have been in that soil for 250 years, their newest shoots came out last spring; roots of tradition, shoots of growth, both in balance. It seems to me, that health for an individual, or a community, or a nation is found in achieving that delicate balance between continuity and change." Linda will lead a new era in South Carolina, an era where our roots will be firmly in the best of our traditions, while our shoots respond to a new environment. That means ushering in new business and industry, more and better jobs, smart growth that maintains our matchless beauty and quality of life. It means affordable, accessible health care and an education system which provides excellence for every child in South Carolina.   You can visit Linda online at http://www.lindaketner.com/   Nick Leibham (CA-50) Nick is a practicing attorney here in San Diego’s North County.  He’s your neighbor and a contributing member of our community.  Born and raised in Oregon, he attended college in Hawaii.  Upon graduating Nick felt the calling of the classroom; graduating cum laude with a B.A. in Political and Historical Studies, Nick felt right at home teaching high school Government and U.S. History.     Wanting to see American Democracy up close, Nick then went to our nation's Capitol.  There he became a senior Congressional aide to Congressman Gary Ackerman (NY). Working for a leading member of Congress who was assigned to the International Relations and Banking Committees, Nick studied at the knee of legislative giants.    Nick moved to San Diego in order to attend the University of San Diego's law and business schools. There he graduated with both his Law degree and a Masters Degree in Business Administration in three years.  Called again to public service, Nick became a Criminal Law Clerk at the Department of Justice, United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.  There he was assigned to the major frauds and economic crimes section and aided federal prosecutorial and investigative teams as they probed Metabolife and Peregrine.  Continuing to serve the public, Nick next went to work for the City Attorney of San Diego as a Criminal Prosecutor.  There he reviewed, charged, arraigned and went to trial on hundreds of criminal matters, including; weapons and drug possession, burglary, domestic violence, child abuse, forgery and fraud in public contracting. "The duty of a prosecutor is seeking the truth. Those in law enforcement have a sacred obligation not only to protect our communities and punish wrongdoing, but to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law." Nick believes in our Constitution and its guarantees of due process and equal protection.   “I am running for Congress because I was asked by the community that I live in to once again enter public service. This is a critical time, a time to renew the vision and promise of the Founding Fathers."  You can visit Nick online at www.picknick08.com/   Russ Warner (CA-26) Russ Warner is a dedicated husband, father and successful small businessman who will work hard for America's families. He is running for Congress in the 26th district, which spans the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley from La Crescenta to his home in Rancho Cucamonga. Russ has lived in the district for nearly 27 years with his wife, Kris, and their three sons. Twins Adam and Matt work in the family business. Greg, the eldest, is in the U.S. Army and served in Iraq for seventeen months. Upon his return home from the war, Greg challenged his father to make a difference by running for Congress.  After graduating from high school, Russ worked fulltime while enrolled at Cypress Junior College before taking a position at U.S. News & World Report. But like many Americans in the boom and bust of the 80s, Russ was downsized. He seized the opportunity and invested the family savings in an idea. With the support of his wife and children, countless 16-hour days, and few weekend breaks, Russ turned Warner International Periodical Services into one of the top niche magazine distribution companies in the country, supporting many other small businesses in the process. While our nation may have difficult times ahead, Russ' life experience will lead to solutions. He will work to end the war in Iraq, support and honor our troops and veterans, provide affordable health care for all and create energy independence. Russ believes we need new leadership in Washington that will work to represent the true values of the 26th District. Visit Russ online at http://www.warnerforcongress.com/   Scott Harper (IL-13) Scott has spent his career as a successful small business owner. He started a media, design and marketing consulting firm called Closer Look and grew it from a two-person staff to a 40-person office with more than $5,000,000 in revenue. He understands the importance of fiscal responsibility and the value of economic development and in Congress, Scott will work to bring new technologies and industries to this community. Before building Closer Look, Scott was a manufacturing executive who worked with labor and business to ensure workers rights were protected and to improve performance in the workplace. Scott believes strongly in the rights of working families and will be a strong advocate for them in Washington. Aside from his successful career in business, Scott has always been a strong community activist dedicated to volunteerism. In Chicago, he tutored minority children, and worked in several area homeless shelters. He also coached at a Career Transitions Center and has been active in mentoring young adults. Additionally, Scott was a long-time member of Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago and continues to be active in the religious community. A strong commitment to education is a centerpiece of Scott's campaign for Congress and he has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to learning. Scott completed his undergraduate degree at Wheaton College and received his MBA from the University of Chicago. He also has a Master's degree from Oxford University in England. Scott was born in Illinois and is the oldest of five children. He has two children of his own-Natasha, 24, who is finishing her architecture degree from the Pratt Institute of Design and Briana, 22, who is double majoring in political science and economics at Barnard/Columbia. Visit Scott online at http://www.scottharperforcongress.com/   Walt Minnick (ID-01) Walt has a long history of serving the community. While Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Board at College of Idaho, the college changed its name and doubled its endowment. During his tenure as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Board of the community-owned Bogus Basin ski area, Walt helped the organization return from the verge of bankruptcy. Under Walt’s 16-year tenure as President of TJ International, the company grew sales from $60 million to $700 million, never failed to make money and added thousands of good-paying jobs to our country’s economy. Walt’s decades of service as a business leader resulted in his 1991 selection by Idaho State University as its Idaho Businessman of the Year. Visit Walt online at http://www.waltforcongress.org/