Kerry and Allies-Organization, Florida
 Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. | 115 E. Broward Blvd.  |   Ft. Lauderdale 
State Director Tom Shea
(June 2004) Chief of Staff to Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ).  Communications director on Frank Lautenberg's U.S. Senate campaign in 2002.  Managed Corzine's campaign in 2000.  Communications director for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.  Associate director in the Office of Presidential Personnel, 1997-98.  Michigan field director on the Clinton/Gore 1992 campaign.
 
 
Communications Director Matt Miller
Started in Florida with the Democratic National Committee in April 2004, and on the campaign in early July.  Previously at Public Strategies.
 
 
Senior Florida Advisor Nick Baldick
Campaign manager on John Edwards' presidential campaign, starting Jan. 2003.  A principal of the Dewey Square Group (DSG), specializing in grassroots and public affairs strategies.  New Hampshire primary state director for Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign; directed and managed Gore's political action committee, Leadership ‘98.  Eastern Political Director in the White House Office of Political Affairs, 1997.  Director, Florida Democratic coordinated campaign, fall 1996; state director in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and New Jersey, 1996 primary campaign.  Campaign director of the 1994 Rhode Island coordinated campaign; northeast political director at the DNC, 1993; a field director in the 1992 Clinton primary campaign.  B.S. from Georgetown University; J.D. from New York University School of Law. 
 
 
Florida Chair Congressman Kendrick Meek (FL-17)

Also Note: In terms of Florida expertise, Marcus Jadotte, who served as the Gore-Lieberman campaign's Florida state director in 2000, worked for a long time as the Kerry for President Deputy Campaign Manager and in the closing months of the campaign worked with Sen. Edwards.
 
 

Florida Victory 2004   115 E. Broward Blvd.  |   Ft. Lauderdale
Coordinated Campaign Director Ken Robinson
(started Aug. 11, 2004)  Robinson had been slated to serve as Kerry-Edwards State Director in Minnesota after serving as deputy convention director for the Democratic National Convention in Boston.  State director for Kerry's New Hampshire primary campaign starting at the end of January 2003 through to the primary.  Executive director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party from January 1999 through January 2003.  In 2000 and 2002, he also served as the Coordinated Campaign director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  He has worked on numerous campaigns including Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's 1998 reelection campaign.  In 1996 he served as field director of Joe Keefe's campaign for Congress (1st CD).  Robinson is a 1991 graduate of Brown University. 
 
 
Deputy Director Opal A. Jones
Executive Director Miami-Dade Affordable Housing Foundation Inc..  Senior consultant on the Kendrick Meek for Congress campaign in 2002.  GOTV director Florida Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign in 1998.  Florida political director for the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1996.  Special assistant to U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek (D-Miami).  Has worked on numerous state and municipal campaigns in South Florida. 
 
 
 
Political Director Sharon White
Previously worked on Betty Castor's campaign and on the national political staff of Sen. John Edwards' campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

 
 
Spokesperson Myra Dandridge
Media relations for the Bond Market Association, from 2002.  News aide at the Washington Post starting in 1990.  Legislative correspondent for U.S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT), late 1987 to 1990.  Spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Labor.
 
 
 
Field Director Shelly Loos
Worked the Democratic National Convention in Boston.  Director of ballot access and delegates on Wesley Clark's campaign.  Worked on Bill McBride's 2002 gubernatorial campaign in Florida.  Served as MW regional desk for Gore's Leadership '98 political action committee; field person for Gore campaign in southeastern Iowa for the Iowa caucuses starting Oct./Nov. 1999; then to California; ran the March 21 Illinois primary campaign; convention floor manager at the Democratic National Convention in L.A. (two months working on floor operations); returned to Illinois in late August 2000 as state director for the fall campaign. 

Florida Victory 2004 Offices

Deputy Field Director-North Rick Minor
Policy director for the Florida Democratic Party, 2003-2004.  Policy director for Bill McBride's gubernatorial campaign, 2002; policy director for Janet Reno's gubernatorial campaign, 2001-02.
Victory 2004 offices in Pensacola, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Jacksonville.  (based in Jacksonville)


Deputy Field Director-Central Marty Walsh
Legislative assistant to Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.  Montgomery County GOTV on Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's 2002 gubernatorial campaign in Maryland.  Worked on the Florida recount in West Palm Beach, 2000.   Field director on Sen. Kennedy's re-election campaign, 1999-2000.  Field director for Warren Tolman for Lt. Governor in Massachusetts, 1998.  Field organizer on Kerry for Senate, 1996.

I-4 Corridor (Tampa to Daytona Beach).
Press Secretary, Tampa Media Market: Tara Klimek
 
 
Deputy Field Director-South Rob McCarthy
Deputy state director on Sen. Kerry's New Hampshire primary campaign.  Deputy director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party in 2002 and through March 2003.  Graduated from Harvard College in 2002 with a BA in government.  Originally from Worthington, OH. 
primarily Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties.


Director of Operations Darnell Strom
Worked on planning the Democratic National Convention as special assistant to the deputy chief executive officer of operations, Sept. 2003-April 2004.  Interned for former president Bill Clinton in his Harlem office.  Graduate of Florida A&M University with a bachelor's degree in political science, 2003.  From San Jose, CA.
 
 
 
Trip Director (volunteer) Duffy Keever
Partner with Clark, Thomas & Winters, A Professional Corporation in Austin, TX.  Briefing attorney for Justice John Powers, of the Texas Court of Appeals, 1996-97.   J.D. from the School of Law at the University of Texas at Austin, 1996.  B.A. from the University of Texas, 1991.
 
 
Senior Advisor, Surrogate Scheduling Gwen Graham Logan
One of four daughters of retiring Sen. Bob Graham.  After playing an active role in Graham's presidential campaign she joined the Dean campaign as a national surrogate and Southern regional advisor (announced Nov. 24, 2003).  Attorney and mother of three.  Attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Washington College of Law at American University. 
 
 
Veterans Outreach, Surrogate Scheduling, Hiring Theo Yedinsky
Political director on Sen. Kerry's New Hampshire primary campaign starting June 2003.  Caucus director for NH State Senate Democrats during the 2002 cycle.  Worked for the Democratic Leadership Council from 1999-2002 and for the New Democrat Network from 1997-99.  Previously a middle school teacher for three years.
 
 
 
Base Vote Director Tracey Lewis
Did credentialling at the Democratic National Convention for the Kerry campaign.  Deputy director of advance on the Kerry campaign.
 
 
 
Voter Contact Director [phones, mail] Courtni Sunjoo Pugh
California political director on Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign.  Over 12 years of campaign and issue organizing experience.  Manager of government relations mCapitol Management (mCM), Inc.  National field director at Rock the Vote, 2001.  Deputy base vote director and national director of Asian Pacific American outreach at the DNC for the 2000 cycle.  Worked for Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago), including as legislative director, 1997-99.  Community organizer for the Chinese American Service League in Chicago, 1994-96.
 
Deputy Voter Contact Director  Glen Roth
Worked on Sen. John Edwards’ presidential campaign as the executive assistant to the national campaign manager.  In 2000 was assistant to Ron Klain, senior advisor to the Gore/Lieberman presidential campaign.  Bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University.
 
 
 
Early Voting Director Tasha Cole
Senior advisor to Congressman Kendrick Meek (FL-17).  Campaign manager for Kendrick Meek for Congress and senior consultant to the Coalition to Reduce Class Size statewide ballot initiative, 2002. State director and political director of SEIU in Florida, 2001-02.  North Florida field organizer for Florida recount effort and surrogate scheduler for the 2000 Florida Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign.  Constituency outreach director/political director for the Florida Democratic Party, 1998-2001.  Assistant Get Out the Vote coordinator for McKay/Dantzler and Florida Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign, 1998. 

Organized early vote activities and events with principles, surrogates and elected officials to motivate potential early voters in targeted counties throughout Florida.  Collaborated with and assisted the Field Department in implementing field and voter turnout programs.
 
 
GOTV Director Katreice Banks
Lobbyist for SBC Communications.  Served as the initial political director on John Edwards' presidential campaign for several months in 2003.  Deputy political director at the DCCC in 2002.  A deputy finance director for Gore 2000 after working the Southern regional desk on Gore's Leadership '98 PAC.
 
 
 
Chief Election Law Coordinator and Special Counsel (Election Protection Director) David Friedman
(started early August 2004)  Counsel and Chief Policy Advisor to Senate President Robert Travaglini in Massachusetts.  Associate at Hill & Barlow, the Boston-based law firm that closed in 2002.  Took leave from Hill & Barlow to wage an unsucessful run for Massachusetts state representative in 2002.  Worked on the Florida recount in 2000 (drafting legal briefs, supervising official recount activity in Palm Beach and Brevard counties, conducting legal research and helping coordinate the collection of evidence such as affidavits from voters).  Clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.  J.D. from Harvard Law School, 1996.
 
Deputy Election Protection Director Ed Pagano
Senior Counsel to Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) on the Senate Judiciary Committee; on Leahy's staff since 1993.  Graduate of the  University of Vermont; law degree from Fordham Law School. 
 
Press-Election Protection Kristina Saunders
Deputy press secretary on Wesley Clark's New Hampshire primary campaign after serving in the same position on Sen. Bob Graham's campaign until it ended in October.  Assistant campaign manager on Mark Fernald's 2002 gubernatorial campaign in NH, Aug.-Nov. 2002.  Scheduling director for Steve Grossman's campaign for the 2002 Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts. 

"Working with many volunteer local attorneys and a core of full-time volunteers (who came from around the nation), the team assembled a program of more than 3,000 volunteer lawyers to assist voters during early voting and on Election Day.  The election protection operation trained and deployed all of these volunteers to help protect voters' rights; it also worked proactively with the Secretary of State and local election officials in all 67 counties to clarify legal issues and prevent voter disenfranchisement.  The team also participated in several lawsuits prior to Election Day, including suits filed by the Florida Democratic Party and by private parties, in an effort protect voters' rights and ensure a fair election." -David Friedman 8/24/05


Florida Democratic Party  | 214 S. Bronough St.  |  Tallahassee 
Chair Scott Maddox
Narrowly lost campaign for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General in 2002.  Served as Mayor of Tallahassee.  While in law school, elected City Commissioner in Tallahassee.  J.D. from Florida State College of Law B.S. in political science and public administration from Florida State University.  Also of note, Maddox was the youngest elected delegate from Florida to the 1988 Democratic National Convention where he supported Al Gore for President.

First Vice Chair: Diane Glasser.  Vice Chair: Rep. Robert Henriquez.  Secretary: Jaunita Geathers.  Treasurer: Earl Scales.  Chair Emeritus: Charles Whitehead
 
 
Executive Director Paige Carter-Smith
Chief of staff to the Mayor of Tallahassee starting in 1997.  Government consultant for Cobb Cole & Bell.  Executive director of Florida Voice for Choice.  Lobbied the Florida Legislature for Larry J. Overton & Associates.  Field consultant for Al Gore's 1988 presidential campaign.  Graduate of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, GA.  Raised in Tallahassee, graduate of Leon County High School.

Deputy Political Director
 

Communications/Public Relations Director

Producer

Comptroller

DEC Coordinator

Executive Assistant

Chair of the County Chairs Assoc.

Staff Assistants


Chris Petley
 

Allie Merzer

Charlie Belvin

Debbie Griffin-Bruton

Lavone Baucham

Nora Herron

Cliff Reuter

Alan Brock, Corinne Rubin, Everett Young


 

Allies
ACT Florida
State Director Karin Johanson
Principal at Precision Communications, Inc., a consulting firm in Silver Spring, MD.  Managed Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin's winning campaign in  2002.  Political Director at the DCCC in 2000 and as worked as its West Coast Field Director.  Communications Director, then Political Director at EMILY's List.  Worked for U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for ten years including the last two as chief of staff.
 
Field Director Robert Becker
Polk County field director on Bill Bradley's 2000 Iowa caucus campaign.
 
State Canvass Director Rebecca Pearcey
Regional field director on Rep. Dick Gephardt's Iowa caucus campaign in 2003-4.  Administrative aide to Oregon State Sen. Margaret Carter.  Graduate of Oregon State University's with a degree in liberal studies after transferring from Chemeketa Community College.
 
Communications Director Tait Sye
Deputy Press Secretary on Sen. John Edwards NH Primary campaign starting in mid-2003.  Research Director for the Florida Democratic Party in 2002.  Worked on Al Gore's NH primary campaign in 2000, then in Nashville for the general election. 
 
Operations Director Shalicia West

Tampa (Main Office)- 3701 West Cherry Street  (Cathleen Allen)
Jacksonville- 1801 N. Main Street  (Bruce Lane) 
Orlando- 512 W. Central Blvd  (Katherine Taylor)
Central Florida- 101 Gatlin Ave, Orlando  (Patti Sharp)
Palm Beach- 601 N. Congress Ave, Ste 426  (Tim Connolly)
  Ft. Lauderdale- 1403 NW 40th Ave  (Robert Becker) 
Miami- 2700 Biscayne Blvd  (Chris Lyon)
another office was opened in Volusia County three to four weeks out.

Summary provided by ACT:
By Election Day, ACT had eight offices spread out across Florida, 65 full time staff, 10,000 canvassers on the ground and had contacted our 1.6 million targeted voters an average of seven times. 

In the two offices where the focus was voter registration, Orlando and Jacksonville, the results were impressive. ACT-FL registered 50,948 new voters in Florida in a span of 8 months. 

We had three somewhat non-traditional operations: 
1.  In Orlando, we had a bilingual canvass, targeting Hispanic neighborhoods.

2.  In Miami-Dade, we had Caribbean Power Vote, Haitian American canvassers who speak Creole, canvassing Little Haiti.

3.   In Palm Beach, we had a senior coffee program, targeting seniors in their condo communities. 

In mid-October ACT-FL began an Early Vote GOTV program.  Hundreds of canvassers went door-to-door, hitting all 800,000 targeted households in 11 counties during the two weeks of Early Vote. 

On Election Day, ACT Florida had more than 10,000 canvassers on the street, fanning out from our eight offices, and launching from 32 staging sites. 

Example of ACT’s impact - In Duval County, overall turnout rose from 68.8% to 73.6%.  Kerry received 49,760 more votes than Gore did in 2000, one of the largest raw vote increases in the state.  In addition, our Duval office helped build a coalition that successfully lobbied and pressured the Supervisor of Elections office to open four more Early Vote sites. 

In addition to their voter mobilization efforts, several of our offices helped their communities clean up from the devastation of four Hurricanes in the span of 6 weeks. 

See Also
SEIU 1199.  "Turning the Tables In Florida" in 1199News, October 2004.

America Votes 
Florida Organizing Director  (Tampa) Ana Cruz
Formed Leaders Edge, LLC, a public relations firm in Tampa, in June 2003.  Executive director of the Florida Democratic Party starting in April 2002.  Served as Sen. Bill Nelson's regional director for West Central Florida and headed up his Hispanic outreach efforts.  Worked on the 2000 Coordinated Campaign.  Part of the Gore 2000 national finance team, serving as regional deputy finance director for Florida.  Managed Bob Henriquez's 1998 State House race, which unseating a Republican incumbent.  Worked on the 1996 Presidential Inaugural Committee.  Coordinated the Florida Latino vote and the Latino Outreach Office at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  From Tampa.
 
Florida Deputy Organizing Director (Miami) Jeffrey Lerner

Overview
America Votes held monthly summit meetings attended by a member of each group in the coalition.  We coordinated everything from mail drop dates to who walked which neighborhoods and registering voters.  We also held what was called Election Action days on various Saturdays throughout the summer months where each organization would stage a massive walk to lit drop and register voters.  These Election Action days, held in Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee, Broward, and Palm Beach, gave our progressive organizations an opportunity to come together to register, educate and mobilize our communities. 
 
 

Environmental Victory Project  |  714 E Colonial Dr.  |  Orlando   -office opened in May
State Director Allan Oliver
Organizer for AFSCME during the 2004 Iowa Caucuses.  Consultant and international election monitor for the Organization of American States 2003 Presidential Election Mission in Guatemala.  Country director for the National Democratic Institute in Kazakhstan and managed several national election observation missions.  Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, 1998-99.  In 1996 worked on Jim McDermott for Congress and the Clinton-Gore campaign.
 
Field Director Shirin Bidel-Niyat
(started in Feb. 2004)  Most recently worked on Wesley Clark's NH primary campaign as a regional field coordinator in Nashua.  Her experience also includes work on the Sickles for State Delegate campaign in Virginia in 2003 and a community advocacy program.  She is a graduate of The George Washington University with a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology. 
 
Deputy Field Director Alex Morgan

Team Leaders: Angelo Villagomez, Matt Bussard, Kali Kirkendell, Luci Garcia, Jourdan Haynes, Steve Leopoldo.

Overview
"...the LCV's Environmental Victory Project knocked on over 280,000 doors1, providing persuasion at the door and identifying pro-Kerry voters in the Orlando area.  We did three rounds of conversations at the door in primarily swing districts. 

"Recruiting volunteers was in itself a campaign.  We used earned media on radio, TV and print; conducted presentations on various college campuses and to community groups; partnered with different non-profit groups on events and recruited during those events; sent email missives to large activist lists; and, of course, had a website.  Recruiting responsibilities were shared between a national and local office. 

"Four hurricanes hit Orlando, or nearby, or provided enough of a threat for families to not answer their doors.  Making the best of a difficult situation, we took advantage of the time lost at the door to recruit volunteers from Austin, Texas (60 volunteers made two trips), Athens Georgia (40 volunteers made two trips), and Washington, DC (200 volunteers made one trip).  We also sent several team leaders, organizers and volunteers to help set up the Philadelphia operation. 

"We garnered positive media coverage in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the Orlando Sentinel.  EVP conducted several visibility actions to raise the profile of the program.  Over the course of ten months we received the support of over 800 volunteers and tens of thousand of volunteer man hours from across the country.  On Election Day, we ran five different staging areas with over 300 volunteers working door to door to encourage people to vote and simultaneously made phone calls to Kerry supporters.  We coordinated our efforts with America Votes in terms of assuring the broadest coverage and eliminating overlap the last week of the campaign.  Our national office also made a series of media buys (1, 2, 3, 4) to address the Bush Administration's efforts to drill off the coast of Florida."  -Allan Oliver Aug. 2005, edited by E.M. Appleman

Note.
1. According to the LCV's post-election report, EVP canvassers knocked on 284,383 doors and made 110,459 contacts.  (The 284,383 includes all three rounds so there is some repetition of doors).
See also: Angelo Villagomez' blog
 

MoveOn PAC
Central and Northern Florida Field Organizer David Edeli
(Based in Tampa)  Previously worked for the Alaska Wilderness League.  Graduate of Harvard College.
 
South Florida Field Organizer Jose Quinonez
(Based in Miami)  Previously worked for the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC.

Overview
MoveOn PAC had paid staff on the ground in about eight states from June until September, testing  the willingness of previously email-only members to engage in off-line physical activities related to the elections.  As a result of this project MoveOn PAC leadership decided to pursue a precinct organizing project, which put 500 organizers in the field nationwide. 

One hundred organizers arrived in Florida in late September to kick off the precinct organizing project.  Before then the two staffers in Tampa and Miami had undertaken such activities as raising awareness of Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11," which came out in June and seeking to boost participation in election-related activities.  For example in July there was a call-in day where Move-On members were given access to lists of unmarried and unregistered women in order to call them and urge them to register to vote (based on the assumption that this demographic would overwhelmingly vote for Kerry).

After the September 26 precinct project start-up date, MoveOn PAC, with the assistance of Grassroots Campaigns, a contractor that had previously worked with the DNC, opened about 10 offices around the state.  The goal was to get MoveOn members and Democratic voters involved and going door to door to identify and turn out Kerry voters to the polls.  This work would seem to duplicate what ACT was doing, but MoveOn felt that their PAC--as opposed to 527--status allowed them freer speech that would be more helpful to turning out Kerry voters. 

Although MoveOn originally coordinated field activities through America Votes, once the precinct organizing project began, this communication was less effective, leading to significant overlap with districts where ACT was working.  That said, MoveOn PAC was also able to send volunteers and organizers to many locations where ACT was not. 
 

Florida AFL-CIO  |  135 South Monroe Street  |  Tallahassee 
President: Cynthia Hall
Secretary-Treasurer: Dwayne Sealy
Battleground Desk/State Director: Clarence Frost (fr. College Grove, TN)
 

Copyright © 2004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action
 



Old Info: Before the general election organization started building there was a finance operation and volunteer effort:
Finance Office: 66 NW 22nd Street, Miami  >> 201 S. Biscayne Blvd, Suite 2700, Miami Center, Miami

Florida Leadership Team (www.JohnKerryFlorida.com)
Broward:  Jim Booth
Miami-Dade:  Jesus Perez
Palm Beach:  Rick Ford & Sheila Rothman
Brevard:  Mary Ann Showen
Collier & Lee:  Angela Worden
NE Florida:  Wayne Sherman
Sarasota:  Charles Senf
Volusia:  Terry Welan