This is the Deadline. This is your Last Chance. Help NC's New Leaders TODAY!

We need your help today. For our candidates, tomorrow isn't an option.

Today, the Grassroots Farm Team is happy to announce our endorsements! Five out of six candidates returned their applications on time, and out of those candidates we are endorsing four candidates who we believe deserve your help.

If you want to help these candidates, we need your contribution today. We will be sending financial support to some of these candidates today to make sure that the money reaches them with enough time to make a difference.

$50, $25, $15, or even $6 will go a long way and help these candidates reach every voter they need to reach before November 3.

And whether or not you give, spread the word! Post this diary on your facebook, your Twitter, and e-mail it to everyone you know who is willing to chip in $6 to elect Democrats.

With your support, these great candidates will become North Carolina's next leaders.

So who did we endorse?

Andy Ball is a Farm Team Endorsed candidate who is running for Town Council in Boone. Andy faces 6 other opponents in his election (the top three vote-getters will be elected). He's just the kind of young leader North Carolina needs - a progressive consensus builder with an eye to the future of Western North Carolina. If you want to get more involved with Andy's campaign, the best way to do it is at the Andy Ball for Boone canvass this Saturday. If you're on facebook, you can learn more about it here.

Sample Endorsement Application Answer from Andy Ball:

Why are you a viable candidate?

I have been a fixture in local service organizations and civic groups for several years. I have experience at the county level managing a commission race and leading issue canvassing in rural areas. I have experience at Appalachian State University on SGA Cabinet, in housing as an RA and service on three University Committees. I have experience in town on the Boone Board of Adjustment hearing requests for permits and variances to our Unified Development Ordinance along with local community service experience. I am known, I am a fresh face, and I have proven my dedication to Boone through the above involvement.

Farm Team Endorsed Candidate Gordon Smith is running for Asheville City Council. He finished second in the October 6 Primary in Asheville, and is also running against six others for three spots. If any 2009 campaign is the spiritual successor to Obama's field operation, it's Gordon Smith's campaign. Through tireless campaigning, doorknocking, and good old-fashioned politicking, Gordon has demonstrated the kind of work ethic that Asheville deserves.

Sample Endorsement Application Answer from Gordon Smith:

If elected, why will you be a good public servant?

I’ve been in public service all of my adult life. My skill set is one of collaboration, problem solving, and seeing the big picture.

As a student at Warren Wilson College, I led a reading program for third graders at Black Mountain Elementary School. After graduating from WWC I served for two years with the Brethren Volunteer Service doing community reconciliation work with Protestant and Catholic teens in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After my return I was an environmental educator and the Director for an after-school program for children with mental illness. In 1999 I returned to western North Carolina to pursue my graduate degree in Counseling, and I’ve been a practicing Child and Family Therapist ever since working with people across the socioeconomic spectrum to achieve change in their lives. I now serve on the Buncombe County / Asheville City Homelessness Advisory Board and am charged with helping to implement our city’s 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.

I have good relationships with all the members of the current City Council as well as with most of the current County Commission. I am well acquainted with the workings of our municipal government, and I am exceedingly patient.

Farm Team Endorsed Candidate James Taylor is a 28-year running for Winston-Salem City Council in the Southeast Ward. His second-place finish in the September 15th Democratic Primary was strong enough to force a runoff, which James subsequently won on October 6. Making the runoff turned heads in Winston-Salem, but with his most recent win he has established himself as a future leader. He needs your help as he faces his well-funded Republican opponent.

Sample Endorsement Application Answer from James Taylor:

If elected, why would you be a good public servant?

I have always operated on the premise that one of the most key elements to being a good public servant is to be accountable to the citizens in your ward, and in your city. As Councilman of the Southeast ward I intend to make sure that the citizens are informed on the issues, and that there is transparency in our city government. In order to be a good public servant I will work to ensure that the voice of the people is being heard, that our communities are prosperous, and that our neighborhoods are safe. The combination of these elements all help to shape a good public servant.

Farm Team Endorsed Candidate Mark Kleinschmidt can't accept PAC money as a participant in Chapel Hill's voter-owned elections program, but he still needs your help as the only progressive candidate for Mayor. If you live in Chapel Hill, you can contribute up to $20 to the campaign (for more information visit this page on Mark's website). Even if you aren't a Chapel Hill resident, you can put your shoes on the ground and canvass. If you've got friends or kids at UNC, make sure they go out and vote!

Sample Endorsement Application Answer from Mark Kleinschmidt:

What makes you a future leader for North Carolina?

As the only candidate under 40 in this race and the only alumus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am also the only candidate who has the experience of both leading our community as chair of our Council's Economic Development Committee and our Communications Committee and am known by my colleagues as the conscience of the Council. I am uniquely positioned to serve as a voice for voters young and old, for students and businesspersons alike, in a way that is necessary to lead a town as diverse as Chapel Hill. I also have extensive experience working on state-level issues. My work on the Racial Justice Act in the State Legislature, LGBT equality, progressive transportation policy and stronger environmental regulation only furthers this big tent approach of representing everyone in our Town. I have and will continue to fight for the welfare of our Town employees or strive to increase alternative transportation options including improved bicylce and pedestrian facilities. The opportunity to lead the Town of Chapel Hill would only strengthen my voice and my ability to lead on these important issues.

If you haven't been able to support us yet, please contribute to keep the Democratic bench strong and deep. The strength of these candidates runs deeper than their commitment to our Democratic values. They deserve your support to due how they embrace basic American principles: open, accountable government; hard work; equality; and the duty of public service.

This is your last chance for 2009. This is the deadline. Elect a great new generation of Democratic leaders with your contribution to the Grassroots Farm Team.

Reach us at @NCFarmTeam on twitter, on our Facebook Fan Page, or by e-mail at NCFarmTeam@gmail.com.