Grassroots Farm Team

After a successful primary season that saw all three of our endorsed candidates successful, the Grassroots Farm Team PAC is back with a fresh round of endorsements, highlighting great young candidates from across North Carolina.

First we want to congratulate D. Cole Phelps on his primary win for Washington County Commissioner. He doesn't face a general election opponent and we're excited about seeing Commissioner Phelps next year!

In addition to continuing to support Drew Reisinger and Bill Luton, who were both endorsed in the spring and face Republican opposition in November, the Farm Team has chosen to endorse Phil Feagan, Jenifer Bubenik and Danielle Adams.

What does the North Carolina Democratic Party stand for?

After being in power for a hundred years, the last two have felt like a whirlwind. Republicans are moving (backwards) on a number of different fronts and they are doing it quickly. After a hundred years of sitting on the bench they knew exactly what they wanted; Amendment One, Women’s Right To Know, Fracking, dismantle public education, etc. Even if what they stand for is hate, sexism and shortsightedness, they at least stand FOR something.

On the other hand, for the last two years Democrats have been pushed against a wall. All we can do is try to slow down the attacks to public education, women’s rights, the environment, ec. The biggest thing in the Governor’s budget? A temporary extension of a sales (read: regressive) tax hike...not exactly New Deal stuff.

Wanted to share a story written by a great YD, Tucker Middleton, about another great YD, D. Cole Phelps.

Phelps’ hard work and commitment paid off. In an 894-vote primary for the Democratic nomination for Washington County Commissioner, Phelps received 558 votes, equating to 62.42 percent, to challenger Mike Martin’s 336 votes, 37.58 percent. Phelps still has to win on the November general election ballot, but he’s confident in his chances — he has no Republican challenger, and therefore he will be the only candidate on the ballot for commissioner.

[Lee] Storrow said the Farm Team quickly recognized Phelps’ energy and enthusiasm as a young candidate and were “excited about Cole’s election because he has strong connections to the Washington County community.”

First off, congratulations to all the candidates, staff and volunteers who poured their hearts into these primary elections. Democracy is about choice and we need more people to run for office and more folks engaged in the political process.

Seeing the constitutional amendment pass was disappointing for all of us in the progressive community, ultimately it was a bridge too far. That said, President Obama’s statement today is a step in the right direction and, in time, we will prove Thom Tillis right.

Also want to take a moment and talk about how young candidates running last night fared.

We are proud to say that all three Farm Team endorsed candidates won (or were unopposed) last night, so congratulations to D. Cole Phelps, Drew Reisinger and Bill Luton!

Early vote is well underway and we just wanted to give a brief update of what’s been going on and let you know about some of the great young candidates out there.

If you missed it, check out President Obama's appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show, filmed on UNC's campus! He gave a policy speech on student loans and the mounting debt that the Republicans want to make worse.

The Grassroots Farm Team is thrilled to announce our final endorsement before the May 8th primary, D. Cole Phelps for Washington County Commissioners. Many of you know Cole, who is a vice-chair in the 1st Congressional District Democratic Party and is finishing up law school at NC Central University. He's jumped into this campaign headfirst and his small army of volunteers have already knocked on every door in the district - and are going to do it again before the primary!

We're excited to see Cole bring his experiences and perspective back to Washington County to address some of the serious challenges the county faces.

I’m sure many of you followed the Democratic primary election in Illinois 10th congressional district where, last week, newcomer and progressive darling Ilya Sheyman lost to the establishment favorite, Brad Schneider. Sheyman, who had heavy support from MoveOn.org and other progressive groups, chose to run for U.S. Congress at the earliest age he could, 25. Despite a massive volunteer edge, more money and optimistic polling, Sheyman lost and left the progressive community wondering, “What happened?”

The Grassroots Farm Team is trilled to announce our first endorsements of the 2012 election season. Drew Reisinger and Bill Luton are both impressive young leaders who have used their offices to better their community and foster a more open and transparent government. We strongly endorse both Luton and Reisinger and are confident they will be leaders in NC for years to come.

In the next two weeks the Grassroots Farm Team will make our first endorsements of 2012. I want to take a moment and lay out the criteria on which we are endorsing so folks in the BlueNC community and supporters of the Farm Team understand the process.

The first time I heard Sam Spencer talk about his idea for the Grassroots Farm Team it was December of 2008 at a meeting of a few young activists at Caribou Coffee in Chapel Hill. Sam was pitching his vision for electing a new generation of leaders and while bench strength resonated with me I had some skepticism about the intrinsic value of young politicians. I knew if we wanted people to give time and resources to this cause we needed to articulate the value our generation brought to the table.