OH House-46: Help Darlene Dunn Kick-Start Her Campaign

Today is the cut-off for the Post-Primary Election Campaign Finance Report for Ohio House candidates, and I have written previously about the importance of making donations to Democratic challengers and open seat candidates in key targeted races before midnight tonight. These candidates need to report positive numbers in order to generate momentum and set a benchmark for fundraising and other support as their campaigns go forward. And remember, you can take a credit of $50.00 ($100.00 for married couples filing jointly) on next year's state income tax return for donations that you make now, so it basically costs you nothing.

Attorney Darlene Dunn (D-Sylvania Twp) is another promising candidates in a key swing district who deserves our support. I published an introductory interview with Ms. Dunn in January after meeting her at RootsCamp, and recently described her race against newly appointed State Rep. Barbara Sears (R-Sylvania) in my roundup of top races. She now has an online donation link and I encourage readers to join me in supporting her.

Ms. Dunn ran a competitive race for this seat previously and is committed to winning and helping to get the district's economy back on track, as she indicates in this message today:

It is imperative that we revitalize Ohio's economy. Our region traditionally had a primary concentration in manufacturing especially in automobile assembly and parts production. We have been hit hard with layoffs and plant closings. In Northwest Ohio we are attempting to reinvent our area as an emerging market for solar energy. Our area includes First Solar which is the world's largest producer of thin film solar panels and the University of Toledo's Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator. This is a start but I will work to bring jobs to our area by promoting wind power, specifically by manufacturing wind turbines in our area. The auto industry has left us a skilled workforce who with some retraining are able and wanting to work. We also have many closed plants and facilities ripe to reopen as "clean energy" plants.

Ms. Dunn is painfully aware of the exodus of younger people from Ohio and is determined to reverse it:

People talk about a "brain drain" here as a result of so many of our young people leaving this area to search for better economic opportunities. We not only need to revitalize this area to keep people from leaving but we need to bring back the people who left by providing better economic opportunities.

She is also very strong on education and energy policy:

Along with working on restoring and creating good paying jobs for our citizens, it is critical that we work on funding quality public education. We must strive for an educational system which gives marketable skills to our youth and retrains our workforce who have lost automobile related manufacturing jobs. We need to invest in education that provides the skills necessary for high tech jobs.

As your state representative I will work to get Governor Strickland's proposed energy plan passed. It breezed through the Senate in October of 2007 but has been stuck in the House since. Indeed with the current crop of Republican officeholders too many good ideas are stuck in committees. I am tired of the Republican controlled Assembly lacking leadership and insight in solving the many problems we should be addressing. Are you?

This is an excellent candidate in a winnable district and she needs our support today to get her campaign off to a strong start.