Wednesday, November 5, 2008
To My Supporters:
We all worked very hard, but in the end, we did not make it. On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the voting citizens of the 171st Legislative District of the Pennsylvania General Assembly reelected Kerry Benninghoff to his seventh term. The unofficial/not-certified count gave me 11,068 or 35.6% of the total vote. In Centre County, I took 10,581 or 37.6% of the vote. This is the second best voter turnout for the Democratic candidate in Centre County since Kerry first won in 1996. In 1996, Centre County Commissioner Keith Bierly came in second with 38.8% of the vote in Centre County (records are not available online prior to 2000 for Mifflin County).
First and foremost, thanks to everyone who came out and voted. You are what make a democracy work. And thank you to Joe and Kenneth. Your support during the campaign was wonderful. And now maybe I’ll be home in the evenings to have dinner with you!
We did VERY well in State College thanks to the hard work of the College Democrats and the people in the State College Democratic office, particularly Sean Meloy and Jared DeLoof as well as all of the students who came out for President-Elect Barack Obama and a need for change. I won State College with 5,138 or 58.0% of the vote. Lines lasted up to three hours outside St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and at the HUB with students and local residents patiently waiting to vote. This engagement with our political system is highly commendable. Thank you! Here’s a picture of the line at St. Paul’s at 9:00 am. At about 11:30 am this line went from the front to the back of the building, out the door, and around more than half of the building.
Thanks to both of my Campaign Managers – Mary Vollero in the Primary and Teresa Welch in the General – and to my Treasurer Mary D. Watson for all their hard work and effort to help unseat Kerry. Thanks also to my webmaster Audrey Glickman, my parade coordinator and scheduler Jean Slear, my driver Linda Jacka-Frantz, and my mentor Lois Herr (Executive Director of the Lancaster County Democrats and former candidate for the U.S. Congress). Thanks also to Vicky Triponey, Jayson Harpster, Teresa Welch and Jared DeLoof for all the work they did in coordinating GOTV activities and the volunteers in the Bellefonte Area and in the Penns Valley during the last month before elections. Sharing space, working together, and getting the vote out for Barack, our Congressional candidate Mark McCracken, and both House Candidates (myself and Mike Hanna) ran smoothly as a result of all your work.
Also thanks to the unions and other endorsers who put their people on the ground and their mailers out to your union households. These include:
PAC Endorsements
• AFSCME Council 13
• Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties
• Communications Workers of America
• EMILY's List
• Feminist Majority Political Action Committee
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Works, Local 5
• International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen Local No 5
• Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
• Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women
• Pennsylvania National Organization for Women - PA NOW PAC
• Pennsylvania Women's Campaign Fund
• SEIU Pennsylvania State Council
• Progressive Majority
• United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 Executive Board
• Women's Campaign Forum
Testimonials
• Barbara Hafer, Pennsylvania State Treasurer (1997-2005) and Auditor General (1989-1997)
• Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll
• Sean Meloy, President, PSU College Democrats
• Peter Morris, State College Borough Council Member
• Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director, Health Care for All Pennsylvania
• Alan Sandals, Philadelphia pension rights lawyer and candidate in Pennsylvania's 2006 Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate
And finally thank you to all my friends and financial supporters. Your kind words and support over the last 11 months are incalculable.
THANK YOU ONE AND ALL. We all worked hard. We did everything we were supposed to do. We’ll continue the fight for equality, justice, and fairness for all.
Caring for our families, our health, our jobs, our homes.
Welcome to Joanne Tosti-Vasey's 2008 Campaign Website. Thank you for visiting.
"As an active citizen in the 171st District, I look forward to earning
your trust and representing you in the Pennsylvania General Assembly."
Please peruse the site, and feel free to contact me about any issues important to you. Of course, we are always eager to hear from volunteers and contributors, too.
Please remember to register to vote,
verify your polling place, and vote! The general election will be on November 4, 2008.
Once you have taken in our site, a link to the League of Women Voters' handy ballot lookup link is here.
Listen to our radio spots!
