Putting your people power into action

I have some great news for our grassroots and netroots community.

When I asked you to dig deep to help our campaign reach a crucial $300,000 fundraising goal by the March 31 Federal Election Commission deadline, I was overwhelmed by your outpouring of support.

Just as Karl Rove's cronies at the National Republican Congressional Committee launched a Swift Boat-style web site smearing me, you responded by raising over $347,000 by the end of the quarter, showing Rove's Republicans that "when they attack, we fight back." Your generosity did not go unnoticed. The day after we posted our FEC report, local press reports heralded our -- as one reporter described it -- "€œeye-opening"€ fundraising success.

Your response to the NRCC attack has made it possible for our people-powered campaign to put boots on the ground far earlier than planned.

Today, I am thrilled to announce that we are hiring Martha Gamez as our new Grassroots Coordinator, centrally located in San Joaquin County. As many of you know, Martha directed our field campaign in Tracy and Mountain House in 2006, managing and recruiting hundreds of volunteers who canvassed thousands of voters.

Talking with Judy and Sean, McNerney for Congress precinct walkers, at Martha's house in Tracy

I am bringing Martha on-board early in this election cycle because of her unique ability to recruit, mobilize, and organize our grassroots supporters, as she demonstrated so impressively when she helped elect me to Congress last year. Martha’s laser-beam focus on channeling volunteers to engage voters in Tracy and Mountain House yielded remarkable results in 2006. In Tracy, former Congressman Richard Pombo's home town, we garnered an amazing 57% of the vote.

The results in Mountain House were even more impressive. In a town with 44% registered Democrats, I received 64% of the vote. Martha recognized early on that large numbers of likely voters had recently moved into Mountain House, a relatively newly planned "€œexurban"€ community, but that very few people had actually re-registered to vote. Recognizing that this could be ground zero in our campaign for change, Martha made it our mission to increase voter registration in Mountain House and get out those crucial votes on Election Day.

As one supporter wrote about Martha after walking precincts in Tracy one day:

"€œI can't think of a more pure expression of renewed grassroots citizen involvement and revitalization of our democracy than what Martha Gamez is doing in her home town."€

Of course, you are at the heart of this “revitalization of our democracy,” providing the generous contributions and priceless volunteer time that will help Martha Gamez continue to organize, mobilize, and inspire our grassroots volunteers across the 11th Congressional District.

As I've said so many times before, without your ongoing support and commitment, none of this would be remotely possible.

Thank you, again, for everything you continue to do.