Jerry McNerney's website

Huge turnouts at Tri Valley and Stockton Office Openings

In the past 2 weeks we have officially opened both our Stockton and Tri Valley campaign offices, with wonderful responses from the community. Both openings boasted great numbers of both new and returning faces, all equally dedicated to helping Jerry fight off attacks from right-wing groups poised to dump millions into this race.

Jerry did a great job as always, pumping up the crowds and meeting with constituents one-on-one to listen to their thoughts about how we can turn this country around. For me, it was a great reminder of why I work so hard here in the office--because I truly believe that Congressman McNerney is the best fit for our district and will keep us going, as a district and a country, in the right direction.

An especially touching moment on Saturday was when Jerry brought up his wife Mary to thank her for all her hard work and support as well. She works just as hard as the rest of us!

It was an inspiring afternoon, especially for some of our younger volunteers--many working on their first campaign and voting for the first time this coming November. We have a great crew of young, energetic volunteers and interns who just can't wait to hit the doors and talk to their neighbors about all the great things Jerry has done in Congress.

We'll host many more events in our offices, with the next one, our July Day of Action, on July 12th. Please let us know if you can stop by to help out!

Thank you for making our office openings such great successes!

Doug Greven
Field Director

PS--don't forget to let us know if you can come to our next Day of Action on July 12, or if you can volunteer in either of our offices! More pictures from the office opening below, and even more will be posted on our website soon!

Supreme Court Allows Unlimited Self Funding in Campaigns

I had to write you all right away with breaking news about campaign finance law.  Today, the Supreme Court of Bush appointees ruled that the "Millionaire's Amendment" of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act is unconstitutional.

What does this mean for America's elections?  It means there is no protection for the average American against those who can afford to "buy" an election.

The Millionaire's Amendment was enacted by Congress to create a level playing field against a candidate who made the choice to self-fund his or her campaign.  In that case, the opponent was permitted to raise more money from supporters to give them a fair opportunity to compete.

Our Congressman Jerry McNerney is not a millionaire.  When choosing his career, he passed on a high-dollar job with an oil company to join the fledgling renewable energy industry.  His choice contributed to saving the equivalent of about 30 million barrels of oil, or 8.3 million tons of carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas - as well as other harmful pollutants. 

He told me a story once about how easy it was to make this choice.  He went to Texas to interview with a company and as soon as he stepped off the plane he could smell and taste the oil and pollution from the nearby refinery, he thought, 'I can't do this, this is not the world I want my kids to grow up in.'

Jerry made it to Congress through hard work and broad-based grassroots support from over 16,000 individual contributors - with the overwhelming majority donating less than $50.

At the beginning of June, we launched a challenge to you - $50,000 by June 30th.  We have been awed by your response.  In just a few days, more than $30,000 in small donations has come in to meet that challenge, and we thank you.

Conservative court rulings like this put regular folks like Jerry at risk.  In my years working on campaigns, I have seen what can happen to good people who put everything they have at risk to run for office and serve their country when their wealthy opponent chooses to "exercise" their free speech by throwing their millions into the campaign.  Before I started working for Jerry, I heard a story about how he put everything on the line - even taking a second mortgage on his house - so he could run against corrupt Richard Pombo.

I hope you'll consider giving a donation to our campaign today.  We need $20,000 more to meet our June challenge - money we're using toward our grassroots field campaign to talk to voters one on one about the real issues affecting their lives.  We need regular folks, just like you, me, and Jerry, to take America in a new direction. 

Thank you,


Robbyn Umland

Finance Director

McNerney For Congress

Featured Volunteers: Bill & Penny Evans

Bill and Penny Evans have been with the Congressman since Day One.            

It was in May 2004, after returning from a month teaching English to children in Poland, that retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bill Evans contacted the McNerney home to lend his support to the campaign. Mary McNerney answered the phone, and the friendship began. During the past four years, the Evanses have lent their support in a multitude of ways: Penny creates tote bags for our volunteers to use during their precinct walks, and Bill was integral in starting the successful Veterans for McNerney effort.  Together they collected more than 200 nomination signatures over the years. The Evanses are part of the family, always willing to do whatever is needed to help spread the Congressman's message.

Volunteers like the Evanses are the heart and soul of our campaign. Their energy in the office is absolutely contagious, and we know our campaign wouldn't be nearly as successful without their support and friendship.

Join Us This Saturday in Stockton!

Join the Congressman in Stockton at our Grand Opening Celebration!

Our Stockton Office Grand Opening is this weekend-and we'd like to invite you to our open house to celebrate and rev up for the tough fight ahead.

Join us for a celebration and to show the Congressman that you are ready to fight back!

WHAT: Stockton Office Grand Opening
WHEN: Saturday, June 21, 3-5pm
WHERE: 5635 Stratford Circle, Suite 1, Stockton
(just off W Robinhood Drive, between Pershing and Pacific)
QUESTIONS: Call Katie at 209-952-3132         

Please let us know if you can come to the open house! If you can't make it (or even if you can), help us reach our goal of raising $50,000 by June 30th so we can continue to fight and spread the Congressman's message!

Help us raise $50,000 by June 30!

Our opponent and his shadowy DC Republican friends are launching an all-out attack to take this seat, and we are doing everything we can to fight back.

Please help us reach our goal of raising $50,000 by June 30.

TIME.com just ranked us in the top 10 House races this fall, and Freedom's Watch (the group that brought you smears about Jerry's stance on national security and Iraq) are back, launching a new series of robocalls in the district--and have budgeted $200 million to dump into races this fall.

With your help, we can stand up to these groups and spread the truth to our friends and neighbors. Please contribute $55, $40, or whatever you can to tell these groups we will not listen to their lies!

McNerney holds Economic Summit in Brentwood

Recently, Congressman McNerney convened an economic summit in Brentwood with local transportation, education, agriculture and business development leaders to discuss opportunities and ways to spur economic growth there.

Here's what the Contra Costa Times had to say:

East Bay leaders touted eastern Contra Costa County's economic potential — and pondered the challenges that jeopardize the region — during a gathering of political and business officials on Tuesday.

Convened by Democrat Rep. Jerry McNerney, an East Bay congressman, the 2008 Brentwood Economic Summit suggested that the east Contra Costa area's economy has a lot to offer and great prospects for expansion. Some attendees also believe East County can harvest considerable synergy with adjacent regions such as Alameda County and San Joaquin County.

"Hang on to your hats," McNerney, whose district includes portions of all three counties, said during the conference in Brentwood. "This area is going to take off."

"What a great event," McNerney said. “We got some synergy going, got people with good ideas connected to each other. We got the conversation started.”

Read the rest of the Contra Costa Times story here.

Also, check out what the Brentwood Press had to say about the event.

Featured Volunteer: Diane Ravnick

Diane Ravnik has been more than a volunteer for the McNerney campaign.  She is a perfect example of what drives the campaign. She has done just about every job possible to aid Congressman McNerney's reelection.  From making calls to walking door to door in Pleasanton to even opening her home to a staffer who needed a place to stay, there is just one word to describe Diane: indispensable. From the entire McNerney staff, thank you Diane!

Join us on June 14

On Saturday, June 14, we are holding a huge district-wide Day of Action!

We’ll be hitting the streets all over the district to talk to voters about Jerry McNerney.  We’re meeting at 10 a.m. in Lodi, Manteca, Morgan Hill, Pleasanton, Stockton and Tracy.

Can you join us?

Click here to visit JerryMcNerney.org and let us know if you can help out.

Getting out the grassroots is how we’re going to win this race: neighbors talking to neighbors, friends chatting with friends, and family members speaking to other family members.

Will you join us?