VaDWC Sponsors Candidate for Workshop for Women Candidates

The National Women's Political Caucus, in conjunction with the League of Women Voters of Virginia and Virginia NOW, held a workshop for women candidates and their advisors in Norfolk on March 24 - 25, 2007. The Women's Caucus of the Virginia Democratic Party was a sponsor of the workshop and offered a scholarship to one of our members to attend.

Maureen Markham, Third Vice chair of the Caucus managed the competitive selection process. To publicize the availability of the scholarship an email inviting applications was sent to the membership list of the caucus, announcements were made at public events, and Maureen personally spoke to many women candidates to inform them of the training and the scholarship. Executive Board member Sue Taylor served on the selection committee.

The committee recommended that the scholarship be awarded to Jeanette Rishell, a strong candidate for the House of Delegates 50th District (Manassas). Jeanette attended the training, and we hope it helps to push her into the Winner's Circle!

Read More to see Jeanette's Letter!

Dear Rachel, Maureen and Members of the Democratic Women's Caucus:

I want to thank you again for sponsoring my attendance at the "Running to Win" workshop in Norfolk. It was a positive learning experience, and covered topics such as Media Relations, GOTV, State Elections Laws and Budgeting. It was particular helpful to hear the experiences of women who were successfully elected to office. The women were: Daun Hester, Councilwoman from City of Norfolk; Sharon McDonald, Commissioner of the Revenue from City of Norfolk; Delegate Paula Miller from the 87 th District; and Delegate Terri Suit from the 81st District.

I received useful advice about presentation of self "at the door" from Councilwoman Daun Hester, and from Eric Payne, a political consultant who had worked on Delegate Paula Miller's campaign. It was very helpful to speak with both of them. Daun had run several times before she was successfully elected. So she understood my concerns about a difference in approach between speaking to a voter for the first time, and the approach to a voter that had already been contacted in a previous election cycle canvass. Eric mentioned the possible availability of VAN data indicating precisely which individuals were contacted and perhaps even pinpointing the issues they mentioned.

The presentation by the Internet Media Consultant pointed out the increasing power of the Internet, and it's importance as an indispensable part of any campaign.

I certainly increased my knowledge regarding political mapping. I lacked a familiarity with this profession's degree of sophistication to produce both current and historical voting pattern maps. It was interesting to note that it is possible to overlay media market with current voting patterns to assist a campaign to efficiently direct resources through detailed targeting.
We received practical fund raising tips from Karen Kolber, and I found very interesting her explanation of surrogates and expanding the donor base.

I was very impressed with the professional and realistic media interviews that were conducted. All those interested were given a 10 minute scheduled interview. The setting was complete with camera operator and interviewer asking the types of questions one would be confronted with in a campaign. I look forward to obtaining a copy of my interview so that I may review and critique my performance.

The Virginia Democratic Women's Caucus is to be commended for offering these opportunities and for providing the leadership that will help to elect more women in the Commonwealth, and will strengthen the Democratic Party in Virginia. Again, I am deeply grateful for your sponsorship.

Best Regards, Jeanette