By: Josh Maxwell, Mayor of Downingtown
On January 4, at the age of 26, I was inaugurated as the youngest-ever Mayor of Downingtown right here in Chester County. I might not be Mayor of Downingtown without the help of Doug Pike.
When I was inaugurated, I knew that I could get a great deal accomplished for Downingtown, but 2 months earlier on Election Day, we were not certain of victory. Our campaign had been outspent by a 3-to-1 margin in a borough that historically leans Republican. I worked long hours alongside a great team of volunteers for months leading up to Election Day. All that we had left to do was get our voters to the polls.
We set up our phone bank where volunteers called voters, reminding them to get out and vote. With about 4 hours left before polls closed, Doug Pike and two of his campaign staff walked in and said, “How can we help? Put us to work.” They spent the next 4 hours calling hundreds of voters until polls closed.
When the night was over, we won by only 48 votes. Doug and his team’s hard work was the difference between winning and losing. I will always remember his generous help and advice during our successful 2009 campaign.
In a few months, we Democrats will go to the polls to choose our nominee for Congress here in the 6th Congressional District. We need to nominate the candidate we can depend on to represent our values in Washington, and the candidate who can beat Jim Gerlach. That candidate is Doug Pike.
In more than 30 years as a journalist and now as a candidate, Doug has been a champion for the progressive ideals that make us Democrats: health care for all, a woman’s right to choose, increases in the minimum wage, and better benefits for the unemployed.
Six years before running for public office, Doug wrote this in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Americans are buzzing again about the health-care mess. Double-digit hikes in the cost of coverage. Companies making employees pay more out-of-pocket. Workers worried about losing benefits — and paychecks — in a layoff.
“Most urgent of all, at least 41 million Americans don’t have the key to decent care: health insurance. Many of them hesitate to see a doctor; some cut pills in half or go without them. Each knows that a serious illness could be a financial catastrophe.
“So the foundation of health-care reform should be to expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.”
Doug Pike is the type of Democrat who we can depend on in tough fights against the special interests in Washington, and, God knows, we need a representative we can depend on to fight for us.
Doug is the best candidate to face the Republican candidate in November for two important reasons. First, he has decades of experience of fighting to change the way business is done in Washington. In 14 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, he crusaded against waste and corruption in Washington. Second, Doug is the only Democratic candidate who has put together the broad support and the financial resources necessary to win in November. At the end of 2009, Doug’s campaign had over $1.1 million in the bank, more than 1,300 grassroots contributions, and the support of 14 labor unions.
I encourage all residents of the 6th Congressional District to join me in supporting Doug Pike for Congress.
Tags: Doug Pike
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