Emerge Maine

Portland, ME- Democratic women are lining up to run for office in Maine and Wisconsin in order to take back their states in 2012.  Fed up with the rush of eerily similar radical legislation from the new Tea Party majorities in both states - highlighted this week on the Rachel Maddow Show - they are training with Emerge to run for office and win.

"Instead of seeing common-sense solutions to issues like jobs, the economy and education we see rollbacks of child labor laws, debates over murals, and a weakening of services for our most vulnerable citizens.  Emerge trains women to run for office, and we are hearing from women in Maine and Wisconsin stepping up to run for office to take back their state in the next election cycle.  Emerge is happy to help prepare Democrats with our training and expertise," says Karen Middleton, president of Emerge America.

Republicans who control the legislature in Maine and Wisconsin have focused on the same playbook of destructive legislative goals. They have loosened child labor laws and made it much harder to vote, detrimentally marginalizing certain demographics.  In Wisconsin, the legislature is currently attempting to force the Walker budget through with language that will strip away collective bargaining rights.  The same was attempted in Maine this legislative session.

"Our 7th class is filling up fast with Democratic women seeking to learn the skills to run and win next year," according to Katie Mae Simpson, Emerge Maine Executive Director,  "Not only do we train women to run for office and teach them how to be effective public servants, we now have a strong alumnae support system in place to back them up. Emerge Maine is eager to be part of the Democratic solution, by recruiting and training more women to run in the upcoming 2012 election cycle."

The program, which has graduated such figures as Maine State Representatives Diane Russell and Anne Graham, gives women the tools, the networks and the confidence that will have them ready to run in the 2012 elections.

In direct response to the divisive overreach of the Republican party in both states, the Emerge Maine and Emerge Wisconsin training programs for Democratic women candidates have been fast-tracked and moved up from 2012 to September 2011. This will allow Emerge graduates extra time to construct the foundation for winning campaigns.

Launched in 2002, Emerge America was created to address the under-representation of women in office at the local, state, and federal level.  Our program is the essential step for Democratic women who want to run for public office.  It is the only in-depth, seven-month training program that inspires candidates to run and gives them the tools to win.  There are Emerge programs in nine states: Arizona, California, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin.