Kathy Paur paur@fas.harvard.edu <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~paur">I</a> believe a critical mass of progressive women in congress will lead to pro-woman and pro-family legislation enabling women of all socioeconomic statuses to <ul> <li>Balance career and family life. </li><li>Be paid and recognized equally for their work. </li><li>Maintain control over their lives, whether as teenagers facing life choices or as retired pensionless homemakers.</li></ul> These eight Democratic women are strong candidates running in the closest races -- and I think their campaigns are some of the best strategic uses of your dollars this election season. Please contribute to these candidates if you can -- I&#39;d really appreciate it, and I believe women everywhere will be better off when we succeed in putting strong women in power. Thanks so much! P.S. I&#39;ve written more about my thoughts on women in politics in this <a href="http://www.bopnews.com/archives/001067.html">article</a>. <i>[page updated 14 September to reflect new race forecasts -- in good news, I&#39;ve removed Darlene Hooley because she&#39;s been moved up to Favored, and I&#39;ve added Patty Wetterling, who&#39;s moved from Underdog to Close-Lean-R]</i> public true 4296.01 54 Betty Castor false FL-Sen castor 4800.00 34186.18 1208 http://www.bettynet.com/site/PageServer https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/270 557.00 39 Betty Castor is former President of the University of Florida, two-term education commissioner, and three-term state senator. She started her working life as a teacher in East Africa, and later created the nationally recognized Healthy Kids initiative, insuring 300,000 Florida children. With Florida sure to be the site of an expensive Republican offensive at every level, Castor needs your dollars to take over Bob Graham&apos;s seat. Patty Murray false WA-Sen murray 4800.00 2070.45 108 http://www.pattymurray.com/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/296 587.00 42 Patty Murray is my kind of senator. She got her start in politics by mobilizing 13,000 parents to save the Washington pre-school program in which she taught from budget cuts. After stints on the school board and state Senate, she was elected a U.S. senator in 1992. She has continued her leadership in education, sponsoring legislation that hired 100,000 new teachers, expanded Head Start, and improved teacher training. Equally importantly, Murray has been a staunch and vocal supporter of women&apos;s rights, fighting for womens&apos; right to choose every time, but also working for equal pay, more accessible childcare, and protections for women in retirement. Because of her proud progressive stance on womens&apos; rights and because Washington is viewed as a swing state, the Republicans will be spending enormous sums to unseat Murray. Please help her continue to lead women in our fight for equality. Inez Tenenbaum false SC-Sen tenenbaum 4800.00 26761.78 1132 http://www.inez2004.com https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/292 622.00 41 With a spectacular record as South Carolina&apos;s superintendent of public schools, Inez Tenenbaum also brings to this election a strong commitment to the environment and women&apos;s reproductive rights, and a formidable plan for returning jobs and public safety to her state. Under Tenenbaum&apos;s leadership, South Carolina students are improving their SAT scores at the fastest rate in the nation, more children are testing ready for school than ever before in the state’s history, and a record number of South Carolina teachers have achieved National Board certification. Stephanie Herseth false SD-01 herseth 4800.00 2927.50 54 http://www.hersethforcongress.org/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/223 580.00 36 Stephanie Herseth is a rising young leader and dynamic speaker who works tirelessly for South Dakota&apos;s families and way of life. She is deeply committed to high-quality, accessible health care and education, and works closely with her constituents to understand how congressional decisions really impact their lives. Herseth came to office after a special election in June, but she needs funding to keep her seat in this heavily Republican state this November. Lois Murphy false PA-06 murphy 4800.00 45041.70 1357 http://www.loismurphy.org https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/216 495.00 35 Lois Murphy has served as in-house counsel to NARAL Pro-Choice America and as President of NARAL Pro-choice Pennsylvania. She is committed to fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act, creating economic growth through fiscal responsibility, and providing badly needed funding for homeland security stateside. The Republicans will be spending lots of money in this district in their efforts to keep Pennsylvania in play. Ginny Schrader false PA-08 schrader 4800.00 89765.01 2161 http://www.ginnyschrader.com/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/217 345.00 28 Ginny Schrader&apos;s story is awfully exciting -- in mid-July, she was regarded as a token challenger to moderate, pro-choice incumbent Jim Greenwood (R). Then Greenwood announced he was retiring, and Schrader suddenly had a chance in this Democratic district -- she raised $30,000 in the 48 hours following his announcement. She&apos;s been raising money steadily ever since, and she needs your contributions to get up to speed. Allyson Schwartz false PA-13 schwartz 4800.00 1869.08 95 http://www.allysonschwartz.com/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/218 475.00 31 Allyson Schwartz founded Philadelphia&apos;s first women&apos;s health center in 1975 and is the acknowledged education policy expert in the Pennsylvania Senate, in which she has served since 1991. Schwartz faces mudslinging opposition from a wealthy opponent who spent nearly $1 million of her own money trying (and failing) to win this seat in 2002 and whose well-known taste for dirty campaigning won the Philadelphia Inquirer&apos;s &quot;Sleazy&quot; award. In addition, the Republicans are focusing their energies at all levels of Pennsylvania elections, trying to halt leftward political trends there. Patty Wetterling false MN-06 wetterling 4800.00 7128.00 314 http://pattywetterling.com/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/165 505.01 29 Patty Wetterling&apos;s activism began in 1989 when her son Jacob, then 11 years old, was abducted by a masked gunman. She has fought tirelessly since then to enact tough legislation protecting children and to educate lawmakers, law enforcers, parents, and community leaders about child abduction and exploitation. Her <a href="http://pattywetterling.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7bE1A70CEB-227D-4C5C-B212-43AE5A8258E0%7d">myriad successes</a> range from the 1994 passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Sex Offender Registration Act in Minnesota to the national implementation of the Amber Alert system that helps find missing children. A junior high math teacher, Wetterling is committed to rewriting the No Child Left Behind Act to include more reasonable approaches to improving schools and to making higher education more affordable. She also brings to the race a well-reasoned plan to boost working class families and bring the ballooning budget under control.