Open Letter from Mary Jo Kilroy

Received this in the mailbag yesterday:

Dear Friends:

As I sit here thinking about the challenges still facing our country – global warming, deficit reduction, healthcare for every American and, the situation in Iraq – I understand more than ever that we need change in our representation in Congress.
Deborah Pryce, for all her rhetoric about hearing her constituents and learning from the narrow margin by which she held her seat, has heeded not one lesson from the 2006 election. She has remained out of touch with the interests of her constituents in Central Ohio by voting against the Fair Minimum wage Act, Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act and The Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act. She continues to be an uncritical supporter of President Bush's escalation of the war in Iraq.

This is why, after much thought and consideration, I have decided to continue my campaign for Congress in Ohio 's 15th District in 2008.

Our Democratic majority needs to be protected and expanded, and Ohio's 15th District is a prime target for doing so. After 2006, my opponent is no longer one of the Republican congressional leaders and no longer in the majority. Now is time to send her home. This is even more critical – and possible – in a Presidential election year.
No one has come as close we did to defeating a member of the Republican leadership than in Ohio 's 15th District. We were only 1,000 votes short, even though Pryce raised and spent $4.6 million. Now that she is out of leadership, she will not be able to raise that kind of money from K Street . When I got into the race for 2006, Pryce had a million dollar head start. This year, Pryce is starting with less than 1/5 of the money she started with last time.
I am talking with the community, speaking out on the issues, and raising money, doing what it takes to win this race. I invite your participation, and ask for your support.

Thank you,

Mary Jo Kilroy

The 15th's starting to get interesting already.

While Pryce has $171k on hand already, she's not raising funds from individuals in a way that really shows she has her feet to the fire. The majority of her take was entirely from PAC's ($155k to be exact). PAC money always comes through for sitting Congress Critters...that's what its there for...to remind folks on how to vote. Pryce was going to get this cash whether it was during this reporting period, or the one right before the election.

However, individual contributions are a good guage of how hard a candidate is running.  The lower the individual contributions, the less fundraisers and call time the candidate's engaged in. In the last FEC reporting cycle she received a paltry $12,400 from regular individuals. From the looks of Pryce's numbers she's doing jack-squat for her re-election campaign. Which begs the question, is she prepared for another full frontal attack by a Dem in the 15th? Those numbers shouldn't be too inspiring to the GOP base.