CJ's Endorsements - AD 37 - Audra Strickland

Figured I'd start with my own district. Here is the rundown of my criteria:

Does this candidate reflect the views and concerns of the district in which they seek to be elected, or rather their own?

Audra Strickland has been representing her district in the State Assembly since 2004, where her current opponent mounted an impressive write-in campaign against her.

Audra comes across as knowledgeable, and in touch with the voters of her district. Her opponent, Ferial Masry spent virtually all of the Primary and much of the General Election talking about the war in Iraq and her relationship with Condoleeza Rice. It makes one wonder why she isn't running for Congress.

With Audra now a known entity, Ferial has been unable to tap into the same voter base that created all the hoopla around her write-in candidacy of 2 years ago.

Has the candidate run a clean campaign consistently through the primary and general election?

While there have been jabs on both sides, both parties have, for the most part, kept it clean. Audra has pretty much ignored Ferial only occasionally acknowledging her existence.

Has the candidate provided a clear vision for the district?

Audra Strickland has been discussing issues that concern the residents of the 37th AD. Taxes, Education, Traffic and Health Care.

By contrast, Ferial has been discussing national issues such as immigration, and the war in Iraq. On this point, it would seem that only one candidate is even aware what seat she is running for.

Does the candidate demonstrate that they have the ability to lead, and fight for, the district which would elect them?

Audra Strickland has been representing, and fighting for her district. She is a fiscal conservative in a conservative district and has demonstrated the ability to assemble a team to push through an agenda despite the opposition party dominating the legislature.

If her current team is any indication, Ferial Masry is incapable of assembling a team to lead. Her campaign is run by a friend, who frankly has no business running campaigns and ties the hands of those professionals on the campaign that do. Someone needs to tell Ferail to begin listening to the advice she is paying for. The false starts, stops, near non-existence in the media is indicative of a campaign that never really got off of the ground. Ferial's performance at a recent debate was so awful that I will say no more about it.

Add to all of this the massive "red district strategy" of the Democratic Party heralded by Eric Bauman all year that has flatly failed to materialize into anything more than empty talk and you can put the fork in this campaign, it's done.

As with many races this year, there is only one real choice... Audra Strickland.