September 12, 2006

Primary Races to Watch Today

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In addition to Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s fascinating battle to keep his job (“If you want to see just how large Republicans can build their Big Tent, or alternately, how tight they can hold their noses, look at the Senate primary race in Rhode Island today.”), here are some primary races to watch today (AP):

  • The New York Democratic primary for attorney general, with former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo – son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo – against Mark Green, the former New York City Public Advocate.
  • In New York’s gubernatorial primary, Eliot Spitzer is set to pulverize Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi; Sen. Hillary Clinton likewise will crush anti-Iraq war candidate Jonathan Tasini in the New York Democratic Senate primary. (If she can hold Tasini to single digits Clinton will likely claim to have neutralized the anti-war opposition to her larger political ambitions.)
  • The Maryland Democratic Senate primary, where Rep. Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and one-time head of the NAACP, are among 18 contenders for an open seat. The winner will face Michael Steele, who, if he wins in the fall, would be the Senate’s only black Republican.
  • The Democratic primary for a House seat in Minnesota in an open, reliably Democratic district which includes Minneapolis. Four candidates are running, including state legislator Keith Ellison, who won his party’s backing. If he won, Ellison would be the first Muslim member of Congress.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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