Join Senate Circle

I joined because…

I'm trying to be a good ancestor, inspired by those who've tried to leave the world a better place. I love Wisconsin.
— Jonathan Beers

I want to participate in saving our democracy. At 88, I still remember as a small child sitting with my family around a big radio, and my grandfather hushing me, “Shhh. The president is talking to us!” I am searching for a group of sensible, careful political advocates and a way to donate effectively to realistic campaigns without eliciting the endless deluge of mail from Act Blue.
— Sue Miller

I was a Republican for most of my life but the recent failure of most republicans to recognize reality renders that party undesirable and even dangerous. I will now work to support Democrats in their efforts to save our democracy.
— Ted Spickler

“There’s no difference etween a pessimist who says, "‘It’s all over, don’t bother trying to do anything, forget about voting, it won’t make a dffierence,’ and an optimist who says, ‘Relax, everything is going to turno ut fine.’ Either wat the results are the same. Nothing gets done.”
— Yvon Choulnard

I want to help strengthen our democracy by electing those committed to living up to our nation's ideals of equal rights, opportunities, and justice for all.
— Jill Drew

I want to help hold the Senate democratic majority.
— Mary Harrel Lawrence

I am honored to be a part of the Senate Circle. Robert Hubbell sent me!
— Millicent Gray

For a flourishing democracy, citizens are required to participate and be active in working for a just, competent government that works for all its people, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
— Rosalie Romano

Strategy! Strategy! Strategy!
— Diane Meier

I have supported democratic party candidates almost exclusively for the past 52 years through many small donations and activism. Like many others who support the preservation and expansion of voting rights, the elimination of racism, the enormous concentration of wealth at top of our society, protection of our natural environment, wilderness & wildlife, I believe we are at a critical time in which widespread activism by as many of us as possible is critically needed to ensure the survival of our democracy.
— Jeff Elliott

I want to save our democracy and voting rights, and to preserve this precious, beautiful planet. With a healthy democratic majority in congress Joe Biden can accomplish so much.
— Helen Drew

Because democracy hangs in the balance.
— Richard Nethercut

In times of tenuous majorities every vote count; anything I can do - however small - to help increase awareness about how critical Senate races are, I am in!
— David de Korsak

I am a native of Wisconsin, home of former Governor and Senator "Fighting Bob" LaFollette. I now live in Massachusetts, where I carry on the fights for Fighting Bob and his friend Louis Brandeis every day.
— Margaret Heitz

I'm so happy to learn about you. I will look forward to receiving your posts and contributing support. Thank you.
— Annette Hutchison

Solidarity is the key.
— Karen Davidson

I joined because we have to elect Democrats if we want democracy to survive.
— Betsey Phillips

The 'glass half full' infers a positive interpretation of what an apocalypse is : "a prophetic revelation, especially concerning a cataclysm in which the forces of good permanently triumph over the forces of evil." Remove the religious implications and you are left with an understanding of the seriousness of current events on the future of democracies around the world. Opposing forces are joined in battle...outcomes unknown. The only thing to do is act. It comes down to each individual. Ultimately, it is our choice.
— David Roth

When they go LOW we go HIGH!
— Dan Ward

It is great to partner with like-minded people!
— Ted Taigen

I am joining because Wisconsin needs to vote a Democratic Senator in to replace Ron Johnson in 2022.
— Kathleen Rulka

I think Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff are good men with the moral courage and integrity to help a Democratic Senate legislate for the benefit of all Americans.
— Betsy Kerner

We need to give Joe Biden the opportunity to succeed, to effectively and successfully name a cabinet, and other senate approved posts, and the current senate has refused to cooperate with Democratic leaders, and bent, stretched or broken the rule of law, especially in the case of the judiciary and the Supreme Court. It has refused to provide relief to Americans in this time of Covid. It has refused to recognize racial injustice. It has surrendered its authority, and become subservient to the executive branch. Its main goal appears to be helping the wealthy become the super wealthy. All this needs to change; but I think we need to get to an even split of parties in the short term to accomplish this. The legislature needs to regain its proper place in the system of checks and balances.
— James DeGeorge

We need more people of color in the US Senate. Democrats need to win the majority so that the many bills passed by the House have a chance in the Senate. People died fighting for the right to vote, and I want to encourage more people to see voting as a way to express their voices and as their way to maintain our currently shaky democracy.
— Helen Stein

I have been a Democrat all of my adult life, and an activist for much of that time. And while every campaign has been important, I have never felt before that our very democracy was at risk if the opposing party stays in office. I am committed to a long-term effort to help elect as many Democrats as possible up and down the ballot, including the critically important Senate, but also down ballot races for state legislatures, governorships, secretaries of state and beyond. We can never again let our guard down and allow this cabal of self-interested, wealthy ideologues take over our government.
— Susan Ryan

I appreciate that Senate Circle has done the research to find a few under-the-radar races that we have the chance to directly affect. I don't like giving to intermediaries that have their own internal politics and reduce my donation due to frictional losses. With Senate Circle I can give directly to the candidates that have been researched and endorsed. And, as Sunny Bates said so well, "This is a superb antidote to my feelings of impotence and helplessness around our national leadership.
— Gordon Garb

“Fear of a civil unrest is not a reason to be paralyzed. It is the reason to act and do what you are capable of to positively impact the outcome of these 2020 elections. We all have a part and can do our part to stop the erosion of our democracy and work toward making it healthier.
— Kathy J. Williams

I'm a nurse in NYC and I see the problems patients have had accessing healthcare when they move to the South or the Midwest, they often move back because of it. And that was even before COVID! I want to see the whole country take care of its citizens, just as they do in Western Europe (where my mother is from). I don't want to see women's rights backslide; and I want to see caring for the environment taken seriously by our leaders!
— Clare O'Connor

In honor of the great Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I commit to flipping the Senate. #BeLikeRuth
— Aurora Sherman

I’m a newly naturalized citizen. I’m excited to be able to vote in the upcoming election, especially now when every vote counts so much!
— Sue Ramsay

Being an activist is central in my life (including in my work as an MD) -- striving to make the world better since before my first Peace March in 1965, as have many in my family since my grandparents fled persecution in Eastern Europe ~1900. My maternal grandmother, a sweatshop worker, saw friends die jumping from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in NY City...while she was involved in starting a Union for better working conditions. We must do all we can in this especially crucial time for our country and the world... for reasons cited in other statements on this site, and more. Senate Circle is a wonderful way to truly make a difference. I join with much gratitude and admiration for all who started this group...with hope that these efforts lead to a better future for all. As my Dad, Irving Levine, often signed his letters: ‘Up the Rebels!’
— Elena Levine

Our current government is successfully duping the average worker ... and behind the scenes helping the ultrawealthy individuals and corporations to get "ultrawealthier" We are at a critical juncture that mandates that we come together to create a movement onto a pathway that will support the forward progress of all the average hard-working citizenry.
— Stephen Henry

The Senate is blocking all progress and is unwilling to work together to govern.
— Mimi Sardou

I’m a retired First Vice President and Community Investment Officer at The Federal Home Liam Bank of Atlanta and life-long advocate for affordable housing and rural development.
— Lynn Brazen

Our current government is successfully duping the average worker ... and behind the scenes helping the ultrawealthy individuals and corporations to get "ultrawealthier" We are at a critical juncture that mandates that we come together to create a movement onto a pathway that will support the forward progress of all the average hard-working citizenry.
— Stephen Henry

I’m not looking for limelight. I just want to do what’s right. I want to see our country make positive changes and come together in unity. It’s a high call, and perhaps it’s a stretch goal, but it’s not certainly not a far-fetched idea. With the right leadership in place around our country, I believe we will begin to see the tides change in policies that adversely impact those who are most helpless... we’ll begin to see change that puts common sense above dollars and cents. It starts with one, all over the nation, just one good leader at a time. One... at a time when the stakes couldn’t be higher. One... starting locally, then up from there. So, on Nov. 3, let’s BLUE this... ONE VOTE AT A TIME!
— Tracee Holloway

Because there are young wonderful people of color in my family and they deserve every advantage to make their lives as fulfilling a s possible. Shifting the Senate will help!
— Nancy Franco

I have been fighting for the rights of justice-involved youth in the Bay Area since 2014. This journey has taught me about systemic racism at every level of our society and the crushing power of the systemic barricades that prevent black and brown Americans and immigrants to live well. I have never carried so much pain in my heart about an American president. Trump and his administration are a catastrophe beyond words. I need to be part of moving our country, however painfully slowly toward a more just future for all.
— Laura McDonnell

For the past 18 years, my contribution has been volunteering in prisons. I have a theater background and for most of my years I taught acting, improve, directed a play written by one of the men. The men at Sing Sing do one big production a year and I have acted as a drama coach. I did theater classes at Fishkill near Beacon, NY. But got the last 2 years I have been teaching memoir at Green Haven, a supermax prison. I have a partner who wrote for the Times for many years. Our course was, “Telling our stories, Writing our Lives”. It was a huge success with them. We did it all year. We got moved to Sing Sing, which is also a max. We only had 2 classes before COVID locked us out. Soon we will be doing classes on DVDs. I have been writing postcards for two years. Now have been doing Dr. Al Gross in Alaska.
— Linda Atkinson

The global catastrophe AKA potus 45, and his fascist storm trooping/white supremacy agenda, the Covid nightmare, Black Lives Matter, (the list goes on and on...) Combined with my recent retirement compels/enables me to do all I can to help turn the tides back to a safer, saner, kinder America.
— Dave Seabury

I volunteered for President Obama's 2008 campaign and then went to D.C. to work for a Democratic member of Congress. I saw firsthand how the loss of a Democratic majority in 2010 crippled the ability of the Obama Administration to bring about the changes our country needs. Joe Biden needs a solid majority in the Senate when he defeats Trump and takes office in 2020. Moreover, having grown up in Kansas, I know that Kansans will send a smart, practical Democrat to the Senate instead of a Republican ideologue.
— David Lyons

My friends and I know this is the fight of our lifetimes - to save our democratic experiment. I will do everything I can to get out the vote in 2020.
— Monica Mackey

I see/feel the importance of the Senate that has more heart and is more effective. I'm skeptical that it can be fixed, but won't let that stop me from taking action and showing a certain solidarity with the ideal. I also love and trust Taylor to find valuable areas to turn our attention and care and wan to support what she's passionate about.
— Rafe Furst

I had the incredible opportunity to come to this country 20 years ago. With $125 in my pocket and a scholarship to grad school at Harvard, I learned the importance of an open, just, and welcoming society. I want to be part of evolving our society to be more open, just, inclusive, welcoming, and respectful. We need Senators that will push for this ideals.
— Rodrigo Martinez

I’m a physician, a mother of young adult women and an activist. I supported Elizabeth Warren for Président, but am now turning my attention to the Senate. Senate Circle is a great idea.
— Jennifer Brokaw

I’m tired of our government supporting policies that allow the rich to get richer. I’m tired of the hypocrisy, lies, and gaslighting. I’m tired of systemic oppression of minorities. I’m tired of white men dictating all the rules. I’m tired of children being shot in at school. I’m tired of ignoring science. I’m tired of “thoughts and prayers.” I’m tired of mental health being undervalued and underfunded. I’m tired of for-profit healthcare and prisons. I’m tired of locking kids in cages and traumatizing those innocent children. I’m tired of bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, and racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, and all other forms of hate. I’m ready for change. Our children deserve better.
— Carin Laue

I am a born-and-raised Alaskan, and I am sick of our congressional delegation being a rubber stamp for Trump. We Alaskans are Independent, and that's how Dr. Al Gross will represent us.
— Zachary Brown

As a retired social studies teacher of 40 years, and a James Madison Fellow, trained to teach the Constitution, I am concerned about the destruction of our system of checks and balances, separation of powers, and three independent branches of government. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. I yearn for RIchard Hofstadter's conflict and CONSENSUS model of government, democratic majority rule and an impartial judiciary. Locke's social contract is in peril.
— Carol Conrad

I was most impressed with an essay by noted Holocaust historian Christopher Browning published soon after Trump took power. Browning wrote that the person he feared most in administration was Mitch McConnell who he likened to Paul Hindenburg of the Weimar Republic. Hindenburg and his fellow German conservatives supported Hitler with the idea that they could control him and use him to enact their political agenda. Obviously they failed and Germany was destroyed as a result. I am concerned we are witnessing a replay of this today and am shocked as Trump's enablers in the Senate say nothing or support Trump's assault on our democracy and our system of government. To protect our nation, we need to demonstrated that there is a political cost to those in power who forget their oaths to support the Constitution and to work for the benefit of the American people and not one demagogue.
— Dennis Conrad

There is so much we can do, and stop, with Democratic control of the Senate, regardless of who lives at 1600 Penn. This is our moment to shine — and win.
— Joel Makower

As a scientist, physician and educator, I am seeking to bring modern genomics into the daily practice of medicine so that we move from disease treatment to disease prevention. The willful rejection of science in our political leadership must be forcefully countered. Senate Circle is a thoughtful incremental approach to achieving this goal.
— Robert Green

The future of our planet depends on it!
— Kristin Ellington

I Was Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts during Bush I. Have been both a Republican and a Democrat and now am neither. What I am is a citizen and if we are to keep our democracy, we must regain the Senate and eliminate the lawlessness demonstrated by Trump, McConnell, Barr, Pompeo and their ilke.
— John Frohnmayer

Thank you team Senate Circle for this smart, clear, and effective strategy to take back the Senate in November. This is a superb antidote to my feelings of impotence and helplessness around our national leadership. I’m in and with you all the way through November and beyond. Onward and upward!
— Sunny Bates

In addition to the desperate need for new leadership at the top, we need thoughtful, hard working people in the Senate who are committed to the country and the common good. This targeted approach may help us get there.
— Jane Rodas

Mitch McConnell has got to go!
— Ethan Finkelstein

Anyone who will work to benefit people, with common sense, the backbone to stand up and fight back and promote, sane, practical politics with the focus and desire to help promote movement away from corporate greed and back to helping people.
— Dino Delany

I really like this targeted approach. Taking back the Senate is essential, especially if, horror of horrors, he should get in again. I’m a writer and personal letters are a way I can contribute. Also, Taylor is an amazing connector. Thanks for doing this.
— Gail Reitano

I believe we all have a responsibility to fight for a just, equitable, and kind society, wherein citizens are respected and treated as complex beings of inherent value. It has become clearer every day since the 2016 election that our country is profoundly broken in its ability to support and nourish such a society with its current political leaders. So, I see it as my duty to use my power and privilege to fight to replace this administration and its enablers with leaders who will. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Senate Circle, a group of dynamic, dedicated folks fighting for direct organizing action to do just that.
— Kate Luebkeman

I am a history teacher, and I am interested in progressive and pragmatic politics.
— George Heinrichs

I joined because we need government who works for all the people. We also need government that is representative of our diverse country, because diversity is a good thing.
— Gretchen Sweet

My dear friend Taylor Milsal mentioned Senate Circle to me, and what a great way to keep our government in check!
— Ajay Juneja

I welcome the opportunity of a ‘non-organization’ like Senate Circle to use my limited time and money in a way has a strategic, targeted, and cost-effective impact on the composition of the Senate.
— Pat Semple

Tears well up as I think about my little granddaughter. She lives an hour away, is learning to crawl, and our only contact is Facetime. Tears overflow, and I become a blubbering mess as I think about all of the little ones who will grow up without grandparents, because we lost an election in 2016.
— Taylor Milsal

I am the mother of three ‘twenty-somethings’ who are at various stages of career development or displacement. They are all feeling an existential uncertainty about the world as we know it, concerned for humanity and the earth, and trying to figure out how they can be part of crafting a different type of future.  For much of my career, I have been a nonprofit and philanthropic leader and strategist; now I want to turn my energies to electing people who will ensure that we create a more just, healthy and kind future.
— Karie Brown

I am the full-time father of three young kids. Most of my time is devoted to packing lunches, arranging playdates and exploring the world with them. As much as I love my life with them, I realized I needed to do more: Mitch McConnell's Senate Majority has attacked their future by empowering Trump, ignoring climate change, and turning the Judiciary into the Federalist Society. My sister is an ER doctor in Gallup, NM. The dishonest and unprepared handing of COVID19 by Trump and the Senate Republicans has put her life at risk. I want her to have the support of a fact-based and humanitarian government.
— David Henry