Campaign for a National Majority

Campaign for a National Majority is a 527 political action committee founded in April 2004 by Harvard Law School students Michael Fertik and Daniel Richenthal.


 * "[Fertik and Richenthal] recognized the absence of Democratic efforts to reach out to young, professional liberals. When they tapped into their contacts from college, work, and law school, they ended up with a list of people in their 20s and 30s who wanted to get involved but didn’t have the time to research candidates or the money to feel they were making a real difference. So, Fertik says, he and Richenthal decided to 'find out where they can have impact with that smaller amount of money' — a message reminiscent of Howard Dean’s '$100 revolution.'"

By July 2005 CNM had a "membership of roughly 3000 people," with "members in 33 states and a presence in New York City, the District of Columbia, Louisville KY, Philadelphia, New Haven, San Francisco, Los Angeles." 

CNM "focused on achieving clear results" by getting Democratic candidates elected to state-wide executive offices -- including "Governor, Lt. Governor, Comptroller, Secretary of State, Ag Commish, Railroad Commish, and Mayor in the larger cities" -- and "building the base for a Democratic national majority." 

About
Fertik, CNM's chairman, and a "repeat Internet entrepreneur," is CEO of ReputationDefender Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky. Fertik is also a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee.

CNM described itself thusly in 2006:


 * Campaign for a National Majority is a pragmatic political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for State Executive offices across the country. Our candidates are viable in tough races, and show promise as contenders for progressively higher offices.


 * Our goal is to build a "farm team" of Democrats who can win statewide and national elections. It is no secret that governors consistently make the best presidential candidates. Their experience as State Executives prepares them for higher leadership and encourages them to articulate innovative policies and messages.

The "'build the farm team' concept" is likened to that utilized by former Vermont Governor and 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean. 

CNM is a member of the New Progressive Coalition.

Candidates
CNM vetted prospective candidates through "exhaustive research", including "record[s] in public office as well as their character." CNM stated that it would "interview everyone from a candidate's grade school teachers, to their college professors, members of the their church and so on to get a complete picture of just who the candidate is. Once CNM has vetted the candidate, they will endorse and fund raise for that candidate. In addition, they will lobby other groups to endorse and fund raise for the candidate. They will share their research with the group in question to help convince them to endorse." 

2004
CNM's first put its "model into effect" in 2004 in "a few state legislature races." CNM claims it helped put Texan David Leibowitz into "the Texas Lege held by an incumbent Republican" and helped get Jeff Daniels of Ohio "elected to a state legislature seat that was open, but had historically been a Republican seat." 

The Leibowitz and Daniels races were considered a "trial" of "two candidates in longshot districts," with both winning in "narrow victories." 

2005
CNM focused on mayoral races in 2005, with an additional 500 races under consideration. 

2006
CNM endorsed the following candidates in 2006:


 * Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark
 * Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
 * John Chiang, State Controller of California
 * Catherine Cortez Masto, Attorney General of Nevada
 * Chet Culver, Governor of Iowa
 * Matt Dunne, Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
 * Bill Halter, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
 * Bryce Healy, South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands
 * Dustin McDaniel, Attorney General of Arkansas
 * Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois
 * Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts

CNM winning candidates in 2006 were:


 * Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio TX (defeat)
 * Jun Choi, Mayor of Edison, NJ (victory)
 * Chris Coleman, Mayor of St. Paul MN (blowout victory)
 * Creigh Deeds, for Attorney General of Virginia
 * Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta (blowout victory)
 * Ed Pawlowski, Mayor of Allentown PA (victory)
 * David Pepper, Mayor of Cincinnati (close defeat)

2007
The following candidate was endorsed by CNM in 2007:


 * Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky

2008
The following candidates were endorsed by CNM in 2008:


 * Brad Avakian, Labor Commissioner of Oregon
 * Steve Bullock, Attorney General of Montana

Fund Raising
In 2004 Fertik estimated CNM would "raise several thousand dollars in bundled contributions from its young donors to disperse to the two candidates — David Leibowitz in Texas and Jeff Danielson in Iowa."


 * ActBlue

Board of Directors

 * Michael Fertik, Chairman
 * Kiran Bhatraju, Legislative Assistant for Rep. John Yarmuth (KY-03)
 * Ross Chanin, co-founder; Director of Operations of ReputationDefender, Inc.
 * Joshua I. Rosenstein, Vice President and General Counsel of Dutko Worldwide

Former Board Members

 * Alex Laskey, former Chairman

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * 21st Century Democrats
 * New Democrat Network
 * Secretary of State Project
 * Swing State Project

External articles

 * Deidre Fulton, "Generation Next," The Boston Phoenix, August 6-12, 2004.
 * Deidre Fulton, "Catching Up. Baby Steps," The Boston Phoenix, November 19-25, 2004.
 * Damon McCullar, "Campaign for a National Majority," Burnt Orange Report, July 18, 2005.
 * Charley on the MTA, "Building the Dem bench: Campaign for a National Majority," Blue Mass Group, December 16, 2005.
 * "John Chiang for State Controller of California," Dons Blog of California Politics, October 20, 2006.

External resources

 * Campaign for a National Majority, CampaignMoney.com.
 * Campaign for a National Majority, OpenSecrets.org.
 * Campaign for a National Majority, Facebook.