State Democrats Look To 2014 For Turnaround

Michelle Nunn, the party’s presumptive U.S. Senate nominee, began with a shout out to the party’s two new candidates for lieutenant governor and governor.

“How exhilarated I am that Connie Stokes and Jason Carter are going to be joining me on the ballot in 2014,” said Nunn.

In particular, Nunn and Carter, both offspring of major political figures nationally and statewide, have re-energized the party’s base.

That’s according to Georgia Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson. 

“It’s been years since we’ve seen this kind of excitement and energy. We’ve got such good candidates that are announcing for office and we’ve got so many important issues to talk about. This excitement level is just off the scale,” said Henson.

As recently as May, the party had only $30,000 on hand and was said to be bordering on insolvency.

Newly-elected party chairman Dubose Porter says efforts to get the organization’s financial house in order are working. He said a new small donation program is bringing in $10,000 a month, which they hope to double next year.

“People are committing through the end of 2014 to give an average of $25 a month We double this and you’ll have enough to pay for the staff and you use events like this to put into races and we haven’t been able to do that in a decade.”

The fundraising networks of Nunn and Carter will help. Carter has yet to file a campaign disclosure, but Nunn in just a few months has raised more than $1.7 million.