I've done some volunteer research for Campaign for a National Majority, and met some of the principals when they swung through Texas last month. I'm very impressed with them.
http://www.nationalmajority.org/index.php">Campaign for a National Majority backs
David Pepper for Mayor of Cincinnati August 19, 2005
General Election:
September 13 Run-off Election:
November 8 David Pepper is in his second term on the Cincinnati City Council. In his first election, he finished first out of 26 candidates. At 34 years old, he is now running for Mayor in this city of 320,000 residents. The election is nonpartisan. The first round of voting will take place on September 13th. The second round, a runoff between the two top finishers of the first round, will take place on November 8th. Pepper stands a strong chance to win this race.
Pepper gets high marks from every person CNM has interviewed. He is perceived as energetic, knowledgeable, honest, and genuinely interested in the rights and interests of all of Cincinnati’s citizens. He has a track record as an effective, pragmatic, and progressive leader on rights issues. He has, for example, been vocal in his support of living wage policies and gay rights, both of which are contentious in conservative Cincinnati (but which he has helped make politically viable).
A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, David Pepper is a fifth-generation Cincinnatian. He was born and raised in the city and returned after completing law school. It is notable that his father was the Chairman of Procter & Gamble, the most visible company headquartered in the city. However, as the
Cincinnati Enquirer described him, he is not “just a spoiled rich kid leaching off dad’s success.” He is, instead “highly educated and dryly funny. Possibly the hardest worker in any room.”
Over the past decade, the city of Cincinnati has changed from being one of the safest cities in the United States to one of the most violent. The main issue in this campaign is crime. Pepper is well positioned to speak authoritatively and convincingly on a topic that is on many Cincinnatians’ minds.
Pepper is currently Chairman of the City Council’s Law and Public Safety Committee. In this role, he established a fund supporting community-based organizations that seek creative solutions for urban improvement. He has had success in actively targeting some of the city’s most notorious crackhouses. Pepper has also proposed a thorough and scientific approach to fighting crime in his city, starting with an intelligent redeployment—modeled after the successful approach in Chicago—of the existing police force. He is an active champion of the forward-thinking tactic of fighting crime “hotspots,” in which up to 90% of crime actually occurs.
Pepper’s serious opponents include a)
Alicia Reese (D), the sitting Vice Mayor, whose support is strong among her base but too narrow to make her a viable citywide candidate, b) State Senator
Mark Mallory (D), who has a solid record and is likable but seems (based on his field and fundraising operations) to be a non-viable candidate for the victory, and c)
Charlie Winburn (R), a radical conservative. We consider Pepper to both the best candidate for mayor, and also the best candidate with future prospects for success in statewide elections in Ohio.
Pepper seeks to raise $1 million before the run-off in November. He is making good progress toward that goal, but he needs our help. As of this writing, he had raised approximately $575,000.
Strategic notes and further comments:
1) Cincinnati is one of the most conservative parts of Ohio, a swing state. It would be terrific for a Democrat — especially one with such a promising future — to be elected Mayor. This would be a strategic victory for Democrats both in Ohio and nationally.
2) Pepper has said that he would like to serve two four-year terms as Mayor of Cincinnati (the maximum allowable by term limits) before seeking higher office.
3) Pepper has a surprising amount of foreign policy experience and interest for someone so young. For three years in the mid-1990s, he worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. and St. Petersburg, Russia. He maintains this interest through his involvement in the World Affairs Council. CNM believes this foreign policy interest will serve him well as he seeks progressively higher office.
CNM is proud to endorse David Pepper for Mayor of Cincinnati. We believe he is the most promising Democrat in a conservative region of a critical state.
http://davidpepper.com/contribute.php">We encourage you to give him your support.
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