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Tony Barr got his 1000 write ins plus.....
TONY BARR REACHES, EXCEEDS GOAL
Today Tony Barr officially became the Democratic Party nominee for Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District to the United States Congress when his verified vote total raced past the needed 1000 write-in votes, and continued to a present total of 1776. Barr organized an intense grassroots campaign as a write-in candidate in the course of just sixteen days, winning at least 1776 officially accepted write-in votes in the May 16 primary election, almost double the number needed, to gain a spot on the Democratic ballot in November. Tony Barr will face Republican incumbent Bill Shuster in the November general election. Had Barr not succeeded, Shuster would have run unopposed.
Tony Barr, a Bedford County Special Education Teacher, took on the challenge of running for Congress after becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the 9th District’s current representation. He was also alarmed to see that the Democratic Party had not qualified a candidate for the election; he stepped forward when he heard that local Democratic grassroots organizers were interested in supporting a qualified candidate.
“I am doing this in the spirit of service to the people,” Barr said. “I have always taken on major challenges and enjoyed achieving goals, and in this case it was easy to see what was needed” Barr supports responsible energy and economic policy, universal health care, and flexible fully funded educational programs. Previously, Barr has served as regional coordinator for Democratic candidates in Blair County. He lives in Blue Knob, PA, with his wife and two small boys. Information on his positions and background can be found at www.tonybarr2006.com.
To qualify, Tony Barr needed 1000 voters to correctly enter his name on a variety of ballots, electronic voting machines, and virtual keyboards put in use for the first time in the May 16 primary, a task considered almost impossible by professional politicians. They felt that the cost of the publicity to get the word out would be prohibitive, and the new voting equipment would introduce too much voter confusion and uncertainty. The amount of cooperation needed would be enormous and probably unavailable. Barr proved them wrong.
The effort to get Tony on the ballot came from grassroots organizations in Blair County, Bedford County, Fulton County, and Franklin County with help from small groups in other areas. These organizations shared resources and information to coordinate their efforts.
While Barr needed only 1000 certified write-votes and has 1776 so far, there were many more voter attempts at writing in or spelling in his name on ballots and machines which were not counted, indicating that a much higher number were willing to offer him support. Errors included misspellings, the name on the wrong blank, frustration with new mechanical and electronic voting devices, and forgetting to fill in the oval on paper ballot after writing in his name. Sometimes Barr’s name was written on the Republican ballot. Some precincts still have not reported as of this writing.
The campaign was accomplished in sixteen days by a coalition of grassroots Democratic organizations across the district It culminated in dozens of poll workers positioning themselves at precincts the day of the primary to talk to voters and hand them cards with Tony Barr’s name correctly spelled to take to the voting stations.
Professional politicians are wary of becoming involved with write-in campaigns because they can be expensive and many things can go wrong, things that can lead to failure. In this case, the volunteers with the grassroots organizations involved supplied the materials themselves and overwhelmed the obstacles with enthusiasm and thorough organization. The necessary pamphlets, cards, and materials were printed on home computer printers, distribution was handled by thousands of direct mailings to voters, and the poll station workers along with everyone else in the campaign provided their time free.
Statements made by an opposing campaign office indicating that $75,000 would be needed to run a write-in campaign were considered “way over the top” by Barr’s army of grassroots organizers and volunteers. Jack Hendricks, a Communications Volunteer for the Fulton/Franklin Democratic Club (a local grassroots organization with members helping Barr’s campaign) estimates the cost was only two or three percent of that amount for the entire district.
The 9th Congressional District of Pennsylvania includes all of Fulton, Bedford, Blair, Huntingdon, and Franklin Counties and parts of 9 others in the south central part of the state. The cities and towns around Altoona, Chambersburg, Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Somerset are included in the district. Barr’s website is www.tonybarr2006.com.
Contact information: Jack Hendricks
4323 Cito Road
McConnellsburg, PA 17233
Fulton County
Phone: 717 485 3386
Cell 717 491 0738
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