Ed Ridpath's blog

This weekend, the Obama Campaign (Transition?) held a series of local meetings, hosted by volunteers. The intent was to keep the Obama team active, generate some local community service action before the inauguration, and to get the local teams to think about connecting with local elected officials.

I attended three of these meetings, one in Raleigh, one in Cary, and one in Fuquay Varina. Interestingly, they all focused on different parts of the agenda.

Last night, the results for our campaign fell short of victory (46%-54%). Together, we worked long and hard, but it was not enough to prevail in this very tough district.

I congratulate Representative Paul Stam on his victory, and wish him well in his efforts to serve our local communities in our North Carolina General Assembly over the next 2 years.

I am proud of the tremendous progress we made. Our campaign added to many up ticket Democratic victories, including a Democratic majority on our Wake County Board of Commissioners, many Council of State races, the Governorship, US Senate, and of course the close Presidential Electoral vote.

Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund, Inc released the following:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 14, 2008

CONTACT: Melissa Reed, 919-924-1520
Paige Johnson 919-618-3899

Paul Stam-Extremely Out of Touch!

Planned Parenthood finds the News and Observer's endorsement of Paul Stam for House District 37 for the 2008 General Election disappointing and concerning. In the News and Observer's endorsements on October 10th, it stated that Paul Stam has not been particularly in sync with The N&O's editorial page positions, Paul Stam is not only out of sync, he is extremely out of touch with his District and North Carolina and puts personal ideology ahead of protecting our most vulnerable citizens.

In what I can only think of as a good omen, the Raleigh N&O endorsed my opponent

Of course, that riled up my strong supporters Ridpath Representative:

We were disappointed in The News & Observer's Oct. 10 endorsement of Republican Paul Stam over Democrat Ed Ridpath for N.C. House District 37. This endorsement appears to be based on a perception that Stam is "tough and his criticisms sometimes irritate the House leadership." While "irritation" from the minority leader may encourage partisan rancor, it does not provide the representation that residents in his district deserve

...

Jim and Linda Martin, Apex

Dear BlueNC Community,

From the beginning, this campaign has been about over-committing. Starting almost two years ago, we have worked tirelessly to bring the voice of progress to Southern Wake County and to all of North Carolina. We have spent the last year door-knocking virtually every weekend, reaching over 15,000 voters so far and even more in the next 28 days. Our phone banks are now live, calling voters every week. We held a dozen fundraising events, sent out many mailings, and solicited online donations regularly.

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It was nice to get some good coverage of our campaign and the opportunities in Western and Southern Wake County.

Here is the article: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A264932

On Saturday, September 13th, at the NC Museum of History, Kids Vote and WRAL hosted State and Wake County Candidates.

Look for yours truly and my 2 minutes of fame at the 1hr 30 min mark. Keep it running for my opponent's take too.

Kids Vote Candidate Forum

Ed Ridpath, Democratic Candidate for the North Carolina House, reached a milestone this Labor Day weekend. Over 10,000 voters contacted so far in his 2008 door-to-door campaign. Committed to one-on-one voter contact, Ridpath, assisted by campaign volunteers, has been door knocking weekly since last October.

Ridpath stated: “Door-to-door campaigning is a little old-fashioned, but it is the best way to get to know my neighbors and the best way for them to get to know me. Over the last year, I have spent most weekends and many evenings listening to voters, right at their own doorstep. This level of direct voter contact is hard work, but very rewarding. The big benefit is that I will represent all of us in Southern Wake County much better when I get to Raleigh.”