By Brandy Bailey, Contributor ElectWomen Magazine

In 2008 Marta Jorgensen ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 24^th District and won the primary.  She was defeated by the incumbent in the general election, but she’s not letting that stop her from a second run at the seat in 2010.

“The first time I ran was a training session.  Now I know how to put a campaign together,” said Jorgensen in a recent interview.  This time she is starting early and is raising money right from the very beginning.  She has hired the professional political fundraising firm Charlotte Dobbs & Company from Santa Monica to develop and manage her fundraising strategy.  They have already scheduled a series of fundraisers from now until the end of the year.

She has maintained a lot of support from her last campaign and is already working hard to gain endorsements; Congresswomen Lois Capps and  Maxine Waters endorsed her for the last election and she is seeking their endorsement this time around.  In addition, she has found a lot of support from women’s organizations and progressive democratic groups.

“It’s a David and Goliath Situation…”

There are many challenges facing Jorgensen’s campaign but she is not giving in.  The incumbent is well entrenched, having been in office for 22 years.  “It’s a David and Goliath situation.  He’s well funded and well entrenched”, said Jorgensen.  Her district has always had a very male dominated political scene and she has received a lot of criticism from the old boys’ network. 

In addition, there are also geographical challenges with the district.  “The district is big.  It’s about the size of Rhode Island.  The smallest town is two and a half hours away from where I am now, and you have to travel all the time if you want to be effective,” said Jorgensen.  The district is also very diverse.  Half of the district is agricultural and the other half is more urban due to its proximity to Los Angeles.  Jorgensen would like to have a motor home as a campaign office to travel around and go town-to-town talking to voters.

Deciding to Run

Jorgensen decided to run for the office the first time after working as a nurse for 27 years, being a business owner and being involved in environmental politics for most of her life.  As a nurse she was involved with direct patient care and learned firsthand about the giving of rewards and incentives to practitioners to limit or deny care.

At the end of the day Jorgensen is not interested in the glamour of politics.  She’s interested in the issues and the people and she wants to get involved in people’s lives and make a difference.  As a former nurse she wants to see healthcare reform and for her district she wants to see agricultural reform to help the farmers.  Jorgensen is also a strong proponent of the CEED Program (Community Energy and Economic Development Program – www.ceedprogram.com) which was originally conceived of as part of her platform in her last campaign, but given its importance, was spun out as a free standing program that has received widespread support and interest in Congress and elsewhere. The CEED Program was designed to harness the new administration’s desire to promote renewable energy, green jobs and green companies throughout the country. In addition, it provides a direct means to harness citizen action at the community level and give it a focus, working in a partnership with government.  It is those convictions that keep her going.

Jorgensen’s website is currently going through an updating process however if you would like more information about Marta Jorgensen’s campaign or to contribute you can still find out more at www.jorgensenforcongress.com.  Or to make a contribution over the phone you can contact Charlotte Dobbs & Company at (310) 264-9200 or her campaign treasurer David Gould at (213) 489-4792.