Starting a campaign from scratch is never easy.

Its especially tough

when youre new to organizing, without years of experience to
lean on. But knowing Wellstones got your back sure does help.
This is the story of Wellstone Corps. Its the biggest program
weve built since our founding over a decade ago. With Wellstone
Corps, were building a movement of progressive leaders ready to
battle against extreme conservativesand winthe Wellstone Way.
This spring, we recruited the best emerging organizers in the
country, from former teachers to recent college grads, and we gave
them an important job: hold five of the most radical conservatives in
the country accountable for their actions, and win on November 4th
in a way that builds community power for the long haul.
To do it, we spent an intense week in Nashville preparing the
Corps with the tools, tactics, and strategies theyd need to survive,
thrive, and win, the Wellstone Way. Then, we deployed them
across the country, to places like North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia,
Michigan, and Colorado to take on some of the most out-of-touch
politicians around.
Theyve got a big, important job to do, but they wont do it alone.
Igniting leadership in people and
power in communities to win change
in the progressive tradition of
Paul and Sheila Wellstone.
News from Wellstone Action
Introducing Wellstone Corps
(see page 2)
Wellstone Corps, Day 1
FALL 2014
Dear Friends,
If youre anything like us, your fall is
hopping. With the midterm elections
ahead, and every House seat and
a third of the Senate up for grabs
(not to mention key governorships
and state legislative races), were
crisscrossing the country to win this
election, the Wellstone Way. Keep
reading to find out how!
Ben Goldfarb
Executive Director
While theyre in the field, we check in with them
weekly to provide additional training and support.
This month, we met up again for a Get Out
The Vote (GOTV) training. After the election,
well reconvene to talk about their experiences
and help them launch the next chapter in their
careers. From the day we hired them, and for
years to come, this inaugural Wellstone Corps
is part of our Wellstone familyand our broader
progressive movement.
Since arriving in their states, Corps members
have hit the ground running, recruiting volunteers,
knocking on doors, registering voters, opening
campaign offices, creating campaign literature,
and executing major earned media events.
Heres just one example: The Michigan Corps
is working against an extremist whos taken over
$5 million from the billionaire Koch brothers.
Recently, Corps members recruited volunteers to
deliver a massive novelty check to her campaign
office in Grand Rapids. It generated plenty
of attention, raised awareness about where the
candidates true loyalties lie, and fired up their
volunteers.
Were constantly going back to what we
learned in Nashville, explains Daniel Cox,
a Corps member based in Ann Arbor, MI.
Were always thinking about what we learned
from Wellstone, focusing on our goals and results.
Wellstone set us up to succeed, they gave us a
path to victory.
As Ellie Zuckerman, a Corps member working
out of Kentucky puts it, All of the support from
Wellstone has been incredible, especially as the
work keeps getting harder. As a new organizer,
there are always things I could be doing better,
and instead of getting frustrated or feeling out
of control, I have people to ask for help and a
framework to watch myself get better everyday.
Their work couldnt be more important.
From immigration reform that regards all people
with dignity, to a minimum wage that families can
actually live on, to truly securing social security, to
making college education affordable, the stakes are
high. Building progressive power means winning
a future where we all do better when we all do
better, instead of one where youre on your own.
Wellstone Corps is here to win, not just on
November 4th, but for many years to come.
Introducing Wellstone Corps continued
Change is going to come from the states, not from
DC. Progress is going to be won by building an
enduring movement, state by state. Wondering
how we do that at Wellstone? Take Georgia as
an example. Take the example of Georgia House
Minority Leader Stacey Abrams.
The daughter of Mississippi ministers, a
lawyer and businesswoman, State Representative
and now Georgia House Minority Leader, Stacey
Abrams, is on a mission.
In the heart of Georgia, Abrams is a champion
for great public schools, for access to good,
affordable healthcare, for an economy where
everyone who works hard has a fair shot at the
middle class.
Shes the first woman to lead either party
in the Georgia General Assembly and the first
African American to lead the Georgia House
of Representatives. She has won considerable
national recognition, including becoming the
inaugural recipient of the EMILYs List Gabrielle
Giffords Rising Star Award. And shes just getting
started. Next up, replacing the Minority in her
title with Majority.
To do it, shes leading the resurgence of the
Georgia Democratic House Caucus, where shes
created an organization built to win and sustain
a movement.
Abrams and her team have spent much
of the last year in communities across Georgia,
meeting with local leaders and recruiting top-
notch candidates to run for the State House.
As her focus shifted to supporting those candidates
towards victory in November, she knew that 2
Winning in Georgia, the Wellstone Way
Our strategy sessions are seriousand so are
our games of Rock, Paper, Scissors!
Wellstone should be part of that work.
Were building our bench in Georgia,
explains Abrams. Were running races with
first-time candidates, so starting right, building
capacity early, is vital. We must make certain
that for each race, the candidate has the internal
wherewithal to run and technical skills to win.
Wellstone has best the reputation for helping to
build that wherewithal, and those technical skills,
with candidates and their staff.
So in early June, we spent two-and-a-half
days in the Peach State, with a union hall full of
candidates and campaign managers. The result
was something tremendous. We practiced giving
stump speeches, offered
intense feedback, and then
practiced again. We talked
about the field component
of a campaign, how to
raise money, how to use
paid, earned and digital
media, and how to
display strong and
confident leadership.
Says Abrams:
Ive heard nothing
but rave reviews. From
our brand new candidates,
the unanimous, positive
response was that the
training was eye opening.
Wellstone made them feel
capable of doing the hard
work of running. For our
candidates with a bit more
experience, Wellstone
helped them understand how to improve and
offered a roadmap for what could happen next.
The weekend gave our candidates a renewed sense
of confidence; they believe they can win, and
they have the tools to win. That wouldnt have
happened without Wellstone. Wellstone harnessed
their potential.
Georgia is a state of rich diversity, from its
city centers to its sprawling farms. For the better
part of the past few decades, conservatives have
held most of the seats of power. If progressives
can change the game in Georgia, it will offer a
roadmap to progress across the country.
Our candidates represent all the geographies
of the state because we are growing progressives
everywhere. Wellstone offered the candidates
specific and focused content so they could adapt
what they learned to their particular race. Adds
Abrams, The Wellstone team was remarkable.
I appreciated their diversity, which reflected the
diversity of our candidates and state. Georgia is
going through rapid demographic changes and
the training reflected what Georgia is and what
it is becoming.
Thats how you change the game in the states,
the Wellstone Way: with inspiring leaders, with
candidates whose passion is matched by their
technical skills to run and win, and with training
that helps fuel a movement. We are doing that in
Georgia. We are doing that in places like North
Carolina and Ohio. And together, with leaders
like Stacey Abrams, well do that across the
entire country.
3
Georgia House Minority Leader
and Wellstone alum Stacey Abrams
We are leaders. We are innovators. We are organizers, strategists, and
advocates. And with your help, were winning a country where politics
is truly about the improvement of peoples lives.
We are Wellstone. Meet us all at www.wellstone.org/about/staff.
2446 UNIVERSITY AVE W SUITE 170
ST. PAUL, MN 55114
www.wellstone.org RECYCLED & RECYCLABLE / SOY INK
From Campus Camp Wellstone in
California to Boot Camp with the
Congressional Black Caucus
Institute in Maryland, and from
Camp Wellstone in Minnesota to
Voting Rights training in Florida,
by the time 2014 comes to a
close, Wellstone Action will have
led over 125 trainings in 22 states.
Learn about all our work in
2014 and beyond. Visit us at:
www.wellstone.org/events.
Have You Planned YOUR Legacy?
Catherine Dorr is one of
Wellstone Actions most
passionate supporters.
Shes also one of our very
first Legacy Circle Donors
leaders who honor our mission and values by
including us in their estate plans. In 2003,
Catherine was in the process of revising her
will after her parents passed away. When
she heard about the new organization called
Wellstone Action, she knew
she wanted to create her
own legacy by helping to
train future progressive
champions.
It was a thoughtful and careful choice.
As an election judge and a dedicated volunteer
and leader on voting rights issues, Catherine
is an active and enthusiastic participant in the
progressive movement. Woven through this
volunteerism is a keen understanding that for
the progressive movement to grow, change,
and winnot just this year but for the next
50 yearsit needs Wellstone Action.
In January of 2005, Catherine attended Camp
Wellstone and absolutely loved it. She sent us a
thank you card afterward saying, Thank you so
much for training me over the weekend ... It is
obvious that there is, and always will be, a need
to keep Paul and Sheilas legacy alive by training
people in methods of effective organizing. The
comment I often heard was something like:
I knew how to do parts of this, but until now, no
one had shown or taught me the entire picture.
Thus, I wanted to reassure you of my continued
support.
That support has meant bringing a cake
for the staff every year, handwritten notes of
encouragement, yearly scholarships for Camp
Wellstone participants who otherwise couldnt
afford to come to training, and now, designating
Wellstone Action as a beneficiary in her estate
plans. I see my legacy
gift as a small brick in
the building of Wellstone
Actions work, says
Catherine, and her
designation came with the beautiful dedication
that we know would make Paul and Sheila proud:
So you can keep on fighting and keep growing
the Wellstone legacy.
Enthusiasm is no substitute for competence,
Catherine said recently over caramel rolls at
Keys Caf in St. Paul. Issues come and go, but
the skills people have remain. And thanks to
Catherine and our proud group of Legacy Donors,
progressive leaders will have the skills to win the
Wellstone Way for decades to come.
Have you planned your legacy? If youre
interested in learning more about planned giving
opportunities with Wellstone, and how your gift
will bring the Wellstone Way to every corner of
our country, please contact Leah, our Leadership
Giving Officer, at leah@wellstone.org.
Issues come and go, but the
skills people have remain.