Charging Ahead…
People have long past taken notice of Tommy Sowers’ campaign for Congress, and he has continued his march toward Washington, DC. In early June, Sowers was added to the DCCC’s Red to Blue list for the very top races in the country.
In the last two months, Tommy Sowers has walked the entirety of Missouri’s Eighth District’s 100 Mile Yard Sale and has been featured in some of Washington’s most prominent political newspapers. The founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, co-hosted a fundraiser for Tommy, and he continues to out raise incumbent Representative Jo Ann Emerson. Almost one hundred percent of Tommy’s fundraising is from individuals.
General Wes Clark said of Tommy: “First of all, there is not another candidate like Tommy Sowers…from his military service to his academics to his teaching, he is uniquely qualified serve.”
Our campaign’s momentum is continuing to build, and we are charging ahead. We have the upper hand in this race: people want new blood in Washington, DC and they want it now. Missouri’s Eighth District is sick and tired of the same Washington, DC games. They want a representative who actually represents them, someone who will fight for them every single day.
www.sowersforcongress.com/charging-ahead
June 14 - Democrats Expand ‘Red to Blue’ Priority List
by Jackie Kuchinich
“These candidates being named to our Red to Blue Program are running strong campaigns and demonstrating their commitment to being independent leaders who will make job creation back home their top priority,” DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) said in a statement. “The Red to Blue Program will give these strong candidates the financial and structural edge they need to win in November.”
The new candidates are… and Tommy Sowers in Missouri’s 8th district.
To qualify for the program, candidates must show an ability to surpass “demanding fundraising goals” and demonstrate skill in connecting with voters. In return, the candidates receive “financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support,” according to committee officials.
April 20th – Sowers on Offense in Defensive Year
By Jonathan Martin
Tommy Sowers, a Democrat running against Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), has a message for his national party as they brace themselves for expected losses this fall. Candidates that fit profiles like his provide “a nice counter-narrative to say we’re on offense this year, that we’re not just playing defense, because two millennia of warfare tells you you get your ass kicked on defense,” Sowers declared in an interview with POLITICO.
In an election year where congressional Democrats are scrambling to protect their vulnerable incumbents and have just a handful of pick-up opportunities, Sowers, 34, has emerged as one of party’s most promising recruits.
…Despite the credentials, Sowers is also politically savvy enough to have wrapped his truck NASCAR-style, put his dog in the bed and produced campaign hats in camo – with “Pro-Gun” etched on the back.
More than that, Sowers has impressed with his fundraising: he raised nearly $300,000 in the first quarter, significantly more than Emerson, and has $466,000 in the bank.
April 30 - Vets running for Congress face battle for hearts and minds
By Laurie Ure
...Sowers is maximizing the connect-with-voters angle. "I was born and raised there," Sowers said of the rural southeast Missouri district he aspires to represent. "I hunt. I fish. I listen to the [St. Louis] Cardinals. I mean, it allows me to connect in a way that, coming straight out of the military, in other times in other cycles in other districts, would be much more of a challenge," said Sowers.
May 29 - And the Swift-Boating Begins
By Richard Allen Smith
We're around five months out from mid-elections, but in at least one district the Republican candidate isn't wasting any time in rolling out the swift boat smears of her opponent, Tommy Sowers.
Here is Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) commenting on her opponents position in support of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell":
"In addition, Emerson said her opposition is based on comments from field commanders "who have said that in very difficult situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, in combat jobs, that it is beneficial to have knowledge of that because there can be distractions. Since Sowers has never commanded anybody, he might have a different perspective.""
The problem there is that Tommy Sowers HAS COMMANDED and Emerson knows it. This is purely a smear against Sowers' record of exemplary service to his country.
Tommy Sowers commanded a Platoon of combat engineers in Kosovo. After attending SFAS and SFQC, Sowers commanded Special Forces ODA teams in two deployments to Iraq. Sowers was awarded two Bronze Stars for his time in command.
Perhaps Rep. Jo Ann Emerson doesn't value service quite as much as Tommy Sowers. As far as I can tell, that's the only way she would be able to openly lie about and degrade his record to the press.
May 30 - Veterans for Congress: Mobilizing to Serve Their Country Again
By Lauren Bohn
Tommy Sowers is no stranger to formidably uphill operations. He's led a team of Green Berets in two deployments to Iraq and a platoon in Kosovo during the war in the Balkans. Now his combat boots, replaced by polished black slip-ons, are in the mud of another battleground – one whose terrain has also proved sticky and fractious.
The 34-year-old Sowers is running as a Democrat for Missouri's 8th Congressional District seat against a well-liked 14-year incumbent Republican, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. "My generation of veterans is having a tough time getting into Congress," said Sowers, who says that poor congressional oversight on military operations was one of the factors that spurred his candidacy. "But Green berets are trained to run insurgencies and that's what I'm doing in Missouri."
...Sowers, who recently wrapped up his "Boots on the Ground" initiative – a 28-day "deployment" around his predominantly Republican district, where he talked to voters and worked different jobs – says that sentiment is easily forgotten.
"My buddies in the military ask me how this is going," he laughed. "I say no one's shooting at me, but they're still trying to kill me."
June 9 - Jack Dorsey Debuts @Square Mobile Payment Device in D.C.
By Tyler Gray
On Tuesday evening Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey attended a fundraising reception for Missouri Congressional Candidate Tommy Sowers to officially debut his latest invention, Square which currently allows anyone with an Iphone, Android or laptop to send or accept payments for just about anything. Mobile credit card readers are not new.
…when I asked Jack why he chose the Sowers event...he was impressed with the Sowers campaign utilization of social media tools and that they were the first ones to reach out and ask for his help on the event.
Also, being from St. Louis, he has a personal interest in Missouri’s representation. Furthermore, not only does just about every senior staffer on the Sowers campaign maintain and use Twitter accounts, as far as I can recall I have never seen a political email written in Twitter speak that explicitly asks the reader:
"Even if you can’t make it, can you help make noise about this on twitter? We want all of DC talking about this for weeks to come.
If you could tweet something like: "Please RT: @sowers and @jack at #sqdc TONIGHT, this is not an event to miss! http://bt.io/FN4u" "
June 15 - Sowers stumps with Gen. Clark, unveils new online fundraising tool
By Jo Mannies
Tommy Sowers, the Green Beret veteran running for Congress in southeast Missouri, stumped in St. Louis this morning with retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who said the Eighth District Democrat exemplified the type of congressional representation that rural America needs.’
…Clark, who heads a Democratic political action committee called WesPac, said he would return to Missouri to campaign for Sowers -- and would do so in the Eighth District.
June 16 - Emerson’s Challenger Looks Better Than Most
By Jackie Kucinich
For a political outsider from a rural district in Missouri, Democratic candidate Tommy Sowers has amassed a star-studded Rolodex of national supporters and has raised a considerable amount of money.
A recent fundraiser for Sowers at a hip D.C. restaurant listed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, consultant Karen Finney, Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.), Democratic commentator Paul Begala and former Gen. Wesley Clark as hosts — an impressive list for the long-shot candidate who hopes to unseat Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R) this fall.
…Smith said Sowers’ military background gives him “a special edge” in a district with a high population of veterans and members of the military. “Emerson wouldn’t be a natural target in a district that is pretty Republican,” Smith said. “[Republicans] have an incumbent who has been largely invisible,” and as a result a little more vulnerable.
June 16 - Tommy Sowers: a credible challenger to Jo Ann Emerson
I don't know whether Jo Ann Emerson should be worried about her challenger, Tommy Sowers (rhymes with "hours").
It's hard to judge since he's the first credible challenger she's faced. Everybody agrees, though, that without money, no challenger has a chance, and by that measure, Sowers is credible. In the first quarter of this year, he raised almost $300,000--$70,000 more than Emerson did. And all but about $600 of those contributions came from individuals.
...I said to start with that I don't know whether Emerson ought to be worried, but the reasons to think she should be keep piling up. Sowers has been getting attention from Democrats nationally. Howard Dean talked about him on MSNBC, calling him a "knockout." Also, Sowers has just been added to the "Red to Blue" list, the DCCC's list of the most promising candidates challenging Republican incumbents. And as Sowers' website points out: "This district tends to vote for the person before the party, with 57% Democratic officials at the county level and below."
