Join the " Brown Bag Lunch Vigils!

The Agitator: Voices of PDA

Join the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign!

Put your change to work!

California Nurses Association

National Priorities Project

Site Search

PDA Site    Web
Search provided by Google®

Find Chapters

Select Area Abroad Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York N. Carolina N. Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island S. Carolina S. Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington W. Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

CD Point People

Find yours here.

Social Community

Action Alerts

Take action now!

Congress Schedule

Click here for the Congressional Schedule

Harrison Succumbs to McMahon in New York's 13th CD

September 10, 2008, Brooklyn, NY

Despite the best efforts of the PDA NY CD13 chapter, and PDA volunteers across the country, DCCC candidate Mike McMahon defeated PDA-endorsed Healthcare NOT Warfare candidate Steve Harrison in the September 9 primary.

These are Harrison's remarks:

The people of the 13th have spoken…

I remember President Jimmy Carter saying that he would be lying if he did not say that it hurt when he was defeated by Ronald Reagan. I know how it feels. I am hurt. I fought hard for the people of this district when times were tough and I do wish they had given me the chance to fight for them now. But that is simply not to be.

Mike McMahon has won. I acknowledge and respect that victory and I do hope that Mike will lead the Democrats to victory in November. Whatever our differences, and there are many, Mike is a better choice for America and the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn than the continued vision of fear and hopelessness offered by his Republican opponent.

Many ask why I continued this race against all odds. My answer in one word: “Democracy.” I believe in the Democratic process. I believe there is a hunger in our district and our nation for a progressive message and I simply am not willing to let it be stifled.

The Democrats of any district have a right to choose their candidate after listening to the facts from all candidates. It is not disloyal to present a choice. In fact it is what the Democratic Party is supposed to be all about-diversity. Disloyalty actually lies with those who would unfairly influence and skew the process from afar.

So even as I bid Mike McMahon well, I want to be quite clear-neither I nor the people in this room are going away-ever. Our voices will be heard louder than ever across America as we shut the doors on this one campaign and turn our attention to the true prize of November 4th, the election of President Barack Obama.