Maureen Reed for Congress

Happy Thanksgiving! 

My hope is that you are well and getting ready to enjoy the holiday with family and friends. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays - it is a day filled with good cheer and gratitude for all the blessings we have in our lives. This year is no exception!

Recently, we had a great event in Afton at the home of Christy and Doug Hlavacek. As a former Chairwoman of the Stillwater School Board, Christy holds the great distinction of being one of the few people who can say that they have beaten Michele Bachmann in an election. In 1999, Christy defeated Michele Bachmann for a seat on the Stillwater school board. In under a year, I look forward to Maureen joining Christy in the exclusive club of individuals who have overcome Bachmann at the ballot box!

One of our most recent house parties was held at Margit Bretzke and Jeff Hanson's home. Margit is a former roommate and medical school classmate of Maureen's. Jeff and Margit were two of the campaign's earliest and strongest supporters.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is an issue that is very important to me personally and is a pressing concern for our nation. As a physician for 12 years at the Fremont Community Clinic in north Minneapolis, I served numerous patients who were un- and under insured and were forced to delay health treatment because they could not afford it.

Last week, an unspeakable tragedy occurred at the Fort Hood Military Base in Texas, when a gunman opened fire at his fellow servicemen and women.  Never before has our nation faced such an action of this scale, and as the details unfold, my hope is that our energy, focus, and sympathy remain on the brave servicemen and women who are recovering from their injuries, as well as honoring the memory of those who sacrificed their lives because they felt the call to serve our nation. 

A large part of Maureen Reed's fundraising success can be attributed to her strong support among female contributors. In fact, the Center for Responsible Politics, a watchdog group that studies campaign contributions, released an article today highlighting that Maureen's campaign received the 3rd highest percentage of contributions from women of all congresional races across the country, even including incumbent campaigns. This tremendous feat shows her widespread support, and is one of the reasons Maureen Reed is the candidate who will defeat Michele Bachmann. Go to the full article here: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/11/men-still-dominate-campaign-fu.html