I’m running for State Representative, and I need your support. 

You probably know that I’ve run for elected office before, but I want you to know my story–the reason I’ve run in the past and am running today.  I’m a two-time candidate for Minneapolis Mayor, and I ran for City Council in 2009.  My mayoral candidacies were not organized as real campaigns to get elected; rather, they were my passionate, positively enraged attempts to publicly address racial profiling, police brutality, and the prison industrial complex.  These are issues most politicians are either ignorant or indifferent about, but these issues have devastated too many lives in poor inner city neighborhoods nationwide, including the Twin Cities.

Ever since I was a very young child, I’ve harbored a sense of moral outrage over social, economic and racial injustices.  In high school I was deeply disturbed by the institutional racism that facilitated systemic disenfranchisement of Black students, and I organized a walk-out.  After high school, I participated in a variety of grassroots community building and organizing activities, including many direct action protest demonstrations.  I’m a natural born activist.

In my teens and early twenties I was pulled over by police more than 40 times, including an incident where I was unjustly brutalized.  I’ll have you know that I have no criminal record and don’t even have an arrest record.  Suffering these injustices at the hands of the law deeply disturbed me and fostered a sense of disillusionment in me about our society.  Being a victim of these systemic governmental injustices without gaining access to redress traumatized me as I felt like a second-class citizen.

Filing as a Mayoral candidate in 2001 and 2005 was my way of constructively channeling my PTSD.
It was a safer, more appropriate response than acting on my anger-fueled visions of violent retribution.
I choose to confront the government through electoral politics to change the campaign season conversations and to propose more just, equitable political leadership and policy changes to redress government injustices, particularly as it related to police-community relations and criminal justice reform.  Naturally, I was compelled to address other critically important equity issues regarding housing, education, economic development, etc.

Becoming a mayoral candidate planted the seeds in my mind and heart for my serious consideration of becoming an elected official to advocate for structural changes in society from a legislative position.  After the first campaign in 2001, I began studying public policy and completed training to become a professional community organizer and political advocate.  For the past 7 years I’ve been studying and working on a variety of issues integral to building an equitable society.  During the past few years I began practicing legislative advocacy.

In 2009, I decided to run for City Council with the intention of actually getting elected.  Although I was a serious candidate that year I lacked the organizational capacity to run a viable campaign.  That means I didn’t have a management team, didn’t mobilize enough volunteers and I didn’t raise enough money to adequately compete with media advertising, campaign literature, campaign infrastructure and other tools.  Obviously, I was not elected, but I did prove to be an outstanding candidate, outperforming the incumbent and two other challengers in many critical ways.  I knocked on 10,000+ doors, met a few thousands residents, and established community name recognition and credibility with politically conscious people throughout the Twin Cities.

Now in 2012, I’ve decided to run again, but this time I’ve got a campaign manager, field director, treasurer, experienced advisors who have managed successful legislative campaigns at the state and federal level, helping me build a winning campaign.  This time I’ve got a strategic campaign plan, experience to inform me, and I completed a Camp Wellstone candidate training to help guide me.

I’m asking everyone to donate $100 or up to $500.  I also need you to volunteer to door knock, phone bank, and/or show up at events, please.

My fundraising goal is to raise $20,000 by June 5, 2012.  I only need 200 supporters to donate an average of $100 to do it.  We only need 2,100 votes to win the August 14, 2012 Primary Election.
Here’s how you can help the People over Profits campaign organize a historic UPSET of the status quo in North Minneapolis:

Volunteer to door knock

Work the phone bank

Organize and host a campaign FUNdraising House Party

Attend campaign events

Give any amount you can up to the Election year contribution limit of $500

Running for office, especially as an underdog, is a daunting and heart-wrenching experience, so please make it worth the effort by campaigning with me!  I plan to win, but can’t do it without an army of my friends running with me!  With your help, we can get the 2,100 votes needed to win the Primary Election on August 14, which will make the General Election victory inevitable.

Thank you for your support!

mh

WHEN:  Monday, February 6, 2012, 6:00pm-8:00pm

WHERE:  H. White men’s room, 1500 44th Ave N, Minneapolis, 55412

Show up to learn about and join the People over Profits campaign. We are providing a brief caucus training for people who are new to caucusing, to encourage people to show up to become delegates in the DFL endorsement process.  I need enough delegates to WIN or BLOCK the endorsement at the April 14 SD 58 DFL endorsement convention.  We’ll discuss the issues and the campaign plan for victory.

Your attendance at our campaign event next Monday, February 6, is needed to generate enough momentum for the campaign to launch a powerful run for the August 14, 2012 Primary Election.  We’re going hard once the redistricted maps are released on Feb 22, 2012 and I need your support now to build the campaign’s organizational capacity.  We will be filming testimonies of campaign supporters, so please come bless the campaign documentary with your words of endorsement and powerful presence.  This is important and fun, especially if you’re there.  Political theater with a purpose: advocating and legislating social, economic and racial justice in public policy and public investments.

Please RSVP, and bring others because we’re planning to organize thousands of community members to GOTV in 2012, advocating PEOPLE over PROFITS!

• Fair Economy
• Education Equity
• Housing Justice
• Affordable Healthcare
• Criminal Justice Reform

Thx!

mh
612.987.7407
marcus@marcusharcus.org

Who am I?

I am a working class Northside native son committed to North Minneapolis and proudly raising my own young children here today. Although I’m a young man, I’m a relatively long-time grassroots activist.  I am also a writer and entrepreneur.  As a junior at Patrick Henry high school I learned that a significant part of my life’s purpose is to organize and advocate for social, economic and racial justice.  Some of the multiple issues I’ve worked on include the following:

• Youth development
• Education equity
• Racial profiling/police brutality
• Community economic development
• Foreclosure prevention
• Public infrastructure investments
• Equitable hiring

Why am I Running? 

I am running for State Representative because of my ire over a variety of social, economic and racial injustices that are tragically prevalent in our state.  I am consistently disappointed with our typical status quo politicians.  Therefore, I am compelled to demonstrate the kind of political leadership that our community deserves.  We need more equity-oriented, activist lawmakers and more diversity in Minnesota’s state legislature.  My intention in getting elected is to sponsor, author and pass several bills that boldly address some of the most critically important issues challenging North Minneapolis residents, businesses and community institutions, and to champion equitable economic development.

My Campaign Platform:

• Fair economy
• Housing justice
• Education equity
• Affordable health care
• Criminal justice reform

The values which inform my politics are liberty, justice, opportunity, equity, and safety for all.  If you elect me you can trust that I’ll be honest, open-minded, collaborative, creative, boldly ambitious policy-wise, and always inclusive.  Many candidates run to “be something,” but I am running to “do something.”

Comparison and Contrast of the Incumbent and I

The incumbent was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, the year I graduated from Henry.  I thank him for his many years of service to our community, but believe it’s time for my generation to stand up and assume leadership.  On most bills the incumbent and I would probably vote similarly, but I believe he has grown too comfortable in office.  Moreover, he fails to adequately represent and invite diverse voices from our community to show up and speak out at the Capitol.  Several of my colleagues who are progressive legislative advocates have expressed frustration to me about my representative being difficult to work with.
It is also quite telling that he is unpopular with many members of his own party.

My ability to offer a more engaging and effective representation style is based on the hotter fire in my heart, my organizing background, and my ability to relate more with younger generations, low-income and working class families, and communities of color.  This contrast between us is provided for the benefit of your decision-making.  However, I want to emphasize that I’m not running against the incumbent.  I’m running to serve the Northside and champion public policies and public investments that will help ensure a better Minnesota for my children, all future generations and all of our elders.

Let’s Talk Soon

Precinct caucuses are scheduled on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  During the next month I’ll be working to earn your support and that of 1,000 other prospective delegates.  I’ll be phone banking, door knocking, and hosting candidate meet and greet events and caucus trainings.  Feel free to contact me and please join our campaign.  I hope to speak with you soon and earn your support as a delegate!