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This belongs to you. Take it back...
SD-54 
Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 12:56:56 PM EDT
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When I walked into Paloma Capanna's office, I had to do a double-take. On the door was three Post-It notes next to each other, with each one having a number. The first had 8, the second had 2 and the last one had 5. The significance of that number could also be found on the wall next to Capanna's desk where six pages of donors along with a small picture of a piggy bank were affixed to the wall.
 At the time, Capanna had 825 individual donors to her campaign. That number has since grown to, as of the last e-mail from Capanna, 951 donors. In an e-mail sent out Wednesday, Capanna was aiming for 1,000 donors by the end of the day on Saturday. She has also invited members of the press, including myself, to come walk door-to-door with her as she canvasses the 54th Senate District. According to Capanna, she is walking five days a week and will increase that to six nights a week as the election nears.
I also had a chance to meet a few Capanna for Senate volunteers who are putting in hours helping Capanna. Capanna said that she has one paid staffer (her campaign manager) and that everyone else are volunteers donating their time to help her campaign.
So how grassroots is the Capanna campaign? Capanna has a fundraising drive called "Change for Change" where donors can collect their loose change and contribute to Capanna's campaign. Capanna told me of a couple of people who, when Capanna showed up on their doorstep, had already collected change for her. "Change for Change" is the reason why Capanna has so many donors and has so many people invested in her campaign. Most of those donors reside in the district, giving them the ability to vote for her in November.
Capanna's platform used to consist of universal health care, creating green energy jobs and protecting the environment. However, after canvassing the district and meeting voters, she has learned that there is more than meets the eye with the issues.
"There is no one single issue anymore," Capanna said. "There are many issues and it will take multiple pieces of legislation that will have to happen [to address those issues]."
There is one issue that is important to Capanna and that is poverty. The first time I heard about Capanna came at the New York State Democratic Rural Conference Convention in Saratoga Springs early in April when she gave her presentation (or speech) on the topic of poverty. It was very well-received and impressed many observers. A few months later, she gave a similar talk in Delaware County.
From her bio:
Charitable work is also important to Paloma. Paloma has spent considerable hours for more than fifteen years performing pro bono (free) legal work through the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County. Paloma has also served on the Board to Crisis Nursery of Greater Rochester and Hope Hall School. She is committed to children in poverty and at risk of domestic violence.
This is a very important issue for Capanna. But she didn't stop there.
More from the interview below the fold.
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Tue Jul 29, 2008 at 15:28:02 PM EDT
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Tomorrow afternoon I will get the opportunity to meet, interview and canvass with Paloma Capanna. It is something I was hoping to do a month or so ago but due to my dad's multiple heart attacks, everything took a backseat. Now with everything settled down, Capanna reached out to set up another date and time.
As with past interviews, I don't want the questions to come solely from me. I have plenty of questions to ask, but I want to allow you an opportunity to ask Capanna a question. So feel free to fire me ideas for questions in the comments section or by e-mail at robert.harding22@gmail.com.
One question you might have is who is Paloma Capanna?
Paloma is a family law attorney, representing clients in cases involving custody, child support, distribution of assets, and spousal support. She represents clients at the trial and appellate levels. For more than fifteen years, Paloma has worked to find solutions for the increasing financial pressures on working men and women to meet routine household bills, like mortgages, and provide essentials for their families, like health insurance and quality medical care. Paloma started her own law office after receiving her law license in 1992.
Charitable work is also important to Paloma. Paloma has spent considerable hours for more than fifteen years performing pro bono (free) legal work through the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County. Paloma has also served on the Board to Crisis Nursery of Greater Rochester and Hope Hall School. She is committed to children in poverty and at risk of domestic violence.
Paloma graduated with a Juris Doctor graduate degree from SUNY Buffalo (NY). She received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Wheaton College (MA) in Political Science and Economic Theory. Her Senior Honors Thesis was on end-stage of life medical decision-making. She was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society, an award conferred on less than 1% of college graduates nationwide. Paloma spent one semester of college attending Harvard University (MA) to study macroeconomic policy and holistic medicine. Among her college activities, Paloma worked at the Health Policy Institute (Boston) and interned in hospital administration at Children's Hospital (Boston).
Let me know any questions you might have or any comments you would like to pass along to Capanna.
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 18:04:00 PM EDT
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One of the most progressive candidates we have running for New York State Senate this year is Paloma Capanna. Capanna is running against Sen. Michael Nozzolio in the 54th Senate District. For Nozzolio, this is a first. He has never had an opponent in any of his reelection bids. Capanna ended that streak.
It was recently pointed out that Capanna has not raised a lot of money compared to other candidates. Capanna's recent filing shows that she has $27,180.52 cash on hand and raised $28,754.57 during the first half of 2008.
However, those aren't the important figures. In our current political system, we tend to look at those numbers as too low. But the most important figure comes from the list of donors who have given to the Capanna campaign.
As of that filing, there were about 700 donors to the Capanna campaign. Since then, they have gained over 60 new donors. In all, they now have 766 donors who have given to the campaign. With the exception of a select few who are from outside the district, the vast majority of the donors are from inside the 54th Senate District.
Capanna explained this to me. She is not accepting large dollar contributions from individuals outside of the district. She wants this to be a truly grassroots campaign, not a money-based campaign. The only large dollar contributions she is accepting comes from the local unions.
She also has a "Change for Change" drive that allows individuals to contribute their pocket change or a collection of change. These contributions aren't huge ($5 or $10) but it is a commitment by the donor to support Capanna and vote for her in the elections. Based on the number of donors Capanna has from inside the district, she is starting off with over 700 votes in her column.
Capanna's donor list for the recent filing totals 22 pages. By comparison, Nozzolio had six pages of individual contributors. Nozzolio has $570,435.37 cash on hand. That tells a great story. Capanna has a strong grassroots campaign while Nozzolio is depending on rich Republican donors to fund his campaign.
To close, there is one more thing you should know about Paloma Capanna. She told me that she is walking five nights a week. When it gets down to crunch time (after Labor Day), Capanna will be walking six days a week.
Capanna's campaign is a true grassroots campaign. Her list of donors proves that and her campaign style proves that. This campaign is one to watch here in upstate New York.
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Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 16:33:30 PM EDT
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We've got Democrats challenging all over the state this cycle, so many that it's been hard to keep up. One candidate that seems to have slipped throught the cracks is Paloma Capanna who is running against incumbent Mike Nozzolio in the 54th SD. This is the first challenge to his seat in 16 years. Capanna's first campaign was for the Dem nod in NY-25 against Jim Walsh. She withdrew to avoid a primary with the next Congressman from that district, Dan Maffei, who will replace the retiring Jim Walsh.
 Capanna's website says she is running on a platform of Albany reform, universal health care and promoting the coming green economy. She is also limiting all contributions to her campaign to $1,000. From her site:
For the first time in 16 years, a Democrat is running for the office of New York State Senate in the 54th District. I've had enough of the dysfunction in Albany, haven't you?
I am running on platforms of change for our future: universal health insurance coverage, green energy for green-collared jobs, and environmental remediation and protection. The future jobs of our economy will be harmonious with our natural resources as we research and develop renewable energies.
We are a grassroots campaign, powered by people, funded by individual, local donors. Now we need you: to help us get on the ballot, to help us mount a successful campaign, to wage the battle in Albany to restore government of, by, and for The People.
I like what I see so far. If you are in or near the district, I'm sure she could use some petitioning help. And though she's not yet on ActBlue (there's simply no excuse for any of our candidates not to be on ActBlue), you can contribute here or through her ActBlue Page.
On the web: Paloma Capanna for State Senate.
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Sat Jun 07, 2008 at 16:40:36 PM EDT
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When I authored the first of my weekly New York State Senate power rankings yesterday, I listed ten races that I think are top targets (or seats we need to keep) to ensure a Democratic majority beginning in 2009.
Judging by my e-mail inbox this morning, Paloma Capanna should have been number one.
I received e-mails from Capanna supporters from the 54th Senate District and from a supporter of Paloma's campaign from the western end of the state who all support Paloma and speak of the great things she is doing in the 54th. I even received an e-mail from Paloma Capanna, giving the rundown of what her campaign is all about and what she is talking about in the district.
I wrote about Paloma after returning from the New York State Democratic Rural Conference convention in April. A lot of people - both in the district and outside of it - are impressed by her. I count myself as one of those people. She is as genuine as it gets. She cares about her constituents, working class people of the 54th and issues like health care and poverty. When it comes to those issues, she is one of the best. She is very articulate and will be a formidable opponent for Sen. Michael Nozzolio, who has never been challenged in any election during his Senate career - until now.
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Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 22:32:19 PM EDT
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At the DRC convention and afterwards, I had a few people tell me about Paloma Capanna. Paloma is running for New York State Senate in the 54th Senate District. Not only did they tell me about her, but they all said the same thing: She was very impressive.
I missed the event this morning where Paloma spoke but several people told me that she spoke passionately and intelligently about children and poverty. In one person's words, it was very "moving."
I received an e-mail from supporters of Paloma's and readers of The Albany Project who said that I should check out Paloma when I was there. Believe me, she left a mark on the DRC. There is no question about it.
When I checked out her website, the message on the front page hits you in the face.
You talked, and we listened. You made health insurance the number one issue for our campaign to solve, and we've designed a program: "Universal New York." It's time for universal health insurance, available and affordable to all.
No more co-pays. No more deductibles. Your choice of providers. Your doctor's choice of prescriptions. A local advocate you know on a first name basis, if you or your doctor run into any problems with coverage or reimbursement.
Your cost for state-administered health insurance will be reduced by expanding the pool of people who are covered through a single plan and by eliminating private insurance profits. Your cost will come down even further by eliminating bad debt/free care that drives up costs of those who are paying. More importantly, your quality of care goes up when doctors and hospitals regain the 30% of their time that is lost to billing paperwork.
New York already offers more than twenty, different health insurance programs for nearly everyone, except the working middle class. In fact, 80% of the uninsured are employed. We can afford medical insurance. What we can't afford is the bill from private medical insurance companies.
It all started with our pledge for campaign finance reform to take the big money out of Albany. We're ready to do battle with big insurance and pharmaceutical companies, if that's what it takes. If you want meaningful policy change, it's time for you to support a campaign of The People, by The People, and for The People. Join the campaign where the average individual contribution is $25 and almost 400 people have contributed to Change-for-Change!
It's your democracy. Make it what you know it should be.
Paloma is a progressive Democrat. This is someone we should be supporting. Kudos to those who are already supporting her and I hope that many more throughout the state jump on her bandwagon. Let's make Paloma the next state senator in SD-54.
ON THE WEB:
Contribute to Capanna for Senate
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