California Election Results

In the Assembly District 72 race, the biker-friendly candidate won the election. By a landslide.

ABATE of California closely monitored this race from the very beginning. They found out exactly where the each of the candidates stood on repeal (as well as other motorcycling issues), so there were no surprises.

Many thanks to James, Jean, and Dennis for working closely with us from start to finish. And congratulations to all California bikers on getting a new ally in the state legislature.

Tennessee Election Results

In Tennessee’s 83rd House District near Memphis, Republican candidate Mark White won the January 12 special election by 1,784 votes.

The Tennessee Secretary of State doesn't keep track of voter registrations, so we'll probably never know the percentage of voter turnout. But White took 67% of the votes cast, and that's a pretty convincing victory.

On the downside, we weren't able to contact any of the candidates ahead of time. That was primarily for two reasons:

According to the RIDE2REPEAL.COM playbook, it's always far more effective to lobby legislators while they are still candidates. Once they've won the election, they don't need our help -- and we have nothing to offer them. But there were hotter races going on in other parts of the country, all with bikers talking to the candidates. So we had to let the Tennessee race go ... this time.

But even if we had contacted the Tennessee candidates, we'd still be unable to offer them anything. One look at the H-83 map will show that we don't have a single Legislative Alert subscriber who lives within riding distance of the Memphis district. And there's no sign of any bikers nearby who could have organized a campaign volunteer effort. Without local contact or support, there just wasn't any way to affect the outcome of this race.

We could only sit on the sidelines, watching our rights pass by.

From a negotiating standpoint, the winner of the Tennessee race is now the incumbent legislator. And that means bikers must assume the position of humble-and-lovable inferior when lobbying. But that doesn't mean the new State Representative won't be biker-friendly. It just means that bikers must come in low, hat in hand, and grateful for even the smallest of tid-bits.

In other words, status quo.

Hopefully that will change as more Tennessee bikers subscribe to our Legislative Alerts. Then they'll quickly learn what our Tennessee subscribers already know: There's more than one way to skin a cat ... and that it's a lot easier when done from the standing position.

Virginia Election Results

The biker-friendly candidate for Senate District 37 lost ... by a mere 317 votes on top of a puny 19% voter turnout.

And the number of bikers who worked as campaign volunteers? Of all those bikers on this map, how many picked up the phone, knocked on doors, or poked signs into the frozen ground?

Just three.

But a big thanks to Joe and Sharon, just the same. If not for our effort, our candidate wouldn't have come as close as he did.

But there's the rub. Working that hard can make you feel like the Lone Ranger, out there in the cold. Most area bikers who say they support bikers rights instead stayed at home, warm and comfy.

All talk, no walk.

So despite the number of bikers within commuting distance of this district, and despite the presence of three ABATE of Virginia chapters in Northern Virginia, just three bikers helped out. Out of hundreds who knew about this important race.

That says a lot.

With just a few more campaign volunteers, the outcome of this race could have been very different. But that means bikers would have been a factor in winning this election. The results say otherwise.

But there is a silver lining: a second chance.

Because the winning candidate was a member of the House of Delegates, he must give up his old seat to take the new one. He can't hold onto both. And now, he won't be able to vote against us in the House, either.

So this means yet another special election, and yet another opportunity for metro area bikers to make a difference. No matter how poorly we may have done in the first election, we can totally rock the next one. All it takes is action by a few.

Next time, let's give them something to talk about. Let's take that House seat back. All it takes is a few bikers that will get off their soft tails to help those that are out there.

Let them know that they are not alone in this fight.

- RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com

Four New York Races

There soon will be four special elections to fill vacancies in the Assembly Districts of the New York state legislature. Two races are on Long Island (AD-3 and AD-15). Another is in Queens (AD-24), and the fourth is just north of NYC in Mt. Kisco (AD-89). All three elections will be held the same day, on February 9.

Here's a brief news article about it:

Governor Announces Special Elections

Media-Newswire.com, January 8, 2010
Governor David A. Paterson today issued a proclamation calling Special Elections to be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, to fill vacancies in New York ...

Opportunity Knocks

I'll send a Legislative Alert to our subscribers in and around New York, as well as to officers of ABATE of New York.

Hopefully the New York SMRO or an individual biker will find out who's running in this race. And if there's any biker-friendly candidate in the running, our Legislative Alert subscribers will be the first ones to know.

You can be the first to know as well. Just visit RIDE2REPEAL.COM and click on the red "Subscribe" tab at the top of the page. Or you can contact us at RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com to learn more.

Lobby This!

Here in Virginia, as in many states across the nation, bikers are preparing for an annual trip to the state capital. The reason is that the legislature is in session, and our elected officials will consider bills affecting motorcyclists.

So in the dead of winter ... we ride.

This will be my 5th or 6th time. Not really keeping count, to be honest. But it's time well spent. A couple of years ago I even rode down a few times during the legislative session. And once, I even testified before the House Transportation Committee about the helmet law.

Did a real good job, too. Or so I thought.

But now I know too much. When the legislature is in session, the elections are over. The fat lady finished singing two whole months ago. Now it's our turn to sing. But there's just one eensey weensey little problem.

Nobody's listening.

Despite how bad that sounds, lobbying is very important. No ... not lobbying a bunch of busy delegates and senators while everyone is clamoring and clawing after them. The trick is to lobby when it actually accomplishes something. Changes minds. Creates allies. Earns loyalty.

That's not what happens during the session.

But it does happen during the campaign season. When bikers talk to candidates, they find out where they stand. And when bikers look at the voting records of incumbents, they know where they stand. So when you talk to candidates ... not incuments ... candidates, they listen.

Last night I met with three recently-elected state legislators. Two of them knew that Virginia bikers worked as campaign volunteers for several candidates this year. They learned that I was currently working for another candidate running in a special election. And they all knew it was about the helmet law.

But they also learned that it was about more than the helmet law. Taken alone, this issue is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. But it just happens to be a major intersection between two worlds ... of the biker and the politician.

For politicians, their view on helmet laws reflects their view on the relationship between government and its citizens. Either we are responsible adults worthy of respect, or domesticated livestock in need of herd management. And that position holds true with every issue affects our liberty.

For bikers on the other hand, it's an emotional issue. It's something that many of us feel passionate about, because we have to live with it every day. Passion motivates people to take action. And if that action happens to be campaign work, it creates political power for bikers.

Now that's what I call lobbying. And I know it works because I see the results.

Note: I'm still going to Lobby Day. How else am I going to see so many friends ... both biker and legislator ... in the same place at the same time?

-RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com

Express Lane

One of the great things about using the RIDE2REPEAL.COM approach: You can do something today (and practically every day) to get one step closer to repeal. And nobody can stop you.

I don't mean some vague kumbaya event that does nothing ... except maybe make you feel good for the moment. Sure, helmet law protests and bikers rights rallies are fun. But unless they lead to meaningful action, they don't change minds or votes. Instead, I am talking about how you can make progress, step-by-step, in getting your rights back. And I mean right now, if you want to.

This is because there is a special election going on somewhere in the country. As of this writing, there are 2 in California, 3 in Georgia, 1 each in Louisiana and Mississippi, 3 more in Missouri, 1 in Tennessee, and 2 in Virginia. That's a grand total of 13, and that's not counting races with only one candidate.

Here at home, I'm lucky enough to have a state senate race within driving distance. Just this past weekend I knocked on about 60 doors for the biker-friendly candidate. And all during the week, for about a half-hour after work, I've delivered campaign yard signs to homes in the district.

Now that home delivery is done, I'm putting signs out on the median. Forget that it's freezing cold outside, with snow still piled up along the road. I'm out there ... making a difference.

But there's easy "inside work" that you can do from home. All you need is a phone, and about an hour spent calling voters. Contact one of the biker-friendly candidates and get a list of phone numbers. Then let your fingers do the walking, and read a short script asking voters to support our candidate on election day. You can do this from anywhere on the planet.

Suppose you aren't lucky enough to be working outside in January, with no nearby special election going on. And you can't stand the thought of talking to strangers on the phone. You can still make a difference.

Almost all states will hold regular elections in 2010, with many seats in the state legislature up for grabs. Without knowing where the candidates stand, how can we work for biker-friendly candidates?

It takes a little homework. Checking the voting record on previous repeal bills to see where the incumbents go on record ... either supporting or opposing our freedom. Finding out who's "term limited" out of office next election, or facing a primary challenger. And then there's asking the challengers where they stand on universal helmet laws.

So you don't necessarily have to wait for any special day to make progress on getting your rights back. Every day is special. Better still, you'll know you are taking matters into your own hands. So there's no need to sit on the sidelines, watching your rights go by. You can ride in the express lane whenever you like. It's your decision.

- RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com

Oregon Trail

2010 could turn into an incredibly good year for Oregon bikers. This is for two very important reasons, both of which happened in 2009.

Starting back in April, bikers across Oregon started subscribing to our network of activists. And they continued all year long. Now we have more subscribers in Oregon than in any other state. This map shows where they are: OR Campaign Volunteers.

That's a lot of potential, but it takes more than that. Another essential ingredient is advanced planning. In order for bikers to work as campaign volunteers, someone needs to direct traffic.

Specifically, someone needs to monitor the state legislature. We need to know how each member votes on helmet law repeal, especially if they are on a committee that must approve the bill before it goes out for a full vote.

Planning also includes knowing which of these incumbents has to run for reelection in 2010. Some of them will run unopposed, but the others will face challengers in the general election. And of those, some will face primary challengers as well.

Then there are the candidates who challenge the incumbents. Again, some in general elections and many others in primary races. We need to find out where they stand on universal helmet laws. After all, they don't have a voting record. Yet.

So who does all this planning? Fortunately for Oregon bikers, that would be a very special biker named Heidi, from Mid-Valley Cycles in Hubbard, Oregon. She's not only a member of ABATE of Oregon and BikePAC of Oregon, she's also leading our campaign planning effort. Working with bikers, legislators, and doing the homework we need so we can do our job.

Heidi is connecting the dots between potential and action. Without that, nothing happens.

The only remaining ingredient is campaign volunteers. And that's where Oregon bikers come in. It's not enough to read about what needs to happen. And it's not enough to know what needs to happen. It just needs to happen.

I have high hopes for Oregon in 2010, and I'm not the only one. But Oregon bikers won't need hope if they take action ... in the right place at the right time. Then all bikers across the nation will see where the Oregon Trail leads to: Freedom!

- RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com