On the Ground in Illinois' 10th

Hello and welcome to Illinois' 10th District! My name is Matt Kuzma, and I am the newest field organizer for 21st Century Democrats. During the last few weeks, I've been working with the Dan Seals for Congress campaign here in Chicago's northern suburbs.

Last Sunday, I helped hang up about 200 signs on the walls of a hotel ballroom in Deerfield, IL. We were taking part in the Tenth District Democratic Convention. About 500 Democrats from the 10th District showed up to hear all of the local and national Democratic candidates, including Dan. The keynote was given by Senator Dick Durbin, who announced his endorsement for Dan at the event! After the Senator finished, there was a straw poll, and Dan won 180-44 over his primary opponent. We hope this is just the first of many victories on the way to Capitol Hill!

Much of my time on the campaign has been spent working on the phone bank in our Deerfield headquarters. I recruit, train and assist the volunteers who are reaching out to voters seven days a week. While phone banks are far from glamorous, they are tremendously important to any campaign and our volunteers have been amazing.

I believe Dan Seals is a prototype for the next generation of Democratic leaders. A finance professional in his mid-thirties, Dan served on Capitol Hill, taught English in Japan, and earned graduate degrees in business and international economics. Dan is a natural leader with a combination of skills that seem to be so rare these days: he has the intelligence and experience to tackle the key issues of the day, the empathy to really hear people's concerns, and the management skills to get things done. I think he would be a strong and independent representative for this district and bring real change to Washington.