The primary is over and the general election is now upon us.  That means it’s time to walk, walk, and walk door-to-door.

Organizing a full-tilt field operation is a huge job, and our campaign had the great fortune of hiring Karen Nystrom to manage our campaign. Karen has worked tirelessly on a variety of political campaigns, as executive director of the Northfield Township Democrats, and as a legislative aide to Elaine Nekritz and Northfield Township Trustee.

With Karen on board, we’re ready to begin knocking on the tens of thousands of doors that we’ll have to touch in order to win this race.  It’s a daunting task, but it can be done if you would be willing to help.

Please click below to sign up so Karen can get you plugged into the schedule. She will contact you and be eternally grateful to have at least three people walking with Daniel every day.

Thank you for all you do!

Daniel meets thousands of 17th District residents during the course of his door to door walks.  This is the second of a series of profiles of people in our community who first got to know Daniel at their doors.

Daniel knocked on my door early in the summer of 2008. The two qualities that made an immediate impression on me were that he’s a good listener and that he is smart. I want smart people in government. I appreciate his mathematical mind—a real asset in government.

We had a spirited and substantive discussion about charter schools in my doorway. That was what I most wanted to talk about because I am very involved in the charter school movement. Our dialogue convinced me that I could trust Daniel’s decision-making process. He consults multiple sources for information, he asks probing questions, and he is open-minded about the input he receives. He wasn’t just willing to hear my viewpoint, he was eager. And he is committed to coming up with creative solutions to problems and issues, to representing the interests of his constituents.

I told Daniel that education is the single most important issue to me. Our education system needs to work for all children, no matter what their needs or their families’ financial resources. Any school setting, no matter how exemplary, might not be a good fit for every child. My daughter is having a very successful experience at ETHS; she receives special education services and is very well supported. But the high school has 3,000 students, and I believe some kids might simply do better in a smaller or different environment.

Lisa Simon Cohen lives in Skokie, her home for 20 years. It’s an understatement to say that Lisa is passionate about education issues. A former special education teacher, she worked for many years as an education consultant and for a charter school management company. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and childhood education from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in special education from the University of Oregon. Lisa has been unemployed for three years and is working on her recertification exams in elementary and special education. She expects to complete the recertification process in the spring. Lisa has three children; her youngest is a student at Evanston Township High School (ETHS).

Read other "door-to-door" profiles...