WoMN Focus

We’ve written before about how impressed we were by the Franken campaign’s Stephanie Schriock. A profile in the Washington Post after the endless recount finally concluded made it obvious how integral she was to Sen. Franken’s success.

Hopefully, she will be just as successful in her new gig: the new President of Emily’s List.

“Stephanie Schriock brings not only the experience and dedication we were looking for, but she also comes with a burning passion to help elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates to office,” said Ellen R. Malcolm. “We look forward to the energy and new ideas she will bring to EMILY’s List.”

Stephanie Schriock comes to EMILY’s List from her position as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) and is widely respected for her role as manager of the closely watched campaign and recount effort of Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota).

“I am deeply honored to join this trailblazing organization,” said Schriock. “The dedicated members of EMILY’s List, two decades of courageous women candidates and the amazing Ellen Malcolm have fundamentally changed the face of Congress and of leadership in our country. I look forward to growing the organization and reaching out to the millions of young women who will further change the future of politics and America.”

“Stephanie very quickly earns the respect of everyone she meets because she’s a darn good leader and a great person to work with,” said U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana). “She’s got the drive, the smarts and the work ethic it takes for success in anything she does. Although she’ll be sorely missed in my office, her passion for doing what’s right will serve our entire country—and our kids and grandkids—for the better.”

The naming of Schriock to head EMILY’s List, a membership-driven organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women candidates, kicks off a special year for the groundbreaking organization as it prepares to celebrate its 25-year anniversary.

Besides the fact that Schriock is an excellent campaigner, this is a great move for Emily’s List. Hopefully the addition of someone in her 30’s at the helm will encourage more women candidates of a younger age to run for office and to seek support from a key influential group. Bringing in younger blood will only continue to fill our bench and get women to become a larger part of the political picture.

WoMN Focus is not just about the women who run for office. We’re also about featuring the women in politics behind the scenes, the campaign workers, the activists, the volunteers and all who are engaged in changing their communities.

Now that Al Franken has now officially become Senator Franken, members of the Franken campaign are finally getting their time in the limelight. One of the hardest working of those members was campaign manager Stephanie Schriock. The Washington Post profiles her Monday, revealing, among other things, that she masterminded recount efforts weeks before the election even occurred.

Mandy Grunwald, a veteran campaign consultant and longtime Franken intimate, calls Schriock “spectacular . . . one of the best campaign managers I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve been doing this a long time.” But what has clinched the current acclaim for Schriock is her planning for something few campaign pros have had to plan for: Weeks before Election Day, Schriock sensed that the vote could be close and drew up a road map for a recount.

She trained some 2,000 volunteers to bird-dog the state canvassers in every jurisdiction as officials hand-sorted nearly 3 million ballots. Schriock marshaled hundreds of attorneys, turning party headquarters into a law firm. Field staffers who had been door-knocking for Franken became paralegals prepping his legal exhibits.

“She ran the decathlon,” Schumer says of those miserable Minnesota months.

Learn more about Stephanie Schriock in this in depth profile.

Via Minnesota Independent