Printable Version
Tell a friend
Trio Lead Joint Campaign: It's Jay, Madi and Jody
Saturday, March 1, 2008(Arlington County Democratic Committee)
With one of the most important—and exciting—election years in memory upon us, ACDC Chair Peter Rousselot has appointed three veteran campaigners to lead the Joint Campaign.
Rousselot has named County Board member Jay Fisette, Madi Green and Jody Olson to coordinate the 2008 election effort in Arlington from the school house to the White House. This year’s general election ballot will include races for president, senator, congressman, County Board and two members of the School Board.
Fisette is a 10-year member of the Arlington County Board and has been active in local Democratic politics since the early 90s. This is his third stint as Co-Chair of the Joint Campaign, having also served in 1995 and 2000. As the first openly gay elected official in Virginia, Fisette is an active member of the Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club and Equality Virginia. He and his life partner, Bob Rosen, will celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2008, and shortly thereafter he plans to celebrate the re-birth of America with a Democratic President.
Green is a long-time Arlington Democratic grassroots activist and Yorktown precinct co-representative. She is the campaign treasurer for both state senator Mary Margaret Whipple and delegate Bob Brink, and has been the backup treasurer for the Joint Campaigns and other Democratic campaigns. She has also assumed roles in the local gubernatorial campaigns of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, the Senate primary and general election campaigns of Jim Webb, as well as in the local presidential primary campaigns of Howard Dean and Barack Obama. You may have spotted her in many an Arlington kitchen over the years helping to feed the flock at Democratic fundraisers as a stalwart member of the Kitchen Crew.
Olson was raised in Arlington and traces his Democratic values to family discussions held around the dining room table.
In 1998, Jody learned about electoral politics first hand when he successfully ran for Student Government President at Virginia Tech. The following year, Olson began his involvement in the Arlington Democratic community by joining the Arlington Young Democrats (AYD).
He was a co-recipient of ACDC’s 2001 Campaigner of the Year award for his work on Tim Kaine’s campaign for lieutenant governor. The following year, he served as campaign manager for Mary Hynes’ School Board re-election. More recently, he served as campaign manager for Mark Dorfman’s School Board campaign, and served on the Electoral Practices Commission.
He has also co-chaired the Chili Cook-Off for the past five years. Olson works for an environmental foundation, and is currently completing his final class towards a masters in Public Administration. He and his fiancée, Jes, will be married this June. They live in Douglas Park with Jody’s son Alex.
The Joint Campaign works collab-oratively with Precinct Operations and with individual candidate campaigns. In years like 2008, in which there is also a Virginia Coordinated Campaign (a campaign which will coordinate the efforts of our Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives candidates), the Arlington Joint Campaign also works collaboratively with the Virginia Coordinated Campaign. Topics on which such collaboration focus include voter ID, outreach and visibility, direct mail, voter targeting, lit drops and Get-Out-The-Vote efforts (GOTV).
It’s not too early to volunteer to help. The Joint Campaign is looking for experienced hands and fresh faces to take charge of and help with traditional events (Arlington County Fair, the Farmers Markets, Chili Cook-Off, Messenger Day, Golden Gala) and to create other events for this campaign season. Of course there are many other coordinating roles, too. Contact the following to get in on the fun.
Madi Green—yellowdog22207@yahoo.com
Jody Olson —jody_olson@hotmail.co