A Public Advocate for Working Virginians

Our newest coffee break with Mike:

Let us know what you think in the comments.

We're proud to bring you our first Coffee Break with Mike. Mike is committed to making this campaign about you and your ideas and having a dialogue with you. Our Coffee Breaks with Mike are short videos (two minutes or less) with the latest news from the campaign and the ways you can get involved.

During the Coffee Break with Mike today, he addressed these points:

• We are launching a new website shortly, www.mikesigner.com, so stay tuned for updates!
• We recently started a new Facebook group, Friends of Mike Signer for Lieutenant Governor, and within days we have over 660 friends!
• Last week, Mike attended the Richmond AFL-CIO reception and met with labor leaders from across the state. Photo's maybe viewed on Mike's facebook page.
• In the coming weeks, Mike will be announcing his jobs plan and he wants your input. Send your thoughts to mike@michaelsigner.com.

Michael Signer '95 launches bid for Virginia lieutenant governorship
By Chetan Narain
Senior Writer
Published: Monday, February 16th, 2009

For Michael Signer ’95, being elected a U-Councilor in April 1993 was only the beginning of a career in politics.

Since his graduation, Signer has served as a political strategist or policy adviser to a governor, a congressman and two presidential candidates. But now the politics concentrator is throwing his own hat into the political ring, launching a bid to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.

“I’m running because very simply … I wanted to come home and make a difference at a time when so many of my peers are trying to go into the federal government,” Signer said in an interview last week with The Daily Princetonian.

Signer, a Democrat, currently serves as a national security policy fellow at Third Way, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C.

“I think that economic opportunity and reinvestment are absolutely essential to getting government right to Virginians in the short term and in the long term,” Signer said, adding that strengthening his state’s economy was the cause he took most to heart.

Signer was involved in government during his days at Princeton. In addition to his time on the U-Council, Signer was vice president of the College Democrats and started a chapter of a rainforest protection group on campus.

Two prominent Virginia bloggers -- Josh Chernila and Ken Bernstein (known as "Teacherken") have made glowing comments about Mike's performance at the JJ last weekend.  Josh writes,

More than any other Lt. Governor candidate, I found Mike Signer a real winner. This is a guy capable of giving thoughtful answers, who has a legitimate claim to the legacy of Mark Warner, and had a hand in the Perriello victory. He's got the makings of a powerhouse campaign. Of the candidates, I can see him making much more of the office than Bill Bolling and leveragin his experience there towards a strong claim at the Governorship.

Teacherken writes:

The latest entry is Mike Signer. Mike is a lawyer, who served as an assistant counsel for Mark Warner, has served as a Democratic strategist for a number of years, including in a senior role in Tom Perriello's recent upset victory for Congress. He is a Virginia native, a graduate of UVa Law, has lived in Charlottesville, Richmond, and now in Arlington, where he grew up and attended Washington-Lee High School. He ran the 2004 Virginia Voter Protection effort. He hwas a track record on environmental issues dating back to his founding his high school's first environmental club, and has been involved in issues of racial an economic justice. He was a very active Edwards supporter. I note this because there are several key Democratic officials who also were, such as Peter Rousselot, head of the Arlington Democrats, and Mary Anne Hovis, Treasurer of the Fairfax Dems. he has also worked for gubernatorial candidate State. Sen Creigh Deeds.

I said that I thought there was a possibility of an all NoVa ticket. That would mean Mike Signer would win the LG primary. While he has never previously run for office, that is not as unlikely as it may seem. There is no Republican primary, and Virginia is a totally open primary since we do not register by party. In Democratic primaries in general the vote tends to come heavily from NoVa, just as it is Dem votes in the Northern part of the state that provides the margin in statewide general elections, as one can ask either Jim Webb, Tim Kaine or even Barack Obama. If Mike can raise sufficient money, he will be able to remind voters in NoVa that he shares their experience of the traffic horrors, at the same time as he can point to his work with and for several important figures in other parts of the state. Mike comes across as quite articulate. It remains to be seen if he can condense his message down in a way that will connect with ordinary voters. If he can, then given the dynamics of the overall contest I would give him a slight edge to squeak out victory in a four or five way race."