In 1994 [Rogers] won a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives, and became Minority leader in his second term there. In 2002, Bob Riley successfully ran for governor, leaving the 3rd district vacant. Democrats had reapportioned the seat and the black resident percentile had increased from 25% to 32% as a result. Roger easily won the Republican nomination -- and ran for the seat against Democrat veteran Joe Turnham, Jr., who had served three years as state party chairman and had run against Riley in the previous gubernatorial election in 1998.

In what was a very close election, the Turnham and Rogers election was one of the most closely watched in 2002. Both Democratic and Republican National parties targeted the district, with Speaker Dennis Hastert promising Rogers a seat on the Armed Services committee should he win although Rogers support was financially much greater. Rogers narrowly won the election 50%-48%.

That was 2002--and this is 2008, the 2nd year of a Democratic Wave that promises to wash away Republicans in just this sort of seat.

So what kind of campaign effort is Josh Segall running to make it happening?  Well, now I'll let the fundraising speak for itself.  From Josh's latest press release (sorry, no link available just yet):

SEGALL RELEASES FIRST FUNDRAISING NUMBERS
Candidate reports an impressive $270,304.68, exceeding benchmark of viability

Montgomery, AL. --  Joshua Segall, candidate for Alabama 's 3rd Congressional District, raised $270,304.68  during his first fundraising quarter.  This impressive number proves Josh's viability in the race and underscores Alabamians' desire to see a change in Congress.  

"I'm so grateful to have such wide-spread and strong support from throughout Alabama and across the country.  This report shows voters are responding to my campaign to put Alabama first for a change," said Segall.  He continued, "We're ready for change in the third district.  Our jobs are leaving the district by the thousands, our national guardsmen and military reservists are not getting the support they deserve in combat or when they come home and drought conditions are crippling yet another generation of our family farmers.  We have to turn these things around in order to get Alabama back on track,"

Currently occupying Alabama's 3rd congressional seat is Republican Mike Rogers who, according to Congress.org,  was recently rated the 403rd in effectiveness of the 110th Congress' 435 member body, making him the least effective member of the House from Alabama and placing him in the bottom 10% for the entire legislative body.

Siding with the Republican Party and special interests over the needs of the district, Rogers voted against a pay raise for our Military Reservists and against a combat bonus for our National Guardsman.  Rogers showed the same disregard for Alabama farmers and textile workers by supporting trade deals that cost our district 10,000 jobs and sending subsidies to big agribusiness instead of our family farmers who have been struggling to recover from the effects of massive drought.

Alabama's 3rd congressional district is an historically Democratic seat that enjoys 47.5% Democratic performance.  The last cycle this race was competitive was in 2002 when the Democratic candidate came within 3,800 votes of victory.

According to the Segall for Congress campaign, Josh received $251,034.34 from individual contributions, $3,300 from PAC donations, and a $14,000 in-kind contribution from the candidate. $57,195.71 was raised from 277 ActBlue donors.

Not only that, but the latest polling for the campaign (again, only available in PDF for now!) shows that Republicans only lead by 3% in the generic ballot in the district, and that 53% believe the country's on the wrong track.  Further, Rogers falls below 50% when basic information about both candidates is presented.  And with the kind of fundraising Segall is putting out, he won'thave any difficulty getting his message out to voters.

But is Josh the sort of Democrat who can win the district?  Just read his bio and you can tell me if you think this local son and community organizer can win:

oshua Segall was born and raised in Montgomery, like his father and grandfather before him. Josh is proud to say that four generations of his family have made Alabama their home.

From an early age, Josh was passionate about public service. At 15, he volunteered to walk door-to-door and hand out literature for local campaigns. After college, Josh took the opportunity to work for campaigns as a community organizer around the country: in Virginia, Texas and Washington D.C., and of course Alabama.

"I saw first-hand how important it is for communities to come together and stand up for what they believe and the future they want to build. And I saw how powerful 'we the people' can be when we stand together."

During his time organizing, Josh met a lot of people. Most of them were proud, lifelong Alabamians like Josh - people who understood the importance of getting involved and who were eager to improve their communities. Those experiences set the course for what would become Josh's career in public service.

With that in mind, Josh returned home to attend Law School at the University of Alabama. While there, he founded an organization called "Homegrown Alabama" which worked with the university to buy its food from local Alabama farmers. Josh also taught a class on agriculture development and, with the help of Alabama students, started a farmer's market. With a little bit of planning and some elbow grease, they helped the University community come together to support Alabama's farmers while creating an economic benefit for our state.

After earning his degree, Josh moved back home to practice law in Montgomery. He clerked for the Hon. W. Keith Watkins and became Of Counsel with the law firm Memory & Day, a civil defense firm.

"My legal career has allowed me to help so many people on a one-to-one basis. It's important that people see government is more than roads and taxes; it should be an economic driver, it should be a supporter of our values and beliefs."

Josh is running for Congress because he understands how government is supposed to work. His job is to listen to you, and to wake up every day thinking about how to bring jobs and opportunity to our district. It seems simple, but some folks just can't seem to remember that basic job description.

So if you're as excited about this race as I am, take a quick break to listen to him him live at 3pmEST/noonPST today (or download/podcast it later) in an interview with myself and clammyc!

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Also, if you are interested in hearing other interviews with fine progressive Congressional Candidates, you can check out our other interviews at our BlogTalkRadio site, or click on any of the specific interviews below:

• Interview with Mark Begich, AK-Sen on 5/21/08
• Interview with Mary Pallant in CA-24 on 5/15/08


• Interview with Rick Noriega, TX-Sen on 5/13/08


• Interview with Anne Barth in WV-02 on 5/6/08
• Interview with Tom Perriello in VA-05 on 4/23/08
• Interview with Jim Himes in CT-04 on 4/7/08
• Interview with Ron Shepston in CA-42 on 3/14/08
• Interview with Betsy Markey in CO-04 on 3/10/08
• Interview with Heather Ryan in KY-01 on 3/3/08
• Interview with Mark Schauer in MI-07 on 2/18/08
• Interview with Charlie Brown in CA-04 on 2/12/08
• Interview with Barry Welsh in IN-06 on 2/10/08
• Interview with Dennis Shulman in NJ-05 on 2/7/08
• Interview with John Laesch in IL-14 on 2/4/08
• Interview with Gilda Reed in LA-01 on 2/2/08