Federal and State Candidates From 12 States Respond To National Voter Issues Paper from World Wrestling Entertainment, League of Women Voters, Harvard and Others
Ralph Nadr Is Third Presidential Candidate to Respond
STAMFORD, Conn., Sep 21, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Federal and state candidates and legislators representing 12 states have responded to The 18-30 VIP, a national voter issues paper for 18-to 30-year-olds issued by WWE(R) and its Smackdown Your Vote!(R) partners, with more responses expected.
Leading the list are Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, current U.S. Representatives Bob Ney (R-OH), Tim Ryan (D-OH), U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska former Governor Tony Knowles (D-AK), and candidate for U.S. Representative from North Carolina Maximillian Longley (L-NC). Others responding are: Alaska State Senator Johnny Ellis (D); California Assemblywoman Wilma Chan (D); Colorado State Representative Michael Garcia (D); Florida State Senator Dave Aronberg (D); Massachusetts Senator Robert Hedlund (R); Michigan State Representative Steve Tobocman (D); Minnesota State Senator Lynne Osterman (R) ; Minnesota State Representative Tony Sertich (D); Nebraska State Senator Adrian Smith (R) ; New York Assemblyman Ryan Karben (D); New York Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R) and Pennsylvania Representative Jim Wansacz.
The goal of the Smackdown Your Vote! VIP partners is to increase voter participation among 18-to 30-year-olds by two million in this year’s elections in order to get 20 million young voters to the polls. “We greatly appreciated these public officials and candidates taking the time to respond to the credible issues facing 18-to 30-year-old Americans in this election,” said Gary Davis, Executive Director, Smackdown Your Vote!. “These candidates, by formally responding to the issues that are of greatest concern to young Americans, have demonstrated their interest in these potential voters. This should encourage 18-to 30-year-olds that their votes will count in November.”
All of these responses, along with the responses of President George W. Bush, which has been updated since its original posting, Sen. John F. Kerry, and U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL), can be found at www.smackdownyourvote.com.
Smackdown Your Vote!, founded in July 2000, is a non-partisan approach to getting young people involved in the political process and registered to vote. Through Smackdown Your Vote!, WWE has collaborated with many non-profit, non-partisan organizations to engage 18-to 30-year-olds in the political process, including the League of Women Voters, the Youth Vote Coalition, Rock The Vote, Harvard Institute of Politics, MTV Choose or Lose, New Voters Project, 18-to-35, and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The collaborative program’s goal is to get 20 million 18-to 30-year-olds to the polls in 2004, an increase of two million over the election turnout in 2000. In addition to conducting voter registration at WWE live events, Smackdown Your Vote! will visit high schools and colleges across the country conducting voter registration rallies. For information on the program go to smackdownyourvote.com.
World Wrestling Entertainment(R), Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
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SOURCE: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
