Women's advocacy group endorses Reno

Emily's List, a national group that supports female candidates, announced Friday it has endorsed Janet Reno for governor, but it stopped short of recommending that its members start writing her checks.

The organization raises money for Democratic women who support abortion rights, as Reno does, but Friday's action does not mean Reno will benefit from the group's substantial fund-raising machine.

Emily's List has become a powerful fundraiser largely because it recommends candidates with realistic chances of winning, and the organization's leaders have expressed concerns about Reno's chances against Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

The group has checked with the Reno campaign almost every week to gauge her progress.

Friday's announcement means the group officially supports Reno and will give her campaign a contribution directly or through the state Democratic Party. The amount has not been determined.

But Joe Solmonese, the group's chief of staff, said it will not yet recommend that members contribute to Reno's campaign, as it typically does with promising candidates.

"We are not doing the sort of bundling and recommending to our members to send money and other help," he said. "They are making progress. But ... this is going to be a tough race for her."

Reno campaign officials said they are delighted with the endorsement.

Reno's leading Democratic challenger is Tampa lawyer Bill McBride, whose wife, Alex Sink, has been a major contributor to Emily's List. That connection was not considered as the group made its decision, Solmonese said.

"Emily" is an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast, a reference to breadmaking: Yeast helps dough rise. The group was founded in 1985 and has helped elect four women governors and 11 female U.S. senators.

In essence, Emily's List serves as a bundler: Its 68,000 members can contribute to recommended candidates directly through its Web site, www.emilyslist.org, and the organization delivers the cash.

Members pay at least $100 to join, and pledge to contribute at least $100 each to two or more recommended candidates each two-year election cycle.

The model has been successful. During the 2000 elections, the members contributed $9.3-million to candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.

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