Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton notified supporters today that she will kick-off her campaign for reelection to the House of Representatives at high noon on Saturday, May 13, 2006, the day after the required petitions will be available, and asked them to reserve the date for a spectacular kick-off event. Norton has chosen the front steps of Banneker High School (Euclid Street between Georgia and Sherman Avenues), where she was a junior high school student, for the event to emphasize her work to get federal funds for rebuilding and renovating D.C.'s public schools.

One of the speakers will be a well-known Washingtonian who taught Norton at Banneker. The Congresswoman is always the first elected official to kick off every two years, energizing the strong base of volunteers who pick up her petitions and consistently exceed the required 2,000 signatures by double and triple the amount. "Nothing in my service has been more gratifying and humbling than the efforts of the many volunteers who have carried the petitions that have gotten me on the ballot with no financial reward but always with a lot of fun and enthusiasm. No elected official could ask for more," she said.

Norton has chosen to kick-off at her junior high school alma mater because "Banneker’s decrepit condition makes it a living example of one of my most important campaign goals for my next term in Congress." Although Norton always carries high the banner for D.C. voting rights, her work in the House on bills to help D.C. and other local school districts rehabilitate schools is a central goal of her campaign this year. "We are close to taking back control of the House, and if we do, a lot of our thinking on innovative ways to help school districts, such as subsidizing zero-interest school modernization bonds through tax credits, will rush to the top of the agenda," she said. In addition, Norton's structural imbalance balance bill for an $800 million annual payment to the city requires that the funds be directed to infrastructure, including school construction and renovation.

Education has been a major feature of Norton’s service in Congress since 1990. Her bill, PL 106-98 funding the D.C.-only program that is currently allowing almost 5,000 students to attend 271 colleges throughout the U.S., has raised college attendance here by 40% over five years. Norton, a third generation Washingtonian, who also attended Bruce Monroe Elementary and Dunbar High School, credits her public school education here for much of her success.

The Congresswoman, who has run without primary opposition since winning the seat in 1990, always runs a brisk campaign, however. Last August Erran Persley, who is active in Republican politics here, announced that he would run for D.C. delegate but said in March that he was withdrawing.

WHO:   Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

WHAT:    Campaign kick-off event and petition drive

WHEN:    May 13, 2006, 12:00 noon

WHERE:    Benjamin Banneker Academic High School 800 Euclid Street, NW