January 31, 2000

America's Youngest Campaign Team Kicks Off Race for Democratic Nomination
Candidate Believes the Future Really is Now With Youth Leading the Way

NEW FREEDOM, PA - On Monday, January 24, Jeff Sanders (D-York County) officially entered the race for Congress with the youngest campaign team in the country at the helm of his effort. Sanders, a college professor, believes that any campaign that says it is about the future should put its money where its mouth is and rely on those who will shape that future. To that end, Sanders has tapped former Congressional aides Scott Stoermer, 29, and Jette Gebhart, 23, to manage his campaign, and Gettysburg Borough Councilman Jamie Fleet, 19, to be the campaign's finance director.

"New freedoms and new responsibilities can only happen if we begin with a different kind of campaign - a campaign that extinguishes cynicism in politics today and calls upon America's future to realize our vision for tomorrow," Sanders said. "Jette, Scott, and Jamie bring the energy, experience, and devotion to making the world a better place that this country needs and that restores my faith in both the Democratic Party and the democratic process."

Stoermer, born in 1970, is a native of the Congressional district. A product of the University of Redlands and Tulane University School of Law, he helped coordinate California's college campuses for the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992 and was Mary Landrieu's Issues Director in her successful 1996 campaign for the U.S. Senate. On the Hill, Stoermer served as a legislative assistant for Senator Landrieu (D-LA), legislative director for Representative Pete Visclosky (D-IN), and, most recently, he managed Representative Michael Forbes' (D-NY) transition from Republican to Democrat as Forbes' legislative counsel.

Gebhart, born in 1976, hails from Decatur, Illinois. She graduated from Wellesley College. Her political experience includes tours of duty with the Clinton-Gore campaign in both 1992 and 1996, and on the reelection campaign of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in 1994. Her Congressional tenure took her from Senator Kennedy's Massachusetts office, to a position as a staff assistant with Representative Max Sandlin (D-TX), and, finally, she served as a legislative assistant to Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ), advising him on agriculture, trade, and health care issues.

Fleet, born in 1980, is a Dean's List Sophomore at Gettysburg College. He began his involvement in politics in 1992 when he knocked on doors to reelect State Representative Ken Cole (D-Orrtanna). Since then, he has served in various senior capacities on many local and countywide campaigns. In 1998, he managed the campaign of Bill Gilmartin, a former HUD Assistant Secretary, for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Last year, Fleet managed the successful reelection effort of Adams County Commissioner Harry Stokes. In November, Fleet earned the distinction of being the youngest elected official in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when he won a spot on the Gettysburg Borough Council.