Ambassador Soderberg Runs for State Senate

Another great resident of NE Florida seeks public office. Let's make sure we help Nancy Soderberg win her election for State Senate.

Contact: Billee Bussard

(904) 249-2468 or (904) 349-2509

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 9, 2012

--State Senate District 4--

Florida Will Benefit From Candidate Soderberg's Worldwide Connections

Travis Bridges, chair of the Duval County Democratic Executive Committee, said today that Jacksonville Beach resident Nancy Soderberg, who will seek the newly drawn Florida Senate District 4 seat, “is one of the finest candidates ever from North Florida to seek a state senate seat.”

Soderberg, a former White House foreign policy advisor and United Nations Ambassador, is a nationally known expert and author on international affairs, as well as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of North Florida.

“Her experience and contacts around the world offer some exciting prospects for Florida,” said Bridges, chair of the Duval County Democratic Party. “Her candidacy alone elevates North Florida in the eyes of captains of industry and political leaders around the world.

“Ambassador Soderberg is an exceptional candidate with the leadership skills and insights needed in the Florida Senate if Florida, and especially North Florida, is to emerge as a force in a global economy,” said Bridges. “The connections she has made worldwide during her many years of public service and as a foreign policy advisor will elevate Florida's status as a contender for international investment and trade. Her proven skills in diplomacy and conflict resolution, credited for resolving years of fighting in Northern Ireland, are just what the senate chamber needs for a more effective state government. She will fill a great void in Tallahassee,” Bridges said.

Soderberg's exceptional leadership abilities have been tapped by some of the nation's top officeholders. Among them, President Bill Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown has tapped her as an advisor on port development and international trade. President Barack Obama appointed her earlier this year to chair the Public Interest Declassification Board.

In the Clinton administration, Soderberg was the third-ranked official on the White House National Security Council, then later served the president as an alternate U.N. representative with the rank of ambassador. She had served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Sen. Kennedy prior to joining the White House staff. Mayor Bloomberg appointed Soderberg president of the Big Apple's Sister City program, a role she filled from 2002 to 2006, and she has advised him on foreign policy issues. She worked for the International Crisis Group, a conflict prevention organization, before her current role as president of the Connect U.S. Fund, a foundation initiative to promote U.S. engagement in today's international challenges.

Soderberg is a frequent guest commentator for national and international television and radio programs whose commentaries have appeared in leading newspaper and political publications.

Though this is Soderberg's first personal run for political office, she has held key roles in campaigns of Democratic presidential nominees since 1984. In recent years, she has been actively involved in bringing nationally known political figures to Duval County for educational and fundraising events sponsored by the Duval County Democratic Party, among them former U. S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark, and former national security guru Richard Clark.

######