racheleggert
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Determined campaigner
Although deaf and legally blind, Rachel Eggert has political ambitions and won't let a few early defeats stand in her way.
BY TAMMY J. OSEID
Pioneer Press
Like a lot of aspiring local politicians, Rachel Eggert hasn't won her first few races.
Unlike any others in Minnesota and perhaps the nation, the 23-year-old is deaf and legally blind.
Still, Eggert beat three other candidates in September's Inver Grove Heights City Council primary. She didn't make the cut for the general election but plans to make a second run for the Inver Grove Heights school board next year.
"I want to keep going on until I win," said Eggert, an Inver Hills Community College student, student senator and self-described freelance campaigner. "I won't give up."
Though technology has helped deaf-blind people across the nation become far more independent, Allison Burrows of the Helen Keller National Center isn't aware of any who have run for political office. The New York state-based Helen Keller center helps deaf-blind people find ways to work in fields that interest them.
"Good heavens," she said. "I do think that's rather rare."
Door knocking, community parades and other traditional campaigning methods are more difficult when you can't drive, hear or fully see.
But Eggert's fingers fly across her Sidekick keyboard to communicate instantly via e-mail or text message. Her face radiates her emotions, especially her passion for politics. She can read lips a little and speak a few words, but sign language is her primary method of communication.
Even after three strikes in local races, the budding politician isn't anywhere close to out.
"Every time I run, I get better results, but I need more work," she said.
Overcoming obstacles is one of Eggert's greatest strengths, supporters say.
"I am impressed with her determination," said Jessica Eggert, Rachel's older sister, who is also deaf and a Metro State University student majoring in criminal justice. "She is going to try again and not give up."
Rachel and Jessica both have Usher syndrome, a relatively rare condition they inherited from their hearing parents who passed along the recessive gene for the syndrome. About four babies in every 100,000 have the syndrome, which causes deafness and progressive blindness. Their three brothers have normal hearing and sight; all learned sign language to communicate with their sisters.
Jessica Eggert helped her younger sister become independent, showing her how to travel across the metro area via mass transit, showing her how to use cell-phone text-messaging technology to communicate with hearing and nonhearing friends and other means to be independent.
Until Rachel Eggert can file for her next local race, the Inver Hills Community College student and Simley High grad is honing her skills by working on state and national campaigns.
As a 15-year-old, Rachel Eggert started working on Paul Wellstone's 1996 campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Bitten by the political bug, she continued to work on races, including Wellstone's 2002 bid, cut short by his death two years ago today.
She hasn't fared so well personally, losing three straight races for Inver Grove Heights city council and school board.
This year, she took fifth place with 8 percent in the Inver Grove Heights city council primary. Of the eight candidates, only four advanced. In 2003, she took 27 percent of the vote in a two-person school board race against incumbent member John Honchell. In 2002, she finished eighth in the primary.
Though she's not always on the same page as others politically active in the deaf community, Eggert has been active with the DFL because "they support disability issues."
Rachel Eggert envisions a political future broader than Inver Grove Heights: She'd like to make her way to the Capitol. (Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, is the only disabled Minnesota legislator. He was blinded during a car accident when he was 14.)
"I want to show that people with disabilities can do anything that normal people think they can't," she said. "I want to see more people look at people with disabilities and see they are the same as everyone."
RACHEL EGGERT
Age: 23
School: Graduated from Inver Grove Heights's Simley High; currently attends Inver Hills Community College.
Accomplishment: Inver Hills student senate's legislative liaison, freelance campaign volunteer for state and national campaigns and is becoming a perennial local candidate.
Eggert has her own Web site at www.freewebs.com/citizens4eggert/and an e-mail group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Citizens_for_Rachel_Eggert/.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tammy J. Oseid covers Dakota County schools. She can be reached at 651-228-2171 or toseid@pioneerpress.com.
Although deaf and legally blind, Rachel Eggert has political ambitions and won't let a few early defeats stand in her way.
BY TAMMY J. OSEID
Pioneer Press
Like a lot of aspiring local politicians, Rachel Eggert hasn't won her first few races.
Unlike any others in Minnesota and perhaps the nation, the 23-year-old is deaf and legally blind.
Still, Eggert beat three other candidates in September's Inver Grove Heights City Council primary. She didn't make the cut for the general election but plans to make a second run for the Inver Grove Heights school board next year.
"I want to keep going on until I win," said Eggert, an Inver Hills Community College student, student senator and self-described freelance campaigner. "I won't give up."
Though technology has helped deaf-blind people across the nation become far more independent, Allison Burrows of the Helen Keller National Center isn't aware of any who have run for political office. The New York state-based Helen Keller center helps deaf-blind people find ways to work in fields that interest them.
"Good heavens," she said. "I do think that's rather rare."
Door knocking, community parades and other traditional campaigning methods are more difficult when you can't drive, hear or fully see.
But Eggert's fingers fly across her Sidekick keyboard to communicate instantly via e-mail or text message. Her face radiates her emotions, especially her passion for politics. She can read lips a little and speak a few words, but sign language is her primary method of communication.
Even after three strikes in local races, the budding politician isn't anywhere close to out.
"Every time I run, I get better results, but I need more work," she said.
Overcoming obstacles is one of Eggert's greatest strengths, supporters say.
"I am impressed with her determination," said Jessica Eggert, Rachel's older sister, who is also deaf and a Metro State University student majoring in criminal justice. "She is going to try again and not give up."
Rachel and Jessica both have Usher syndrome, a relatively rare condition they inherited from their hearing parents who passed along the recessive gene for the syndrome. About four babies in every 100,000 have the syndrome, which causes deafness and progressive blindness. Their three brothers have normal hearing and sight; all learned sign language to communicate with their sisters.
Jessica Eggert helped her younger sister become independent, showing her how to travel across the metro area via mass transit, showing her how to use cell-phone text-messaging technology to communicate with hearing and nonhearing friends and other means to be independent.
Until Rachel Eggert can file for her next local race, the Inver Hills Community College student and Simley High grad is honing her skills by working on state and national campaigns.
As a 15-year-old, Rachel Eggert started working on Paul Wellstone's 1996 campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Bitten by the political bug, she continued to work on races, including Wellstone's 2002 bid, cut short by his death two years ago today.
She hasn't fared so well personally, losing three straight races for Inver Grove Heights city council and school board.
This year, she took fifth place with 8 percent in the Inver Grove Heights city council primary. Of the eight candidates, only four advanced. In 2003, she took 27 percent of the vote in a two-person school board race against incumbent member John Honchell. In 2002, she finished eighth in the primary.
Though she's not always on the same page as others politically active in the deaf community, Eggert has been active with the DFL because "they support disability issues."
Rachel Eggert envisions a political future broader than Inver Grove Heights: She'd like to make her way to the Capitol. (Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, is the only disabled Minnesota legislator. He was blinded during a car accident when he was 14.)
"I want to show that people with disabilities can do anything that normal people think they can't," she said. "I want to see more people look at people with disabilities and see they are the same as everyone."
RACHEL EGGERT
Age: 23
School: Graduated from Inver Grove Heights's Simley High; currently attends Inver Hills Community College.
Accomplishment: Inver Hills student senate's legislative liaison, freelance campaign volunteer for state and national campaigns and is becoming a perennial local candidate.
Eggert has her own Web site at www.freewebs.com/citizens4eggert/and an e-mail group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Citizens_for_Rachel_Eggert/.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tammy J. Oseid covers Dakota County schools. She can be reached at 651-228-2171 or toseid@pioneerpress.com.
