Katie
Katie Mounts is a Policy Associate and Office Manager at the Council for a Livable World where she researches and tracks security issues, legislation, and political campaigns and drafts and edits legislative action e-alerts and related policy analyses.
Prior to joining the Council, Mounts interned for the Education for Justice Project at the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C. and served as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Uganda Conflict Action Network, a transnational peace movement for Northern Uganda. While in college, Mounts worked as an editorial assistant for the Review of Politics, co-chaired the Kroc Institute's annual Student Peace Conference, worked with issues relating to gender relations, and spent a semester of foreign study in Rome.
Mounts holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.
My Blog Posts
See All: Comments | Blog Posts Showing 5 of 11- Canvassing Board to Announce Winner in Franken Race
01/05/2009 12:29:41 PM EST
Today the Minnesota canvassing board is set to certify the state's election recount results - which found Al Franken victorious over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman by 225 votes. A victory for sure for progressive and Council-endorsed Franken, but the race is not yet over. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a seven day waiting period will follow before the election is complete. This process can be further delayed by any lawsuits, and Coleman has not yet ruled them out. Additionally, the Coleman campaign already has a petition before the Minnesota Supreme Court to count 650 rejected ballots. We'll continue to keep you updated with these race results, but you can also find the latest information on the website for the Star Tribune. - Battle for Minnesota Senate seat continues
12/29/2008 03:14:20 PM EST
Anyone wondering if there was significant progress made in the ongoing ballot recount for the Minnesota Senate race between Al Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman over the holiday "break" may be disappointed to know that it still is far from over. The primary remaining obstacle? Whether or not to count 1,346 "improperly" rejected absentee ballots. Each campaign's lawyers met today at the office of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie in an effort to come to an agreement over whether or not the ballots should be counted. Franken's camp wants to count all 1,346, but Coleman so far has only agreed to 136 and made a promise to accept more. The ballots are yet unopened, but numerous reports indicate that the list "includes ballots from precincts leaning Democratic." Without these ballots, Franken has a razor-thin lead – just 46 votes – over Coleman. - Kilroy declared winner in Ohio!
12/08/2008 03:53:41 PM EST
Though we still await the results from Franken's Senate contest and two House elections, the race for Ohio's 15th district was called for progressive candidate Mary Jo Kilroy (D) this past weekend. Kilroy ran for the seat of retiring Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (R), who Kilroy almost unseated in 2006. After the inclusion of originally discounted provisional ballots, this year Kilroy was declared the victor - by just over 2,000 votes. More details on the results of this race from The Washington Post. - Update on MN Recount for Al Franken
12/03/2008 11:10:24 AM EST
The recount in Minnesota for the race between incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and Council-endorsed Al Franken (D) is still underway - and seemingly far from over. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, two recent events have benefitted the challenger. They report,Franken unexpectedly picked up 37 votes due to a combined machine malfunction and human error on Election Day that left 171 Maplewood ballots safe, secure but uncounted until Tuesday's final day of recounting in Ramsey County.
In addition, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office,asked local election officials to examine an estimated 12,000 rejected absentee ballots and determine whether their rejection fell under one of four reasons for rejection defined in state law. The Secretary of State's office asked that ballots that were rejected for something other than the four legal reasons be placed into a so-called "fifth category."
This is no guarantee that the ballots will be counted, but it is seen as a move that would benefit Franken, whose internal numbers show that the the candidates' vote totals could be within 50 votes of each other. Official results show a difference of 303 votes - significantly higher than Franken's internal numbers, but a tiny percentage of the more than two million votes cast. The campaigns have challenged more than 6,000 ballots, moves which are sure to extend the fight for this seat beyond the date that all ballots are re-counted. Know Minnesota well, and want the results county-by-county? Check out the recount on the Star Tribune's website. - Chambliss pulls out victory in GA run-off
12/03/2008 10:49:21 AM EST
Media reports last night indicated that progressive candidate Jim Martin of Georgia (D) lost his election bid to incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R). With 96% of precints in, according to the New York Times, Chambliss led Martin 57.5% to 42.5%. Most sources attribute the substantial victory to the significantly lower voter turnout in the run-off than in the general election. Just over half the voters who participated in the general election came out for yesterday's run-off. Among those groups with significantly lower voter turnout were African Americans, who had been a key support group for Martin in the general election. Chambliss's victory may prevent Democrats from attaining a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate, but the mere fact that this race - seen months ago as a lock for the incumbent - came down to a run-off can be seen as a victory for progressives in an election where voters overwhelmingly rejected the neo-conservative policies of the last eight years.