Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Susan Blad Seldin, 41, former Democratic Party grass-roots organizer who co-founded FieldWorks, a Washington-based campaign consulting and political strategy firm, died Oct. 14 at University of California at San Francisco Medical Center.

Ms. Blad Seldin developed graft-versus-host disease after a successful bone marrow transplant to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Ms. Blad Seldin started FieldWorks in 2001 with Laurie Moskowitz, a former colleague from the Democratic National Committee. She gave strategic advice to the Sierra Club, the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, the California Democratic Party and the New York State Democratic Committee, among others.

She also worked on Janet Napolitano's successful 2002 gubernatorial bid in Arizona and for large-scale voter drives sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

She was born in Orange, Calif., and attended California State University at Sacramento.

After studying political communications in college, she worked with the California Democratic Party. She also was deputy campaign manager for party chairman Phil Angelides's first, unsuccessful race for state treasurer in 1994.

That year, she came to the Washington area to work for the Democratic National Committee as executive director of College Democrats of America. In 1998, she became western states political director.

In the 2000 presidential race, she was deputy director of the Democratic committee's get-out-the-vote efforts in 25 states.

She moved to San Francisco from Takoma Park three months ago but remained a partner in FieldWorks.

Survivors include her husband of eight years, David Seldin, a former press aide in the Clinton White House, and their daughter, Agnes Seldin, both of San Francisco; her parents, Leiv and Carol Blad of Van Nuys, Calif.; a sister, Mary Blad of Van Nuys; and two brothers, Timothy Blad of Van Nuys and Leiv Blad of Rockville.