About pgCampaigns

We are a county of extremely talented, entrepreneurial and hardworking people. However, in the area of public service, we have not had many successful individuals. In fact, we have had very poor political leadership. That’s why we are ranked towards the bottom in education and on the top when it comes to crime and foreclosures in the state of Maryland.  We have a very close knit political system led by a few political leaders on the top and some interest groups, who have a disproportionate amount of influence in determining candidates.

In 2012, our state senators stacked up the school board with their candidates and 7 out of 9 of them had no college degrees.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/few-college-graduates-on-prince-georges-school-board/2012/11/04/4d2ddcba-23a0-11e2-ba29-238a6ac36a08_story.html?utm_term=.0a6d5512ad3e

That same year, three high school graduates challenged the incumbent board members and won the primaries with big margins. Two of them lost closely due to the myopic political leadership all the way from the County Executive down to every level. We ended up with 4 college graduates in November 2012:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/maryland-schools-insider/post/four-prince-georges-board-members-will-hold-bachelors-degrees-on-incoming-board/2012/11/19/6ef7b0e6-326e-11e2-bb9b-288a310849ee_blog.html?utm_term=.f25d9365e800

In 2013, the County Executive took over the school board and appointed 3 members. One member was appointed by the county council.  Although our County Executive talks about transparency, the names of the applicants were never openly shared.

In 2016, we elected two dynamic school board members who were are not beholden to any special interest or any political leader.

Often, the most talented, caring, and competent individuals are hesitant to get their names on the ballot because they are not given an opportunity by establishment politics, who are afraid to have smart Delegates. They are afraid to be challenged in the future. Because of this lack of support and nurturing, we have not been able to have a good pipeline of public servants.

We (www.pgCampaigns.com) would like to help all good candidates particularly those who are not afraid to ask tough questions and are not beholden to power brokers.


About Shukoor Ahmed

Shukoor Ahmed migrated to the United States in 1988 and made Prince George’s county his home. He lived in Hyattsville for 4 years and then moved to Bowie in 1992. He has done incredible things in the county and is passionate to help bright candidates. He ran several times for the House of Delegates and was unsuccessful. However, these experiences have made him, an encyclopedia of county politics and a good political strategist. He has volunteered his time and energy in helping over 3 dozen candidates. He is a technology entrepreneur and is the CEO of (www.v-empower.com). His expertise are in the following areas:

  • Campaign General Strategy
  • Campaign Planning
  • Direct Mail Strategy
  • Field Strategy
  • Digital Strategy
  • Opposition Research
  • Sample Ballot Design

Political Involvement/Affiliation
  • Field Director, Bill Bradley for President 2000
  • State Director, Joe Lieberman for President 2004
  • Digital Director, Jack Johnson for County Executive 2002
  • Prince George’s County Coordinator, Bill Richardson for President 2008
  • Internet/Technology Team & Volunteer for President Obama 2008
  • Technology Director to several Countywide Campaigns between 2002 and 2014
  • Campaign Manager, Katina Johnston for Congress, New York, 2002
  • Mentor to David Murray, Raaheela Ahmed & Edward Burroughs for School Board Races in 2012 (All won Primaries, Edward won General, David lost General by 180 votes and Raaheela lost General by 1950 votes)
  • Mentor to David Murray & Ed Burroughs for School Board, 2010 (Edward Burroughs elected & David Murray lost by 218 votes)
  • Mentor to David Murray, Edward Burroughs and Raaheela Ahmed, 2016 (All won with huge margins)
  • Digital Director, Marvin Holmes for House of Delegates in 1998 and 2002
  • Digital Director, Aisha Braveboy for House of Delegates in 2006
  • Digital Director, John Giannetti for State Senate District 21, 2006
  • Strategist, Ken Laureys for County Council, District 3, 2002
  • Candidate for Maryland House of Delegates 1998, 2002, 2006 & 2010 & 2014
  • Legislative Aide, Delegate John Giannetti (Laurel), 1999
  • Helped over 50 Political Candidates & over 50 Non-Profit Organizations (as Strategist/Technologist/Fundraiser/Volunteer)

Technology Products/Solutions:

Conceptualized/Designed/Developed/Maintained/Enhanced (26 Products in last 17 years and sold 4 of them successfully)

  • Built 1st ever application which connected citizen with elected officials in 2000 (www.statedemocracy.com)
  • Built 1st ever voter registration application for County Executive Candidate in 2002
  • Built 1st ever voter registration and absentee ballot application in 2004 for Governor Howard Dean for his Presidential Campaign
  • Built an online lobbying application in 2003 (www.weblobbying.com)
  • Built Crime Tracking tool in Prince George’s county in 2006 (www.crimeblotter.org)
  • Built the only application which allowed Democrats to lobby super delegate (www.lobbydelegates.com) in 2008
  • Mentored Shabnam Ahmed & Tooba Ahmed, Bernie Sander’s supporters to lobby Super Delegates in 2016’s Democratic Presidential Campaign (www.lobbydelegates.com)
  • Built www.pgballot.com (2010). Allows citizens to make their own sample ballot
  • Rebuilding www.pgBallot.com for citizens to make their own sample ballot in 2018 (to be launched in April 2018)
  • Building www.ezCampaigns.com for candidates to make their own sample ballot (to be launched in early 2018)
  • Built an iPhone Application for Marylanders to find polling location, confirm their voter registration & check on the status of absentee ballot application in 2014