Trevor Thomas-- Michigan Working Class Activist Has 2 Self Funding Millionaires Running Against Him
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Trevor Thomas is running for Congress against a Tea-Party Republican in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he needs help. We were urging him to run back in February and now he's in the race and being challenged by two conservatives, one a far right Republican and the other an anti-Choice Democrat. Trevor, who is openly gay and helped repeal 'don't ask, don't tell' by working with the Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, is at a critical fundraising deadline in the next 24 hours.
Trevor's up against a lot. Both his opponents are self-funding millionaires. Trevor is a member of the 99%, coming from a working class family-- his mom and dad met on the factory lines of General Motors where they worked together for more than 30 years. He filed in February to challenge freshmen U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, but now also has a Democratic primary opponent who doesn't support a woman's right to choose and called Trevor's work on LGBT issues "extreme."
This is the seat once held by President Jerry Ford. Trevor's message centers on the values of Jerry Ford - a man who believed in clean water, the Civil Rights Act, LGBT equality, and a woman's right to make her own personal health care decisions. To this day, the district still leans red, which is why Trevor has already started reaching across the aisle even as he maintains solidly progressive stances. His inclusive slogan, "A Campaign For Us All," was unveiled at a campaign kickoff where Trevor was introduced by longtime Republican and former Kent County GOP Party Chair Bob Eleveld.
After working as a reporter in the community, Trevor went on to work for Governor Jennifer Granholm who has now endorsed him in the race. You can watch Trevor's interview with her on The War Room with Jennifer Granholm, which aired last Friday night and focused on his race being one of the youngest in the country.
Trevor needs our help so he is not outpaced by two multi-millionaires. Let's stand with him now.
UPDATE: Support For Trevor Is Pouring In
Michigan's most popular blog, EclectaBlog. made a compelling case, as did my favorite national LGBT blog (which has a lively discussion in the comments section). And Scott Wooledge at Kos has the most thorough coverage of this race of anywhere.
Labels: Michigan, Trevor Thomas
posted by DownWithTyranny @ 4:51 AM
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3 Comments:
Ironic picture. The Teamsters just endorsed Steve Pestka for Congress!
Also, there is no evidence (because it's not true) that Pestka said Trevor's work on Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal was "extreme." He said no such thing and Trevor is purposefully not telling the truth on this (and a host of other issues).
-- Phil Skaggs
I think no matter the outcome, having Trevor Thomas run in the 3rd District of MI can only be a good thing. He's blazing a trail and questioning the very risk averse tendency of the Dems to recruit conservative candidates in districts where they've lost before.
To Mr. Skaggs comment: I went looking because I too was curious, and Mr. Pestka did say that the candidates he faced, Mr. Amash and Mr. Thomas, were too extreme for our district saying "I will fight for jobs and for West Michigan values, instead of for extreme political views from either side that lead us nowhere."
As I understand it, Mr. Thomas' record includes working on Gov. Granholm's staff, then working on anti discrimination and Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal legislation, one has to infer that he was in fact saying that those things are too extreme and not West MI Values. Some people might think that, but I doubt people voting in a Democratic primary will.
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