New Ads From Two Of Our Strongest Blue America House Candidates-- One In California and One In Nevada

Blue America is really happy to see tremendous progress from two smart, committed progressives running against two of the worst of the extreme right Republicans in Congress, Darrell Issa and Cresent Hardy. The video up top is the just-released ad from Doug Applegate, a former Marine Colonel who found out yesterday that a third-party poll places him ahead of Trump by 4 points-- 46-42% in a swing district that encompasses southern Orange County and northern San Diego county.

Issa, a former car thief, who sold a line of devices to thwart car hijackers, is the wealthiest member of Congress. He had already spent $733,452 by the June 30 FEC reporting deadline and had $3,767,965 cash on hand. By that date, Doug had brought in $186,104 and spent $50,541. But he's still winning this race, at least in part because Trump is detested by the well-off suburban Republicans in tony towns like San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, La Costa, Del Mar, Torrey Pines, Carlsbad and La Jolla-- and Issa has fully embraced him and his rabid and dangerous policy agenda.

For cycle after cycle, the defeatist and incompetent DCCC has left Issa alone and refused to support his previous opponents, despite Democrats doing increasingly well in the district. Doug's impressive headway against him, though, has left the DCCC with no choice and they reluctantly added him to their Red-to-Blue list. Imagine... finally seeing the end of Issa's political career--and not replaced by a crappy Blue Dog but by a serious-minded progressive!

Cresent Hardy, a freshman, isn't as well known as Issa nationally. But he's every bit as toxic and, like Issa, a proud and loud strident Trumpist. NV-04 is a blue district (D+4) that the DCCC botched in 2014, primarily because of Steve Israel's ugly racism. It encompasses the whole central part of the state, from North Las Vegas in the south, Tonopah and Hawthorne in the west and Mesquite and Ely in the east. Most of the voters live in North Las Vegas. Most of the aliens live in Area 51 near State Route 375 (now officially designated the Extraterrestrial Highway)-- the aliens aren't registered to vote.

Blue America first endorsed state Sen. Kihuen over a year ago, in August, 2015. At the time, he wrote that "since being elected, I have fought hard for progressive values. I stood up on the floor of the Senate for marriage equality and presented the bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. I am most proud of my bill to create the Silver State Opportunity Plan to provide grants to low-income students who want to go to college." He's exactly the kind of skilled and values-driven leader that the DCCC usually tries to destroy. The Democratic caucus in Congress desperately needs leaders like Ruben Kihuen. This time Kihuen and Hardy have each raised around the same amount-- $1.1 million as of June 30. The DCCC has spent $1,104,629 towards Kihuen's race, but the NRCC has dumped $2,640,481 into Hardy's campaign, including $137,000 this week. Ruben is also getting substantial support from the labor movement, environmental groups and immigration reform groups. Please consider contributing to Doug Applegates's and Ruben Kihuen's campaigns by tapping the thermometer on the right. And enjoy the new ad Ruben's campaign started running yesterday, on the issue that people in NV-04 most want action on-- gun safety.