Meet Katherine Brezler-- Hope For A Better New York State

About a month ago, New York had some important local elections that ended very well. One was to for County Executive of Westchester. The incumbent, Trump crony Rob Astorino-- on whom Bannon and Mercer spent over a million dollars trying to stave off defeat-- was beaten 116,767 (57%) to 89,463 (43%) by Democratic state Senator George Latimer. Latimer's district (SD-37) starts at Glen Island Park and Parkway N at the top of Van Cortlandt Park in the south, and shoots north through parts of New Rochelle and Southeast Yonkers into Bronxville, White Plains, Eastchester, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye, Portchester, Purchase, Armonk, Bedford and all the way to Katonah. Now we have an opportunity to fill that vacant seat with a stalwart super-progressive, Kat Brezler, just endorsed by Blue America and just what the Senate needs to keep the Republicans and Andy Cuomo in check. I asked her to introduce herself to DWT readers with a guest post, which follows.

Billionaires Get Handouts. My Students Can’t Get Toilet Paper-- Fight For The Future Now
-by Katherine Brezler

I am Kat Brezler. Founder of People For Bernie-- a grassroots campaign that came out of Occupy Wall Street, Ready for Warren, Zephyr Teachout’s digital team and candidate for New York State Senate. But before all of that, I am a public school teacher.

I have had the privilege of teaching in New York public schools since 2005. Last year my class and I received the rare opportunity to attend the Lincoln Center ballet. I couldn’t wait to see the joy on my student’s faces as they took in the opulence.

During intermission, I took two students to the restroom. As I stood outside waiting for them, I wondered what they had noticed; was it the marble countertops or the brass knuckling on the chairs? Eventually the doors flew open, and the glowing faces of my students greeted me.

“Ms. Brezler, did you know that their bathrooms have TWO toilet paper rolls?!”

While billionaires get a handout, my students-- and students across the country-- get one roll of toilet birthday. Every year that I’ve been a teacher, that roll is gone well before the year is over. Simple hygienic necessities should not be subject to budget constraints. Our teachers and students deserve dignity and respect.

Currently, Republicans control 32 State Legislatures and 33 Governor’s seats. They have over 4,000 elected officials with exposure in their local communities, ready to run for higher office.

This is how they have gotten more than 300 abortion restrictions passed in the last five years and how they can get away with gerrymandering districts, packing the courts, and changing the tax code to benefit the wealthy while middle-class families struggle.

My entire career has been spent serving in economically disadvantaged communities, I have seen the consequences of these actions first hand. I have had enough. If these lawmakers won’t stand up for my kids, then I’ll do it myself: by running for State Senate in Westchester, New York.

Due to the successful election of George Latimer to Westchester County Executive, his seat will be vacated in January when he assumes office. Governor Cuomo has an option to call a special election to fill this and other legislatie vacancies. If the Governor calls a special election, the Westchester Democratic County Committee will meet to pick the Democratic nominee to run for the 37th State Senate District. This means 600 district leaders at most, possibly as little as 15 chairs have the power to nominate for the democratic party’s some 90,000 registered Democrats in district. There is no primary. This is what I like to call a “shotgun wedding”. The special election will happen in short order. I need your help to reach out to district leaders and chairs so they know what’s at stake for the future of the district. Can you sign up to volunteer with our campaign at www.katbrezler.com?

As Democrats we don’t have a bench. It is vital that we work together to elect officials that can keep up momentum and represent the working and middle-class. I implore residents of the 37th Senatorial District to call their Village and City County Committee Chairs and tell them to endorse Kat Brezler for State Senate. We need to start building our bench right now to ensure that our future isn’t a repeat of the past. I don’t put up with bullies in my classroom, and I certainly won’t put up with bullies in Albany or in The Capital.

The maximum contribution in this race is $11,000. I don’t have that stuffed into my couch cushions, but Trump and his cronies surely do. This campaign is fueled by small contributions, not large corporations. Please donate [by tapping on the thermometer on the right] so that together we can build a future that we can all be proud of.

Katherine Brezler is a second-grade teacher in The Bronx and a candidate for New York State Senate in the 37th District. You can find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter at @KatBrezler.