FLASH: Incumbent Democrats Who Have Drifted Right HATE Primaries

I think primaries are really important and really democratic-- especially in one of the scores of districts where the only realistic accountability is through a primary challenge. Obviously, many incumbents hate them. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about being accountable to the constituents! I might go for the idea, if "none of the above" was an option in every election. But, no incumbent is ever going to vote for that one!

Yesterday, defeated long-time-- and out-of-touch-- incumbent Eliot Engel (New Dem-NY), who was handily defeated by progressive reformer Jamaal Bowman, warned his House Democratic colleagues that primary opponents are the boogie man. He was furious that some of his colleagues supported Bowman against him. "I think that it's a very dangerous thing for party unity if members are going to start putting up primary challenges to other members in the same caucus. I think it's not something that should be done... Who is going to (be able to serve) in a caucus if there are people sitting right in there who want to get you defeated? I would be reluctant and other people would be reluctant to say what they feel. I just think it's not something I would do."

Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Katie Porter were among the Dems who backed Bowman. Bowman beat him 30,709 (60.7%) to 18,012 (35.6%), although Engel raised $3,198,520 to Bowman's $2,315,175. As for independent outside spending, most of it was on behalf of Engel. By far, the biggest spender was AIPAC-related scumbags Democratic Majority for Israel financed by a few very rich, very right-wing conservatives-- Stacy Osterman of Sampson Energy in Tulsa, Gary Lauder of the Bay Area, lowlife Long Island real estate developer Milton Cooper. The group, which had earlier spent $1.4 million smearing Bernie, spent $646,155 smearing Bowman (and another $927,187 advertising in favor of Engel)-- $1,566,532 for Engel in all. The total amount spend on behalf of Engel by outside groups (conservatives including Republicans) was $2,213,885 and the total amount from outside groups (progressives) backing Bowman was $1,382,967.

In 1988, Engel himself was victorious in a Democratic primary against an incumbent congressman, Mario Biaggi, who had been convicted on racketeering charges a month before the primary.

I asked Alan Grayson, who has both primaries an incumbent and been primaries as an incumbent. "Well," he said, look at what the article said [about Engel primarying Biaggi in 1988]. "And before that, Charlie Rangel and Adam Clayton Powell.  And before that, Elizabeth Holtzman and Emanuel Celler.  And before that, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The 'ins' want to stay in, and the 'outs' want them out.  Sometimes there’s more to it than that, and sometimes there isn’t. If you want to know what happened in Engel vs. Bowman, see the map:

Of course this doesn't happen just at the congressional level. Angie Nixon is running for a Jacksonville state legislative seat held by a fake Democrat. Kim Daniels, a notorious anti-Semite and right-winger who once famously gave a speech about the joys of slavery. Many people are shocked that the Florida Democratic Party supports Daniels... but those people aren't acquainted with the rot that afflicts the Florida Democratic Party. This morning Angie told me that "It’s important to challenge incumbents, especially when they aren’t doing their jobs. Over the past few years I have watched my community’s regression and it’s due to the lack of accountability of our current State Representative. The only time we’ve seen her was during campaign season when she’s giving away free stuff, basically buying votes. It’s time out for bandaids and it’s time for us to elect people that will work year round to produce systemic change." (Blue America has endorsed Angie and you can contribute to her campaign here.)

This cycle, on her second attempt, progressive reformer Marie Newman ousted reactionary Republican-lite Blue Dog Dan Lipinski, who was heavily backed by the Democratic establishment, while many of the same people who backed Bowman had backed her. "Primaries," she told me, "allow districts to always ensure their representative is in alignment on issues. It also allows for constituents to have options and select the best possible fit. Districts are like people they evolve and change. The representative in any district should do the same."

In California, where there are jungle primaries, several progressive Democrats will be facing Democratic incumbents in November. One is David Kim in Los Angeles, who is up against Jimmy Gomez. "When community-oriented, progressive challengers run for office in all-blue districts," David told me this morning, "it forces do-the-bare-minimum corporate incumbents like Jimmy Gomez to make good on the promises they made during their campaigns, or face losing their job when voters choose a new leader who does represent their interests. For example, when I started hosting town hall live streams after the first stay at home order, my opponent started doing the same. When my campaign started text banking to alert constituents to their options if they couldn't pay rent, my opponent once again followed suit. It's important that our elected officials be kept accountable and put on notice that they can be replaced if they don't do their jobs. If incumbents like Jimmy were working for a company, they would be fired in the first 90 days."

Blue America has just 2 House primaries against Blue Dogs left-- one in Nashville and one in Arizona's humongous 1st district. There are two truly awful GOP-lite Blue Dogs, Jim Cooper and Tom O'Halleran, trying to fight off, respectively, progressives Keeda Haynes and Eva Putzova. No big name Dems have jumped in to support either challenger. Blue America is trying to do what we can. Please use the 2020 Primary A Blue Dog thermometer above to give their campaigns a hand. Meanwhile, here's the new ad Blue America just started running in Nashville last night:

Last Night's Primary Election Results-- Wins And Losses

Ballots are still being counted almost everywhere. Kentucky has already announced that there will be no final vote count until June 30-- which is when the state's two biggest counties, Jefferson (Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington) plan to release their results. Both are considered strongholds for Charles Booker and not a single vote is in the preliminary totals, which represent the 2,005 counted precincts out of a statewide total of 3,685-- 54.41%. This morning Schumer's establishment candidate, Amy McGrath led progressive Charles Booker 27,668 (44.7%) to 22,564 (36.5%), with a second progressive, Mike Broihier a distant third with 3,900 votes (6.3%). As of June 3rd, Massie had raised almost $41 million to Booker's $788,525. She spent $21,492,634 to his $503,623.

The only other Kentucky contest worth noting was the Republican primary in the 4th district, 12 counties that go from the suburbs east of Louisville and south of Cincinnati right into coal mining country as far as the West Virginia border. Trump and the GOP DC Establishment made an attempt to replace independent-minded, libertarian incumbent Thomas Massie with extremist Trumpist robot Todd McMurtry. As of the last FEC deadline, Massie had spent $996,338 to McMurtry's $328,026. An ad hoc Trumpist SuperPAC called Civic PAC spent $132,500 smearing Massie. It didn't work and he has apparently won in a landslide. With 85.42% of precincts counted (463 out of 542) Massie has 16,801 (88%) votes to McMurtry's 2,300 (12%).

Before we get to New York, there were also some relatively sleepy contests in Virginia-- except one. Progressive champion Qasim Rashid beat Lavangelene Williams 21,768 (52.8%) to 19,469 (47.2%) in the first congressional district, an amalgam of 18 almost random counties from the exurbs of DC to the exurbs of Richmond plus James City and Fredericksburg city. Most of the voters live in very blue Prince William County, very red Hanover County and swingy Stafford County. The district PVI is R+8 but Trump just won it with 53.6% in 2016 and incumbent Rob Wittman was reelected last cycle with just 55.2% and could be ousted by Qasim in November.

Now, New York. Let's go through the congressional results district by district, although I want to begin with NY-14, the Bronx and Queens district won in 2018 by AOC. A transpartisan coalition-- funded largely by Wall Street-- backed a Wall Street Republican pretending to be a Democrat, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and spent immense sums of money smearing AOC with an intensity and virulence no one ever sees in a Democratic primary. The voters weren't buying it and AOC kicked her ass, 27,103 (72.6%) to 7,254 (19.4%). Two vanity candidates drew almost 3,000 votes (close to 8%). Caruso-Cabrera can't switch back to the GOP and run as a Republican in November-- although she is evacuating her Queens apartment and moving back to Trump Tower-- so the GOP is running some guy named John Cummings. You can contribute to AOC's November campaign here.

NY-01 is eastern Long Island, most of Suffolk County and Democrats were vying to see who would take on GOP incumbent Lee Zeldin. There was some fear that the two moderately progressive candidates, Perry Gershon (who Zeldin beat in 2018, 51.5% to 47.4%) and Nancy Goroff, would split progressive votes and allow a more conservative Democrat, Bridget Fleming to win the nomination. Instead, there's an incredibly tight race for number one between Gershon and Goroff, that is unlikely to be decided 'til every last vote is counted and, probably, recounted. As of this morning with all 473 precincts counted:

• Perry Gershon- 5,166 (35.5%)
• Nancy Goroff- 5,022 (34.4%)
• Bridget Fleming- 4,062 (27.9%)
• Gregory-John Fischer 322 (2.2%)

NY-02, the south shore Long Island district that includes parts of both Nassau and Suffolk, should have been a hotspot election... but wasn't. Peter King announced her retirement and Republican Andrew Garbarino will run in his place. The DCCC picked Jackie Gordon-- a typical DCCC pick-- as their candidate and she beat Patricia Maher, who has run unsuccessfully against King before. Sleepy race and Gordon, predictably won with about 73% of the vote (374 precincts out of 524 counted-- about 70%).

The north shore district, which includes some of Suffolk County and a tiny bit of Queens is mostly Nassau and the incumbent is New Dem Tom Suozzi. With just 45.6% of precincts accounted for, he seems to have beat back a weak challenge from the left by Melanie D'Arrigo, 58.9% to 32.7%. It's considered a swing district but Suozzi is an effective and popular congressman and is likely to beat Republican George Santos by something like 60-40% as he did in 2018 against Republican Dan DeBono.

One of my big disappointments of last night was Gregory Meeks' apparent win over Democratic Socialist Shan Chowdhury, although as of this morning, only 39 of 492 precincts have been counted. Predictably-- Meeks being the Queens County machine boss-- NY-05 was the capital of voter suppression and election fraud. I spoke with Shan this morning and his lawyers are investigating how Meeks was able to steal the election and what they can do about it.

The next district with a seriously contested primary was NY-09 a Brooklyn district stretching from Sheepshead Bay to eastern Park Slope, with Prospect Park, Brownsville, Brooklyn College, Flatbush, part of Midwood and Crown Heights in between. Yvette Clarke has one of the most progressive voting records in Congress-- and the second most progressive of any New Yorker in Congress (even higher on the ProgressivePunch list than AOC!) but was primaried from the left again. Grassroots super-progressives Adem Bunkeddeko and Isiah James took about 27% of the vote between them. With all 532 precincts reporting, Clarke was reelected with 62.3%.

In the 10th district (incongruously Manhattan's West Side and Brooklyn's most Hasidic neighborhoods) Jerry Nadler beat back two opponents, an internet progressive and a gay Zionist, former Andrew Yang staffer, to win with 61.8%.

Tragically, odious Blue Dog Max Rose had no primary opponent in the Staten Island, south Brooklyn 11th district. The NRCC chosen candidate, Nicole Malliotakis, won the Republican primary with 70.4%.

In the 12th district there is an incredibly tight race that will probably be finalized next week. Wall Street shill Carolyn Maloney may be defeated by Suraj Patel in this Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens district.

NY-15 in the South Bronx was a real clustefuck on several levels. Longtime progressive incumbent Jose Serrano decided to retire, triggering a complicated primary with a dozen candidates, each appealing to a narrow segment of the population. The common enemy was pretend Democrat Ruben Diaz, Sr., an anti-Choice, homophobic sociopath and Trump supporter and there was tremendous anxiety that the more progressive candidates would split the vote and elect Diaz, who has the most name-recognition in the district. With all 490 precincts counted, this is how the top vote getters fared:

The most closely-watched race in the state was for the Bronx-Westchester district where incumbent Eliot Engel was the designated Joe Crowley of 2020 and faced off against progressive reformer Jamaal Bowman. The most corrupt of the Democratic establishment backed Engel-- Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bob Menendez, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff as well as the DCCC, and a pack of sleazy local politicians. Jamaal was endorsed by virtually every progressive organization in the country as well as by Bernie, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley, Katie Porter, Zephyr Teachout, Marianne Williamson and progressive state legislators Alessandra Biaggi and Jessica Ramos. With 91.5% of the precincts in, Jamaal won 21,851 (60.9%) to 12,769 (35.6%), an ignominious finish to Engel's career as Netanyahu's top shill in the House. This was Jamaal's statement this morning:

From the very beginning, we anchored our campaign in the fight for racial and economic justice. We spoke the truth-- about the police, about systemic racism, about inequality-- and it resonated in every part of the district.

Many doubted that we could overcome the power and money of a 31-year incumbent. But the results show that the people of NY-16 aren’t just ready for change-- they’re demanding it.

We brought people together across race, across class, across religion, across gender, to fight for justice, to fight for equality, and to fight to create a country that works for all of us. We didn’t let them divide us. And we did it all without accepting a dime from corporate PACs or lobbyists.

The world has changed. Congress needs to change too. But if we can take on entrenched power and wealthy interests here in Westchester and the Bronx, then we can do it all across this country.

I’m a Black man who was raised by a single mother in a housing project. That story doesn’t usually end in Congress. But today, that 11-year old boy who was beaten by police is about to be your next Representative.

I cannot wait to get to Washington and cause problems for the people maintaining the status quo.

Just north of NY-16 is the 17th, also in Westchester plus Rockland County. The incumbent Pelosi-ally is retiring and Mondaire Jones, the most progressive candidate running, had already declared he would primary her. Instead he beat a pack of corporate big money Dems and right-wing state Senator David Carlucci. Mondaire is black and gay and progressive, not the profile anyone would have predicted for the 17th.

In Syracuse, NY-24 nominated progressive Dana Balter by a wide margin (64.5% to 35.5%) over conservative Democrat Francis Conole. In the Rochester district (25), conservative New Dem won renomination against progressive challenger Robin Wilt, who picked up 35.2% of the vote.

And the open 27th in western New York, between the suburbs of Buffalo and the suburbs west of Rochester, had a special election to fill the open seat left behind by Trump ally Chris Collins when he was found guilty on multiple economic fraud charges. An heir to a fortune, Republican Chris Jacobs beat Democrat Nate McMurray but the two will face off again in November's general election, when McMurray is thought to have a better chance to win. You can contribute to Nate's general election campaign-- and to the general election campaigns of Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman-- by clicking on the 2020 Blue America congressional thermometer on the right.

One last thing: there was a special election primary runoff in North Carolina yesterday where 24 year old new-comer Madison Cawthorn defeated Lynda Bennett for the GOP nomination to replace Trump's latest chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Both Meadows and Trump had endorsed Bennett. Cawthorn will now face retired Air Force Col. Moe Davis, the Democratic nominee in the heavily Republican district (PVI is R+14, the reddest in the state, and Trump won the district in 2016 with 57.2%). And, yes, he's a total Trumpist.

A Republican soon-to-be congressman (right)

Tuesday Could Be A Big Day For Progressives In New York-- Maybe Bigger Than Anyone Imagines

Through a Politico prism, the grassroots effort to elect Jamaal Bowman to Congress is a twisted power grab by "the left." Holly Otterbein wrote that "Desperate for victory after watching the presidential nomination slip through their fingers, progressives have found a new cause to rally around. Across the country, they’re channeling their grief, volunteer muscle and small-dollar donations into Jamaal Bowman, a left-wing candidate in New York trying to oust decades-long incumbent Congressman Eliot Engel... [T]heir efforts have also exposed party fissures, spurring Democratic establishment powerhouses such as Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn to throw their support behind Engel," while Bowman has been endorsed by Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Ayanna Pressley and virtually every credible progressive political group in America.

Otterbein quoted a local ex-candidate, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, who ran, briefly as a progressive, got no traction, dropped out, and endorsed Bowman: "What is that left phrase? We just need a win. People are investing a lot emotionally in this race because they see it as a down-ballot race where the policies of a Bernie, for example, which weren’t able to achieve victory on a national level, can at least be achieved on a congressional level."

Otterbein: "The clash between heavyweights like Clinton and Sanders has made New York’s 16th District race one of the most-watched primaries of the cycle-- and one of the most telling."

I think Blue America was one of the first national groups to endorse Jamaal and we did it nearly a year ago, long before any of the big name political leaders jumped into the race-- Jamaal Bowman-- The Bronx Could Wind Up With The Most Great Members Of Congress Anywhere In America. Although we noted that "Eliot Engel is a New Dem in a district that is far more progressive than he is," the endorsement post is all about Jamaal, with no further mentions of Engel.

Engel isn't the same kind of corrupt villain that Joe Crowley is, nor the same kind of villain that Dan Lipinski is. The best critique of him is that he's absent and no longer a part of his consistency and that his interests are more conjoined with those of Benjamin Netanyahu than with the struggling working families of Westchester and the Bronx. But the reason for Jamaal's traction-- irregardless of the typical Beltway-centric version-- is all about Jamaal. Engel is rated a gentleman's "C" by progressive punch-- not an "F" or even a "D." But there is no reason that NY-16 shouldn't be represented by someone with an "A," which is exactly what Bowman's platform adds up to. New York has 7 members of Congress (out of 21 Democrats) with "A" scores-- AOC, of course, and members like Jerry Nadler, Adriano Espaillat, Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazquez, José Serrano, even Hakeem Jeffries! New Yorkers should expect no less... especially not in districts, like NY-16 with a PVI of D+24 and where Trump attracted just 22.5% of the vote.

Engel has a huge establishment push working for him now-- and a bipartisan one at that. Republicans know they can't ever win in NY-16 so they're supporting the less progressive contender, Eliot Engel. On Tuesday, Ryan Grim and Akela Lacy reported how Republican money, through a GOP SuperPAC, Americans for Tomorrow’s Future, is flowing into the effort to keep Engel in Congress. The blatantly Republican Americans for Tomorrow’s Future PAC has been funneling money into the Engels campaign through the anti-Bernie/anti-progressive Democratic establishment PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel (an arm of AIPAC). Republicans maxing out to Trump and also putting money through these operations into defeating Bowman. "Engel," wrote Grim and Lacy, "is on the receiving end of nearly $1 million of outside big money and counting, including funding from two other dark-money groups that can’t be traced but who only support anti-progressive candidates.

Despite Engel's big financial advantage-- as of June 3, he raised $1,997,944 to Bowman's $965,857-- the only public polling in the race show's Bowman leading with double digits. Asked this week if they would vote for Bowman or Engel voters picked Bowman over Engel 41-31 with 27% undecided. When the undecided voters were asked who they are leaning towards, Bowman had an even bigger advantage: 40-18%.

East of Scarsdale, north of Rye, north and west of Ardsley and north of Hastings-on-Hudson, you can walk out of Engel's district and into NY-17, where Nita Lowey is retiring and a hot, crowded primary is underway in another sure-thing blue district (D+7), where Trump got 38.4% of the vote in 2016. Seven Democrats are in contention-- including one extreme right Blue Dog-type, state Senator David Carlucci, a bunch of rich people (one of whom, Adam Schleifer, a big PhRMA guy, has self-funded $4 million of his own into the race) and one viable progressive, Mondaire Jones. A new poll of likely primary voters by PPP, released yesterday, shows Mondaire leading significantly:

• Mondaire Jones- 25%
• Adam Schleifer- 14%
• Evelyn Farkas- 14%
• David Carlucci- 11%
• David Buchwald- 8%
• Asha Castleberry-Hernandez- 3%
• Allison Fine-2%

Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones-- not to mention Charles Booker, the Senate candidate in Kentucky-- are the candidates who are getting the most attention in the progressive blogosphere right now and we are feeling increasingly confident about all three. But there's another candidate we're extremely excited about in New York too, Shan Chowdhury, the Democratic Socialist taking on the city's most corrupt politician, Greg Meeks. Meeks has been trying to keep the primary under the radar-- and that could be his downfall. Shan is young, progressive and is being drastically outspent. If he wins, he's going to be Congress' most shake-it-up member. Despite the finance disparity and with just six days left, things have changed for Shan's race. His campaign has worked, for 14 months, to expand the size of the electorate in New York's 5th Congressional district. His campaign has sent over 750,000 texts, made over 100,000 phone calls and is running advertising on almost 10 different platforms in just the last month alone (print and digital). Chowdhury's aggressive strategy to expand the electorate is a problem for Meeks. In NY-05, voter turnout is abysmal. Despite there being over half a million registered voters, Congressional primary turnout in 2016 was only 8,635. That is barely 1% turnout. Meeks has never faced a real primary challenge and as a result his machine has been able to solidify a small base that turns out. That is why expanding the electorate has been an effective strategy for Shan. I just got word that, based upon internal numbers and absentee ballots tracked, Shaniyat is very likely going to upset Rep. Meeks and win next Tuesday.

Despite being widely overlooked, due to a lack of institutional support, his chances of winning are higher than almost any other campaign in New York City. According to the BOE, only 15,000 absentee ballots have been requested in the district. That is lower than any other district in the City. Taking into account Shan's campaign's incredible outreach-- having already seny over a million texts-- and the work his team has done expanding the electorate, this means they are going into election day with better odds of winning then even the incumbent! If their internal numbers reinforce the reality that on June 23rd, they are going to shock the political world-- even louder than Bowman, Jones and Booker will.

Even being so close to election day, contributions are vital to Chowdhury's ability to pull this off. They are going to need a tremendous amount of money in order to properly execute their get out the vote strategy. They plan to distribute 100,000 pieces of literature, flyers and posters between today and election day. They are also going to need the resources to send a broadcast election reminder text to everyone in the district (400,000 people). Let me be clear, contributions today will allow them to secure this victory and change-- perhaps forever-- what is thought possible in electoral politics. The Blue America 2020 congressional thermometer on the right is how you can contribute to Shan Chowdhury, Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones in one fell swoop. And, by the way, those who wonder how last minute money gets to the campaigns on time-- Act Blue wires the contributions daily.

I Wonder Where Eliot Engel Is Today-- And So Do His Constituents!

Old school New Dem Eliot Engel has been weathering the pandemic in the wealthy suburban neighborhood where he lives-- in Maryland-- and leaving the residents of his hard hit district-- which includes part of the Bronx and the three cities in Westchester with the highest number of COVID cases-- on their own. Last week Edward-Issac Dovere blew the whistle on Engel in an embarrassing piece at The Atlantic,, Why This Democrat Won’t Go Home

A member of Congress since 1989, Engel is facing his first serious primary challenge in years, in a district next door to the one where Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated another longtime incumbent in a primary two years ago. Yet Engel hasn’t been in his district since at least the end of March, according to his communications director, Bryant Daniels. The congressman himself told me that he has been in New York, after I covered my nose and mouth and rang his doorbell in Potomac, Maryland.

“I’m in both places,” Engel said.

“You are?” I asked.

“I sure am,” he said.

“You’ve been quarantined in both places?”

“Sure have.”

Daniels later told me, “He’s remained in Washington since passage of the CARES Act.” The CARES Act passed on March 27. When I pressed for when Engel was last in the district, Daniels stopped responding.

Few congressional districts in America have seen more COVID-19 infections and deaths than Engel’s.

Yesterday, the Bronx had 109 new cases and Westchester had 81 . The day before that the Bronx had 108 new cases and Westchester had 71. Not good news. Does Engel even care? Or does he just concern himself with what's going on in internal Israeli politics and how that impacts his one and only real constituent, Benjamin Netanyahu? (Israel had 116 new cases yesterday and 98 the day before.)

Yesterday, Shane Golmacher reporting for the NY Times wrote that at a press conference Tuesday Engel was caught on a live mic twice saying what plenty of people in his district have known for years: "If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care."  

[B]efore the news conference began, Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president and organizer of the event, ran through the list of planned speakers to the assembled politicians. The microphone was already broadcasting.

“I cannot have all the electeds talk because we will never get out of here,” Mr. Diaz said.

Mr. Engel pressed his case for a turn. “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” he said, repeating, “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”

First elected to Congress in 1988, Mr. Engel, who is the chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, will face voters again in New York’s primary elections on June 23. His opposition began to consolidate this week as one of his leading rivals, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, dropped out and endorsed Jamaal Bowman, a Bronx school principal.

Jamaal has also been endorsed by Blue America and you can contribute to his campaign by clicking on the 2020 congressional thermometer on the right. Questioned by Goldmacher, Jamaal said Engel's comments were "painful to watch.... We need to be taking care of our communities right now-- whether it's election season or not. It's clear that we need new leadership in NY-16." A Bowman staffer told him Tuesday had been its single biggest fund-raising day of the campaign, with more than 1,000 donations in about three hours.




I bet Engel wishes he had stayed home in Maryland! I wonder if he voted in the Maryland primary yesterday; probably not.

Marianne Williamson Takes On The Party Establishment

Yesterday, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti invited Marianne to be a guest on Rising to discuss her 2020 congressional endorsements. She explained (above) her thinking about backing candidates who are challenging Democratic congressional leadership-- like Shahid Buttar (vs Nancy Pelosi), Mckayla Wilkes (vs Steny Hoyer), Jen Perelman (vs Debbie Wasserman Schultz), Lauren Ashcraft (vs Carolyn Maloney), Jamaal Bowman (vs Eliot Engel)... To have a national figure who can command attention on media the way Marianne does, is incredibly valuable to the progressive movement. In fact, Friday she's tape a show for next week with Anand Giridharadas at Vice.

The candidates she's backing span a wide range of progressives, some-- like Mike Siegel (TX-10), J.D. Scholten (IA-04), Nate McMurray (NY-27), Julie Oliver (TX-25) and Lisa Ring (GA-01)-- who came incredibly close in 2018 and are tee-ed up to win in November. Others are first time candidates who are part of the future of the progressive movement and, hopefully, the Democratic Party, win or lose-- like Eva Putzova (AZ-01), Keeda Haynes (TN-05), Shan Chowdhury (NY-05), Rebecca Parson (WA-06), Hector Oseguera (NJ-08), Robin Wilt (NY-25)... Marianne's ActBlue thermometer is on the right and finding a candidate or two you could support with a contribution could make a real difference in a campaign and in the tenor of Congress for the next two years. Is it going to be a corporate pig-sty again or a place where progressive ideas and values are going to play a role?

After Marianne was finished taping the show, she started some inspired tweeting. First this thread:

And then this one-- powerfully and directly to the point:

Then she focused her 2.7 million twitter followers on Jamaal Bowman brand new campaign video, released moments before. 2.7 million twitter followers is a big deal. Three of Biden's top VP contenders don't have that many combined: @SenKamalaHarris (1.2 million), @AmyKlobuchar (1 million), @RepValDemings (135,800). I sure hope a lot of those 2.7 million people have watched or will watch Jamaal's video:





Marianne hasn't endorsed many candidates for U.S. Senate. One, though is Teresa Tomlinson who is running for the Georgia seat occupied by odious Trump ass-kisser David Perdue. Before Teresa can beat Perdue, though, she has to beat Chuck Schumer. Schumer has stuck his nose into Georgia politics and thinks he's entitled to chose the state's Democrats nominee. He recruited a pointless centrist, Jon Ossoff who couldn't beat Perdue in a million years. And now Schumer is raising money for Ossoff from the Wall Street and corporate whores who he serves. Take a look at this little fundraising chart:

Teresa is getting her contributions from Georgians (68.7%). Ossoff is getting his contributions from out of state, much of it from Schumer's senator-purchasers (63.3%-- so just 36.7 from Georgians). This contest is June 9. Teresa: "Despite Jon Ossoff’s supposed fundraising prowess, we are smokin’ him in Georgia. Georgians are the voters and they will decide this race... From the beginning, this battle has been Ossoff’s 2017 national fundraising network vs. our 'For Georgians, by Georgians' campaign. Now, we know that his national network is responding tepidly to his candidacy and our in-state fundraising has significantly outpaced him. With our $1.6M to his $1M and with nearly two thousand more Georgia donors than Jon’s campaign-- we see that Georgians are demanding their say in this election."

Is NYC Ready For More Members Of Congress Like AOC?

AOC won her race against Joe "the next Speaker" Crowley for a number of reasons. She's charismatic; she out-worked him; he was an absentee congressman in a demographically changed district; his record was far too conservative for the district... there were others. But one that was especially interesting-- and decisive-- was how many well-educated, economically-struggling young people live in the Bronx-Queens district.That's a big part of how she beat one of New York's most powerful-- at least on paper-- politicians. There are young activists all over the country who want to replicate what she did and many aim to be as relevant to reform in Congress as she has been. Blue America has endorsed several of them Kina Collins, Robert Emmons, Rachel Ventura and Marie Newman in Chicagoland, Morgan Harper in Columbus, Ohio, Jessica Cisneros in south Texas, Rebecca Parsons in northwest Washington, Brianna Wu in Boston, and, so far, two in New York City in the vicinity of AOC's district Jamaal Bowman and Shaniyat Chowdhury. We finishing up the vetting of a third and should be announcing her endorsement soon.

A few days ago City&State reporter Jeff Coltin did a deep dive into half a dozen of the New York candidates challenging Democratic incumbents. "They’re just six of the more than three-dozen candidates taking on New York City congressional incumbents this cycle," wrote Coltin. "But, more so than most others, they have all mimicked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s strategy of promoting progressive generational change-- and they’re already gaining momentum." He wrote that of the six, "Chowdhury matches Ocasio-Cortez’s profile best, as a fellow 20-something, DSA member and bartender taking on the boss of the Queens Democratic Party [and] none of the candidates, except Chowdhury, currently has the luxury of a head-to-head race against the incumbent."

AOC’s win over then-Rep. Joseph Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primary proved that a younger, more exciting candidate can unseat an older, blander one by challenging from the left. Crowley’s loss showed that even the most powerful incumbents-- like the fourth-ranking House Democrat and Meeks’ predecessor as Queens party boss-- could be vulnerable.

The dramatic upset, and a number of successful progressive challenges in New York state Senate races, have induced more first-time candidates to run and infused their campaigns with hope...

Google “the next AOC” and you’ll find endless examples of journalists hunting for and anointing successors to the 30-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Less than a year into Ocasio-Cortez’s first term, it has become a tired cliche-- the political equivalent of calling any dunking high school student the next LeBron James. “I’ve had that article written about me like five times now!” Boylan said with a laugh.

But the aspirants don’t mind the comparison-- most called her an inspiration. Bowman said she “opened the floodgates” for new people running for office. Chowdhury was even a lead organizer on her congressional campaign. Brand New Congress, the political action committee that helped elect Ocasio-Cortez, is backing Ashcraft, Chowdhury, Gagarin and Bowman. Another progressive PAC associated with Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, is also backing Bowman. Ashcraft, Chowdhury and Gagarin are all members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

...As part of their progressive reformer ethos, each of the candidates is pledging not to accept contributions from certain groups of donors. It’s a low-risk strategy, since real estate developers, fossil fuel companies and corporate political action committees aren’t interested in long shot left-leaning insurgents. “I can’t imagine that any corporate PAC would want to (donate), because of everything I’ve said on the record and what I represent,” Ashcraft said.

 So why the public pledge? “Just in case,” she said with a laugh. “It’s saving my campaign the stamp of sending that check back.”

But, of course, these campaigns aren’t just trying to win in June; their hope is to disrupt the system. They’re part of a movement that they hope could become as powerful within the Democratic Party as the religious right or the tea party have been among Republicans. Even if they lose, pulling the incumbents leftward could be considered a victory. Their overarching goals include less corporate influence over policymaking and big social investments, such as “Medicare for All” and the “Green New Deal.”

Some of the dozens of candidates running against incumbents are just trying to jump on a bandwagon and are pretty worthless distractions. Some are not much more than vanity candidates. And some don't have real understandings of contemporary politics, let alone class politics, or even imagine Hillary is a "liberal." I'll re-publish Coltin's profiles for the New York City candidates who actually make some sense:

Jamaal Bowman

District 16: Northern Bronx and southern Westchester County

Opponents: Rep. Eliot Engel, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, Samuel Ravelo

Age: 43

Home: Yonkers, for seven years, with his wife and three children

Occupation: Principal at Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx

Early endorsements: Justice Democrats, Brand New Congress, Blue America, former gubernatorial candidates Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout, education activist Diane Ravitch

Political inspirations: Rep. Maxine Waters, Ralph Nader, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and “The Squad”

Political identification: “As an educator. As an American. As a human being. As a father. As a husband. As a person who cares about other people... So I don’t subscribe to labels. I care about people, I care about humanity. And I want to put forth an agenda that taps into that.”

2016 presidential primary vote: “I refuse to say.” (His campaign later confirmed he was a registered independent and couldn’t vote.)

2016 presidential general vote: Hillary Clinton

Top priority in Congress: “To build a movement to engage communities and individuals that have been historically ignored or historically disenfranchised. In terms of policy topics, obviously, public education is a huge focus for me with a specific focus on early childhood education. We also need to focus on housing. In the wealthiest country in the world, we shouldn’t have anyone homeless at all.”

Why are you running against Engel? “The tipping point for me was 2017-2018 when 34 children died within the K-12 school system in the Bronx, and 17 of those children died via suicide. That same year, the Parkland shooting occurred. And I didn’t really hear anything from our politicians except thoughts and prayers... And Eliot Engel hasn’t shown the leadership in building a movement that we need.”

What are your qualifications? “I’m a middle school principal. And I’ve had many people tell me, if you can run a middle school in the Bronx, Congress should be a piece of cake. The ability and the need to build relationships with families and community members and community-based organizations to meet the holistic needs of children in the community is something I’ve been doing for the last 20 years.”

Declining any kind of donations? “We’re not taking any money from real estate PACs, any corporate PACs at all. Only individual contributions.”

An old friend of the blog, Jonathan Tasini, has a great podcast now, Working Life, and he recently interviewed Jamaal Bowman (as well as Shaniyat Chowdhury, which you'll find in the next segment below). This interview with Jamaal in extremely compelling and I urge everyone to take a few minutes and listen to it.

Shaniyat Chowdhury

District 5: Southeast Queens and southwestern Nassau County

Opponents: Rep. Gregory Meeks

Age: 27

Home: South Jamaica Houses, for the past eight years, with family

Occupation: Bartender, Terraza 7

Early endorsements: Brand New Congress, Blue America, South Jamaica Resident Green Committee

Political inspirations: Bernie Sanders, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar

Political terms: “I’m not afraid of being called a socialist. I’m anti-capitalist, that’s for sure. But I do identify as a Democrat, I just think that we could definitely do better as a party.”

2016 presidential primary vote: N/A, was registered independent

2016 presidential general vote: Jill Stein

Top priority in Congress: “Breaking up big banks, taking money out of politics and making sure everyone has free homes.”

Why are you running against Meeks? “He’s been representing the district for over 20 years. Being one of the most corrupt Congress members (according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has a lot to do with where he’s taken money from... We want a working-class agenda for District 5 and not for the real estate and finance industries.”

What are your qualifications? “I interned and worked in the New York state Assembly as a legislative aide to Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. I’m also a United States Marine, so I served my country. I’m more than capable of serving my district. I’m an organizer and an activist. I’m also an educator. I’ve also done a couple campaigns, the most notable one was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Declining any kind of donations? “No real estate. No Wall Street money. No big bank money. No big money whatsoever.”

Author and labor activist Jonathan Tasini-- same guy who did the interview above with Jamaal Bowman-- did an extremely enlightening session with Shan this week for his podcast, Working Life. It's very much worth listening to, whether you live in the district or not. Consider contributing to Chowdhury's and Bowman's grassroots campaigns here.

Lauren Ashcraft

District 12: East Side of Manhattan, Long Island City and southern Astoria, Queens, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Opponents: Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Erica Vladimer, Peter Harrison, Suraj Patel

Age: 30

Home: Long Island City, since May 2019, from Turtle Bay, which is also in the district-- with her partner and two rescue cats

Occupation: Director of stewardship at Middle Collegiate Church and stand-up comedian. Previously, project manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co., through October 2019.

Early endorsements: Brand New Congress, YoungPAC, Forward Thinking Democracy

Political inspirations: Jacqui Lewis, pastor at Middle Collegiate Church, and Bernie Sanders, who “turned me into the Democratic Socialist that I am.”

Political terms: Democratic Socialist, (DSA member since spring 2019), “And I guess I am a progressive, but I feel that word has been co-opted and doesn’t really carry the same weight that it used to.”

2016 presidential primary vote: “I would have voted for Bernie, but was one of the people that didn’t realize you had to change your registration (to Democrat) a really long time before the primary.”

2016 presidential general vote: Hillary Clinton

Top priority in Congress: “It’s absolutely imperative that we get big money out of politics. I absolutely would love an end goal of public financing of federal elections. But in the meantime, I had an idea for a tax credit that you could check a box on your tax returns and would be eligible for a federal tax credit that you could use for federal elections to donate to campaigns that inspire you.”

Why are you running against Maloney? “District 12 in particular is a very physical representation of the inequality in our society... And I’m fighting to get to the root of that problem, which is to get big money out of politics, so that representatives listen to the people and that’s their only influence.”

What are your qualifications? “My feeling on what qualifies someone to run for office is that they understand (the) issues that their community faces – that they’re passionate about changing and standing up for their community and being a vocal advocate.”

Declining any kind of donations? “I am not accepting corporate or super PAC money, and I’m also not accepting fossil fuel money... I am a former banking industry employee, and so senior executives and CEOs of the banking industry-- like the executive board, etc., those donations would be returned as well.”

Would You Ask To Join The Squad?

Daniel Marans put a bunch of statements by AOC together and wrote a post asserting she wants a bigger Squad. Are there dues and a secret handshake like The Blue Dogs and New Dems have? Will it be a side project of the Congressional Progressive Caucus that eventually swallows up that everyone-welcome caucus? AOC: "We have to change the people who are here if we are serious about delivering for working-class people." As Marans reminded his readers, Pelosi dismissed the Squad with a sneer: "They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got." Last time I looked, though AOC had 5.6 million Twitter followers to Pelosi's 3.2 million. Ilhan Omar has $1.7 million Twitter followers to Steny Hoyer's 121,300. Ayanna Pressley had 490,100 followers compared to Jim Clyburn's 5,171 followers and Rashid Tlaib has 824,300 followers to Cheri Bustos' 33,000 followers. I don't see any of them sneering at Pelosi or her geriatric leadership team.

Marans explained that AOC is trying to change Pelosi's calculation. "On Tuesday, she became the first sitting House member to endorse Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney challenging Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Texas Democrat, from the left. She’s also endorsed Marie Newman, the progressive challenging conservative Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski in Illinois."

“If we’re not going to pass ‘Medicare for All’ unless the [House Democratic] caucus changes, then I need to be a part of changing the caucus. That’s just how it is,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that her ambitious goals for climate action also require a different kind of Democratic Party in Congress. “I don’t want people to die, and I want to cut our carbon emissions by 50% in 10 years.”

“If we want to pursue an ambitious agenda that delivers for working-class America, the Democratic Party has to change who they answer to. And they have to answer to working-class people.”

Without ever mentioning Pelosi, she added: “And it’s not because of something I said. It’s because of something everybody else said: ‘You don’t have the votes, people here aren’t going to support that.’ Then we have to change the people who are here if we are serious about delivering for working-class people.”

Ocasio-Cortez, of course, came in with a reputation for taking on incumbents. As a political newcomer, she launched a long-shot bid against Joe Crowley, the powerful Democratic congressman from New York’s 14th Congressional District who was considered a future leader of the party. Her win shook up national politics, setting off a firestorm in Washington as party leaders grappled with what they had missed in the mood on the ground.

But the victory didn’t do much to endear her to some of her new colleagues. Ocasio-Cortez told HuffPost this week that she isn’t afraid of making new enemies by opposing Cuellar, Lipinski and potentially others-- because the ones who will be mad at her probably weren’t her fans anyway.

For one thing, Ocasio-Cortez maintains that many House members likely to take issue with her involvement in the race wrote her off from the moment she walked in the door.

“The reception that I got here was very chilly, and that was before I did anything,” she said. “There are folks who just weren’t going to work with me, and nothing I could have done would have changed that-- unless I fundamentally changed who I am.”

Realizing there is little she can do win over some of her fellow Democrats has freed her to pursue her vision of change with less fear of political blowback on the Hill, according to Ocasio-Cortez.

“If anything, it almost created more breathing room for me, because it... was really clarifying,” she said.

From the beginning, Ocasio-Cortez has pursued an “inside-outside” organizing strategy. She joined a climate change sit-in in Pelosi’s office on her first day on Capitol Hill, but she also recognizes that she needs to have allies in the halls of Congress to move her agenda forward.

She counts it as a sign of progress, for example, that the creation of a public health insurance option is now the default position of many of her moderate colleagues. And Ocasio-Cortez is quick to downplay any past differences she had with Pelosi. Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, left shortly after his tweets about other House Democrats escalated a spat between members of the Squad and party leaders.

“The whole idea that there’s a conflict was very overblown,” she said. “It’s about what we can accomplish given the limitations of a Republican Senate and Trump as president. People are pretty pragmatic and they’re open-minded.”

...Ocasio-Cortez told HuffPost that she is limiting her involvement in primary challenges against her colleagues to heavily Democratic districts where she believes that members of Congress do not have the excuse of justifying centrist positions as politically necessary. She is fond of noting that Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump in Cuellar’s district by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016.

“I think it’s a pretty modest proposal, a pretty modest ask that we consider a D+20 district to be grassroots-supported, divested of lobbyist money, to support ‘Medicare for All,’” she said. “This district is almost as progressive as mine. So why is there such a huge difference? Why is it so conservative?”

Cuellar is frequently ranked as one of Congress’ most conservative Democrats. As of this Congress, he had an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association for opposing tougher gun regulations (though he has since voted to tighten background checks). He received a score of 15% from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2018, having voted for legislation that would legally treat fetuses as people. And Cuellar has received over $5.5 million in corporate PAC contributions over the course of his career.

“If this is a D+20 district, what room do we give to people in a D+1 district?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.

With that in mind, the New York representative said she is equally interested in elevating Democrats in swing seats-- those in the party’s “frontline” program for vulnerable incumbents-- who have taken progressive stances that expose them to political risk. She singled out for praise Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat who unseated a Republican last November. Notwithstanding his “frontline” status, he is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a co-sponsor of “Medicare for All” legislation that would create a single-payer health care system. Levin is one of three vulnerable freshman Democrats for whom Ocasio-Cortez raised $30,000 apiece in an end-of-March fundraising appeal on Twitter.

“I’m very, very committed to not just Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, but transformational majorities in the House and Senate,” she said. “That’s where I want to dedicate a lot of my time.”

While Ocasio-Cortez said she is a “team player,” one thing she has no plans to do is pay the sum of $150,000 in “dues” that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee asks of rank-and-file House members.

“When I talk to frontliners about what they need, they just prefer that I give them the money,” she said.

Without so much as lifting a phone to call donors, Ocasio-Cortez has raised nearly $3.4 million for her reelection campaign. She may have to spend some of that money dispatching with local competition: She has already drawn 11 challengers-- eight Republicans and three Democrats. However, the prospects of another Democrat, let alone a Republican, prevailing in the heavily Democratic district where she is a household name remain scant.

Ocasio-Cortez declined to go into more detail about how she would use her financial resources to support people like Cisneros and Newman. A candidate’s campaign can, for example, directly transfer up to $2,000 to another campaign each election cycle.

“A lot of those decisions are based on evolving dynamics,” she said. “How much help would a given candidate need? Where can we expand the movement?”

Rather than setting her sights on 2020 or 2021, Ocasio-Cortez said she is trying to figure out how to shape what the country will look like in 2050.

“One of the benefits of being a younger member is that I have the luxury of looking at things in terms of decades. How do we turn Tennessee blue again? How do we turn West Virginia blue?” she concluded. “These are questions that seem impossible to some people because perhaps they are impossible in a cycle or two. But I think about the changes that I want to see in my life.”

Jamaal Bowman is a middle school principal in the Bronx, currently in a tough congressional race against an entrenched establishment incumbent. he told us he feels "that I am already part of the Squad. Being part of the Squad is not only about being elected to Congress, it’s about all of us, fighting for everyday Americans who struggle within the confines of immoral policy. It’s about finding like minded people and working together to change the oppressive status quo. We all can and must fight for Medicare for all, a Green New Deal, and getting big money out of politics. If you stand for justice and equality for all, you are already a member of the Squad.”

 

Eva Putzova's tweet alerted me to Marans' post. The Arizona progressive congressional candidate added that "We need to replace every single representative in Congress bought by corporate interests. AOC is fighting not only for the soul of the Democratic Party but also for the soul of this country and I will be honored to join her. Regardless of endorsements, I will continue doing what I’ve always done: putting people first."

Washington Democratic Socialist Rebecca Parson should be one of the first people anyone thinks of when it comes to expanding the Squad. "The Squad is an inspiration across the country," she told me last night. "They're fighting for truly progressive policies like the Green New Deal, and they're showing working-class people that we can participate in the political process, too. Democrats and Republicans who take millions of dollars from the Wall Street, insurance, Big Pharma, and real estate companies that are destroying lives don’t fight for us. They fight for their donors. All it takes is a review of their voting records to see that. When I'm elected to Congress, my focus will be on helping the people of Washington's 6th Congressional District and the country, so I would be proud to join the Squad." Snd one of the last people who would ever ask to join the Squad? Rebecca's reactionary opponent Derek Kilmer, New Dem.

Like Rebecca and Eva, Chicago grassroots activist Kina Collins, is as Squad-like as you're going to find. "Becoming part of the Squad," she told us this morning, "does not mean that any challenger candidate is running just to be an AOC clone. Each of us is running to be the best representative of our districts, and in IL-07 with a D+38 rating, our district should serve as a national model on moving the progressive agenda forward. Congressman Danny K. Davis has sat on the sidelines for too long, and he continues to take corporate PAC money from private insurance and pharmaceutical companies when we have the largest healthcare disparities in the country. If we want equity and justice for working-class people, we need someone from that community who will actually fight for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and to end gun violence."

Rachel Ventura's district is west of Kina's. THey're on the same page when it comes to building a new progressive agenda for Chicagoland. "Yes," Rachel told us without hesitation, "I would become a member of 'the Squad' and support growing progressive leadership in all committees, and within the party caucus. I see the squad as a team that each has their own unique skill set and area of expertise. I would bring my own skills as a mathematician and naturalist to the team. We are going to need to make arguments about re-prioritizing the budget from military spending to funding green investments in our communities. Additionally, we are going to have to make an argument that there are natural ways to sequester carbon without 'technological fixes' that perpetuate fossil fuels. Our race has the potential to show that AOC is not the exception to the rule, but a pattern that demonstrates where the Democratic Party is going."

Dr. Michael Owens was once a Democratic Party official working to turn red suburban counties southwest of Atlanta blue. Now they are-- and he's running for a seat currently held by a semi-Republican Blue Dog, David Scott. I asked him if he would join the Squad. "Absolutely, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and the Squad are what the next generation of progressive leaders look like. They are leading the way and fighting the fights I want to be in the middle of. America needs a squad as big as the challenges we are facing. As many policies that have been seen as too-far-left become mainstream the group will continue become larger and more influencial. Fighting for the dignity and well-being of our citizens and being committed to serve all people should not be the limited to a certain group.  It should be the goal of the entire Congress."

Earlier today, Kim Williams explains how she evolved from an Elizabeth Warren supporter to a full-fledged Berniecrat. It all about a commitment to solving real problems for real people. "As progressive presidential candidates surge in the polls, we need to ensure there are progressives in Congress who will advance Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and debt free college if we are ever going to realize the profound change we so desperately need," she said today. "We simply can not do that with the members of Congress we have now. My safe blue district is represented a conservative Democrat who spent last Congress voting with Trump 47% of the time, and during his eight terms, the median income in my county, when adjusted for inflation, fell. It is lower now than when he took office in 2005. Millionaires like him will never deliver change for working class families. It can only come from individuals who refuse to compromise their values for campaign contributions, who will unapologetically stand behind policies that can bring about real change, and who will proudly become a member of the Squad."