Chuy Garcia For Congress-- IL-04

Hopefully you remember Chuy Garcia from his run for mayor of Chicago in 2015. He stunned the political world by forcing Rahm Emanuel into a runoff. Last week we mentioned that Chuy, a Cook County Commissioner, is running for the IL-04 congressional seat that Luis Gutierrez is giving up. Originally we figured we'd just let it play out because the other candidate in the race is city Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who's also a good solid progressive.

Since then-- alarm bells. Rahm, the corrupt sack of conservative shit, has waded into the race to defeat Chuy. So... Blue America endorsed Chuy and so did both Gutierrez and... wait for it Bernie.

Garcia’s wing of the Democratic Party helped Sanders, the Vermont Independent, come close to beating Hillary Clinton in the March 2016 Illinois presidential primary-- in part by attacking Emanuel.

Garcia went on to become a key Sanders’ surrogate targeting Hispanic voters, traveling to key states during the campaign.

Sanders has kept his political movement alive with the creation of his “Our Revolution” nonprofit. The leaders of Our Revolution Illinois in Chicago include Garcia and Cook County Clerk David Orr. The chair is Clem Balanoff, who led Sanders’ Illinois presidential drive.

The seat has a history.

This incredibly gerrymandered “C” or earmuff shaped 4th District was created in 1992 to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The idea was to consolidate Hispanic voting strength by linking the North Side largely Puerto Rican neighborhoods with the Mexican-American communities on the South Side.

Gutierrez became the first Hispanic House member from Illinois, holding that seat since its inception. Why Sanders endorsement is a big deal for Garcia in a Democratic primary:

• Sanders resonates with the non-Hispanic parts of the district — the hipsters and millennials and traditional liberals and progressive in the city.
• The district also takes in Cicero and some other suburban territory as it snakes it way west all the way to the 294 Interstate. And in the suburbs, Sanders has influence among the newest generation of activist Democrats who are loosely banded together in the “Indivisible” movement born after the election of President Donald Trump.
• This gives Garcia a fundraising edge if Sanders asks his backers to donate to Garcia. It’s highly likely Sanders would, if needed, fly to Chicago to stump for Garcia.
• Garcia now has a ready-made Sanders national organization to bolster his House bid.
• Sanders’ backing of Garcia gives him standing outside Chicago political fishbowl.

“Chuy Garcia is the right person at the right time for the work we have ahead of us,” Sanders said in a statement.

“He is ready and willing to stand up and fight for the working families of Chicago and our nation and take on the powerful special interests who have far too much power over the economic and political life of our country. He is also an experienced legislator who has risen up the ladder of Chicago’s brawling politics. That makes him well groomed for jumping into the House’s rough and tumble political battles.” Sanders said.

So Rahm stuck his own friendly-faced shill into the race, Sol Flores, who most recently served on his transition team and is likely to benefit from a ton of murky corporate financing. If you'd like to help make sure Chuy Garcia is the next super-progressive in Congress, please click on the thermometer above.

Chicago Can Still Replace Rahm Emanuel With A Mayor Who Cares About People

Last spring and summer there was a hopeful stir as polling showed several candidates could beat Rahm Emanuel's bid for reelection. For various reasons, none of them decided to make the run. But as of last month, another candidate has stepped up to the plate, Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. Chicago Teachers Union and other progressive groups have already endorsed him. A classic battle between reformers and good government independents and the corrupt transactional Machine is shaping up.

As state senator, Garcia represented a majority Latino district on the Southwest side with no shortage of social problems, including crime, school overcrowding and lack of access to healthcare. The same is true of the overlapping, heavily Latino 7th District he oversees as Cook County commissioner, where his job is ensuring that residents have access to county services.

Garcia supported legislation in both roles that tackled housing, healthcare and education inequities, among other areas. Most well-known was his championing, as commissioner, a successful 2011 ordinance to require Cook County’s sheriff to decline requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants, unless the federal government would pay the detention costs.

During his time as commissioner, Garcia was also one of the sponsors of a county bill to safeguard holders of public housing vouchers from discrimination by landlords, which was signed into law in 2013.

Garcia spoke to In These Times by phone earlier this week. His proudest achievement, he says, was his work balancing Cook County’s budget. In 2010, the county was facing a revenue shortfall of more than $480 million. In response, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and the board of commissioners laid out a plan to lay off more than 1,000 county workers, as well as refinance the county’s debt and go after unpaid taxes. In the end, after weeks of negotiations with local unions, the number of layoffs was reduced to 500.

“I am proud of our ability to address budget deficits,” says Garcia, who was in his first year as commissioner during the budget battle. “The budget deficit we inherited was massive, and to balance it we had to lay off 500 people. That was probably the most painful decision we had to make.”

There are 5 candidates running now and it seems unlikely Rahm will get the 50% he needs to avoid a runoff-- despite the millions and millions of dollars he's raking in from enemies of working families. Emanuel has a job performance rating that is underwater with every group in the city. The first number is the percentage of Chicagoans who rate his job performance excellent or good. The second number represents Chicagoans who rate it fair or poor:

• Men- 37-61%
• Women- 31-64%
• Black- 32-62%
• White- 37- 62%
• Hispanic- 33-61%
• Democrats- 36-60%
• Independents- 27-67%
• Republicans- 27-71%

The poll was conducted by Lake Research, the most accurate firm in the business. They found that in a three-way race including Emanuel, Garcia and Alderman Bob Fioretti, Emanuel would take 33% of the vote, Garcia 18% and Fioretti 13%. In a head-to-head between Garcia and Emanuel, Emanuel led with 36% to Garcia's 31%. Undecided was huge-- 30%.

On Friday Daily Kos became the first national group to endorse Garcia. Markos:

[Emanuel] was virulently anti-immigration when running the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and was essentially the reason the issue didn't move forward during Obama's first term when he served as the president's chief of staff. He once said that liberals were "fucking retarded" for wanting to push the president to the left. He was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's biggest ally in bailing out the banks with zero reciprocity for taxpayers.

About the best thing that could be said about Rahm's mayoralship was that it got him the fuck away from D.C., and good riddance. But that still leaves the little problem of that asshole screwing up Chicago, and that's not fair to our nation's third largest city where the mayor has closed 50 public schools while focusing his efforts on the downtown business core while ignoring its vibrant neighborhoods. He truly is a mayor for the 1 percent. So how about we help boot his ass into the private sector?

...Rahm is far from the 50 percent he needs to avoid a runoff during this February primary, which is shocking given his near-universal name ID. He's sitting on $9 million, and the business community will shower him with millions more, but he's built little goodwill or core base of support during his first term. Garcia, a long-time community organizer, was a city council supporter of groundbreaking Mayor Harold Washington, later ousted by the Daley machine, the same machine now backing Rahm.

Garcia won't raise $9 million, much less whatever total Rahm ends up with by the time votes are cast. But he doesn't need to. People have either decided they want an alternative, or are open to one... Garcia's job will be to have enough money to get his message out, and to withstand the shit Rahm will throw his way.

As Markos pointed out in his endorsement, if you want a better Democratic Party, primaries are the place to fight that battle most effectively. Blue America has a brand new page for 2015 races like this one. Our first endorsed candidate: Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Please consider making a contribution to his campaign to replace one of the worst Democrats in contemporary politics-- anywhere.

UPDATE: Can Chuy Beat Rahm's Fat Bank Account?

The Chicago Reader remarked this week that Emanuel's campaign reported the arrival of a contribution from billionaire former hedge fund manager (and charter school advocate) John D. Arnold, who lives on Lazy Lane (really) in Houston, but cares enough about the mayor's race in Chicago to put a hundred grand down on Rahm. Garcia's following among Lazy Lane billionaires is thought to be smaller."

But money doesn't always prevail, and "Chuy" Garcia is a formidable candidate. He's been an elected official at the city, county, and state levels, and been highly regarded at each.

"He's the real deal-- a true progressive and a quality human being," Gary Rivlin told me recently. Rivlin lives in New York now and is working as a reporting fellow at the Nation Institute's Investigative Fund, but he covered politics for the Reader in the 1980s, and saw the start of Garcia's political career... In 1992, Garcia became the first Mexican-American to be elected to the Illinois state senate. "He's never been a guy with a big ego, he's always willing to help other people," Cook County clerk David Orr told Linda Lutton in 1998, for a Reader story Orr, who served with Garcia on the City Council, called Garcia "one of the most outstanding elected officials in the state."

...If anyone can overcome the hurdles for a Latino mayoral candidate in Chicago, it's Garcia, Rivlin told me, "given his lifetime commitment to a multiracial coalition-- not just talking the talk, but 30 years of walking the walk."

Rick Perlstein Analyses the Chicago Runoff Election

by Gaius Publius

For those who want an up-to-date look at the state-of-play in Chicago's upcoming runoff election, there's no better analyst than Chicago's Rick Perlstein. Above is a conversation between Perlstein and RJ Eskow of The Zero Hour on what happened to Rahm and why we should be very optimistic about Chuy Garcia's chances of an upset. (Hint: Harold Washington.)

As you listen (warning: audio starts loud), be sure to note the reasons Garcia would make an excellent mayor, just on the merits. That runoff election, by the way, will be April 7 — not long off. If you wish to help out, click here to contribute.

Perlstein offers analysis regularly at In These Times, frequently as the cover article. Some in-city context from one of his latest pieces:

In Mayoral Runoff, Rahm Emanuel’s Corrupt Governance Has Finally Caught Up With Him

It’s become increasingly clear to Chicagoans that Rahm Emanuel is out for himself and his rich friends, not for us.

Perhaps what turned some voters against Rahm at the last minute—or motivated them to go to the polls in the first place on a cold Chicago day that started out in the single digits—was an Election Day exposé that appeared in the British paper the Guardian by investigate reporter Spencer Ackerman. “The Disappeared” revealed the existence of Homan Square, a forlorn “black site” that the Chicago Police operate on the West Side. ...

One victim was 15 years old; he was released without being charged with anything. Another, a 44-year-old named John Hubbard, never left—he died in custody. One of the “NATO 3” defendants, later acquitted on most charges of alleged terror plans during a 2012 Chicago protest, was shackled to a bench there for 17 hours.  It “struck legal experts as a throwback to the worst excesses of Chicago police abuse, with a post-9/11 feel to it,” the Guardian reported. ...

But that's just the tip:

Indeed, the mayor faced a drumbeat of outstanding journalistic exposés all throughout the campaign.

Perlstein offers paragraph after readable paragraph of further instances. It's a stunning indictment, all forming part of this election story, all known to the voters. Perlstein ends, both in the video above (please do click; it's really listenable) and in the article, with great reason for hope:

In their way, these Emanuel [attack] messages, as misleading as they were, are heartening. This was Karl Rove’s trademark election strategy: attack, with brazen audacity, your opponents’ biggest, most taken-for-granted strength. In this case it was García and Fioretti’s unimpeachable probity, and the fact that they are out to help ordinary Chicagoans, not themselves.

This is not just a backhanded tribute to García’s integrity. It suggests a strategy for García to slay Goliath when he and Rahm go head-to-head in the April runoff.

This is turning into the most important progressive election in the post-2014 era. Obama tagged himself with Rahm support. So did immigration champion Rep. Luiz Gutiérrez, of all people. Not just a watershed election, but a touchstone election as well. (You can support the Chuy Garcia campaign effort here. Please do with my ex-Chicago-resident thanks!)

I wonder if the Clintons, either or both, will weigh in. After all, Rahm is their kind of guy, "free" market to the core, privatizer to his last retaliating breath.

[Click to enlarge.]

If they do, remember — it's not just a watershed election; it's a touchstone election as well. Everyone who touches it reveals who they are.

GP


UPDATE: Jesse Jackson

The latest polling shows Emanuel inching ahead of Chuy Garcia in the Chicago mayoral runoff. With 18% still undecided, Emanuel is showing 43.5% to Chuy's 38.0%. Working in Chuy's favor is the fact that "the Hispanic vote has consistently under-polled in Chicago Mayoral polls. Also, the undecided vote generally does not break for a known incumbent." But it is the African-American voters who will determine who wins and who loses April 7. As NBC Chicago explained; yesterday, endorsements are starting to come in that could be significant for moving African-American voters in Chuy's direction. Congressman Danny Davis just endorsed him yesterday.

Before the Feb. 24 election, Davis endorsed mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. The congressman's support in the runoff could be key to earning the African-American vote that both Garcia and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been actively courting.

Both candidates are fighting for the 11 percent of the vote Wilson earned in the Feb. 24 race. A vote from Davis, who represents much of the predominantly African-American South Side, could help gain Garcia the votes he needs to beat Emanuel in the runoff election in April.

...Garcia picked up another big endorsement Saturday when a local Teamsters chapter announced its support for him. The union endorsed Emanuel in the 2011 race, but in their announcement Saturday they decried the mayor's serving "a select group of privileged insiders" and cast their vote for Garcia instead.

Probably the big news today is that Jesse Jackson is endorsing Chuy. Its something voters will pay attention to.

Nationally, progressives continue to rally around Chuy. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus endorsed him and Xavier Becerra, a member of the House Democratic leadership-- someone who knows Rahm and has worked closely with him-- is said to be about to do the same thing. Alan Grayson lent Chuy his ace national finance director, David Keith, and he's working in Chicago as Deputy Campaign manager. And one more big endorsement from someone who knows Rahm very well. Late this morning Howard Dean endorsed Chuy.

Did Rahm Emanuel Fail Chicago?

FIRST A LITTLE BREAKING NEWS

The local Chicago SEIUs just endorsed Chuy Garcia over Emanuel this afternoon. This is a huge big deal and the necessary step towards getting the international SEIU to get on board.

There have been quite a few times over the years that Blue America has run newspaper and broadcast ads in Spanish. There was only one time, however, that Blue America ran a series of ads in community newspapers in Korean, Polish, Urdu (as well as Spanish and English). It was 2007 and the occasion was an accountability moment for anti-immigrant knave Rahm Emanuel.

A few weeks before, Democratic Party insiders under the aegis of the DCCC held a training session in Chicago for a couple dozen of their favored candidates. Afterwards several of the participants, disgusted, let Blue America know that Rahm Emanuel delivered an ominous message demanding that they "move to the right" on immigration. Some of the Democratic candidates, like Emanuel puppets Bill Foster (IL) and Joan Fitz-Gerald (CO), had already started sounding very Republican on the issue, breaking Democratic solidarity and threatening unity by seeking short term advantage based on demagoguery against a vulnerable part of our coalition.

In effect, Emanuel had teamed up with xenophobic bigot Tom Tancredo through his North Carolina tool Heath Shuler. And yet Emanuel's North Side Chicago district was one of the nation's most immigrant-friendly districts. It always has been. And Emanuel never tired of telling the immigrant communities that he was their best friend. Many knew better than to believe him because his actions-- and his inactions-- spoke far louder than his words. Nearly 25% of Emanuel's former congressional district were of Hispanic descent and there are almost as many Polish-Americans in the district. Plenty of South Asians and Koreans had also made the district home.

Blue America teamed up with Illinois' largest immigrants' rights coalition, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, to help bring a little accountability into his life. The series of ads in the languages of the district were customized for the various communities. In the end, this didn't stop Emanuel from getting the House Democratic Caucus to throw immigration reform under the bus, preventing Congress from considering broad immigration legislation. At the time, Emanuel's office was the invisible hand behind Heath Shuler's anti-Hispanic HR 4088 which was all about more border guards, more high tech surveillance, mandatory verification for employees and and more enhanced law-enforcement capabilities for cracking down on illegal immigrants who are already in the country. After reading it, Chicago Congressman Luis Gutiérrez said, "We might as well put the Republicans in charge."

Last month Gutiérrez, a progressive on policy but a pathetic machine hack politically, endorsed Emanuel for mayor against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Disgracefully, Gutiérrez is a co-chair of Emanuel's Fat Cat reelection campaign. Hopefully, you read Chicago-based historian Rick Perlstein's post Friday about the epic battle between Mayor One Percent and the forces for a progressive Chicago. Perlstein's concern that the privatization, austerity, and authoritarian governance that have marked Emanuel's first term and have threatened the face of Chicago itself, is on the ballot in the April 7 runoff. 55% of voters-- in a very low turnout-- cast ballots against Emanuel. His $30 million war-chest didn't buy him reelection. Chuy's 34% came as a shock to the papers, the pundits, the pollsters, all of whom had been predicting Emanuel would figure above the 50% mark.

Now Blue America is trying to help Chuy and his team raise the contributions they need to compete against Emanuel's Big Money Machine. Perlstein has donated 20 autographed books-- a choice of Nixonland or his most recent The Invisible Bridge-- which will go to 20 random contributors-- regardless of amount-- on this page. Blue America is also giving away a rare, collectible RIAA-certified quadruple platinum award for the Barenaked Ladies breakthrough album, STUNT, which, to a great extent, crossed over from Canada to Chicago and then broke across the U.S., especially Chicago radio smashes One Week and Call And Answer. Winners for the books and the plaque will be randomly chosen tomorrow (Monday). Please contribute to Chuy's campaign... whatever you can, here on our 2015 Blue America page.

An OpEd in yesterday's Chicago Sun Times calls the runoff a "horse race" and outlines 3 voter groups the two candidates need to win over:

TEST #1:  THE BLACK VOTE

African-Americans carried Emanuel to victory four years ago on the conviction that he was “somebody that somebody sent.” That Somebody was the first black president of the United States.

This time around, pre-election bro-hugs notwithstanding, the ground has shifted under both Barack Obama and his former chief of staff, Emanuel.

The mayor got significantly fewer black votes this time around, though he still came in first ahead of Willie Wilson, followed by Garcia in black wards.

What will be Garcia’s counterclaim?

He’ll point to his early alliance with Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington. And the fact that while in the Illinois state Senate in the 1990s, he and Senate colleague Miguel del Valle were the first two Hispanics to join the Black Caucus.

Endorsements will be interesting.

What will Willie Wilson, the African-American millionaire who came in 2nd in black wards, do? Whom will County Board President Toni Preckwinkle back? Their voices will be more important in April than President Obama’s was in February.

TEST #2: THE WHITE ETHNIC VOTE

The bungalow belt along Chicago’s Northwest and Southwest Sides is a complicated vote. The Emanuel forces believe citizens here worry more about their property tax bills, which the mayor has not raised, than income inequality arguments advanced by Garcia.

Whatever the focus, the wards in these parts of the city hold a high percentage of union members and government workers.

Pensions-- and whatever solution is deemed constitutional to solve their insolvency-- is a flame that burns brightly here.

The announcement on Friday of Moody’s downgrade of the city’s bonds is another piece of dreadful news. Garcia claims it is further evidence of the fiscal cliff the mayor has failed to pull us back from. But Emanuel points to a variety of ratings agencies that have said positive things about his efforts to rein in debt.

Neither Garcia nor Emanuel has been specific about painful revenue remedies that will, in the view of voters, squeeze blood from a turnip.

TEST #3: THE HISPANIC VOTE

This is Garcia’s base but it has not been a homogeneous vote. When Garcia was in the Legislature, it was the Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) in concert with Mayor Daley that set out to kill his re-election because he was not playing ball with the regulars.

Elected officials like city clerk Susana Mendoza and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez were campaign co-chairs for the mayor in the February election. And remain supporters now. And Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios, who is also the assessor of Cook County, is no friend of Garcia’s but waged his own battles for control in aldermanic races. But their coattails are in serious doubt.

Will Hispanic voters turn out for Garcia as African-Americans did for Washington in 1983?

You’d have to think so.

This election is a horse race.

A fascinating story.

But the candidates both have a lot of evangelizing left to do.

This morning, writing for Salon, former White House advisor Bill Curry explored how Chuy forced Rahm, an anti-liberal union-hater, into a runoff. "What a week ago seemed a liberal fantasy, Rahm’s imminent demise," he wrote, "is suddenly a very real possibility."

A Garcia victory would be a historic watershed not just for Chicago or for Democrats but for all progressives. It wouldn’t just frighten the Wall Street Dems who now reign over their national party. It would alter the terms of debate even beyond the party and prove, to cynics and to ourselves, that the power of ideas is still greater than the power of money and that grass-roots politics is not dead.

It’s a race progressives know how to win. It’s a general election, but with an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate and likely low turnout it will function more like a primary. If progressives grasp its significance they’ll invest the energy and resources it takes to win. Many are already doing just that. But to those who need convincing, allow me to make the case. It comes down to just two points. The first is all about who Rahm Emanuel is, and who and what he represents.

Even in elective office Rahm strikes people less as a political leader than what he is: a lifelong political operative. He was once executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. For a while he specialized in “opposition research,” meaning campaigns hired him to dig up dirt on their opponents. But his forte was raising money, in large amounts, from people who had plenty of it.

By the time he was 30 he’d taken up permanent residence in the world of political high rollers he inhabits to this day. As Bill Clinton’s 1992 finance director he ran the biggest fundraising machine the Democratic Party had ever seen. While doing that job he was also on the Goldman Sachs payroll, a seeming violation of “black letter” campaign finance law that was never looked into.

...In Congress he hewed right on economic and fiscal policy and was a hawk on defense. As Obama’s chief of staff he purged Clinton-era liberals, which resulted in a team of economic advisers more conservative than that of any Democratic president since Grover Cleveland. Whether following their advice or his own instincts, Obama ditched ethics reform, aid to homeowners with bad mortgages, a minimum wage hike and the public option; a disastrous set of choices from which he never fully recovered.

Through it all Rahm cultivated his image as a ruthless operative. By the time he got to be mayor of Chicago he was the Keyser Soze of the Democratic Party, shrouded in legend, a guy who if you crossed him would slit your throat as you slept. It was a reputation he relished.

Rahm’s corporatist worldview, bruising personal style and stunted ethics made the city a testing ground for two major conservative agendas: corporate education reform and “privatization.” His education agenda led to a bitter teachers’ strike and the closing of 50 public schools, many serving the city’s poorest residents.

Those closings are often cited as flash points of the current revolt but there were others. During last July 4 weekend, 82 shootings resulting in 14 deaths focused national attention on the murder rate among Chicago’s young black men. The crisis cried out for creative, sustained civic dialogue but Rahm hadn’t the patience, empathy or eloquence to provide that kind of leadership.

The X factor is a deepening discontent over Rahm’s privatization schemes, recently laid out in a superb article by Rick Perlstein in In These Times. Here’s but one example plucked from a long, infuriating list:

In 2012 the transit authority commissioned a private contractor to issue transit cards that residents without bank accounts could use as prepaid debit cards. Buried in a 1,000-page agreement was an ugly array of hidden fees: $1.50 for ATM withdrawals; $2.95 to deposit money with a credit card; $2 to call a service rep; $10 for “research”; $6 to close an account. For designing a system to bilk the poor on such a grand scale, the company was paid $454 million.

Emanuel turned Chicago into a playland for people who, like him, mastered the art of spinning political influence into gold. If Garcia wins, it will reflect voters’ disaffection with a mayor who’s all bully and no pulpit, but also their revulsion to see such blatant profiteering at taxpayer expense. In an interview, United Working Families executive director Kristen Crowell said she was “astounded at voters’ rejection of corporate politics as a way of doing the city’s business.”

It is what Justice Kennedy in his willfully naive Citizens United opinion called “soft corruption”: not simple bribery but the subtler corruption of modern pay-for-play politics. Citing no proof-- there isn’t any-- Kennedy wrote that soft corruption does little harm to the state and is of no interest to voters. In fact it is a cancer devouring our democracy and voters care deeply about it.

Rahm isn’t just a poster boy for soft corruption; he holds a patent on it. On the Democratic side of the aisle he stands with Tony Coehlo, Chuck Schumer, maybe Terry McAuliffe and, sad to say, both Presidents Clinton and Obama. It’s why his election means so much to the nation and it’s why he may lose.

Believing you can dial every day for Wall Street dollars and still stand up for the middle class is like believing you can smoke crack every day and still be a good parent. Left unaddressed, the contradiction between what Democrats do to get elected and what they promise to do in office will destroy them. We need a whole new model, which brings us to who Jésus “Chuy” Garcia is and who and what he represents.

Like Rahm, Chuy has spent much of his life in politics. There the similarity ends. Rahm is a longtime ally of Chicago’s fabled Daley political machine, Chuy is a member of the party’s reform wing and was a protégé of the late Mayor Harold Washington, who ran against and beat future Mayor Richard M. Daley. In a real sense, this is but the latest battle in a 30 years’ war between the city’s reform and machine factions.

From the first, Garcia was a leader, not an operative. At 28 he got elected to the city council, where he served seven years before moving on to the state Senate. He served six years there before losing a primary to a Daley-backed opponent. When he left politics he turned not to high finance but to the nonprofit sector, becoming director of a community development corporation. Four years ago he reentered politics by winning election to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. In his staunch progressive record and subdued personal style he’s the anti-Rahm; a guy who proves he’s tough just by taking principled stands and then sticking to them.

Last Tuesday should never have happened. Rahm had a huge war chest, a vaunted machine, Wall Street and Hollywood connections and an endorsement from Chicago’s own Barack Obama. Rahm outspent Chuy 12-to-1. So what did he do wrong? Nothing really-- except, of course, for how he governed. The answer lies rather in who Garcia represents and in what they did right.

A month ago I wrote that progressives need a Tea Party of our own; not an Astro-turfed array of angry extremists but a grass-roots movement fueled by volunteerism and funded by small donors. Like the Tea Party, it would be independent, backing major party candidates who stay true to its values, and ousting ones who don’t. I said then the group closest to figuring it out was the Working Families Party. I wish I could say now I sensed how soon they’d do it.

The coalition taking Rahm to the mat works off the same model as the Working Families Party and even shares some of its DNA. It includes a dozen unions and community organizations, including the Chicago Teachers Union. Its basic tools are knocking on doors-- it hit 153,000 in round one-- and calling people up on the phone. Its members are rooted in their community and its message is rooted in its values. It may be about to topple one of the most powerful and least progressive Democrats in the nation. It is exactly seven months old.

The race confuses Washington. It’s a colorless town and for years Rahm was its most colorful figure, a source not just of news but of dark comic relief. Reporters imbibe the views of politicians who think the rules of the game immutable. This week even the astute E.J. Dionne compared Rahm to Bill de Blasio, “a hero to progressives,” calling it “mildly ironic” that “left of center voters” would give Rahm such a hard time.

Many progressives don’t get it either. If you put them all on Sodium Pentothal and asked if grass-roots politics can still beat big money, my hunch is they’d say no. Many pray the party will reform itself. Obama’s late awakening fans that flame. But if you want to know how likely that is, peruse the numbingly vacant report the DNC issued last week allegedly laying out its vision. Frederick Douglass said it best. Power concedes nothing without a demand.

On April 7 pay-to-play politics goes on trial in Chicago. The voters will be the judges. Crowell says holding Rahm accountable was a victory in itself, but she knows now it’s a fight they can win. For sure it’s an uphill climb, but then just last week it was impossible.

You can contribute to Chuy's campaign here. There's no such thing as a contribution that is too small.

UPDATE: First Poll: Dead Heat!

Chu is just getting started but the first poll is already showing a dead heat between himself and Mayor 1%.

A Chicago polling firm is calling the city’s runoff campaign between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia a “dead heat.”

New numbers from Ogden & Fry show Garcia, a member of the Cook County board of commissioners, within reach of the one-term Emanuel. And the firm warned that the Hispanic population under-polls, meaning that population is underrepresented in the data.

“They’re likely dead even,” pollster Tom Swiss said Sunday night... In the Saturday poll of 979 likely voters, Emanuel had 42.9 percent support to Garcia’s 38.5 percent.

Rahm Emanuel's Fake Poll

Internal polling I've seen doesn't show Rahm winning his Chicago reelection bid. In fact, polls don't show a reasonable path for Rahm getting to 50%. But yesterday, his campaign-- which includes the Chicago Tribune, one of the leading Radical Republican newspapers in the whole country-- was ballyhooing a poll by APC Research that showed Emanuel picking up gigantic support from a very unlikely place: Chicago's African-American communities.

Emanuel is buoyed by continued gains among African-American voters, who were primed to cost him a second term before the mayor’s multimillion-dollar television ad blitz. Now, Emanuel holds a 21-point lead among black voters, 52 percent to 31 percent. That’s equal to Emanuel’s advantage among white voters.

This week Rev. Jesse Jackson led a long list of prominent African-American political and community leaders endorsing Chuy Garcia, including third place primary finisher Willie Wilson, former state Senate President Emil Jones, Congressman Danny Davis, and Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin. Then yesterday, the SEIU International, following the wishes of their Chicago members, endorsed Chuy. That's a big deal-- and don't be surprised to see Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinckle come on board next.

Back to the right-wing Tribune for a minute. The brass there have a well-known and well-documented bias against progressive candidates. Its history of so-called "independent polling" reflects that regressive Republican bias. Whether it was the insurgent mayoral campaign of Jane Byrne in 1979 or the revolutionary mayoral victory of Harold Washington over the Chicago machine in 1983 or Pat Quinn's remarkable win over Bill Brady in the face of a Republican tide in the 2010 gubernatorial race-- the Tribune poll never had ANY of these candidates in the lead, EVER!

Each of them-- Jane Byrne, Harold Washington and Pat Quinn, a woman, an African-American, and a progressive independent, respectively-- were, at this point in their respective campaigns, between 20 and 30 points behind their Tribune-backed and endorsed opponent.

That's the pattern-- try to smother the progressive candidate with negative "polls." That's the playbook of the Radical Right. Hide the truth.

Nothing demonstrates the inherent conflict of the Radical Republican press better than their regressive editorials, which are reinforced by slanted so-called "independent" polls-- run as headlines as "news" in the very same paper!

Clearly, Big Brother is watching.

Let the history be clear: The Chicago Tribune "poll" predicted a clear resounding Emanuel victory without a runoff in the first round.

Emanuel fell woefully short then, and he will fall woefully short on Election Day, April 7. That's when the people have their say. And that's Judgment Day for Rahm Emanuel and his band of corporate thieves.

Chuy Garcia is winning this race, no matter what any type of "fake poll" published in the reactionary Republican Chicago Tribune may claim.

Let the Chicago Tribune try to prop up their Republican mayor in disguise, Rahm Emanuel, supported by his Republican toadies, Bruce Rauner and Mark Kirk. It won't work.

No matter what they do, no matter what lies they spread, you can't stop a movement of the people.

Chuy Garcia will be the next mayor of Chicago. With your help.


UPDATE: Hillary Clinton... Kind Of A Hometown Gal

A Blue America member asked me to get some questions to Hillary about the Chicago mayoralty. I can't imagine how I could get her to focus on that. She never liked or trusted Rahm anyway and now not even Obama is exerting much effort on his behalf. But I will publish the questions he would like Hillary to think about and address. Hill, ball's in your court:

• Will you disavow Rahm's advertising campaign against Chuy?

• Do you agree that the Chicago Tribune is being excessively polite by commenting as follows? "Emanuel's latest spot takes liberties with Garcia's positions on the issues and the numbers it uses, while including out-of-context video clips to build the attack."

• Will you condemn Rahm if he continues to do so?

• What will you do for Chuy's supporters that Rahm has not done?

Chuy Garcia Money Bomb-- Rooting The Emanuel Corruption Out Of Chicago

Chicago's mayoral race is two weeks from tomorrow-- April 7. Today, Monday, is the first day of early voting. The race pits the pay-for-play politics and endemic corruption embraced by careerist and Wall Street shill Rahm Emanuel against the communities and neighborhoods of one of America's great cities trying to reclaim its dignity and its independence. The race is a neck and neck contest between Emanuel and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Today, Blue America has joined with our friends and allies at DFA, PCCC, MoveOn, Daily Kos, SEIU and Illinois Working Families to launch a money bomb on behalf of Chuy's campaign.

Does it seem too late in the cycle to make an effective donation? It isn't-- thanks to the electronic contribution system developed by ActBlue, netroots donors can still have a significant impact on the outcome of this race. No one ever thought Chuy would have the ability to raise as much money as Emanuel, who had already spent $30 million in the first round to Chuy's $1.2 million. But no one thought Chuy needed to match Emanuel either. Emanuel's record as mayor has devastated Chicago's neighborhoods, and most voters have soured on him. Chuy's campaign was designed from the beginning to be a person-to-person operation-- street politics, door-to-door, friend-to-friend, neighbor-to-neighbor.

Money contributed today isn't going to be wasted on expensive network TV ads-- which Rahm is spending $10 million on-- but will be spent on real community outreach efforts. If you're thinking about donating, remember that it costs the campaign $6 to provide a box lunch for a volunteer out in the field. This campaign is going to be won because of a get-out-the-vote effort. That's what Chuy's operation is all about right now. Providing 50 buttons for distribution at an event is $25. It costs $100 to print 1000 copies of an 8½x11 piece to pass out on street corners, outside grocery stores, on subway platforms, in front of churches and synagogues and community centers, outside high school basketball games, at parades and rallies. Money contributed today--even small amounts-- can help somebody else make a difference.

If Rahm loses, it will shake up Democratic politics to its core, a shake-up that is long overdue. Please consider contributing what you can-- today, 2 weeks out-- via ActBlue. There is no such thing as a contribution being too small to make a difference. Last week, looking back at his presidential run in 2004, Howard Dean explained that he "represented the 'Democratic wing of the Democratic Party'-- a line inspired by Paul Wellstone that captured the spirit of my grassroots campaign."

Jesús 'Chuy' García is running a similar people-powered campaign in Chicago and that's why I am proud to announce that I am endorsing him as the progressive choice to be Chicago's next mayor. Chuy García brings years of experience standing up for the people of Chicago. He worked with Harold Washington, Chicago’s reform mayor, to clean up Chicago in the 1980s. He also served alongside a then-unknown Illinois State Senator, Barack Obama, in the 1990s. In that time Chuy García fought for better schools and neighborhood services while developing the leadership skills required to lead Chicago in the 21st century. As mayor, Chuy García will focus on the needs of Chicago's working and middle class. He'll work to improve public schools and take a community-oriented approach to ending the violence in Chicago's neighborhoods. Chuy García will put the people first, not the 1%.

Primary Season Is Far More Important Than The DCCC Wants You To Think It Is

Chuy Garcia and Carlos Rosa, 2 of Chicago's best

ProgressivePunch rates Jan Schakowsky's voting record an "A." This year she scores 100. And career-long she gets a 96.43, the 13th best score in Congress. The only other Illinois member with an "A" is Danny Davis. Robin Kelly has a strong progressive voting record as well. And Luis Gutierrez's isn't bad. His "B" rating is strong and this session his 95.16 score is the 37th strongest in the House. His lifetime record is 89.47. the 54th best in the House-- nothing to sneer at, and more important is Gutierrez's leadership on the issues that have meant the most to him, primarily immigration policy. He'll be missed. Yesterday he announced he's not running for reelection and endorsed Chuy Garcia, a very progressive Cook County commissioner who had forced Rahm Emanuel and all his millions of sleazy dollars into a runoff for mayor 2 years ago.

Gutierrez's district, is one of the most progressive in the country. Bernie handily beat Hillary in the primary and Hillary absolutely crushed Trumpanzee in the general-- 82.1% to 13.2%. The PVI is D+33, second only to Danny Davis' IL-07 at D+38. That's the kind of district where Democrats should be looking for cutting edge leadership, for men and women to be not just be sitting and voting well, but to be bringing forth ideas that might not be generally accepted for another decade. Gutierrez's endorsement of Chuy Garcia will go a long way towards helping him win the primary (tantamount to winning the seat)-- and Chuy is likely to be an even more progressive member than Gutierrez. But there's another candidate in the race that shouldn't be overlooked, Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a Democratic Socialist and former aide to Gutierrez, who also threw his hat into the ring. Rosa, openly gay and the youngest Chicago alderman, was a Bernie delegate to the Convention.

Although the DCCC is working very hard to prevent it, the next Congress could see a far more dynamic, ethical, progressive and independent-minded Democratic Party than the current one. Around the country, there are actual top notch candidates running, not just the usual array of pathetic hacks and self-funding conservatives the DCCC strongly prefers. And this goes beyond just extraordinary progressives fighting to replace corrupt conservatives already in office-- like Tim Canova vs Wasserman Schultz in South Florida and Marie Newman vs Dan Lipinski in Chicago. Open seats and shaky Republican seats could bless Congress with men and women like Kaniela Ing in Hawaii-- that state's most progressive legislator replacing hawkish corrupt conservative Colleen Hanabusa-- Sam Jammal replacing bigot Ed Royce in Orange County, Derrick Crowe replacing corrupt science denier Lamar Smith in Austin/San Antonio, Jared Golden-- another cutting edge state legislative leader, replacing Wall Street hack Bruce Poliquin in Maine-- Lillian Salerno (TX), Austin Frerick (IA), Jenny Marshall (NC), Randy Bryce (IL), Dan Canon (IN), David Gill (OK)... and everyone else you find on the page you find by tapping the thermometer above.

There are only 3 freshmen with 100% ProgressivePunch voting scores-- Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). It's important to remember that there are other measurements of effectiveness and leadership. We have an opportunity now-- during primary season-- to guarantee that the Congress elected in 2018 and seated in January 2019 will be among the best in contemporary American history. We have that chance-- or we can just give in and let the Blue Dogs, New Dems and DCCC fill the seats with piles of garbage, which they are working diligently-- even furiously-- to do. It's up to you and me and all of us. This is a time we can pick between dynamic change or a turgid status quo we all hate. Don't be fooled again.

Will Rahm Emanuel Be Reelected Mayor Of Chicago A Week From Tuesday?

Early voting has begun and election day in the Chicago mayor's race is February 24th. If no one gets a majority there will be a runoff April 7. The hope is that progressive reformers Chuy Garcia and Robert Fioretti will hold the much-disliked Emanuel under the 50% mark and force the runoff. Most polling indicates that Emanuel's support is in the low 40s.

This week, former Mayor Richard Daley endorsed Rahm Emanuel for reelection. And next Thursday, President Obama will be in Chicago stomping for his former chief of staff. Friday, the African-American weekly, Chicago Defender, endorsed him. His record of failure and corruption doesn't seem as present in the minds of many voters as these kinds of political cupie dolls.

This week the International Business Times reported that Emanuel's campaign donors were getting shadowy no-bid contracts from Chicago. Tens of millions of dollars have gone to Emanuel allies, who have contributed over $775,000 to his campaign, under very suspicious circumstances. And this comes after the revelations that Emanuel had tried to exempt financial firms from ethics laws.

Blue America has endorsed Chuy Garcia as the best alternative against another Emanuel term. If you'd like to contribute to his campaign, you can do that here. They are in need of money for their Get Out The Vote operations which are kicking into high gear now. Another progressive group standing up against Emanuel's corrupt corporate governance is DFA and yesterday their president, Jim Dean, sent a letter to all their members reminding them of the importance of this race:

A critical election in the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party is just days away in Chicago. That's where one of the leading members of the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party-- Mayor Rahm Emanuel-- is waging war against seven progressive incumbents on the Chicago City Council.

It's not the first time Rahm Emanuel has done battle against progressives. This time, he’s hoping to roll back the progressive tide that has risen in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. While progressive policies are stalled in Congress and in many state legislatures, cities have been the place where we've won important battles against those who are making income inequality worse.

If Rahm Emanuel succeeds in defeating these seven progressive champions-- who we're calling the Chicago Seven-- it won't be bad news just for Chicago. It will be a sign to Wall Street wing Democrats across America that they can stop progressives even in our urban strongholds.

Early voting in Chicago's election started on Monday. Election Day is just two weeks from today-- on Tuesday, February 24. And DFA is all-in, with our members on the ground in Chicago running phone banks and canvasses to fight back against Rahm Emanuel and re-elect these seven progressive Aldermen... Rahm's Super PAC, funded by his wealthy allies, is spending millions to spread smears and attacks on these progressive Aldermen.

...Since becoming mayor of Chicago in 2011, Rahm Emanuel has unleashed an unprecedented attack on working families, especially the poor and people of color, for the benefit of Wall Street.

Here are just a few of the terrible things Rahm has done as mayor:

• He closed more than 50 public neighborhood schools, primarily in African American and Latino neighborhoods.
• He closed half of Chicago's public mental health clinics, leaving many of the poorest and most in need without access to quality, affordable care.
• He attacked unions, including cutting pension benefits while using tax dollars for corporate subsidies.
• He refused to hire more police officers to combat the city's crime problem, citing budgetary constraints.
• He broke his promise of openness, fighting efforts at increased transparency, ignoring community input, and micro-managing the press.

Seven Aldermen-- John Arena, Toni Foulkes, Leslie Hairston, Rick Munoz, Roderick Sawyer, Nick Sposato, and Scott Waguespack-- have taken the lead in fighting Rahm's corporate agenda. That's why Rahm is using millions of dollars in a Super PAC funded by large corporations and Wall Street hedge funders to try and defeat these seven progressive Aldermen.

Rahm's goal: Replace the Chicago Seven with candidates who answer only to him and his wealthy backers, rather than to the people.

Progressives across Chicago, especially the great leaders and activists at Northside DFA and Southside DFA, are mobilizing to stop Rahm Emanuel and support a progressive City Council. With DFA's national focus on defending the progressive champions already on the City Council, Northside and Southside DFA are working hard to elect more progressive Aldermen as challengers in important races. Together we can win a big progressive victory in Chicago over Rahm Emanuel and his wealthy allies.

Up top is the new TV ad from the Chuy Garcia campaign. It is positive and issue-oriented. Below is the ugly response from Emanuel's camp-- a typical vicious smear from a typical vicious politician:

CHICAGO FIRE: United Working Families and Our Candidates Need Your Help to Fight Rahm Emanuel Corporate Democrats

Young Rahm

A week from Tuesday, on the same day Chicago voters decide whether Rahm Emanuel gets another term or they replace him with Chuy Garcia, there are several crucial aldermanic races pitting progressives against Rahmish thugs. Following is a guest post from Graeme Zielinski from Chicago-based United Working Families.

CHICAGO -- How bad is it for Rahm Emanuel? So bad that the corporate bully has taken to wearing sweaters. SWEATERS.

But seriously, our group, United Working Families, has Rahm sweating after February 24th, when we defended incumbent progressive candidates across the city whom the mayor and his part-Republican corporate PAC were trying to take down; advanced or elected some great new progressives; AND helped force the first mayoral runoff in Chicago history, making Rahm go head-to-head with progressive champion Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in the April 7th runoff election.

Chuy is a lifelong organizer has been there for United Working Families, present at our formation this summer, and we've been there for him, at the table when he started his run.

United Working Families is a new independent political organization in Illinois meant to build progressive power for the long-run. We’re backed by SEIU Healthcare, the Chicago Teachers Union, Action Now, and Grassroots Illinois Action, and take inspiration from our allies at the Working Families Party in New York.

We need help as we close out the race, hence this post. Here is a brief update on our great candidates and just what they're up against.

We're helping all of them with field, data, mail, GOTV and communications help, and some of them we've recruited and trained. You can donate to United Working Families through OUR  Act Blue page here.

Susan Sadlowski Garza
WARD 10: FIGHTING THE KOCH BROTHERS

Susan Sadlowski Garza is the daughter of reform Steelworkers legend "Oil Can" Ed Sadlowski but has an activist record all her own. She has organized her South Chicago community around everything from domestic violence and environmental racism to raising the minimum wage and preserving youth programming. But she came into her own during the Chicago teachers' strike and was a vocal opponent of Rahm's citywide school closings. Coming out of the strike, Susan became Area Vice President of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Given that her corrupt opponent, entrenched incumbent Ald. John Pope (who voted with Rahm Emanuel 100% of the time), is TAKING MONEY FROM THE KOCH BROTHERS, you know what side Sue's on, and she's even gaining national attention, as Bernie Sanders is coming to endorse her at her blue-collar ward today.

Sue's Act Blue page is here.

Rafael Yañez
WARD 15: STANDING UP TO PRIVATE PRISONS

Rafael Yañez is an anti-violence specialist from a Mexican immigrant background who started a nonprofit after a terrible neighborhood killing in the Back of the Yards neighborhood he now seeks to represent.  His U.N.I.O.N. Impact  group has trained hundreds of kids. He comes from an old-line social justice background.

His opponent? Not so much.

Raymond Lopez is a product of the machine and names like “Burke” and “Berrios” and “Daley” that represent the institutional corruption of Chicago politics.

One example of how tone-deaf the Rahm Emanuel-backing Lopez is: He courted a private prison deal in the ward from the notorious Geo Group. Yañez supports jobs and development for his neighborhood,-Lopez is trying to turn it into a for-profit prison warehouse for those denied opportunity.

Rafael’s ActBlue page is here.

Toni Foulkes
WARD 16: SAYING “NO” TO SLUMLORDS

The 16th Ward represents a large part of Chicago’s historic Englewood neighborhood, where vacant houses represent the fruits of institutional racism-and the corporate housing banksters who’ve bled it dry.

Toni Foulkes, whose ward was gerrymandered in retaliation for standing up to Rahm, is a founding member of Action Now, a veteran activist organization. Toni has long been a vocal opponent of corporate interests seeking profit off the misery of the ward.

Compare that to her opponent, Stephanie Coleman,  whose vacant home co-owned by her and her father was in such bad condition that the city has ordered for its demolition.

Tara Stamps
WARD 37: ANTI-EQUALITY SLURS FROM A RAHM RUBBER-STAMP

Tara Stamps is a retired schoolteacher who comes from a long line of activists and reformers. Her mother was noted Cabrini-Green activist Marion Stamps, and Tara is living up to her mother’s legacy. Tara has placed a huge emphasis on schools and equality of all forms in the city-and opposition to the Rahm agenda.

Meanwhile her opponent, Emma Mitts, a Rahm rubber stamp, was caught on camera making hateful anti-gay remarks.

Tara’s ActBlue page is here.

John Arena
WARD 45: CRASHING THE TEA PARTY

John Arena has been a strong progressive voice in a first term in which he frequently has gone head-to-head with Rahm on issues that matter to real Chicagoans. Red-light cameras. Education cuts. Sweetheart corporate deals.

His opponent, however, is another story. John Garrido, under investigation by the Chicago Board of Elections, is a full-throated Tea Partier.

John’s ActBlue page is here.

How Have All Those Freshman Members We Elected In November Been Voting?

The worst new senator (AZ) and worst new House member (NJ)

First the good news: Although there haven't really been enough controversial votes yet to definitively analyze the voting records of the congressional freshman class, there are mostly pretty good signs. With every day that passes, records are beginning to become somewhat clearer, at least at the extremes. According to ProgressivePunch, 38 freshman House members are tied for the #1 spot-- with 100% perfect scores. There are obvious perfect voters like AOC (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Joe Neguse (D-CO), the Levin Boys (Mike from California and Andy from Michigan), Debra Haaland (D-NM) and Chuy Garcia (D-IL) but even some of the reactionary candidates have been voting exactly the way the Democrats who entrusted them with high office would have wanted them to vote-- crap candidates who will likely soon start disappointing, like Jason Crow (New Dem-CO) and Susie Lee (New Dem-NV), for example. For now... 100%.

But some Democrats have already started slipping over to the Dark Side and finding their comfort zones on the other side of the aisle. Further down the list of freshmen, there are 10 tied for 144th most progressive: Cindy Axne (D-IA), Abby Finkenauer (D-IA), Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA), Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI) and Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA). Republicans are already starting to look at some of these freshman as obvious targets for 2020 since they are already beginning to show signs of disappointing the Democratic base. For example, in Orange County-- CA-48, the coastal district Rouda won from Dana Rohrabacher last year, 157,837 (53.8%) to 136,899 (46.4%)-- Republican businessman James Bradley, who was the top finishing GOP candidate in last year's U.S. Senate race, declared against Rouda, whose congressional office is said to be in utter turmoil and disarray, last week.

Right-of-center freshmen like Blue Dog Mikey Sherrill, are going to need all the help they can get if they keep voting against progressive bills and refuse to back popular progressive initiatives like Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal. History has taught us that Democrats like her will wind up without support from a crucial sector of the electorate: committed progressive activists. In NJ-11, former governor Chris Christie has already started pushing his wife to run against Sherrill. It's a very swingy red-leaning district (R+3) and the only thing Sherrill will be able to count on for reelection is suburban revulsion at Trump at the top of the ticket. The Christies have lived in the district for 25 years and are very popular there.

And those ten aren't even the worst problem-children-- not by a loingshot. Tied as the 202nd most progressive (which is not at all progressive) are 7 freshmen who keep finding themselves voting with the GOP an awful lot:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
• Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
• Jared Golden (D-ME)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)

Now we're in real stinky garbage territory. Those 7 above will all have tough reelection battles, if not primaries. Xochitl Torres Small already has two declared GOP opponents... as her support from progressives activists evaporates. And that brings us to the 3 worst freshmen Democrats-- tied for the 231st "most progressive" and already with voting records better than only 2 sewer lane Democrats, Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN). Tied for the worst freshmen of all and just begging to be one termers:

• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

The DCCC announced their 2020 frontline program yesterday-- 44 Democratic incumbents, mostly shitty freshmen, who are in trouble for reelection. The only non-freshmen on the list are a couple of truly crap Blue Dogs-- Tom O'Halleran (AZ) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ)-- and a progressive, Matt Cartwright (PA) in a Republican-leaning seat. O'Halleran's biggest political problem is a primary from progressive Democrat, Eva Putzova. As for the freshman members, most of them are Republican-lite types who can count on Trump-hatred to get them over the hump next year, although most of them are likely to be defeated in 2022 after Pelosi leads the Democratic Party into disappointing everyone on everything important... But at least she passed her own top priority: Pay-Go. Which of the freshmen on the list deserve some support? So far I'd say Mike Levin (CA)... but I'm holding out some hope that Katie Porter (CA), Jahana Hayes (CT), Jared Golden (ME), Andy Kim (NJ) and Kim Schrier (WA) are on their way to proving themselves worthwhile members of Congress. The rest have already proven themselves the contrary. Most of the good freshmen are not on the DCCC Frontline list of course.

Over in the Senate, there are are 4 freshmen tied as the 47th most progressive-- two Democrats and two Republicans. The Republicans are Josh Hawley (MO) and Martha McSally (AZ). The Democrats are the only freshmen in the class, both of whom had very right-wing voting records in the House-- Jacky Rosen (NV) and the worst of the worst, the Democrat who applauded the loudest and most often and with the greatest enthusiasm for Trump Tuesday night, Kyrsten Sinema. All four are rated "F," of course. The four pictured below have nothing to do with these four from the Senate-- and do I mean nothing!

Hey, but while we're all here, this is a list of all the House Democratic freshmen and the committees they were assigned to. You might find it useful moving forward... or not, but I'll be using it s a reference for the next couple of years.

Colin Allred (New Dem, TX)

• Foreign Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Veterans' Affairs

Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)

• Agriculture
• Financial Services

Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)

• Agriculture
• Veterans' Affairs

Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)

• Appropriations
• Natural Resources

Sean Casten (New Dem-IL)

• Foreign Affairs
• Science

Gil Cisneros (D-CA)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Armed Services

T.J. Cox (D-CA)

• Agriculture
• Natural Resources

Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)

• Agriculture
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)

• Natural Resources
• Veterans' Affairs

Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)

• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Madeleine Dean (New Dem-PA)

• Financial Services
• Judiciary

Antonio Delgado (D-NY)

• Agriculture
• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Veronica Escobar (New Dem-TX)

• Armed Services
• Judiciary

Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)

• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)

• Science
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Chuy Garcia (D-IL)

• Financial Services
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)

• Financial Services
• Judiciary

Jared Golden (D-ME)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Debra Haaland (D-NM)

• Armed Services
• Natural Resources

Josh Harder (New Dem-CA)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Jahana Hayes (D-CT)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Katie Hill (New Dem-CT)

• Armed Services
• Oversight
• Science

Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)

• Armed Services
• Science

Stephen Horsford (New Dem-NV)

• Budget
• Ways and Means
• Natural Resources

Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)

• Armed Services
• Small Business
• Foreign Affairs

Andy Kim (D-NJ)

• Armed Services
• Small Business

Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)

• Agriculture
• Appropriations

Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)

• Education and Labor
• Veterans' Affairs

Andy Levin (D-MI)

• Education and Labor
• Foreign Affairs
• Veterans' Affairs

Mike Levin (D-CA)

• Natural Resources

Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)

• Armed Services
• Veterans' Affairs

Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)

• Financial Services
• Science

Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)

• Education and Labor
• Judiciary

Joseph Morelle (D-NY)

• Budget
• Education and Labor
• Rules

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (New Dem-FL)

• Judiciary
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Joe Neguse (D-CO)

• Judiciary
• Natural Resources

AOC (D-NY)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

Ilhan Omar (D-MN)

• Budget
• Education and Labor
• Foreign Affairs

Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)

• Financial Services
• Foreign Affairs

Katie Porter (D-CA)

• Financial Services

Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

The worst Democratic members of Congress-- posing proudly

Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Homeland Security

Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)

• Oversight
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)

• Judiciary
• Rules

Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)

• Agriculture
• Education and Labor

Donna Shalala (D-FL)

• Education and Labor
• Rules

Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)

• Armed Services
• Space

Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)

• Armed Services
• Homeland Security

Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)

• Agriculture
• Foreign Affairs

Greg Stanton (New Dem-AZ)

• Judiciary
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)

• Education and Labor
• Science

Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)

• Financial Services
• Oversight

Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)

• Armed Services
• Homeland Security

Lori Trahan (D-MA)

• Armed Services
• Education and Labor

David Trone (D-MD)

• Foreign Affairs
• Education and Labor

Lauren Underwood (D-IL)

• Veterans' Affairs
• Education and Labor
• Homeland Security

Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)

• Agriculture
• Natural Resources

Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)

• Financial Services
• Science

Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)

• Foreign Affairs
• Education and Labor