Mike and his team are on track to mail out 25,000 postcardsThree years ago I was getting ready to sue the Texas Governor on behalf of the City of Austin. I had never run for political office before. I knew I was "represented" by one of the worst Republicans in Congress, Michael McCaul, and I knew that we had to do everything we could to resist the Trump regime.
Over the weekend, you may have caught a Washington Post report by Jacob Bogage that Trump is rejecting a bailout for the U.S. Total Service. Conservatives have been trying to kill it off for years.
Progressive challengers-- especially in races against well-heeled incumbents who can write themselves big checks or appeal to corporate SuperPACs-- have two new handicaps: grassroots funds from small donors have largely dried up because of financial uncertainty and grassroots campaign strategies have been upended by pandemic best practices.
As of the last FEC filing deadline in the TX-10 3-way primary-- February 12-- about $2 million had been spent by the Democrats' campaigns.
Sane people don't think of the Green New Deal as "Fools Gold"As you may recall, Mike Siegel fought a tireless grassroots battle in the gerrymandered 10th Texas congressional district, which goes from northern Austin through the city's northern suburbs, across Bastrop, Lee, Fayette, Colorado, Washington, Austin and Waller counties all the way into the exurbs (Tomball, Bridgeland and Cypress) northwest of Houston.
March 3 isn't just Super Tuesday for the presidential candidates, it is also the big day for many congressional candidates all over the country. One of the best candidates Blue America has endorsed, Mike Siegel-- who has the best chance to replace a toxic Trump enabler (Michael McCaul)-- needs some help with his field campaign. Blue America wants to help him raise some money for that and we're going to offer the double platinum Green Day Insomniac award you see pictured here.
This story has a happy ending-- but it didn't always seem like it would while Kate Aronoff was writing it in real time last week in Austin. The big Texas AFL-CIO convention was considering which candidates to endorse for November.
Early this month, we took a look at the conservative establishment candidate, Shannon Hutcheson, who EMILY's List and the DCCC have recruited to prevent progressive Democrat, Mike Siegel, from beating Republican Michael McCaul in Texas' 10th district.
Last cycle Mike Siegel held Trump enabler Michael McCaul to just 51.1%, McCaul's worst showing in his political career. McCaul, one of the two or three richest members of Congress-- his in-laws are robber barons-- spent $1,754,122 on the race, swamping Mike's $477,926. The DCCC declined to get involved, telling institutional donors to skip the race because it was too red a district and because Mike is a progressive.
