It's primary day in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina, all states Trump won in 2016, but all staes with pockets of resistance and all states with lots and lots of buyers' remorse. There should be plenty of interesting results up and down the ballots in November when Democrats go up against Republicans. But today is the day when each party picks which candidates. There are especially bloody Senate GOP primaries in West Virginia and Indiana. But the most important primaries for Blue America today are congressional races in North Carolina's 5th district to pick a nominee to oppose Virginia Foxx and in Indiana's 9th district to pick a nominee to oppose Trey Hollingsworth. Neither is a "normal" place for an important race.NC-05 has a PVI of R+ 10 and Trump won the district 57.4% to 39.8%. And IN-09's PVI is worse-- R+13, with a Trump victory of 61.1% to 34.2%. Yet two of the most promising candidates Blue America has endorsed this cycle are running for those two seats. The DCCC has backed neither, nor have the Blue Dogs, New Dems nor any of the crooked Inside the Beltway groups that endorse and validate candidates in America. Jenny Marshall and Dan Canon have been on their own and today they have no one to count on but their own grassroots efforts.Dan tackled the question of why primaries matter.
If you’ve noticed how our elected officials are mostly members of the 1%, then you’ve noticed that they are-- de facto-- not representative of the other 99% of people they are meant to serve. It’s hardly surprising when they vote for measures that favor themselves and their friends and hurt people in need. They don’t understand what most people are facing, so their “solutions”-- if they offer any at all-- are tragically out of touch, and wholly inadequate to address the myriad, complex ways everyday people are struggling.Low voter turnout in primaries has a lot to do with this. When we don’t get to know candidates and don’t support candidates who are, in a word, us, we allow the person with the most money-- and the wealthiest friends-- to be the loudest and most persuasive voice. In order to take back our government and elect people who will in fact serve us-- all of us-- we must seek out and support candidates who are truly representative of the people they would serve.I was raised by a single, working mom, dropped out of high school, earned my GED, and became the first person in my family to graduate college. I’m not the model of a politician that we’ve come to expect (and largely dislike) in the United States. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. I've gone without health insurance. I have student loan debt. I've been divorced and remarried. From representing people here for years - and experiencing the problems of the working poor in my own life-- I've gained an intimate knowledge of the real problems we face every day. I’ve learned to listen, and I've learned that real solutions come not from Washington D.C., but from working directly with people who are experiencing real problems. I have a lifetime of personal and professional experience doing just that-- and getting real results.My first order of business will be to establish a substantial constituent services program right here in IN-09. People here do not want platitudes and promises; they want to see you getting elbow-deep in the community and taking real action. I plan to run services out of those offices-- enough that no one has to drive a half-day to reach one - that are responsive to everyday constituent needs, and also a hub for directing people to other valuable resources in their communities. People need to know that the federal government is doing something for them, and what better way to show that than to... do things for them? Not just by voting for legislation, but on a day-to-day, personal basis. This is has been sorely lacking in IN-09 for a long time, and is something I believe will lead to this no longer being a "swing district" in the future.
Jenny Marshall came to our attention because she was a successful Bernie organizer in a state where Bernie's message hadn't penetrated yet. But Bernie did significantly better in the counties she was organizing in than in the rest of the state. We noticed right from the start that Jenny is a kind of Every Woman, a school teacher trying to make her community a better place for everyone-- and in a district where Virginia Foxx has all but ignored the 99% in favor of her own wealthy campaign contributors."I became a teacher," Jenny told us yesterday in her last minute message, "to stand up for those kids who needed a little more help because they didn't fit the typical model of student. I advocated for their learning and their rights to be successful against a system that wasn't built for them. I got used to being the voice in the room that demanded we do better for our students. As my level of advocacy spilled outside of my classroom, I saw bigger obstacles that needed to be addressed. The push for charter schools and voucher was draining money from our already strapped public school system. My already struggling students were being left out in the cold. I began making trips to the state house to talk to the powers that be about the legislation they were trying to pass. I talked to everyone who would listen and dogged everyone who avoided me. It didn't matter what party, if the representative was attacking public education I fought back. I didn't take this on alone. I created a group that grew to over 9,000 strong of both parents and educators who also took on the General Assembly. We used our collective voice to demand our representatives protect education and return education back into the hand of the professionals rather than the bureaucrats. We were able to mitigate some of the more draconian measures they were trying to push. At every turn I stood up and demanded that we do right by our communities. That is why I decided to run for Congress. We need strong leaders who are not afraid to say the truth even if it is unpopular. We need people who remember what it is like to struggle to make ends meet just like the majority of Americans. We need people who don't just look past people's troubles, but who actively seek to help those in need. We need people like me who are committed to strengthening communities, empowering people and building a better future for all of us."It's not to late to make a difference for these two candidates who will-- unlike most candidates for Congress-- actually make a difference. If you live in their districts, you can vote today. If you have friends or family in their districts, you can call and try to persuade them to get out and vote-- for Dan Canon in Indiana and for Jenny Marshall in North Carolina. America is depending on candidates like Jenny and Dan to remake Congress and to protect the country until 2021 when Trump finally leaves the White House.