2020 congressional elections

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.

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.

Jennifer Christie is running for an open Indiana congressional seat north of Indianapolis. It's generally considered a "red" seat-- the PVI is R+9-- so, as usual, the DCCC insists on a Republican-lite politician as their candidate. That isn't Jessica, a full-throttle progressive.

Technically, you can't call Marie Newman "Congresswoman Newman" until January when the Speaker swears her in. But in IL-03-- a district where Trump didn't get to 40% of the vote-- it is the Democratic primary that determines who goes to Congress. It took her two cycles and incredible focus.

Asshole without a mask campaigns among men all wearing masksRight before the shutdown, an unsymptomatic campaign volunteer gave everyone on a congressional campaign COVID-19-- as well as the candidate's entire family. No one died. But it sure screwed up the campaign.

IN-05 is an open seat. Rep. Susan Brooks-- a relatively mainstream conservative Republican-- is retiring. There are 15 Republicans running-- and 9 who have raised over the $5,000 that triggers an FEC report. The top-"raising" Republican, Victoria Spartz contributed $750,000 of her own money to her campaign, 98.7% of her funds.

So far this year, some of my favorite campaign ads were done by the Lincoln Project, virulently anti-Trump Republicans who have lately turned their fire-power against vulnerable Trump enablers in the Senate, like Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).

Hasn't the Bronx suffered enough?If you're new around here, you may have missed our discussions over the years about Rubén Díaz., an ultra-conservative career politician in the South Bronx. As I mentioned last time, the south Bronx congressional district from which Jose Serrano is retiring, doesn't have many white Conservatives.

A few weeks ago Marianne Williamson wanted to discuss the congressional election in CA-34, a district that starts a few blocks from my house. I can walk there; before the new reality, I used to have dinner there a couple of times a week. And Konbi, my favorite sandwich shop-- also, according to Bon Appétit, the best sandwich shop in America-- is in the district.

It's relatively easy to point out that you don't agree with the person in power and declare your candidacy and hope more voters turn out on election day who agree with you than with the incumbent. But that is rarely the way people get into Congress. It's especially difficult winning a primary against your own party's establishment, something a reformer almost never accomplishes in one cycle. Take Ro Khanna, Donna Edwards, Alan Grayson.