There's only one real Democrat running for the open seat in HonoluluSunday I sent Marianne Williamson, an old friend, a note introducing her to Hawaii state Rep. Kaniela Ing. I'm guessing most people on Maui think of him as the guy who writes legislation that's a step or three ahead of where the rest of the state-- and country-- are.
The William M. Colmer Middle School is in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 46% of the students are African-Americans and 15% are Hispanic. 79% of the students are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch program, somewhat higher than the average for Mississippi (71%). The school is named for Representative William M. Colmer who died on September 9, 1980 (age 90) and is buried at Machpelah Cemetery right their in Pascagoula.
There are quite a few of them but the ones progressives have a stake in, in chronological order, are Hawaii (August 9), Wisconsin (August 12), and then a late super-Tuesday on August 26 for Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma. That same day has primaries in Alaska, Missouri, Oregon and Vermont with interesting races but no races that pit a progressive against a shill from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.Up top is the brand new video from one of the most grassroots campaigns anywhere, the Tom Guild campaign for the open Oklahoma City congressional seat.
"I am proud to support Stanley Chang for Congress. Stanley knows what needs to be done to fix Wall Street and protect the rights of consumers. He has declared his support for the Better Off Budget, which would create 8.8 million jobs by 2017 and reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years. Stanley is a champion for civil rights for all and will work toward a more secure and peaceful world.
Hawaii's primary is August 9, a week from Saturday. Saturday? Sure, that's how to encourage voter participation in a democracy-- have the elections when people aren't working. Conservatives are generally terrified at the prospect of more people voting-- especially working class people-- so they tend to block legislation like Hawaii's. Hawaii is a pretty progressive state, first to mass a $10.10 minimum wage, first to start the process of marriage equality. The Republican Party is pretty moribund there and the Democratic Party has been in charge since 1962.
Three of the four Hawaii state senators who voted against marriage equality last year: Mike Gabbard, Donna Kim, Sam SlomLast Thursday night, backward and reactionary congressional candidate Donna Kim told PBS Hawaii viewers she opposes marriage equality based on her Catholic faith.
Last year, Honolulu City Councilman Stanley Chang wrote a guest post for us explaining why he wants to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus. This week, in their first round of 2014 endorsements, the CPC endorsed Chang, who's in a crowded 9-way August 9th primary for the seat New Dem Colleen Hanabusa is giving up. Stanley's opponents are, first and foremost transactional careerists rather than principled, values-driven leaders.
Bad news for progressives/bad news for Hawai'iThe Hawai`i legislature has passed two major laws within the last year: approving marriage equality and increasing the minimum wage to $10.10. Both of the achievements were produced by progressives in the Democratic-dominated legislature-- and over the objections of State Senate President Donna Kim. One might think Kim would be cowering in light of these defeats.
