Stanley Chang

Stanley Chang is a progressive Democrat representing the 9th District in the Hawaii State Senate, which-- until he won his election, was the last Republican Senate district in Hawaii. Recently, he was named Chair of the Committee on Housing, which is tasked with finding solutions to Hawaii’s chronic housing shortage.A recent poll from the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center lists housing as the number one issue for voters in the State of Hawaii.

Another fake Democratic careerist running for CongressHawaii's first congressional district (Honolulu) is almost as blue as the second district. The PVI of the 2nd district is D+19 and the 1st district's is "only" D+17. Trump got 29.6% of the vote in HI-02 but actually climbed over 30% in HI-01-- 30.5%. Hawaiians didn't buy the bullshit and Hawaii is not Trump territory. In fact, Republicans there have been fleeing his toxic party.

A couple of weeks ago I heard a 33 year old Hawaiian state legislator, Beth Fukumoto, being interviewed on NPR. She had a compelling story about criticizing Trump and being stripped of her leadership position in the state House by her fellow Republicans. I thought it might make an interesting story for this blog and then stopped myself with a promise that I would revisit when Beth, a former state party GOP chair and the Minority Leader of the state House, inevitably switched parties and became a Democrat.

Blue America spends most of its time and energy on House races. As far as the 2016 Senate races go, after Donna Edwards (MD), PG Sittenfeld (OH) and Alan Grayson (FL) were defeated in their primaries by establishment candidates the only Senate endorsements we have left are for Russ Feingold (WI), who looks like he'll probably win a week from tomorrow, and two long-shots who beat their more conservative opponents, Ray Metcalfe (AK) and Misty Kathrine Snow (UT).

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.

Today is primary day in Hawaii. Iselle hit Friday but had lost some ferocity and came in as a tropic storm. With the exception of the polling sites at Hawaii Paradise Community Center and Keone-opoko Elementray School on the Big Island, all polling sites will be open from 7AM 'til 6 PM. Hurricane Julio is also weakening slightly but may hit the Big Island tomorrow. The rare twin storms shouldn't hold down turnout in the election. And today's contests couldn't be clearer.

The debate above on the topic: The Rich Are Taxed Enough-- Robert Reich and Mark Zandi vs Glenn Hubbard and Arthur Laffer-- took place in 2012. At its core, the question came down to whether or not the richest are paying their fair share in taxes.

Who fought against LGBT equality? Mark Takai and Donna Kim, the 2 conservatives in the race"Peace through strength!"-- Reagan’s bellicose slogan emulated by faux-progressive congressional candidate in Hawaii."Peace through strength" wasn't thought up by Reagan-- nothing was-- but by Emperor Hadrian around 100 years after the birth of our lord.

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.