I’ve been in San Francisco for the three day weekend so playing a little catch-up today. I received a few e-mails in support of Progressive Jessica Cisneros (D. TX-28) in her bid to unseat Blue Dog Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D. TX-28). The first is from former San Antonio Mayor, HUD Secretary & Presidential candidate, Julián Castro (D. TX):
Julian Castro (D. TX)
My grandmother came to San Antonio as a seven-year-old orphan from Mexico almost 100 years ago. I was born and raised here. It’s where I served on the city council and as Mayor and it’s where I’m proud to call home.
I know this community, and I know that it deserves leaders who will put the people who live here first, above all else.
Jessicais a fearless and progressive leader who will fight for the people of South Texas. She’ll stand up for immigrants, for hardworking families, and for those who need a voice in Washington.
That’s why I’m proud to endorseJessicaCisnerosto represent South Texas in Congress and I'm asking you to join me in supporting her campaign.
She will help us build an America where everyone is seen and everyone counts. She’ll push back on Donald Trump’s cruel and inhumane immigration policies. She will work tirelessly every single day so that South Texas families can get better health care, good paying jobs, and an affordable education.
Washington only works if the people that we elect stand up for the communities that sent them there.Jessicawill do just that.
Jessicaembodies the American Dream. She’s the daughter of Mexican immigrants who became a human rights lawyer. She understands the challenges the people of Texas and this country are facing because she’s lived them herself.
I know she will make us proud in Congress. So I’m asking you to help her get across the finish line before her primary on March 3:
The next one is from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D. NY-14) on behalf of MoveOn.org:
AOC
Dear MoveOn member,
This is Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and I'm writing to you today because I want to tell you about a powerful, progressive fighter who can shatter my record of being the youngest woman to serve in Congress. Her name isJessicaCisneros, and her win would get us one step closer to a better, more just America. But, Sam, she needs your help.
Jessicais running to represent the people of South Texas. She's 26 years old, she's a human rights attorney, and if she's elected, I'll have a strong ally in the fight for Medicare for All, getting corporate money out of politics, and fixing our broken immigration system.
But I can tell you from personal experience that the pathway to power for people likeJessicais blocked every step of the way.
Jessicais running against Representative Henry Cuellar, an eight-term Democratic congressman in a deeply blue district, who votes with Donald Trump about 70% of the time.1He's known as “Big Oil's favorite Democrat,” boasts about his “A rating” from the National Rifle Association, opposes abortion, and has referred to undocumented immigrants as “rapists and murderers.”2
When we vote Trump's cronies out of office and instead elevate progressive leaders likeJessicaCisneros, we'll have the power to make transformative change.
Jessicais deeply connected to the problems and struggles facing our communities. She was born and raised in the border town of Laredo, TX.3Her parents are Mexican immigrants. As a kid,Jessicasaw families like hers torn apart by a broken immigration system. She saw her parents struggle to keep a small business afloat, while politicians in Washington protected large corporations.
WhileJessicais fighting for a better future for all of us, her opponent wants to maintain the status quo. He's the single largest recipient of oil and gas PAC donations in the House in the 2020 election cycle.4He calls the Green New Deal “a farce and a fairy tale.”5
And he has received piles of money from the private prison industry, including from the GEO Group, the private prison company that funds migrant shelters where several migrants have died.6In defending private prisons, he said, “Without them, rapists, murderers, and other offenders would not be incarcerated and instead present a clear threat to our communities.”7
The people of South Texas deserve a Democrat likeJessicawho is going to fight for the interests of real people, not of big corporate donors like ExxonMobil and the private prison industry.
I am so grateful to MoveOn members. You were there early to endorse my campaign. You were there at the Women's March. You were there when we stood together to publicize the horrors of family separation. And every day, you're fighting alongside me for Medicare for All, debt-free college, and the Green New Deal.
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