News from the Frontlines of the Political Revolution!
We’ve got an AMAZING line-up of progressive champions on our Monday Night Organize to Win Call: Nina Turner with the latest on her race for Congress; Jim Hightower on the GOP Texas vote-rigging scheme; NY State Sen. Jabari Brisport on fighting for health care for all in Albany; and Kate Triggiano, on her race for Red Bank, NJ City Council!
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IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: Read about how Our Revolution is …
(1) Mobilizing our nationwide network of grassroots groups to make sure President Biden and Democrats don’t backtrack on their progressive campaign promises;
(2) Holding our elected officials accountable to fighting to end the filibuster and passing the For the People Act;
(3) Electing progressive champions in this month’s elections in Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York;
(4) Fighting for progressive policies like the New York Health Act and criminal justice reform in Maryland;
(5) Transforming the Democratic party machine in Arizona, and California; and MORE!
SURVEY SAYS …
Our Revolution recently surveyed our members to identify our movement’s top progressive priorities for the President and Congress to tackle before the critical midterm elections.
This summer is the last best shot for us to advance our priorities, and our members are demanding that Biden and Congress deliver on 5 big, bold promises that they ran on in 2020, including: Protecting voting rights, expanding Medicare coverage and lowering prescription drug prices, protecting the climate and ending fossil fuel subsidies, taxing the rich, and fighting for a $15 and union rights.
While we can accomplish some of our priorities through the budget reconciliation process, getting others done will require ending the filibuster.
That’s why Our Revolution is launching our Summer of Progress. We’re partnering with progressive champions on Capitol Hill – like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Sen Jeff Merkley – on an inside strategy to win our priorities. And on the outside, we’re ramping up our on the ground organizing in Arizona, West Virginia and other critical states to pressure centrist Democrats to support our top 5 demands and end the filibuster.
Check out CNN talk about our campaign below!
CNN: OUR REVOLUTION WARNS CENTRIST DEMS
This week, CNN ran an entire segment about Our Revolution’s Summer of Progress campaign to pressure President Biden and centrist Senate Democrats – like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – to fight the filibuster and clear the path for progressive legislation to protect voting rights, fight for $15 and union rights, end fossil fuel subsidies, and many others.
In an article, Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese warned that failure to deliver on Biden’s progressive promises will hurt Democrats in the midterms.
“Biden and congressional Democrats won power with populist promises to expand access to healthcare, lower prescription drug prices, and fight for $15 and union.
Failure to turn these promises into policy will have electoral consequences. The working-class voters who elected them know that ‘bipartisanship’ is really a bait-and-switch, and they will punish Democrats for failing to turn their rhetoric into reality in 2022 midterms and beyond.”
It’s crunch time for progressives. That’s why Our Revolution is organizing to send President Biden a clear message: Don’t backtrack on the progressive promises you made during the campaign. Not delivering transformative change on voter rights, health care, and climate risks leaving the door open for right wingers to retake our government.
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Our Revolution joined with our allies in the Fix the Senate coalition to send an urgent letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, calling on the Senate to prioritize democracy over procedure and end the filibuster. The letter was delivered after the GOP blocked the creation of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6th insurrection
“In the face of Republicans’ inability and unwillingness to defend our democracy, it is clearer than ever that the filibuster needs to be eliminated. This is truly a five-alarm fire. Democrats have to make the fundamental choice: Are they going to protect the filibuster or are they going to protect voting rights?”
THE NEW JIM CROW
On Our Revolution California’s June Organizing Call, Congressman Ro Khanna spoke about the urgency of eliminating the filibuster. “We have a new Jim Crow – and the only way to address it is to pass new voting rights protections – and the barrier to that is the filibuster. If we can have a filibuster exception to put someone on the Supreme Court, or to put a president’s cabinet in, we can certainly have one to ensure that every American has an equal right to vote. And the Congressional Progressive Caucus is pushing very hard for that.”
WEST VIRGINIANS CALL-OUT CAPITO!
Speaking of filibuster and GOP obstructionism, Our Revolution West Virginia activists are taking the fight directly to Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelly Moore Capito.
This week, organizer Jenny Craig led a protest at the office of Sen. Capito to demand that she stop nickel-and-diming Biden in negotiations over critical investments, like those included in the THRIVE Act.
“This would not just bring jobs in traditional infrastructure, like we think of, like roads and bridges, but it would expand access to affordable broadband, clean renewable energy jobs, energy efficiency, jobs in agricultural and land restoration, which is really important here in our state. It also invests in the care economy, so childcare, healthcare and elderly care,” Jenny told the local CBS News channel.
McGOVERN: “GOP CAN’T TAKE ‘YES’ FOR AN ANSWER”
Congressman Jim McGovern [MA-02] joined our Monday Night National Organizing Call to talk about a letter that 60 House progressives sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer telling them to “go big and go bold” and not get bogged down in negotiations with the GOP in the hopes of gaining bipartisan support for a watered-down infrastructure package.
“The GOP does not want a deal. And we certainly don’t want to nickel and dime this so that it’s meaningless. We need to go big and we need to be bold and we need to use reconciliation if that’s what it takes. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next election — this is the moment to get things done. We can’t delay and we can’t negotiate against ourselves. So the bigger we can go, the better.”
TEXAS PROGRESSIVES STOP THE STEAL, WALK OUT ON GOP VOTER SUPPRESSION EFFORT Our Revolution-endorsed Texas state representatives led a dramatic, last-ditch walk-out moments before a vote on a GOP-backed bill that would have stolen voting rights from Texans. Reps. James Talarico, Vikki Goodwin, Jasmine Crockett, Gina Hinojosa, Ana-Maria Ramos, Terry Meza, Penny Morales Shaw, Jon Rosenthal, Erin Zweiner, Lina Ortega, Sheryl Cole, and Barbara Gervin-Hawkins all stood up and walked out of the House chamber, breaking quorum in order to block SB 7, one of the most restrictive voting bills in the nation, from passing before a midnight deadline. Rep. Talarico tweeted: “State lawmakers are holding the line. Federal lawmakers need to get their shit together and pass the For The People Act.” Bernie agrees:  |
TAKING ON AMAZON
Our Revolution Massachusetts held a forum called Community & Labor Take On Amazon which focused on successful strategies that have been used to ensure that Amazon adheres to standards in the best interests of its workers and communities. ORMA leader and veteran union organizer Rand Wilson led panelists in a wide-ranging discussion on issues that impact places where Amazon operates – such as housing, infrastructure, and subsidies – and the need for local officials to demand community benefits and workforce agreements. Jonathan Bailey, an Amazon worker and member of Amazonians United, spoke about how the company keeps workers intimidated by hiring former military, law enforcement, and intelligence managers. “Amazon has gone all-in with trying to adopt aspects of the U.S. police state in its operations. Militant labor relations is alive and well in the Amazon warehouse.”
STATE LEGISLATIVE WINS IN MARYLAND!
Our Revolution Maryland’s May Organizing Meeting focused on legislation that we helped pass in the 2021 General Assembly Session. Our guests were Sen. Jill Carter and Delegates Joseline Peña-Melynk and Lorig Charkoudian – all of whom we endorsed when they last ran for office in 2018. The representatives discussed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill they passed and also talked about how lobbyists waged an all out fight against expanding healthcare in the state.
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MEDICARE FOR ALL IN THE EMPIRE STATE
Our Revolution New York’s affiliate chapter, Grassroots Action New York (GANY), led simultaneous New York Health Act rallies in Harlem and Yonkers last week. The legislation would bring universal health care to the Empire State and serve as a state model for a federal Medicare for All bill. Our members – including Brandon Tizol, Erlend Kimmich, Jeff Mikkelson and Peter Pacheco – joined with the New York State Nurses Association to ramp up the pressure on State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to pass the NY Health Act NOW!
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NYC PROGRESSIVES: “UNITE TO WIN!”
On our NYC Endorsement Roll-Out Call, Our Revolution and the New York Progressive Action Network featured over 30 progressive champions we’ve endorsed for the upcoming New York City primary.
Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley discussed her progressive platform, emphasizing that her community-centered campaign doesn’t take money from real estate developers, lobbyists, or fossil fuel companies. “None of that. This is all about people. Our Revolution has been fierce and fabulous when it comes to making sure people come first — and this is what’s at stake right now in this election.”
With just 17 days to go, Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told the Gotham Gazette that it’s time for progressives to unite to win the mayor’s seat. “In this moment, the best shot for progressives to capture City Hall is to unite around Maya Wiley’s campaign. Progressives should be pragmatic in this moment, and I think just the competence of her campaign is something that progressives should double down on.”
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who’s running for re-election, described how his opponents are using fear to spread policy. “We want to make sure that people understand when someone says ‘defund the police’ you stop pretending that ‘defund police’ means ‘defund public safety.’ We need someone who will push back on that. Because we don’t want to go back to normal — we know normal didn’t work for folks — we want to be better than normal.”
NYC Comptroller candidate Brad Lander also joined the call with a reminder that budgets are moral documents. “Because of the work of Our Revolution, NYPAN, and Bernie in 2016 and 2020, the dial has moved on what people expect from the government. The question for NYC is, are we going to live up to it? So far we haven’t, but we can change that with this election.”
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TURNING TEXAS BLUE!
Our Revolution Texas members are hitting the doors and phones hard to elect 13 progressive champions across the state in today’s runoff election. Runoff elections generally have low turnout, so if you or anyone you know is a Texas resident, make sure you get out to vote today!
In Fort Worth, Deborah Peoples – who Bernie called a “true progressive” – was the top vote-getter in the race for Mayor and now faces-off against a single Republican challenger. In San Antonio, we are supporting 4 candidates in runoffs for City Council – which means that progressive have a shot to control half of the 10 seats! And in Arlington, we’re getting out the vote for Our Revolution member Dineh Saleh in the runoff for City Council.
Click here to see our full slate of candidates; you can also find your polling place here!
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RASOUL: “WE’RE OUT TO PROVE PROGRESSIVES CAN WIN IN VIRGINIA”
Our Revolution Virginia members are getting out the vote for a slate of candidates ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. On our Monday National Call, Del. Sam Rasoul of Roanoke– the first Muslim elected to the Virginia General Assembly – said, “We proved even in the face of enormous odds that if you out-organize, you knock on enough doors, and you come to people with a true message that they can believe in, we can win elections.”
Del. Rasoul is a champion of the Green New Deal who has stood up to Dominion Energy, fought against pipelines, introduced the first GND bill in the legislature, and helped found the Greener Deal Coalition of over 50 organizations working for climate action.
“We’re out to prove something here in Virginia – a state that was solid red-turned-purple and is now blue – that not just Democrats, but true progressives, can win.”
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NEW JERSEY PROGRESSIVES GET OUT THE VOTE!
Tuesday, June 8th is a big election day for Our Revolution New Jersey. We’re getting out the vote for Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin for re-election to the Red Bank, NJ City Council.
Both councilors were instrumental in passing a Medicare for All resolution in their town. Our Revolution Monmouth NJ members have been texting and canvassing voters and we are gearing up for one last big day of door knocking on Sunday.
Our members are also campaigning for Mico Lucide for Clerk of Atlantic County. Mico is a critical voice in the campaign to abolish the establishment-friendly “party line” in New Jersey primary elections, a campaign he told us about on a recent Monday National Call. Our Revolution NJ members have been phone banking for Mico for months!
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NINA TURNER LEADS POLLS!
Our Revolution Ohio has been working hard to elect Nina Turner to Congress and a new poll shows that she’s ahead in the polls! Of course, our members are not taking anything for granted.
We’re continuing to make phone calls, send texts, and hit the doors to get out the vote. This week, our members led a postcard writing campaign – we sent notes to 2500 of our neighbors to let them know that our next member of Congress from Ohio’s 11th Congressional District needs to be a bold progressive who’ll fight for us!
We’re just nine weeks out from the primary election, you can still help us get Nina over the finish line.
RSVP TO PHONEBANK FOR NINA HERE
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PROTECTING PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS: PART I
On Our Revolution California’s June Organizing Call, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin spoke about the recall attempts he’s facing, funded primarily by GOP mega-donors and police unions. “Since I’ve taken office, we’ve made tremendous strides in following through on the commitments we made to reform the system. And it is making Republicans and the police union angry. They are using fear and exploiting tragedies to try and roll back criminal justice reform and undo the policy changes we made to promote racial justice.”
The forces opposing Chesa are the same who took on Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner – and lost. Our Revolution helped Larry beat back his challenger – read more below – and we’re going to go all out to protect Chesa!
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PROTECTING PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS: PART II
Our Revolution Pennsylvania’s Saturday May 22nd Forum celebrated District Attorney Larry Krasner’s re-election victory in Philadelphia’s Democratic Primary four days earlier. The progressive criminal justice reformer prevailed by 30% over a well-funded opponent backed by the Fraternal Order of Police and former PA Governor and Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell. Our guests – Senator Nikil Saval, Delegate Chris Rabb, and Councilperson Bethany Hallam – cited Krasner’s overwhelming margin of victory as powerful evidence that progressives in office who keep their promises will win re-election, and win big. Our Revolution members went all out to re-elect Larry by phone banking, texting, canvassing and featuring him on an organizing call with thousands of voters – WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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DONATE TODAY and help us elect progressive champions up and down the ballot!
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VICTORY! ARIZONA DEM PARTY CALLS ON SINEMA, KELLY TO JUNK FILIBUSTER & GET WITH THE PROGRAM
Last month, Our Revolution Arizona joined forces with other progressive organizations involved with the state Democratic Party to send a clear message to Senators Sinema and Kelly: Stop blocking progress and get onboard with ending the filibuster, passing the PROAct and supporting S1, For the People Act. During the Arizona Democratic Party Convention, progessive activists introduced three resolutions calling on them to support these proposals. All three resolutions passed with overwhelming support!
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SPECIAL SURVEY!
From the beginning, Our Revolution has been focused on transforming the Democratic Party so that it represents working people, not corporate donors. That means fighting for a progressive platform and it means working towards structural change within the party. After the 2016 election, we successfully organized to get so-called super or non-elected delegates out of the nominating process, open up primaries to unaffiliated voters, and allow vote by mail for both primaries and caucuses. We need to keep building on those wins, and that’s why Our Revolution, the Progressive Democrats of America, and the Bernie Delegates Network are identifying progressive party activists so that we can coordinate and share ideas.
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE PARTY?
FILL OUT OUR SURVEY SO WE CAN CONTINUE WORKING TO MAKE OUR PARTY PROGRESSIVE
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Last month, the entire 11-person slate of Our Revolution members – known as the Troublemakers Slate – won the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus officer elections in a blowout, even after the party leaders attempted to rig the rules. On Our Revolution California’s June Organizing Call, Progressive Caucus Chair Amar Shergill spoke about the victory: “We crushed it – and we did it because of the hundreds of Our Revolution members who leaned in and voted.” He said their first action was holding the CDP accountable to creating diversity in its appointment process, which – for decades – has been controlled exclusively by white men.
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We are the closest we have ever been to winning universal healthcare for all New Yorkers. Join Our Revolution in Albany on Monday for a BIG mobilization demanding our lawmakers pass the New York Health Act!
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Join Our Illinois Revolution on Tuesday night to commemorate Juneteenth by fighting for voting rights, criminal justice reform, and other progressive priorities!
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ACTION ALERT! Join us on Saturday, June 12th as we put the pressure on Sen. Mark Warner to support the labor movement! Warner is only one of three Democrats in the Senate who has not signed on to the PRO-Act, the most progressive labor law reform legislation in decades.
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On Tuesday, June 15th, join award-winning journalist Alec MacGillis, author of “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America” for a discussion about Amazon’s negative impact on towns and cities across the United States.
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