Election Day countdown: 131 days
Hi friends,
Today, millions of Americans are jobless and, in turn, without health insurance, while thousands suffer from a virus that disproportionately affects Black people. An extraordinary multi-racial coalition, led by young people, is rising up and saying we have had enough.
This week, it became strikingly clear: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Justice Democrats, along with leaders like Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones, have completely shifted the Overton window in New York City.
In Kentucky, where Louisville resident Breonna Taylor was recently murdered, Senate candidate Charles Booker is currently winning a primary in which his main opponent out-raised him by $40M. Kentuckians are telling national Democratic donors, it is their choice.
This is what a political revolution looks like.
Learn and Act
Tuesday, June 30th @ 2:30pm ET: We host our Candidate of the Week Jaime Harrison who needs your support in his race to replace Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate. Scroll down to learn more.
Wednesday, July 1st @ 7pm ET: Chris Dowd and Next 50 are partnering with the Biden campaign and Innovators for Biden to host a conversation with Kerry Kennedy and Van Jones.
Have a candidate who inspires you? Reply and let us know.
Shout outs
Akilah Cadet, Clara Nevins, Lisa Conn, and Icebreaker created a conversation guide, to help you discuss Power and Privilege.
Rainesford Stauffer wrote a prescient piece in March about young Kentucky voters’ doubts about Amy McGrath.
Sean McElwee and Data for Progress accurately identified Jamaal Bowman as a strong primary challenger early on and accurately polled his victory 10 days out.
Next 50 learned about and supported the critical work of Mondale Robinson’s Black Male Voter Project.
Have political work you want to share? Reply and let us know.
Candidate of the Week
About the candidate: Jaime Harrison is a South Carolina native. After college, he came back home to Orangeburg to teach at his old high school. Jaime served as an aide to South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, and then worked for some of the biggest employers in South Carolina, such as the Port of Charleston and the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as the Associate Chair of the Democratic National Committee and was previously the Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
About this contested election: Polls show this race is close! South Carolina would become the first state to simultaneously have two Black Senators, one from each party, if Jaime wins.
What we are reading
Bowman and the Democratic revolution: “Washington insiders said Jamaal couldn’t win over a majority of voters in this diverse district because there was no progressive coalition that crossed affluent Westchester towns, low-income NYCHA housing, and many areas in between, but Jamaal built one anyway.” (Crooked)
The Republican choice: “Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said in a speech in 1980: ‘I don’t want everybody to vote. … our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.’” (FiveThirtyEight)
Silicon Valley’s China problem: “It is becoming far harder for Silicon Valley idealists to reconcile—internally and externally—the conviction that their companies have company values with the idea that the products those companies make are value-agnostic." (By friend of the newsletter Jacob Helberg in Foreign Policy)
In solidarity,
Zak
P.S. If you liked what you read, recommend a friend and provide feedback.