July, 23 2020, 12:00am EDT
First Round of Voces de la Frontera Action Candidate Endorsements for August 11th Wisconsin Elections
Today, Thursday July 23, 2020, Voces de la Frontera Action announces our first round of candidate endorsements for the upcoming Wisconsin primaries on August 11th. We strongly support these four candidates. Here is why we think you should be as well:
In Milwaukee County we are excited to announce our dual endorsement of JoAnna Bautch and Sylvia Ortiz-Valez for 8th District State Representative.
WASHINGTON
Today, Thursday July 23, 2020, Voces de la Frontera Action announces our first round of candidate endorsements for the upcoming Wisconsin primaries on August 11th. We strongly support these four candidates. Here is why we think you should be as well:
In Milwaukee County we are excited to announce our dual endorsement of JoAnna Bautch and Sylvia Ortiz-Valez for 8th District State Representative.
Bautch has personal experience as a community organizer throughout the neighborhoods in Milwaukee's 8th district. "I will never turn my back on our shared progressive agenda just because it might seem politically convenient," she said.
Bautch's unwavering backing of progressive policies, such as strong support of immigrant rights and strengthening labor unions, proves her commitment to making Wisconsin a progressive bastion again.
Ortiz-Valez was born and raised in Milwaukee's South Side. Prior to her political career, she spent over ten years as a community organizer in the 8th district and also was a small business owner. "I will always fight for our neighborhood," she said.
Ortiz-Valez eventually got a degree in political science to educate herself on how to create policies to empower our communities on the South Side, and that is exactly what she plans to do if she is elected.
We at Voces are proud to endorse both of these Latinx women of color for AD-8. We believe that either of them will champion immigrant and labor rights, especially during this global pandemic and amid the fight to undo structural racism in Wisconsin.
Also in Milwaukee County, we are proud to endorse incumbent Marisabel Cabrera for 9th District State Representative. Before her political career, Cabrera worked as an immigration attorney for over a decade, advocating for and defending immigrants. She has also authored ten bills in just her first term in office, including two pro-immigrant bills.
"Immigration reform, to me, means more than piecemeal approaches to solving one of the greatest challenges we are facing as a country. We need a real comprehensive approach to reform at the federal level," she says.
Cabrera has collaborated with Voces many times in our shared goal of protecting immigrant rights and for this reason she is an easy endorsement.
And finally, in Dane County, we are pleased to announce our endorsement of Nada Elmikashfi for 26th District State Senator. Elmikashfi is the only immigrant running in this race. As a black, Muslim, Sudanese woman, she intimately understands the issues that immigrants and people of color face in Wisconsin.
"Growing up, I witnessed how the lack of affordable housing, racial and economic inequity, and our crumbling healthcare system burdened my family and other immigrant and marginalized communities. I understand that we need an elected official who will go beyond performative allyship," she said.
Voces strongly believes that, if elected, Elmikashfi will dedicate herself to instilling real, policy-based change that will improve the lives of immigrants and people of color in Wisconsin. For these reasons, she proudly has our vote.
Voces de la Frontera Action is proud to endorse these four women of color in the upcoming Wisconsin Democratic primaries. We firmly believe that they will champion immigrant and labor rights if elected, based on their proven commitment to our communities.
Electing these women is especially important in this historic moment in our country, amid a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting people of color and immigrants.
Furthermore, we cannot think of better women to support during our country's reckoning with centuries of systemic and structural racism and gender inequality, and as we mobilize the vote to drive out white supremacists from the White House come November.
For more information, contact Communications Director Jacquelyn Kovarik: communications@vdlf.org and 414-436-9822
Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant rights group - a grassroots organization that believes power comes from below and that people can overcome injustice to build a better world.
LATEST NEWS
Open Convention or Harris 'Coronation'? Democrats Weigh Options After Biden Exit
"If Kamala Harris wants the nomination, and wants it to be worth anything, she has to at least show that she fought for it and won it cleanly," argued one commentator.
Jul 22, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris quickly racked up endorsements from major Democratic figures—including President Joe Biden—and received the backing of deep-pocketed party donors on Sunday after the incumbent exited the 2024 contest in the face of insurmountable pressure.
But while much of the party coalesced around the vice president and argued she's the obvious choice to take on Republican nominee Donald Trump in November, some Democrats and commentators made the case for a competitive nominating process, contending that it would strengthen the eventual candidate and avoid the appearance of an undemocratic "coronation."
Former President Barack Obama was the most prominent Democrat to hint at support for something resembling an open convention, saying in a statement that he has "extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges."
Prior to Biden's exit, dozens of former Democratic lawmakers endorsed an open convention, writing in an open letter that the process would "energize the party and capture the imagination and interest of voters—especially younger and marginalized voters—who have been uninspired by the choices so far."
"I am for an open convention—huge media coverage leading up and during—knock the Trump campaign off kilter and off the air!" former Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), one of the letter's signatories, wrote in a social media post on Sunday.
Opponents of an open convention, meanwhile, argued such a process would be chaotic, divisive, and inherently damaging to the party's prospects.
"Democrats have a choice to make: unite and win, or fight each other and lose," said Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressives in Congress also made the case for rallying behind Harris rather than leaving the door open to potential Democratic challengers and requiring Harris to win the nomination at the party's convention in Chicago next month.
"Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States. I pledge my full support to ensure her victory in November," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media. "Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy. Let's get to work."
It's unclear whether any viable challenger would emerge should Democrats opt for an open convention, but Harris herself said after Biden dropped his reelection bid that her "intention is to earn and win this nomination."
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is reportedly considering re-registering as a Democrat to compete for the nomination—a bid that would be doomed to fail given that he's reviled by the Democratic Party's progressive wing and much of the establishment for obstructing significant elements of Biden's legislative agenda.
NOTUSreported Sunday that "a small group of Democratic leaders are seen as having the credibility and resources to challenge for the nomination," including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
According toThe New York Times, some Democrats privately "argued that a more competitive process would benefit Ms. Harris because it could dispel doubts about her political skills." Notably, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) were not among the Democratic lawmakers who endorsed Harris on Sunday.
Drop Site's Ryan Grim observed Sunday that "the conventional wisdom is that an open convention is simply never going to happen, and if it does it will be a disaster for Democrats—weeks of infighting and chaos that'll drag the party down."
"But that argument is merely a mix of assumption and assertion," Grim wrote. "With a little imagination, that chaos could be turned toward the party's advantage at a time when it's desperately needed. The argument for coronating Kamala Harris doesn't consider how it would look for a party that is in the grip of a legitimacy crisis—Democratic elites were the last in the country to acknowledge Biden's frailty—to foist a new nominee on the public."
"If Kamala Harris wants the nomination, and wants it to be worth anything, she has to at least show that she fought for it and won it cleanly," he added. "And the only way to do that is at an open convention."
The Democratic National Committee's (DNC) rules panel is set to meet this week to "implement a framework to select a new nominee," as The Wall Street Journalreported. The panel's co-chairs, according to the Journal, vowed the process would be "comprehensive, fair, and expeditious."
Before Biden's exit, the DNC was planning to hold a virtual roll call vote early next month to cement the incumbent president as the Democratic nominee weeks before the party's convention in Chicago.
It's unclear whether the DNC plans to move ahead with a virtual vote.
"While an open convention would undoubtedly be entertaining to watch, I doubt we'll see that," said Dan Tokaji, an election law expert at the the University of Wisconsin Law School. "It's possible that delegates will vote to nominate Harris before the convention even begins."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Biden to 'Stand Down'; Endorses Kamala Harris
' I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year'
Jul 21, 2024
Breaking News...more to come
UPDATE : In response to President Biden’s announcement that he is no longer seeking reelection, MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting released the following statement:
“President Joe Biden‘s legacy is defined by defeating Donald Trump, restoring our nation’s commitment to our democracy, and delivering one of the most impressive domestic policy agendas in modern history. Just like he did in 2020, President Biden is making a tremendous personal sacrifice to preserve our democracy, putting the interest of the American people first, and he has the gratitude of our nation and our millions of members.
“Vice President Harris is tested and respected, and her voice is critically important at this moment. MoveOn and our members have her back and believe that those who share our commitment to winning this election and protecting our futures will do everything in their power to lift her up and stop Trump in his tracks.
MoveOn is more driven than ever to unifying the anti-Trump coalition and defeating Donald Trump and extremist MAGA Republicans once again in 2024. We are all in on electing Kamala Harris and Democrats to the U.S. House and Senate and we look forward to engaging our members and surge voters across the country to rise up and make their voices heard this fall.”
President Joe Biden has made the decision to not run for president. Read his just released statement below.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Israeli Military Strikes Claim Lives of 64 Individuals in a Single Day
'When is enough? When will the war ever end?'
Jul 21, 2024
The local Health Ministry says at least 64 people were killed and 105 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours. Many victims are still under the rubble and on roads, with civil defense crews not able to reach them, it adds.
The Israeli military has launched numerous deadly strikes focused on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, including the targeting of multiple UN-run schools housing displaced people.
Nuseirat residents described living in constant fear of being bombed and a deteriorating humanitarian situation.
“The situation is scary,” said Rahma Abu Hajjaj, a 39-year-old mother of five from Nuserirat. “There are no warnings, there are no alarms when homes are bombed, we are hiding all the time and we do not know why they are targeting these homes.”
"We hear the sounds of explosions in Nuseirat and we see the smoke rising from here in Deir Al-Balah, the last refuge you can say and we are being terrorized by the feeling tanks may roll here," Tamer Aburakan, a resident of Gaza City, told
Reuters.
"Where should we go next? The entire Gaza Strip is under fire, and we are being hunted like deer in a forest. When is enough? When will the war ever end?" he said via a chat app.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to travel to the US on Monday. Netanyahu is expected to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon. The next day, he is due to address a joint session of US Congress.
Thousands of people are expected to protest against the visit of Netanyahu for whom the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant for war crimes.
At least 38,983 Palestinians have been killed and 89,727 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday, including the 64 people killed in the last 24 hours.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular