Sunrise Celebrates GND Champions Cisneros and Casar

Tonight, the voters of Texas elected the next member of the Squad, Greg Casar (TX-35) and put Jessica Cisneros within striking distance of defeating Henry Cuellar in TX-28, proving the power and popularity of the movement for the Green New Deal. In response, Executive Director Varshini Prakash, released the following statement:

"These races confirm that the Green New Deal is popular from Austin to oil country Texas, and that voters care about climate - especially post-freeze. Today we are proud of the incredible strides we made because in a year of immense disillusionment, young people still mobilized behind Green New Deal candidates.

"We are thrilled that Greg Casar won his race today. Greg is an organizer like us who ran on a Green New Deal, on a Green New Grid, and who was on the frontlines of his community when the Texas Freeze hit. In an election less infiltrated by oil and gas lobbyists, the community was able to make their voice clear and they decisively voted for the Green New Deal candidate.

"The reality is Jessica's race was always going to be an uphill battle. Votes are still coming in, but it's clear Texans are sick of Cuellar's corruption and obstruction of climate legislation in Congress. We're immensely proud of what we did and the progress we made: we knocked on thousands of doors and made over 700,000 contacts to voters, and proved that young people will come out for progressive candidates. This is the power of people over money. Jessica ran an incredible campaign that we've been grateful to be apart of. We're behind Jessica and we will fight with her to see this through."

Sunrise Movement led a massive youth turnout operation in TX-28. Sunrise was recruiting volunteers and making thousands of dials for the campaign since December, surpassing its original goal of 300,000 dials. They ultimately exceeded 700,000 voter contact attempts. In addition to the phone banking operation Sunrise ran for Cisneros, they supported the campaigns with canvassing, fundraising, digital campaigns, viral videos, and national press support.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Washington elite, notably on the Appropriations Committee in Congress, is an anti-choice, anti-union corporate Democrat known this year for joining the "Unbreakable Nine," the group of conservative Democrats that obstructed the passage of Build Back Better in the House of Representatives.

"At a time when Americans are doubting our democracy, what happened in Texas highlights that the Green New Deal can convince people that America can work for them. When we see Jim Crow era politics at our doorstep we know we have to deliver the Civil Rights Acts and the Great Society of our generation," said Kidus Girma, Texas Sunriser. "Right now, people don't see a government worth fighting for. For them to participate, they need a vision that meets the scale of the crisis we face. That's what we saw in Greg and Jessica's races. The road to our democracy runs through the Green New Deal because the only way you can convince a divided nation that their government works, is to unite them behind a vision greater than their collective sorrow."