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 is Jessica Cisneros, and her win would get us one step closer to a better, more just America. But, John, she needs your help.
Jessica is 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 like Jessica is blocked every step of the way.
Jessica is 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.1 He'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 like Jessica Cisneros, we'll have the power to make transformative change.
Will you join me in helping to elect Jessica Cisneros by chipping in $3 now to her campaign?
Jessica is deeply connected to the problems and struggles facing our communities. She was born and raised in the border town of Laredo, TX.3 Her parents are Mexican immigrants. As a kid, Jessica saw 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.
While Jessica is 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.4 He 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.6 In 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 like Jessica who 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.
Only together can we truly make progress on big issues. And that includes bringing more bold, progressive leaders to Washington. Jessica is the next-generation leader that we need, and I hope you will join me in lending your support to this critical effort.
Pa'lante!
–Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Sources:
1. "South Texas is known for its moderates. A primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar could test that." Texas Tribune, November 21, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/116722?t=17&akid=257201%2E40999114%2EQzdPsP
2. "Conservative Democrat Gets $100k From Oil and Gas PACs in Bid to Fend Off Surging Progressive," The American Prospect, December 6, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/116723?t=19&akid=257201%2E40999114%2EQzdPsP
3. "Jessica Cisneros TX-28," accessed February 10, 2020
http://act.moveon.org/go/116724?t=21&akid=257201%2E40999114%2EQzdPsP
4. "Conservative Democrat Gets $100k From Oil and Gas PACs in Bid to Fend Off Surging Progressive," The American Prospect, December 6, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/116723?t=23&akid=257201%2E40999114%2EQzdPsP
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
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