INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
HEADLINES: BIG NEWS! Barbara Lee for Senate! | Progressives Rally for Barbara Lee | Victory! Raise the Wage Chicago | Standing with UAW | & MORE!
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It’s only because of our grassroots supporters that we’re able to organize — and win. Please chip in to our Progressive Power Fund to make sure we hit the ground running in 2024!
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The 2024 election season is officially underway, and the progressive movement will be pivotal to defeating Trump and the GOP, taking back the House, and sending more allies to Bernie Sanders in the Senate to partner with our movement for change.
That’s why Our Revolution kicked things off in a BIG way this week with our first major endorsement for 2024 — Barbara Lee to be the next U.S. Senator from California!
Progressive leaders and the grassroots are rallying behind Barbara, who joined us for our LIVE Town Hall event on Tuesday with U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna, Cori Bush, Mark Pocan and Ayanna Pressley, Minnesota AG Keith Ellison!
READ ALL ABOUT IT IN THE NATION
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ELECTING A PROGRESSIVE ICON TO THE SENATE
“At the end of the day, Barbara Lee is the movement candidate,”
Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese told The Nation’s John Nichols in an exclusive interview about our endorsement.
She’s a lifelong organizer who has been in the trenches with working people from Day 1.
Representative Lee has been ranked the most progressive member of the US House, she’s been one of the most effective progressives in the country, and she has stood for what’s right even when she’s had to stand alone.
Many remember Barbara Lee’s lone vote against the War in Afghanistan, and she has been a constant voice for people, peace, and the planet throughout her life and career.
Barbara Lee comes from the working class and she would be the only black woman in the Senate. Her lived experience fuels her fight for single moms, abortion rights, economic justice, and more.
“When I’m elected I’m going to fight like you all are fighting - with this movement behind me - to expand voting rights, push for ambitious climate change policy, put a cap on corporate monopolies, and finally to pass Medicare for All,” she told us Tuesday.
Rep. Lee was an original cosponsor of Medicare for All and the first to introduce a single payer healthcare bill in California. She was also one of the first climate champions — working to end taxpayer-funded giveaways to Big Oil and pledging to not take money from the fossil fuels industry. In fact, she’s not taking any corporate PAC money!
Barbara has worked closely with Bernie Sanders for many years — and he needs her as a partner in the Senate. Together, they co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus and, just recently, introduced a bill to tax the wealthy.
She was among the first to the Fight for $15 and a Union, joining Bernie and Keith Ellison on the picket lines with workers when no one else would stand with them — and she is still fighting alongside labor in California.
SIGN UP TO ORGANIZE WITH BARBARA LEE
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“Barbara Lee is the perfect candidate. It’s not just about a voting record and checking the boxes for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. It’s about understanding movement politics, the sacrifices and the struggles,” said Ro Khanna. “Barbara Lee has that link to history — from Nelson Mandela to Shirley Chisolm — and she’s not afraid to take a stand when it’s not popular.”
Ro said Barbara can win this thing, but she will need the grassroots army that Bernie had in California and beyond.
“I know if we organize, if we get out the vote on social media, on calls, knocking doors. If we do all of the things Our Revolution is going to do, Barbara can win,” Ro Khanna said. “We’re going to make history, we’re going to put a true icon in the US Senate, I’m honored to co-chair her campaign, as honored as I was to co-chair Bernie Sanders’ campaign.”
WATCH OUR FULL TOWN HALL WITH BARBARA LEE HERE
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Barbara Lee has been a leader in setting the agenda for our movement, she has been marching with us in the streets and she’s been mentoring movement leaders in Congress.
“I find myself almost daily asking 'what would Barbara Lee do?' and I plan to move with the same foresight, accountability, and commitment to community that has guided not only her time in public office but truly her life’s work,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley. “She will be California’s senator, but she’ll be all of our senator. She will be the people’s senator!”
Rep. Cori Bush told us that when she first entered Congress, Barbara Lee was right there to welcome and guide her — even speaking on her behalf when others tried to keep her off of the Judiciary Committee. “Barbara Lee truly speaks for me,” Cori said.
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Rep. Mark Pocan spoke of Barbara’s long history of supporting LGBTQ rights and fighting to deliver legislation for HIV/AIDS in California.
“The Senate needs Barbara Lee,” said Pocan. “If you want to transform the Senate, make it more progressive, and give Bernie a real partner in the Senate, we need to elect Barbara Lee.”
“This is the thing about Barbara Lee: integrity, honesty, sincerity and unshakeable faith in standing up for what’s right and never backing down,” Minnesota AG Keith Ellison testified at the town hall. “Barbara Lee is, hands down, the best choice. No doubt.”
Progressive movement leaders are in Barbara Lee’s corner and the grassroots are, too. In order to win this and defeat the big money trying to buy this seat, we’ve got to organize.
That’s why Our Revolution is “swinging its network of grassroots activists and a list of more than 1.1 million California supporters behind the campaign that the Congresswoman identifies as ‘a march for justice for all,’” The Nation reports.
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We invite you to join our fast-growing organizing team - Progressives for Barbara Lee. Hundreds have already signed up, and there are lots of different ways you can get involved and help.
You can be part of this team from anywhere in the country — making calls, sharing out on social media, and more. If you're in California, you can help by knocking doors or reaching out to friends - even hosting or attending a house party!
Join Our Revolution’s Progressives for Barbara Lee organizing team. Let's make this a people-powered campaign and send Barbara Lee to the Senate.
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Our Revolution worked hard to get out the vote for Wendell Gilliard for State Senate in South Carolina, but the establishment and big developers helped his opponent win the runoff by just 11 votes.
This election is likely to go to a recount, but this shows the importance of investing in organizing and making sure we reach every voter to get out to the polls on election day.
State Rep. Gilliard was a 2020 campaign co-chair for Bernie, and like Bernie, he has been a powerful champion of working people for decades. We will continue partnering with him in the fights to come!
Donate now to our 2024 Progressive Power Fund to make sure we have the resources to defeat Trump and the GOP, flip the House and elect progressives like Barbara Lee to the Senate!
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Our Revolution members weighed in and we are endorsing an exciting slate of progressive champions in Duluth, MN!
We’re organizing to elect these three amazing women: Miranda Pacheco and Jenna Yeakle for City Council At-Large and Wendy Durrwachter for City Council District 1.
These candidates have a real shot at winning and building a strong progressive bloc of local power in Minnesota, and we can’t let an opportunity like this pass us by!
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Our Revolution is endorsing progressive grassroots organizer Leah Perkel for City Council in Vancouver, WA (Position 6)!
Leah is an Our Revolution member and a former Bernie delegate. She has firsthand experience with medical debt resulting from our lousy private health insurance system, and she wants to be an agent of change to help create healthier people and communities.
Leah will stand up to the big money interests and be a voice for the people on affordable housing, the environment, equity, and more. She has also been endorsed by OneAmerica, founded by US Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
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VICTORY! Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday delivered on his campaign promise to eliminate the “subminimum wage” for tipped workers!
The new law calls for tipped workers — currently paid 60% of Chicago’s minimum wage — to receive 8% annual increases beginning next July until they reach 100% parity in 2028, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
In July, Mayor Brandon Johnson joined us to serve up food to restaurant workers and raise awareness in this fight. Our own members submitted testimony directly, and we just won!
Our Revolution organizers also testified at a hearing in Montgomery County, MD this week to build pressure for the tipped wage bill voters overwhelmingly supported to be implemented without letting restaurants shift the burden to diners under the guise of “service charges.”
And, stay tuned! In Ohio and Arizona, Our Revolution has teams canvassing for signatures for petition drives that will put a $20+ MINIMUM WAGE directly on the ballot in 2024.
Our movement is critical to advancing policies to address the many crises facing our country. If you’re not already a monthly member of Our Revolution, sign up today!
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“This strike is an opportunity for the President to say to the Big Three, ‘You’re incredibly profitable, we’re going to invest in you, but the return on investment we need to see is for working class Americans,’” Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese told The Hill this week.
“Failure to do so risks losing working class voters. They either sit it out or they vote for a Donald Trump-like figure who won his election by promising to champion the deindustrialized Midwest,” Joseph said.
Joseph represented Our Revolution to speak at the LIVE Solidarity Summer Rally with UAW last week with United Auto Workers President Sean Fain, Working Families Party, and a powerful coalition of progressive organizations supporting the striking workers.
Bernie Sanders, Barbara Lee, Ayanna Pressley, and many more of our progressive allies also joined United Auto Workers on the picket lines this week, calling for a fair contract with pay, benefits, and working conditions that reflect their worth and their humanity. We are proud to stand in solidarity with workers today and every day.
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Our Revolution is waging a massive campaign with activists around the country to End Medical Debt — and we just won a great first step from the White House.
Thanks to pressure from organizers and a growing coalition of medical debt activists around the country, the Biden administration is taking the first steps toward removing medical bills from people’s credit scores, which could improve ratings for millions.
The proposal would also prevent creditors from using medical bills when deciding on loans and stop debt collectors from using credit ratings to pressure people with health care-related debt, The Associated Press reports.
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Barbara Lee will be in-person at Our Revolution’s Education for All Town Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct. 2nd. If you’re nearby, sign up to join us!
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Barbara Lee will be joined by Ro Khanna at Our Revolution’s LIVE End Fossil Fuels Town Hall on Oct. 17th. Reps. Lee and Khanna have worked together to fight for climate action, and now they’re working to keep oil drilling out of backyards of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and more.
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Medicare for All, ending medical debt, lowering drug prices — Barbara Lee and our progressive movement are fighting on many fronts for healthcare justice.
Join Our Revolution’s LIVE Healthcare for All Town Hall with US Reps. Barbara Lee, Pramila Jayapal, and Ro Khanna, and CA Assemblyman Ash Kalra.
RSVP
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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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