 Dear John, On June 23rd, the eyes of the nation will be on two Congressional primaries: Jamaal Bowman’s in New York and Charles Booker’s in Kentucky. People will be asking whether the energy we’re seeing in the streets and in city councils around the country will translate into historic upsets for progressive Black candidates. Together, we will make sure it does. If they win, it will be game changing. They’ll take down establishment favorites, who have tons of corporate money and who pundits told us were untouchable, and send a message to politicians everywhere: this is a historic moment. Boldly stand with us, or lose your jobs.
Jamaal and Charles are both surging in popularity, but we have just 15 days to bring them to the finish line. Whether they win or not is going to depend on two things: 1) If we can have conversations with enough voters so they know who Jamaal and Charles are. Fortunately, both are amazing candidates, and people are quick to support them when they hear more. Jamaal is a public school principal up against an incumbent who said - and I quote - he “wouldn’t care” about showing up in his district if not for being challenged. While Charles is in the streets, his establishment-backed opponent refuses to say where she stands on the biggest issues of our time. 2) If we can reach these voters before they mail in ballots. Because of COVID, many people are already voting by mail, so we can’t wait until the last weekend to win this. Our field team has met with both campaigns and set a goal for Sunrise to call 150,000 voters by Friday. That will let us call every target voter in Bowman’s entire district and in the City of Louisville, where Booker is from and where Democratic primaries in Kentucky are won or lost – before the deadline for voters to request mail in ballots. Can you sign up for a shift this week and ask a friend to join you? We have phonebanks each day, and every shift starts with a training to get you oriented – plus, you’ll be calling alongside other Sunrise members like you. This weekend, we made 47,000 calls. To hit our goal of 150,000, we need 273 more people to sign up for a shift this week. The old rules of politics are evaporating. The old assumptions politicians and pundits made about votes are being proven wrong, and there is a once-in-a-generation opening for new leadership. June 23rd is the first test and if Jamaal and Charles win it’s going to send a message heard around the world that this movement is here to stay and we’re here to win. Let’s do this. Varshini |
