Hi -- it’s Ritchie Torres, the presumptive Democratic nominee in New York’s 15th district, and I will be the first openly gay Afro-Latino man in the House.

As someone who grew up poor in public housing, I want to invest in our communities and will need strong allies with me to fight for a bold progressive agenda.

That's why I’m asking you to support my friend, Candace Valenzuela, who is on the verge of making some history of her own in a Texas congressional run-off next week.

PCCC members have made nearly 1,000 donations to Candace’s campaign so far -- will you please chip in today?

Candace is a working mother of two who was the first Latina and Black woman to serve on her city’s school board. She's running a strong grassroots campaign focused squarely on the needs of working families and mothers in her Texas community. Policies like universal childcare, better wages, and paid family leave are all major themes of her congressional campaign.

Like me, Candace refuses corporate PAC money -- she's depending on grassroots support. But as she's picked up momentum, it's attracted outside groups to rally against her.

On a recent Zoom call with PCCC members she said, “I'm not afraid of breaking barriers. I'm not afraid of trying to go up against seemingly insurmountable odds because my survival, my family's survival, our country's survival depends on it. I'm running for Congress because the opportunities that helped me go from being homeless as a kid living in kiddie pool outside of a gas station, to the first in my family to go to college, to the first woman of color on my school board are under attack.”

In other words, she's exactly the kind of voice we need more of in Washington.

Will you join me in supporting Candace so that we have more allies in Congress to pass our progressive agenda for working families? Click here to donate to Candace and PCCC’s work to elect more bold progressives like her.

I appreciate your continued commitment to the movement to secure a better future for working families.

In solidarity,

-- Ritchie

Progressive stickers, buttons, T-shirts, and more!

store.boldprogressives.org

PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor's first picture book, I Can Change Everything, teaches kids the power of their imaginations — from changing their socks and shoes to changing the world. Buy it (or any other book) from Powell's using this link, and a portion of your purchase will fund PCCC's organizing!

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