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I’m excited to launch our campaign newsletter through Substack. Through this platform, we can share a lot more than newsletters - we’ll be able to grow a community through reader input on each post, share live videos from the field directly to you, highlight neighbors from across the district, and keep you updated on our campaign.
As your friendly neighborhood congressional candidate, it’s the least I can do!
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About Me
I’m a husband and my wife & I have two sons. I’m a child of immigrants. We grew up low-income and needed programs like WIC and free school meals to get by. I learned English by watching PBS shows like Mister Rogers and Sesame Street. I explored a love for reading at my local public library and learned so much from public schools. I’d go with my father to his job sites and listen to NPR shows like Car Talk. I went to law school and served veterans in the school’s veterans clinic, seeing the plight of the Veterans Administration firsthand. I entered the public service loan forgiveness program when I started working at the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC).
All these public programs are cruelly being cut and gutted by people like Representative Rob Wittman. I cannot stand by while the programs that made me who I am today disappear.
As a public interest lawyer at VPLC, I worked on legislative advocacy to expand SNAP and free school meals for tens of thousands of families, twice increasing TANF cash assistance by historic amounts, and repealed unjust laws (drug felony ban, family cap for public benefits). I also helped create SNAPscreener.com, a free tool used by over 2.5 million families unlock over $100 million in SNAP and WIC Benefits. I later joined the Food Research & Action Center where I fought attempts to cut public benefits in the Farm Bill and Big Ugly Bill.
With my experience, expertise, and vision, I’m looking forward to better representing this district in Congress and fighting for policies that help the people, like Medicare for All, taxing billionaires instead of giving them tax cuts, and campaign finance reform. I’m rejecting all corporate PAC and AIPAC-related contributions. Our taxes shouldn’t be used to bomb schools in Iran and hospitals in Gaza, they should be spent building schools and hospitals right here at home. We must end these wars and genocides.
Campaign Update
Our team has grown to over 100 volunteers! We began canvassing two weeks ago, we have collected nearly 1,000 petition signatures, and we’ve started up weekend events that the whole family can enjoy, whether its meeting up for coffee, canvassing, or bringing your children to a “Park Your Politics” (PYP) event. At PYP, the kids have a play date and the adults enjoy good conversation. Here’s a video recap of a recent PYP:
We are building momentum every day and I’d love to build this together. Your support—whether it’s volunteering your time, sharing our message, or making a monthly donation—is absolutely crucial as our people-powered campaign pushes forward to the August 4th primary to flip the House blue.
Will you join us in fighting for a fair, democratic, and progressive future for Virginia?
In solidarity,
Salaam Bhatti
Candidate for Congress
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