John -- It’s been two years since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was identified in Washington state.

 

It would be another two months before most Americans truly grasped the scale of the crisis that was about to unfold, but for Brand New Congress it was an immediate concern.

 

In January 2020, it was quickly apparent to us that NO candidate was receiving the guidance or tools necessary to adapt their campaign tactics and keep people safe in the face of the worst public health disaster of our lives.

 

It was also quickly apparent that very few in leadership were prepared to implement the measures needed to keep the general public safe, healthy, and whole.

 

Two years in, with over 70 million cases reported in the U.S. alone, and nearly 900,000 COVID-19 deaths officially recorded, it is abundantly clear that our federal government continues to put corporate profits over public health.

 

This is why we’re working so hard to elect a Brand New Congress. We already sent Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to Congress last week, and we are weeks away from early voting in Texas.

 

Can you chip in $22 today to help us get out the vote for Jessica Cisneros (TX-28) and Jessica Mason (TX-30)?

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It may be difficult to recall, two years in, how anxious and uncertain those early days were. But I am very proud of the way Brand New Congress and our candidates stepped up as the pandemic unfolded.

 

Rebecca Parson, who ran for WA-06 in 2020 and is running again this year, was the first congressional candidate in the country to suspend in-person campaign activities in mid-February. Every BNC candidate quickly followed suit – long before any required lockdowns.

 

Mel Gagarin, who ran for NY-06 in 2020, launched a pressure campaign to get then-Gov. Cuomo to reduce or eliminate the signature requirements to get on the ballot – because collecting signatures was a high risk activity in what was then the epicenter of the pandemic. Mel organized other candidates for office, including some incumbents and his own opponent, to join in and convinced the governor to change the requirement, unquestionably saving people from exposure.

 

And Brand New Congress developed a COVID-19 contingency plan that guided candidates on adapting their campaign strategies – a resource we made available to the public for ANYONE running for office.

 

COVID19 has exposed every structural weakness of our society. Low wages, housing insecurity, corporate, for-profit healthcare (just to name a few) are systemic problems that require system-level changes.

 

If we’re going to make those changes, we need to change the people at the table making those decisions.

 

That’s why we need your help, John. This movement has swept a wave of new progressive leaders into Congress, and we need to grow their ranks. Will you chip in $22 today to help us elect a Brand New Congress?

 

In solidarity,

 

Cory Archibald
Brand New Congress