John – Welcome back to another edition of BNC Insider, your weekly recap of everything that’s happening in the world of Brand New Congress.

In this issue:

• Primaries are over, what’s next?
• Student loan forgiveness - How does it impact you?
• Latest primary results
• Ways to take action

Get ready to dive in.

Primary season is behind us (for Brand New Congress candidates), and we have just 10 weeks to go until the November General Election.

With six BNC electeds up for re-election and five bold new progressives on the ballot, we have the chance to nearly DOUBLE our caucus in November.

These next 10 weeks are going to be crucial.

Two of our candidates are running to flip seats currently held by Republicans. Charles Booker is running to replace Rand Paul and become the first Black Senator from Kentucky. Odessa Kelly is running to oust homophobe Mark Green, and become the first openly gay Black woman elected to Congress.

Two of our candidates are running for open seats. Michelle Vallejo is running against a radical MAGA Republican in the newly drawn border district of TX-15. And Becca Balint is running for the open seat in Vermont’s At-Large district to become the first openly gay woman elected to Congress from Vermont.

Meanwhile, in California, Angélica Dueñas is running against an entrenched corporate Democrat to bring working class representation to CA-29. Angélica, like Michelle, would be the first Latina to represent her majority immigrant district.

Student Loan Forgiveness

There’s been a lot of misinformation in the wake of the administration’s big announcement about student loan forgiveness. The benefits have been under-reported, and right-wing politicians (many of whom received PPP loans that were subsequently forgiven) are complaining that the program is unfair to people who already paid off their loans.

BNC has been advocating for education for all since our founding in 2016. The administration’s decision on student loan forgiveness is just the beginning of what we need, and we will continue fighting for FULL debt relief AND making public colleges, universities, and trade schools tuition-free.

But it must be acknowledged: last week’s decision is significant and it will transform lives.

Here are some of the details you may have missed:

• Pell Grant recipients earning less than $125,000 are eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation
  
  
• Other borrowers earning less than $125,000 are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation
  
  
• Anyone with loans for undergraduate degrees will have their payments capped at 5% of their monthly income (down from 10% before)
  
  
• Borrowers with debts from over 150 for-profit colleges are eligible to have their loans forgiven ENTIRELY. You can check here to see if your school is on the list
  
  
• The pause on federal student loan repayments has been extended to December 31, 2022

As BNC’s Rashida Tlaib said, it’s a BFD.

We welcome this decision from the administration, but we want to be clear: We can and must do more. We need to keep the pressure on Congress and President Biden to finish the job and forgive ALL student debt.

Can you take a moment to answer our short survey to share what student debt cancellation would mean for you?

In the meantime, we need to elect more progressives who will fight for FULL cancellation of ALL student debt – plus tuition free public colleges and trade schools for the next generation of students.

 
They came after him with dark money and dirty tactics, but nothing could stop the movement Team Bowman built in NY-16. Last Tuesday Jamaal Bowman sent a clear message that our movement is here to stay when he overwhelmingly won reelection against a wave of establishment pushback.

Jamaal’s victory is important. In 2018 and 2020, we were able to score big progressive wins because the establishment didn’t take us seriously. But the pandemic has prevented a lot of the grassroots organizing tactics we relied on in the past. And this year, conservative and corporate super PACs have spent HUGE amounts of dark money aimed directly at stopping progressive candidates.
 
Jamaal’s first reelection was an important test to see whether the results he delivered for his district could stand up against the misinformation campaign waged against him. And they did.
 
Congratulations to Jamaal and his entire team for this hard-fought victory!

Another win in Florida!
 
Much like Jamaal’s, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s election was an important test. After winning her special election primary by just FIVE VOTES last year, Sheila’s overwhelming victory in last Tuesday’s primary proves that progressives have staying power.

Getting progressives elected is the hardest part. Our candidates don’t take corporate PAC money and start with no name recognition. It takes an average of 18 months for a grassroots progressive candidate to build the momentum required to win – and all that work can be undone by a last minute money drop from super PACs.
 
That’s exactly what happened to BNC’s Melanie D’Arrigo and Brittany Ramos DeBarros, who unfortunately did not win their elections after an onslaught of special interest cash came in to promote more conservative candidates.
 
We celebrate the incredible work Melanie and Brittany both put into their fearless campaigns. Brittany has already launched a new initiative to drive progressive turnout for Staten Island in November and future elections. And Melanie will continue the advocacy work she has always done in her community.
 
We know both of these powerful women are just getting started, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.

Reflecting on this year’s primaries
 
The hard, unavoidable lesson of this year’s primaries is that our candidates cannot do it alone.
 
Progressives depend on the support of partners like Brand New Congress to build name recognition, recruit volunteers, and where possible, support the campaign financially with direct contributions or independent expenditures.
 
When you contribute to Brand New Congress, you’re investing in ALL of our candidates’ races, and you’re investing in the infrastructure that helps us recruit more progressives to run for office.
 
But when we fall short, we’re not able to help as much as we want. And right now BNC is still critically short of our August fundraising goal.
 
The best way to support our work is with a monthly sustaining contribution. Most of our budget comes from monthly donors giving just $5 and $10 a month. Will you consider becoming a sustaining donor?
 
→ Yes! I will give monthly.

→ No, but I can donate today.

Volunteer

Each week we will be highlighting key volunteer opportunities for our candidates. This week we are featuring Michelle Vallejo and Odessa Kelly.

Michelle’s team is hosting a phonebank party TOMORROW, August 30, from 6 to 8pm Central Time. Join in person from McAllen, TX, or join virtually and help out from anywhere! Click below for details.

Odessa’s team also hosts a phonebank every THURSDAY from 6 to 8pm Central time. Click below to sign up for this week’s phonebank on September 1st.

Or, you can always sign up to volunteer directly with Brand New Congress and support ALL of our candidates!

Thanks for reading our BNC Insider! 💜 Watch for this update every Monday to stay on top of what’s happening in the world of BNC.

Until next week,

The entire team at Brand New Congress

P.S. If you appreciate this content, please consider signing up for a monthly recurring contribution to sustain our work.