CA-25: Katie Hill PAC pushing for greater turnout to elect Democrat to her old House seat

A political action committee (PAC) created by former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) is urging residents in her district to vote in the upcoming special election in an effort to elect a Democrat to fill Hill's old seat.

Hill’s Her Time PAC launched a video featuring Hill standing in front of the White House with a face covering on, urging voters to turn in their mailed ballots as if their lives “depend on it.”

“We’re all scared right now and it's even more dangerous because of what's coming out of that building right behind me,” Hill said in the video, standing in front of the White House. “But there's something we can do about it.”

“There's a special election for Congress on May 12 and we have to vote, because we've seen that when we take our vote for granted we put ourselves and our communities in danger,” she added.


https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/495470-katie-hill-pac-pushing-turnout-for-democrat-to-fill-her-old-house-seat

Michigan journalist assaulted by anti-lockdown protester.

Progressive groups join forces to form The Big Send

Email from Swing Left:

Got my stimulus check and sending a small portion to Joe.

Thanks, Donnie.

East Bay politician under fire for saying let coronavirus kill the elderly, weak and homeless

The chairman of Antioch’s planning commission is catching a lot of scorn for suggesting in a Facebook post that society should adopt a herd mentality by letting the coronavirus take nature’s course and kill the weak, elderly, homeless and others.

In a long post April 23 on Facebook, commission Chairman Ken Turnage II compared the spread of COVID-19 to a forest fire that burns off all the “old trees, fallen brush and scrub-shrub sucklings” that drain resources. The nation and planet “would strengthen when this is all settled,” he surmised.

“We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost (once the wave subsided), make jobs available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of,” Turnage wrote. “We would lose a large portion of the people with immune and other health complications. I know it would be loved ones as well. But that would once again reduce our impact on medical, jobs, and housing.”

The comments offended many people, including City Councilwoman Monica Wilson, who along with several residents called for Turnage’s resignation during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. They also drew some support.




https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/04/29/east-bay-councilwoman-calls-for-commissioners-resignation-over-coronavirus-comments/

SC-SEN: South Carolina Senate Moves to Likely Republican

t's hard to think of a politician who has undergone a bigger evolution over the past four years than South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. But could that very political makeover hurt him at the ballot box in 2020, even in a reliably red state?

Once a thorn in the side of many in the GOP for his support of immigration reform — which earned him the nickname "Lindsey Grahmnesty" back home during his 2014 campaign — he was known as the fellow maverick sidekick of Arizona Sen. John McCain. Graham launched his own quixotic presidential bid in 2016, and lambasted then-candidate, Donald Trump, calling him "unfit for office," a "nutjob" and a "loser as a person."

But four years later, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman has emerged as one of President Trump's fiercest defenders and a typically loyal ally, especially when it came time to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court nominees. In 2018, Graham — who had voted for Justices Kagan and Sotomayor — especially bristled at the treatment that Brett Kavanaugh got during hearings as he was accused of sexual assault in high school by Christine Blasey Ford, which Kavanaugh vehemently denied.

South Carolina Republicans point toward that incident as igniting his vitriol toward Democrats he used to often find common ground with. Such a rapid remake may have endeared Graham to conservatives in the state who were long skeptical of his bona fides — more from his public statements than solely his voting record, which remained very conservative. And he has gone from being censured and booed by county parties to welcomed as a hero.

But has it also alienated moderates and more conservative Democrats in the state who previously pulled the lever for Graham? There's some evidence that it might have. That's a key path likely challenger Jaime Harrison, the state's former Democratic Party chairman and a DNC associate vice chairman, is pursuing in his long-shot effort to knock off Graham. This is in addition to trying to register and motivate the state's sizable African-American voting block, which is around 28 percent of the electorate.



https://cookpolitical.com/analysis/senate/south-carolina-senate/south-carolina-senate-moves-likely-republican

Tweet of the Day

FLIPPABLE: Zach Stepp for OH-HD55

Having grown up in Sheffield Village, Northeast Ohio has always been and will always be home. I grew up in a family that often struggled to get ahead, but I learned early on in my life that my family’s personal and financial struggles did not define me. I discovered dignity in my work ethic. It’s why, when my childhood home was sold off in a public auction, I figured out how to build websites for small businesses so I’d have extra cash to be a normal kid. It’s why when I turned 16, I started working nights and weekends at the local Five Guys and bought a car of my own. It’s why I wanted to be the absolute best at my job and was promoted three times while still in high school.

New doors opened when I was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Chicago through a scholarship program called Questbridge. I went from flipping burgers and scrubbing floors to boarding my first airplane, on course to the Windy City. Since then, I have done things that I never could have imagined: I biked across Europe, visited the White House, trekked along the Great Wall of China, explored Cuba, lived in a foreign country, and engaged with some of the brightest minds in the world.

It was an easy choice in 2017 to move back home to try to elect a retired kindergarten teacher with a heart of gold, Janet Garrett, to be my Representative in Congress. We always knew it was an uphill battle, but we decided early on that it was worth the fight. While we didn’t win, it was an incredible experience building a movement with a candidate I believed would put people before politics. Since the last election, I’ve been working in federal government consulting in supply chain management.

I decided to run for office because I believe I have the leadership skills and fresh perspective necessary to make a lasting impact on our politics. In a time of such division, I want to be a candidate that can bring people together and work at the issues that affect everyday Ohioans.

Outside of politics, I’m an avid Cleveland sports fan, and am looking forward to an exciting year of football - Go Browns!







https://www.zachsteppforohio.com/

FLIPPABLE: Amy Cox for OH-HD43

Amy Cox is a Preble County native who grew up west of Camden, Ohio. She is the mother of 2 sons, the wife of a Union Iron Worker Local 290, and has been a union public school teacher since 2004. As young lady, Amy attended the local public school, Preble Shawnee where she was active in FFA, 4-H, student government, band and various sports teams.

Amy attended Miami University directly out of high school where she lived and worked as a mailroom and office supply clerk at the Oxford campus. She transferred to Wright State University her sophomore year to study Biology. While at WSU Amy lived and worked in the Dayton areas of Fairborn, Kettering and Centerville. As a WSU student, she earned her NAUI Advanced Diving Certification through WSU’s SCUBA program. That outstanding program was taught and facilitated by Dayton area police and firefighters who are Certified NAUI Search and Rescue Divers for the Dayton area and beyond.

WSU also gave Amy an opportunity to get involved in government funded research. Amy worked in the lab of Dr. Dan Krane, where she prepped the lab for graduate assistants who were isolating and sequencing DNA. Dr. Krane was one of the first researching DNA in the late 1990’s and currently owns and runs a DNA testing company. She also worked the the lab of Dr. Wayne Carmichael, one of the world’s experts on toxic algae at the time. Amy’s work of isolating and mass culturing toxic blue-green algae from the Salton Sea of Southern California eventually contributed to published studies by Dr. Carmichael, who currently lives and works in Oregon.

Amy earned her Bachelors of Science in Biology from Wright State University in 2001, and a Masters Degree in education from Indiana University East in 2011. As a teacher she has served as a union representative, club sponsor, and received several teacher awards.

Amy brings to the table a fiery mix of manners, wit, seriousness, small town charm, wisdom, respect and humor that works well when trying to get people to work together for a common good. Her voice cannot be ignored. Her passion for injustices should be bottled up and sold, no marketing needed. Her best quality as her students and administrators will tell you, is her complete awareness of what other people are feeling. Her rapport with her students and colleagues is genuine, positive, and rare.

Amy also brings to the table her knowledge of science and education and an ability to ask good questions on complicated subjects, like where did all the $$$ go that used to belong to the middle class? Why are the working-middle class paying for health insurance for everyone while health insurance companies have enjoyed record profits for decades? Why do our school districts have to pass levies just for basic operating funds, while other districts can afford to pay their teachers $80,000 a year and enjoy extras like busing, and therapists? She understands that we didn’t just give it away willingly. There has been a concerted effort since the 1970’s to filch the programs and laws that kept the middle class strong and thriving. Family time has turned into mandatory overtime, just to survive. Amy not only wants answers to these questions, but she’s ready to tell the filchers to find a new hustle.

Amy understands that a politician who doesn’t ask good, hard questions that people want answers to, has to go! She understands that a politician should do their research, demand answers, clarification, and always consider how their decisions will effect the lives of their constituents.

Amy also understands that too many people in politics want the connections, the $$$, and to get themselves re-elected. She knows that working class people are under represented in government, because running for office and knocking on doors is a full time job that doesn’t include a paycheck or health insurance. This fact alone is why we get what we get in politics today.

Amy will firmly defend the working class because she IS the working class! Amy has been a victim of garbage Right to Work legislation that is nothing more than organized wage suppression on the working class. In 2016 she fiercely went to bat for her colleagues over unfair labor practices, by speaking out at a board meeting and submitting an Op-Ed to the local newspaper, shaming the practices for what they were…a form of wage suppression. As a result, Amy received letters of support from current and former school faculty and administration and the employees received their owed wages within 48 hours.

Amy is mad, Amy is fed up, and Amy is coming to Columbus to give them an education!

Vote for Amy Cox in 2020 if you want to see the fed-up teacher deliver a lesson to our law makers on behalf of you, the voters!






https://voteamycox.com/

FLIPPALE: Sarah Bitter for OH-HD27

Sara Bitter is a mother, lawyer and leader in advocacy. She and her husband, Kai, are the parents of two children living with a developmental disability.

Sara has devoted her entire career to helping improve the lives of people living with disabilities and their families. And now, she is putting her passion and experience to work for all people in Ohio as a 2020 candidate for State Representative in the 27th District.

Sara Bitter is running for State Representative because as a parent, lawyer and advocate, she knows just how important it is for families and communities to have access to good healthcare, education, jobs, housing and transportation. She also knows that parents of children with special healthcare needs, families who have loved ones living with mental health conditions and communities torn apart by the opioid crisis, do not have lobbyists.

One of Sara’s main reasons for running for office is to create a Disability, Mental Health and Addiction Caucus and to bring these voices to the Ohio legislature in Columbus.

“Bitter for Better.” It’s not just a campaign slogan, it’s a commitment.

Sara has an impressive background as a successful advocate, and has an intimate understanding of the challenges and needs of working families who are juggling kids and jobs –and often, the unexpected issues involved in being a caregiver to aging parents or a loved one with a disability.

Sara received her BA in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati and Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Sara is also a Law Trainee graduate from the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Sara has served in the White House in the Clinton Administration where she worked in the White House Counsel’s Office as the Assistant to Special Counsel to the President.

Sara worked at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD) where she was engaged in working on statewide policies and programs throughout Ohio in the areas of employment, community integration and peer support for families of children and adults living with developmental disabilities, special health care and mental health needs.

Previously, Sara was the Co-Chair for the 2015 Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival and has served on many boards and advisory committees over the years, including the Greater Cincinnati Adapted Sports Club (GCASC) and the Family Advisory Council for the Cincinnati Fragile X Research and Treatment Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.




https://sarabitter.com/