Progressive districts deserve progressive representatives
Progressive districts deserve progressive representatives
And this is how we do it
After four decades spent mostly in the political wilderness, progressives emerged as a renewed force in 2018. You know the story by now — it’s how we have new stars like Reps. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Presley, who have injected bold new ideas into a conversation long-dominated by cautious centrism and forced the party to grow a spine.
Now, a second wave of young, activism-oriented candidates is challenging more long-entrenched, largely useless (and sometimes awful) Democrats who represent safe blue districts. This week, I want to talk about a few of those challenges, including one in my own district, being waged by one of the bravest candidates I’ve ever met.
Funny story: I’ve lived in a number of different neighborhoods up and down Manhattan over the last decade, so for years I never really bothered to learn who represented me, figuring it frequently changed. Turns out that Rep. Carolyn Maloney has always been my representative; I just never knew it because she’s never around (or, never talking to constituents that can’t donate big money to her campaigns). For someone who has been in office since 1992, representing not only eastern Manhattan but also parts of Brooklyn and Queens, that’s pretty troubling.
It’s not actually in her district, but Maloney does most of her fighting for Wall Street. Her biggest donors are not just major corporations, but the worst of the financial services industry — her top contributor just so happens to be BlackRock, the massive hedge fund that funds the literal destruction of earth (via ownership of all kinds of oil and environment-ravaging companies) from its black Death Star-like skyscraper in New York. She voted for financial deregulation, is linked to anti-vaxxers, and this fall appeared with India’s racist, wannabe fascist president Modi at a big event in Texas… where Donald Trump was also a guest of honor.
Maloney got primaried in 2018, and despite being a hotel heir who messed around with people on Tinder, Suraj Patel earned 40% of the vote. He’s running again, alongside several other young primary challengers, including Erica Vladimer, the candidate I’m supporting both personally and via Progressives Everywhere.
I was introduced to Erica’s candidacy through a mutual acquaintance, but I held off on reaching out until I could read up on her story. I was instantly blown away by what I read and heard — she’s a young lawyer who was working as a staffer in the State Senate when she was sexually assaulted by then-Sen. Jeff Klein, who was at the time the powerful leader of the IDC and is still a noted scumbag. Klein was her boss’s boss at the time — she got the job through a post-law school program — and the event was devastating.
But Erica didn’t let him get away with it — instead, it became the springboard to some incredible activism. A few years later, after leaving Albany, she returned to co-found the Sexual Harrassment Working Group, which pushed for hearings on harassment of government employees (the first in nearly three decades). The Group later ultimately helped pass protections into law, a major accomplishment in an Albany that protects its own, no matter how corrupt.
CLICK HERE to donate to Erica Vladimer’s campaign via Progressives Everywhere’s ActBlue page!
Now, she’s running for Congress, and I have to admit to some initial skepticism. I didn’t care much for Maloney, but she’d been there forever and didn’t seem nearly as bad as obviously awful Dems like Henry Cuellar and Dan Lipinski. But after meeting up with Erica a few times, including once last week at a local diner, I came to understand why she needs to be elected: She’s willing to fight for her principles, and her principles are informed by understanding what it’s like to struggle, to just scrape by, to have skin in the game.
Erica quit her job working for the city to run this race full-time, despite the cost of living in the city, and finds herself working more than ever.
“When I decide to commit to something, I am fully committed, and I knew like two weeks after announcing that like this was going to be a full-time commitment,” she told me. “I'm a full-time candidate and I still feel like I don't have enough hours in the day. A big part of it too is that I wanted to prove that I'm committed to being the next leader for the district and that doesn't start on the day that I'm elected, it starts the day that I ask for people’s support.”
She serves as her own communications director and hates spending her time making calls for donations — she’d rather be out at NYCHA hearings or fighting for justice at protests, a combination that speaks to her movement beliefs and inside knowledge of the law.
CLICK HERE to donate to Erica Vladimer’s campaign via Progressives Everywhere’s ActBlue page!
This past Thursday, she was out in the streets with a grassroots survivors organization, calling for the resignation of Cy Vance, the awful Manhattan District Attorney who has never seen a case of sexual assault or financial crime committed by a rich person that he didn’t let slide (Harvey Weinstein and Ivanka Trump owe him big time).
Vladimer is also focused heavily on Medicare for All, a cause she’s only become more passionate about since forgoing employer-based insurance to run for office. That she suffers from painful bouts of endometriosis and requires specialist care has her attuned more than ever to the inequity of the US healthcare system.
“This is like the first meal that I've had in two days because I've been so sick,” she told me over a plate of disco fries while detailing her insane commutes to doctors that won’t take her insurance. “I went on the New York State health exchange, but you find me a really good endo specialist surgeon who takes Medicaid or any health exchange plan because I sure as fuck can't find one.”
She speaks in smart, measured tones about particular policies, but Erica also gets passionate and even fiery when discussing inequality, harassment, or Maloney’s complete invisibility in the district. They don’t live far apart, technically, but Maloney is a multi-millionaire many times over, while Erica lives in a studio apartment that also serves as her campaign office so that she can save money and devote as much time and energy to her run for Congress. She’s a 32-year-old lawyer in Manhattan — believe me, she could be making a whole lot of money at a big firm, especially with her government experience. Instead, she’s working to make a difference.
Maloney can’t tout many accomplishments — she got some money for the Second Avenue subway, but given the imperative behind that, it doesn’t count as all that impressive. Housing prices are skyrocketing, her district is now incredibly young and diverse and far more progressive than her record.
“There's never been a Republican who's ever come close to being able to beat her, and now we have the opportunity because it's a safe district to actually elect bold people who are going to realize that it's not enough just to have the 'D' next to your name,” she says.” You should be standing up to leadership and not trying to pander to them. Can you imagine if we had a real fighter as our representative? Imagine what they could get done.”
CLICK HERE to donate to Erica Vladimer’s campaign via Progressives Everywhere’s ActBlue page!
Other NYC Primaries:
It’s not just in my district. The progressive energy here right now is palpable. In 2018, AOC beat Joe Crowley and progressive Democrats ousted the turncoat IDC Democrats who gave Republicans control of the State Senate. Tiffany Caban, meanwhile, just barely missed out on a seismic victory for Queens District Attorney in 2019. And there are a handful of big primaries being waged in nearly every borough.
One of the most legit is a challenge to Rep. Yvette Clark (NY-9), the veteran Brooklyn Congresswoman who was nearly ousted in 2018. She’s facing a rematch with community activist and non-profit exec Adem Bunkeddeko, who is running to her left, though the field is now further fractured, with candidates running to his left and her right.
Meanwhile, pro-war and pro-deregulation Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel (NY-16) is being primaried by two progressives, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a millennial teacher, and Jamaal Bowman, a middle school principal with support from groups like Justice Democrats. Both are strong candidates with a lot of community support.
More on other primaries can be found here.
Special note: This Tuesday is the special election for the Texas State Assembly seat. We have backed Eliz Markowitz and raised nearly $2000 for her campaign. If you want to pitch in last minute, click here!
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