Kara Eastman, a nonprofit executive, beat former Congressman Brad Ashford in last night's primary election to be the Democratic nominee for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

Let's talk about Kara Eastman.

Kara Eastman is a nonprofit executive from Omaha. She founded and runs the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance (OHKA), a highly effective organization that tackles serious health policy issues at the state and local level. She also served on the board for her local community college. She’s been engaged with her community for years, all while raising and supporting a daughter of her own.

Then, the 2016 election happened.

Like hundreds of other women across the country, Kara decided to step up to the plate. No Democrat was running in her home congressional district, Nebraska’s 2nd (NE-02), so she decided to run.

She relied on her humble background, her healthcare advocacy, and her experience in nonprofit fundraising to build a grassroots campaign. She focused on the progressive values that drive most Democratic Party activists: concern for healthcare, education, economic equality, gun safety, immigrant rights, civil rights, protecting the environment, and more. She proudly displays her platform on her website.

But she had one big problem: in 2016, NE-02 was one of the few congressional races in which an incumbent Democrat lost reelection. And rumors were spreading that this ex-Congressman, Brad Ashford, wanted to win his old seat back.

The mere possibility of his candidacy caused many major Democratic organizations—from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to Emily’s List—to avoid helping Eastman. After all, they wouldn’t want to upset a former congressman. He had previously shown he could win a tough race, and he already had connections to all the lobbyists in DC. If he were to run, he’d surely become the Democratic nominee!

Despite this setback, Kara Eastman decided to continue her campaign for Congress. A number of months after Eastman announced her candidacy, Ashford did enter the race. But Eastman pressed on. She distinguished herself from Ashford in some notable ways—sticking to her more progressive views on healthcare and education—and slowly, despite the DCCC and other establishment groups endorsing Ashford, her movement in Omaha grew.

Last night was primary election night in Nebraska. And shockingly, by a slim margin, Kara Eastman won. She will now be the Democratic nominee for NE-02 this November.

Many of us who follow politics closely were surprised by Eastman’s victory, but we probably shouldn't have been. With a perfect combination of strong local roots, clear reasons for running, and a determination to achieve the seemingly impossible, she’d make a stellar candidate in any district. A primary challenger defeating an ex-congressman in his comeback bid is largely unheard of in Democratic politics.

But Eastman ran a relentlessly positive campaign that focused on the issues. She showed herself to be serious and sincere. She didn’t try to pander to special interests or present herself as a “moderate”, as Ashford did. She chose to be herself, be authentic, knock on doors, and stand by her values.

Forget ideological squabbles, so-called “identity politics”, or any other way we like to divvy up candidates. Kara Eastman is exactly the kind of candidate all Democrats should want in Congress for two simple reasons:

She knows how to win, and she ain’t afraid to do it!

Kara Eastman has now given us all a real opportunity: a chance to help fundamentally change the conversations that Democratic insiders have in DC, now and perhaps forever, about candidate viability. Kara has defied conventional DC wisdom about what makes a candidacy "viable." If she wins in November, it will shift perceptions in DC about how Democrats win. And that will help us win in 2020, 2022, and beyond.

And she's favored to win in November. NE-02 only voted for Trump by 2.24%, and a majority of voters didn't choose him. Considering the electoral swings favoring Democrats that we've seen in special elections like the recent 16.2% swing in Arizona’s 8th congressional district special election, Kara Eastman has a very good shot at winning the general election.

But for Kara Eastman to win, she may need a bit of help—a jumpstart, if you will. It’s no secret that money infects the American political system. Eastman needs money and outside support to help get her message out to voters this November. She's already proven herself to be a decent fundraiser, raising $355K this cycle entirely from grassroots donations. However, she had to spend a good chunk of that money on her upset win in the primary. Whether the DCCC and other establishment Democratic groups step up to support her remains to be determined.

If Kara Eastman can win in a swing congressional district using grassroots donations alone, she could change the political map in American politics forever.

If you haven't donated to a candidate this cycle, now is the time to do so.

If you have donated to a candidate this cycle...now is the time to pony up again!

Let's see how much money we the people can help Kara raise in the first few days after her upset victory.

Please, kindly, click the following link and make a donation--$50, $25, $5, whatever amount you can do!--to Kara Eastman's campaign for Congress. Help her show everyone that candidate "fit" and "viability", while sometimes relevant, is not always as important as we think. That sometimes, authenticity and sincerely held beliefs help Democrats win elections.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/eastmanforcongressweb

Monetary donations are the biggest way we can make an impact on this race right now. However, there are a number of additional ways we can set Eastman up for success.

Please consider following her Twitter accounts (both campaign and personal) and liking her on Facebook. Doing so can help spread the message of her candidacy:

https://twitter.com/karaforcongress

https://twitter.com/KaraEastman

https://www.facebook.com/eastmanforcongress/

Also, if you have any progressive-minded Facebook friends in Nebraska, make sure to invite them to like her Facebook page, too! Her campaign having more Facebook connections in Nebraska can help with targeted social media ads on Facebook.

And we can help put Kara Eastman over the top just by spreading the word! Feel free to share this blog post on Facebook and Twitter, too. You can do so easily by clicking the Facebook or Twitter icons at the top and bottom of this blog post. When sharing on Twitter, it can help to add a relevant or popular hashtag to the tweet, such as #NE02, #Resist, or #BlueWave2018. If you choose to share this post by tweeting, please consider doing so!

If we reach enough people, we will get Washington DC’s attention. We will change our politics forever.