
Nice endorsement for Edwin Santana in VA-01, who I’m also supporting; see below for the Santana campaign’s press release, and below that for Our Revolution NOVA’s full reasoning on its endorsement decision in VA-01. Go Edwin Santana!

Progressive Group Our Revolution NOVA Endorses Edwin Santana

Fredericksburg, VA – Democratic candidate Edwin Santana has received the endorsement of Our Revolution NOVA (ORNOVA), after the group voted to support the progressive candidate for CD-1. The campaign is honored and excited to work with ORNOVA to flip the 1st District, defend working-class Americans and build an economy that works for ALL.

ORNOVA believes our movement is the most capable of beating Rep. Rob Wittman (R) this November and introducing progressive legislation in Washington, DC. ORNOVA provided the following information on their decision to endorse our campaign:

[Santana] describes his platform as promoting an “unapologetic progressivism [that] is the direction the Democratic Party needs to go in.” Here is a sampling of his positions:

For workers, he favors a minimum wage of “at least” $15/hour, job security, guaranteed weekly hours, and the right to appeal demotions and firings.

1. In the area of government programs, he emphasizes establishing health care as a human right and strengthening Social Security. In particular, he supports the current bill in Congress calling for Medicare for All. He believes Social Security should be strengthened and expanded so “elderly Americans who only get by on Social Security aren’t reduced to a life of poverty.”

2. In respect to the environment, he calls for not only meeting but going beyond the Paris Accords, and calls for Virginia to develop renewable energy goals similar to those of California.

3. Santana also promises to be strong voice for the rights of racial and religious minorities, and to make sure our criminal justice system does not disproportionately target minorities. He opposes for-profit prisons. He also wants to enhance our system of public education, and strongly opposes transferring public-school dollars to private schools.

4. Sensitive to his rural constituents, he calls for broadband internet access to rural communities.

5. In the area of election-reform, Santana calls for overturning Citizens United and 100% transparency. Interestingly, he is the one candidate who does not favor the public funding of elections, arguing it would allow public dollars to fund candidates such as Roy Moore and Donald Trump. Instead he favors lowering the cap on donations so corporations and the wealthy cannot have more influence than average citizens. ORNOVA did not necessarily agree with this position, but we thought it revealed a candidate who can “think outside the box.”

6. He is the only one of the three [candidates] who fully discussed the effects of the “too big to fail” viewpoint on big banks, as well as the immeasurable damage trade deals have had on the American middle class. He advocates for the idea of “too important to fail” to apply to main street just like it applied to Wall Street back during the Great Recession and for us to build worker protections and job protections for Americans into any trade deal with strike moving forward.

Edwin’s also shows an intersectional understanding of how education, criminal justice, and civil rights are all linked to each other and to the inequalities facing our nation. His desire to hold town halls and build coalitions around these key issue areas prove that he is truly community-minded, which proves his progressive vision of governing aligns with our own.

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Edwin Santana—

Santana provided a comprehensive, detailed, and nuanced response to the Steering Committee’s questionnaire. He describes his platform as promoting an “unapologetic progressivism [that] is the direction the Democratic Party needs to go in.” Here is a sampling of his positions:

For workers, he favors a minimum wage of “at least” $15/hour, job security, guaranteed weekly hours, and the right to appeal demotions and firings. 1. In the area of government programs, he emphasizes establishing health care as a human right and strengthening Social Security. In particular, he supports the current bill in Congress calling for Medicare for All. He believes Social Security should be strengthened and expanded so “elderly Americans who only get by on Social Security aren’t reduced to a life of poverty.” 2. In respect to the environment, he calls for not only meeting but going beyond the Paris Accords, and calls for Virginia to develop renewable energy goals similar to those of California. 3. Santana also promises to be strong voice for the rights of racial and religious minorities, and to make sure our criminal justice system does not disproportionately target minorities. He opposes for-profit prisons. He also wants to enhance our system of public education, and strongly opposes transferring public-school dollars to private schools. 4. Sensitive to his rural constituents, he calls for broadband internet access to rural communities. 5. In the area of election-reform, Santana calls for overturning Citizens United and 100% transparency. Interestingly, he is the one candidate who does not favor the public funding of elections, arguing it would allow public dollars to fund candidates such as Roy Moore and Donald Trump. Instead he favors lowering the cap on donations so corporations and the wealthy cannot have more influence than average citizens. ORNOVA did not necessarily agree with this position, but we thought it revealed a candidate who can “think outside the box.” 6. While Edwin did not discuss income inequality as much as the other two candidates, he is the only one of the three who fully discussed the effects of the “too big to fail” viewpoint on big banks, as well as the immeasurable damage trade deals have had on the American middle class. He advocates for the idea of “too important to fail” to apply to main street just like it applied to Wall Street back during the Great Recession and for us to build worker protections and job protections for Americans into any trade deal with strike moving forward. Edwin’s response to the fair treatment question also shows an intersectional understanding of how education, criminal justice, and civil rights are all linked to each other and to the inequalities facing our nation. His desire to hold town halls and build coalitions around these key issue areas prove that he is truly community-minded, which proves his progressive vision of governing aligns with our own.

P.S. I had trouble downloading the entire video from last night’s Our Revolution forum, but here’s a good chunk.