"When there is a very low turnout,
weird things happen,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told a radio interviewer. He was worried that the progressive District Attorney candidate in Queens might win the next day.
Cuomo had good reason to worry. Voters did turn out, and the latest vote count indicates that progressive
Tiffany Cabán has won!To corporate Democrats like Cuomo, that’s really weird -- and distressing. To us, that’s really wonderful -- and inspiring!
A week after Cuomo’s fretful remarks, Cabán is about 1,200 votes ahead of the establishment candidate, with only a few thousand absentee ballots yet to be counted.
Two days before the election, RootsAction sent emails to the 8,000 people on our active email list in Queens. We wrote: “In the first competitive Queens DA race in over 60 years, Cabán is
the only candidate who will reckon with the racially-biased criminal justice system and deliver transformative justice to the borough.”
And our email added: “In the DA’s office, she will work to
decriminalize poverty, end the war on drugs, keep immigrant communities safe, and treat substance abuse as a medical issue. She will end cash bail, close Rikers Island and stop building new jails. And
she will tackle corporate crimes and economic violence.”
In the aftermath of the history-making election,
BuzzFeed News reported that one of the 15 corporate Democratic lawmakers named by RootsAction in our new “
Bad Blues” report, Congressman Gregory Meeks, is likely to be the next target of progressives in Queens.
If you support our work and want us to have
even more impact, please
throw some money in the hat for this ongoing project.
As
BuzzFeed reported, “RootsAction, an online group dedicated to ‘galvanizing people who are committed to economic fairness,’ this week named Meeks as one of the 15 members of Congress who should be primaried. . . . The RootsAction list also included
Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, and New York Rep.
Eliot Engel, who is currently facing two primary opponents in his Bronx district.”
When breaking the story about RootsAction’s “
Bad Blues” report,
HuffPost noted that we were bringing national attention to the need to challenge Meeks in next year’s primary: “Meeks,
a corporate-friendly opponent of tougher banking policies like the financial transaction tax, succeeded former Rep. Joseph Crowley as chair of the Queens County Democratic Party after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ousted Crowley in a June 2018 primary.”
Our full “
Bad Blues” report can be read at
BadBlues.org. From the webpage, please share via social media.
RootsAction is serious about helping to get genuine progressives into office. We can
fight the power of the establishment, and
we can win.
But that means large numbers of people need to do what they can. For some, that involves doing volunteer work, knocking on doors, making phone calls. Others, who don’t have much time to volunteer, can still help by making a donation.
As RootsAction follows up on our “
Bad Blues” report with outreach around the country, we ask you to
contribute what you can afford.
Thank you!
-- The RootsAction.org Team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
Background:
>>
Common Dreams: “New Report Details the 15 House Democrats That Should Face Progressive Challengers”>>
RootsAction.org: “Bad Blues: Some of the House Democrats Who Deserve to Be ‘Primaried’”>>
BuzzFeed News: “After a Major Win Tuesday Night, Progressives Are Looking at Ousting Another Establishment Democrat in New York”>>
Daily News: “Tiffany Cabán Stretches Queens DA Lead from Election Day - - Absentee Ballots Still Uncounted”>>
Daily News: “Cuomo Warns of ‘Weird Things’ When Voter Turnout Is Low in a Subtle Knock Against AOC and Progressives”
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