US Congress 2018

Political Note #138 Jennifer Wexton VA CD 10

Jennifer Wexton is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the William and Mary Law School. She began her legal work in 2001 as an assistant prosecutor in Loudon County. The next year, she was assigned to lead the prosecution in a case that attracted attention. Twenty year old college student Clara Schwartz was accused and, as a consequence of Jennifer Wexton's prosecution, convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy in orchestrating her father's murder. Wexton did her job and got the conviction. She also became electable.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #138 Jennifer Wexton VA CD 10

Political Note #137 Katie Hill CA CD 25

Katie Hill is the grandchild of prosperity that came as a result of military scholarships. Her parents were a nurse and a cop. One grandfather went to Yale on a ROTC scholarship and became an aeronautical engineer. The other grandfather, after a stint in the army, used the GI Bill to go to college and to pay for graduate school at Princeton. He taught political science at UCLA. Kate Hill brings her own kind of toughness and risk taking. She and her husband are rock climbers. She uses both toughness and responsiveness as an advocate for the underdog. She worked as Executive Director of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH). She was instrumental in getting a referendum passed to help provide homes and support for the homeless in Los Angeles.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #137 Katie Hill CA CD 25

Political Note #136 Colin Allred TX CD 32

Colin Allred brings to the table a life transformed by his reading Barack Obama's Dreams of My Father. He was moved by the experiences of a man like him -- a mixed race child raised by his white, single mom, confronting his aspirations and his identify. He changed his career interest from medicine to public service. His first career interest, though, was football. He played outside linebacker for the Tennessee Titans for five years. After law school at the University of California, his legal focus was civil rights.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #136 Colin Allred TX CD 32

Political Note #133 Gil Cisneros CA CD 39

Gil Cisneros running for Congress because he was lucky. In 2010, he won the lottery -- $266 million.He had had a productive life without the lottery. When he won the lottery, he had retired from the navy and was a shipping and distribution manager. he started nonprofits focused on helping Latino kids succeed in school. He started scholarship funds for those kids who did succeed in school. He studied education. He switched political parties; became a Democrat. He went into politics.

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Political Note #132 Amy McGrath KY CD 06

Amy McGrath was at the Naval Academy when the rule about women flying in combat was changed. She trained as a pilot and, in Afghanistan, became the first woman to fly an F-18 on a combat mission, the first of her several missions. She did a second tour flying in Iraq. Later, as a Marine Corps Congressional Fellow, she provided defense and foreign policy advice. Still later, she served as the Marine Corps liaison to the State Department. Now she is running for Congress in Kentucky.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #132 Amy McGrath KY CD 06

Political Note #131 Susan Wild PA CD 07

Susan Wild has been honored by the Governor, by the Lehigh Valley Business Council. She was named one of Pennsylvania's top 50 women attorneys. She is on several civic boards. She has had tough and interesting cases in her career. Her toughest, though, was serving as City Solicitor in Allentown during an investigation of corruption. For her work during that investigation, she earned praise from the FBI.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #131 Susan Wild PA CD 07

Political Note #129 Danny O’Connor OH CD 12

Danny O'Connor's case for election rests on his work as Franklin County Recorder. Not glamorous work. Not work for a member of the elite. The Recorder keeps land records -- deeds, surveys, mortgages, easements, and liens. Danny O'Connor cleaned up an office which was badly run. He is in tune with his electorate.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #129 Danny O’Connor OH CD 12

Political Note #128 Lizzi Pannill Fletcher TX CD 07

Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is a tough, colorful, corporate lawyer. Her firm describes her as someone who wins cases. She has progressive positions on every issue except unions. Her law firm has opposed unions for corporations, which she does not disavow.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #128 Lizzi Pannill Fletcher TX CD 07

Political Note #127 Scott Wallace PA CD 01

Scott Wallace is conscious of a family predecessors: farmers, writers, entrepreneurs, business exeuctives, philanthropists, and a vice president under FDR. He has been a business executive and a philanthropist. Now he is seeking to expand his influence by serving in Congress.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #127 Scott Wallace PA CD 01

Political Note #126 Kara Eastman NE CD 02

Kara Eastman has been CEO of the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance (OHKA). Focused on combating lead poisoning, the organization expands its work by addressing the context in which lead poisoning happens. She was a surprise winner in the Democratic Primary taking on the incumbent Congressman.

Continue ReadingPolitical Note #126 Kara Eastman NE CD 02
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