Cynthia Axne belongs to only one political caucus -- the New Democratic Coalition. Moderate. Moderate fiscally. She s clear about her political home. Proud of her "sharp elbows," she has prize committee assignments for a freshman Member of Congress from Iowa.
Gil Cisneros went to work for Frito Lay after he left the Navy -- in operational resources. He was a shipping and manufacturing supervisor. He was a Republican when he started. He had been a Democrat for two years before he was laid off in 2010. Weeks after he was laid off, he won the lottery.
Elaine Luria surprises us. She is a white, Jewish woman from the South who made a career in the military. She is a Democrat who was elected to Congress in 2018.
Debbie Mucarsel's mother left a prosperous, but apparently, dangerous life in Ecuador with her several daughters. An immigrant to California at age fourteen, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell would watch her mother work two jobs to keep going. She would watch her three older sisters become Americans. She would figure out what works in North America, what allows people to become successful.
Anthony Brndisi is a builder. As a member of the Utica School Board, he built new schools. As a state representative, he helped build a new hospital in Utica, helped create a nano technology center at SUNY Polytechnic, and fostered cyber security research and development elsewhere in his district.
There was a nice combination of Joe Cunningham’s professional strength and the issue he pounded his opponent with. Joe Cunningham is an ocean engineer and a lawyer. He was blessed with an opponent who saw nothing wrong with the President’s proposal for offshore oil drilling. He found a way to get noticed in Congress. He was stopped on his way into Congress. His beer was confiscated.
Jared Golden is the only Member of Congress to have been elected by Ranked Voting. He is the rare ex military newly elected Member of Congress who was an enlistee and not an officer. He is one of the even rarer Member of Congress to have been identified by the VA as having PTSD. He brings a distinctive and important voice to Congress.
Xochitl Torres Small was elected to Congress from NM 02 by less than 4,000 votes in 2018. The district is heavily Republican. She is vulnerable in 2020. She was a strong candidate. Wife of a state rep, a field rep for Senator Udall for three years, and an attorney whose expertise is water issues, she was well prepared for the 2018 campaign and is prepared for 2020. Her intriguing high school experience only adds to the strength of her candidacy.
Kendra Horn made the most of her return to Oklahoma. She put together a campaign for Congress. She focused on health care and on women’s issues. She discusses the importance of gun safety. Her other issues include education and job training and infrastructure. Her transition to being a Member of Congress is going well. She voted for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker, explaining the only other choice was Republican Kevin McCarthy. She got appointed to the Armed Services Committee, explaining the appointment will allow her to look out for Oklahoma’s military installations. She has been looking out for other Oklahomans. With two Oklahoma Republican Congressmen, she introduced a bill to fund the Indian Health Service, notwithstanding the government shutdown.
Before his election, TJ Cox focused on combinations of business and good works. He founded the Central Valley NMTC Fund -- a certified community development organization which uses the federal New Markets Tax Credit program for disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods. TJ Cox’s victory in 2018 was an adventure in and of itself. He originally planned on a candidacy for CA 10 – a district that had attracted nearly a dozen Democratic candidates. He was unlikely to be one of the top two in the non-partisan primary. He switched to CA 21 – persuading the 2016 losing Democrat to leave the race. Elected, he is on the Agriculture Committee. A good place for someone in California’s Central Valley. Addressing the government shut down, he introduced a bill to allow government employees not getting their paychecks, to borrow up to $6,000 from the government.