Political Note #195 Xochitl Torres Small NM CD 02

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.

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Political Note #172 Carolyn Bordeaux GA CD 07

Carolyn Bordeaux was the Director of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State -- a kind of university think tank. She went to Yale, to USC for an MPA, to Syracuse for a doctorate. Her principal qualification for a run for Congress is her work for the Georgia State Senate. She was the Director of the Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office - a non-partisan job in a body with a Republican majority. She helped the Georgia Senate respond to the 207/2008 recession.

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Political Note #171 Kristen Carlson FL CD 15

After graduating from the University of Florida and Stetson College of Law, Kristen Carlson worked as a prosecutor in Pasco County. After that, she worked for the Florida Department of Citrus in Lakeland as a Senior Attorney and General Counsel for 12 years. She left government work to head an orange juice trade association. That made her a lobbyist. Not a popular role these days, but good experience in learning how to get things done in Congress.

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Political Note #170 Linda Coleman NC CD 02

Linda Coleman is one of ten children. She worked in the tobacco fields to earn clothing money for school. She went to North Carolina AT&T University and studied education. She taught school, then left for the University of Pittsburgh to get a Master's in Public Policy. She was elected as a Wake County Commissioner before becoming the Director of Human Resources for the Departments of Agriculture and Administration and later Personnel Director for the Department of Community Colleges. She was elected a state representative. Now she is running for the US Congress.

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Political Note #168 Andrew Gillum FL Governor

Andrew Gillum was President of the student body of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) -- an Historically Black University. He was elected to a one year term as a City Commissioner, then to a regular four year term after that. He was elected to two more four year terms after the first one. As a Commissioner, he focused on kids. He brought technology to youth and to the schools, opened a teen center, created a focus on restorative justice for youth, and supported the creation of a downtown park. He was elected Mayor with 76% of the vote.

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Political Note #166 Mary Barzee Flores FL CD 25

She grew up just outside of Miami's Little Havana. Her dad, a store manager, sickened, lost his job, his health insurance, and died while Mary was in high school. She learned what it was like when life is tough. She worked in fast food. She worked as a maid, dishwasher, waitress, bartender. She remembers the low wages, she remembers the sexual harassment. She was fortunate in her mother -- who was a military veteran and could provide some support. She was fortunate in her talent and her drive. She went to the University of Miami intending to learn how to conduct an orchestra. She got a law degree instead. She become a federal public defender She was elected to Florida's state court -- the state's eleventh circuit.

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Political Note #165 Diane Mitsch Bush CO CD 03

Diane Mitsch Bush has, however, become a figure in Colorado. People in Colorado know her as an effective legislator. She was a County Commissioner from 2007 to 2012. She was a state representative from 2013 to 2017. As a state rep she won awards: Most effective freshman legislator, the Farmers Union's most effective legislator, the Livestock Association's most effective legislator, Conservation Colorado's Legislator of the year. Rural groups that don't necessarily agree with each other agree on her.

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Political Note #164 Leslie Cockburn VA CD 05

Leslie Cockburn is a journalist and a film maker. She has been attacked for a 1991 book "Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the US-Israeli Covert Relationship." Her critics say the Cockburns always see Israel as a menace. Her opponent has been attacked for agreeing to join the Tea Party caucus in Congress if elected in order to get the nomination. He denies that there was any such a deal.

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