Political Note #151 Jessica Ramos NY SD 13

Jessica Ramos is an organizer and activist in Queens, NY. She has created a campaign for the state Senate that focuses on what would have passed with a Democratic majority in the Senate. She asserts that the parental leave and minimum wage increases would have just been a beginning had Democrats controlled the Senate.

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Political Note #150 Janet Mills ME Governor

Janet Mills is Maine's Attorney Genera. She is running for Governor. Janet Mills sees herself as a problem solver, even a conciliator. Notwithstanding her sojourn in California, she is no Democratic Socialist. As a state legislator, she earned an "A" rating from the NRA. As Attorney General, she earned the anger of the Penobscot Nation and liberal groups when she supported the governor and obtained a ruling that the Penobscot reservation included islands in the Penobscot River, but not the water itself. Regardless of her aspirations, Janet Mills was no problem solver as Attorney General. With LePage as governor, she had to choose between rolling over and confronting him. She chose confrontation.

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Political Note #149 Jason Crow CO CD 06

Jason Crow is a former Army Ranger and winner of the Bronze Star. He is a hunter and son of a blue collar family. He was an Obama supporter at the 2012 Democratic convention. He was moved to run for Congress by the 2016 election. Many who were so moved have focused on health care or on immigrants or the dangers of racism or the dangers of sexism. Crow was moved to run by and has focused on gun safety.

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Political Note #148 Abigail Spanberger VA CD 07

Abigail Spanberger investigated money laundering and narcotics distribution for the US Postal Inspection Service. Her constituents have been intrigued by her subsequent work with the CIA. She was an operations officer. She collected intelligence while living overseas. She recruited and managed assets. She was an American spy.

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Political Note #147 Andrew Kim NJ CD 03

Andy Kim is the son of poor immigrants from Korea. They expected a lot of him and got a lot. He went to the unusual and rigorous Deep Springs two year College and then to the University of Chicago where he earned a Truman scholarship. He went to Oxford, earned a Rhodes and a PhD. He went from Oxford to Washington and Kabul. He worked with generals in Afghanistan, then as he Iraq Country Director for the State Department and the Director for Iraq at the National Security Council.

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Political Note #146 Harley Rouda CA CD 48

Harley Rouda both brings money to the conversation and is a moderate. He is the son of a Columbus, Ohio real estate magnate. Harley was the CEO of the real estate conglomerate. He consolidated firms from Kentucky to northern Ohio. He is also a former attorney who specialized in capital formation. In this predominantly Republican district, the DCCC wanted the more moderate Democrat as its top vote getter. Rouda was the candidate the DCCC supported.

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071718 Political Note #143 Antonio Delgado NY CD 19

Antonio Delgado earned a Rhodes Scholarship at Colgage. Oxford then Harvard Law School. He spent five years in Los Angeles creating a hip hop record label and recording rap that was committed to social justice. He went on to practice law for Aikin, Gump, moved to upstate New York where his wife was from and where he is running for Congress, hoping to be one of the rare African Americans to represent an overwhelmingly white district.

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Political Note #142 Katie Porter CA CD 45

A law professor at the University of California - Irvine, Katie Porter has credentials to spare. She is a graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, a protegee of two of the most powerful women in the country -- Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Kamala Harris of California. At Harvard Law School, she was Elizabeth Warren's student. She worked for Kamala Harris when Harris was California's Attorney General. Like both of them, Porter is a consumer advocate.

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Political Note #141 Anita Earls NC Supreme Court

Anita Earls graduated from Williams College and Yale Law School. From Yale, she joined the Ferguson, Stein Law Firm, a distinguished, predominantly African American firm in Charlotte. She was there for ten years, becoming a partner. Anita Earlsspent two years as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Clinton administration, three years Director of the Voting Rights Project for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, and four years as Director for Advocacy for the University of North Carolina's Center for Civil Rights. From 2007 to 2017, Anita Earls was Executive Director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

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Political Note #139 Jared Golden ME CD 02

Jared Golden left college to join the Marines. He served four years in Iraq and Afghanistan. His transition to civilian life was not easy. Jared Golden was discovered working in a pizza joint. A Bates College Dean talked with him and persuaded him to apply. With their help, he renewed his life. He returned to Afghanistan to teach. He worked for Senators. He ran for office and progressed in the role. Now he is running for Congress.

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