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2020 General Election
A Perfect Storm In Our Favor
The “Free Times” of Columbia, SC explains Joe Cunningham’s https://www.joecunninghamforcongress.com/ election to Congress in 2018. South Carolina’s alternative newspaper explains a Democratic victory in a district that has been Republican since 1981.
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 started school at the College of Charleston – in SC CD 01. He transferred to Florida Atlantic University, where he studied ocean engineering. He was elected to represent Charleston and the other communities in District 1. Charleston is a port and a tourist center. Cunningham explained the president’s proposal to authorize offshore Atlantic Ocean oil drilling everywhere except Florida threatened the port and the tourists. He is a pro at that kind of stuff.
Joe Cunningham was blessed with an opponent who saw nothing wrong with the President’s proposal for offshore oil drilling. Like a good Republican, she supported President Trump. Offshore oil drilling, too. Until she was under attack. Then she inched back. Which did not do her any good either.
Joe Cunningham had one quality that really impressed the professionals. He raised money and he spent it early. The Free Times quotes an ex state legislator describing him as being disciplined and organized in raising money. He was willing to spend several hours a day on the phone calling potential donors. Just like a Congressman. He raised more money than his opponent. He used that money. He was on television first. He made himself a presence.
Joe Cunningham was an attractive candidate in other ways, too. The “Free Times” said he “looks like a movie star” and cites the movie star he looks like. They described him as affable. He did a brewery tour. One at a time, he went to the breweries in the district, stayed a while, drank a little bit, and chatted with people about politics.
I’ll come back to breweries, but heritage as a Southerner first. He is from Kentucky. He went to Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase School of Law. This may not be a clue, but Chase was an Ohio abolitionist. Northern Kentucky was not Confederate Territory. Kentucky remained in the Union. Kentucky soldiers fought on both sides – 35,000 for the Confederacy, 125,000 for the Union. It is a Unionist Southern tradition that Joe Cunningham has brought to Charleston.
Joe Cunningham found a way to get noticed in Congress. He was stopped on his way into Congress. He wasn’t mistaken for an intern, though at a youthful looking 36 he could have been. His beer was confiscated. He had been bringing samples of local South Carolina brews to Peter DeFazio, Congressman from Oregon and, among other things, head of Congress’s Brewer’s.
Joe Cunningham is an affable guy. He was having some fun. His constituents can relate to that. They also relate to how he has voted so far. He promised not to vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and he kept that promise. He voted for Cheri Bustos of Illinois, head of the DCCC. The DCCC supports incumbents and candidates for Congress.
Joe Cunningham’s constituents can probably relate to the caucuses he belongs to. They are the New Democrats (moderate Democrats who are fiscally conservative) and the Blue Dogs (There are only 27 of them, but they are the most conservative Demsocrats.).
Joe Cunningham’s constituents can appreciate the committees he is on. An Ocean Engineer, he is on the Committee on Natural Resources. An Opponent of offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic, he is on the Subcommittee on Energy and mineral resources and the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. He has also joined at least one other opponent of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker as a member of the Committee on Veteran’s Affairs.
It is a near miracle that Joe Cunningham https://www.joecunninghamforcongress.com/ was elected to Congress. Sustain that miracle. Give him a little money. A little money each month will go a long way toward keeping him in Congress.
Incumbents who need our help now for 2020.
Doug Jones AL Senator won by 21,924 of 1,348,720 votes
Ben McAdams UT 04 won by 694 votes of 269,271 votes
TJ Cox CA 21 won by 862 votes of 113,616 votes
Lucy McBath GA 06 won by 3,264 votes of 317,032 votes
Kendra Horn OK 05 won by 3,298 votes of 238,738 votes
Jared Golden ME 02 won by 3,509 votes of 281,371 votes*
Xochitl Torres Small NM 02 won by 3,722 votes of 199,256 votes
Andy Kim NJ 03 won by 3,973 votes of 306.875 votes
Joe Cunningham SC 01 won by 3,982 votes of 287,433 votes
