Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website.
Nebraska: Bordered on the north by South Dakota, on the South by Kansas. Eight Members of Congress and six Senators. All six Senators are Republicans. One Governor is a Democrat. One Member of Congress is a Democrat.
US Senator
Kansas: Former Mayor, The Rev. Mark Holland vs Republican incumbent Jerry Moran
South Dakota: Attorney and Ret. Lt. Col. Brian Bengs v. Republican Inc John Thune
Governor
Kansas: Incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly vs Attorney General Derek Schmidt
Nebraska: State Sen Carol Blood vs one of at least six Republicans competing for this Open Republican seat
South Dakota: Political Note #450 State House Min Leader Jamie Smith v Incumbent Republican Kristi Noem
US Congress
Kansas: KS 03 Political Note #412 Inc Sharice Davids vs Former Republican candidate Amanda Adkins for this district redistricted from a D+4 to an R+3. Still a Toss up
Nebraska: NE 02 Political Note # 453 State Senator Tony Vargas vs Incumbent Republican Don Bacon for this district redistricted from EVEN to R+3. Still a Toss up.
South Dakota: AL Attorney Ryan Ryder vs Incumbent Republican Dusty Johnson
Note links: Political Note links are to Lenspoliticalnotes. Links with names are to candidates’ websites.
031422 Political Note #453 Tony Vargas NE 02
2022 General Election
Redistricted NE 02 has become R+3. Before adjustments to attempt to protect the Republican incumbent in 2022, it was EVEN. Here is how NE 02 Congressional elections actually turned out:
2020 Republican by 4.6%
2018 Republican by 2%
2016 Republican by 1.2%
2014 Democratic by 3.3%
2012 Republican by 1.6%
It will be a little tougher for the Democratic nominee for NE 02 in 2022. Not impossible, though. The incumbent Republican, Don Bacon is considered by the Republicans to be the most vulnerable Republican Member of Congressman. Think this way. The Democrats are due in NE 02.
While reading about Tony Vargas’s https://www.vargasfornebraska.com candidacy for Congress, consider the great American tradition of the successful integration of immigrants into the American way of life. In addition, think about the false claims that American liberalism is a coastal phenomenon and that American progressives have no interest in middle America.
Tony Vargas’s parents were born in Peru. He did not plan to become an American politician. The BBC wrote about him: “Growing up, the Vargas family did not talk politics. They talked about work, and work was something you did with your hands. When his youngest son announced to his family that he was running for the Nebraska state senate at 31 years old, with no prior experience in public office aside from three years on the [appointed] Omaha school board, his father gave him a blunt assessment. “‘You’re not gonna win because the people that win are usually white. They’re usually rich or wealthy or have influence,'” Vargas recalled. “He said it with love, but he said it to me.”
Tony Vargas was prepared. Born in Queens, his family moved to the suburbs for the schools. Tony Vargas grew up in Smithtown on Long Island. He got his BA from the University of Rochester – one of the great small universities in the country. Planning to teach, he returned to New York to get a Master’s Degree and a license to teach from Pace University. Lauren Micek, who he eventually married, was also at Pace. She had been a community service worker in Orange County, California and attended a very different undergraduate university – a Baptist football and basketball mecca in Texas, Baylor University.
After two years as a special education teacher, Lauren Micek joined the staff of Teach for America. Tony Vargas taught for two years in Brooklyn under the auspices of Teach for American and then joined their staff. Teach for American sent him to Omaha to provide teacher development and support. It turns out, he was prepared for Nebraska, too. He worked there for a year for Teach for America and then became a policy analyst and consultant for Education First Consulting in Omaha. And he was appointed to the Omaha School Board. He had become a Nebraskan.
Lauren Micek Vargas went to law school. At Creighton University in Omaha. They had become Nebraskans. Tony Vargas veered a little bit from education. He became Executive Director of Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and then Executive Director of the Nebraska Association of Service Providers. Lauren became a Public Defender and, in 2018, she became Executive Director of the Education Rights counsel in Omaha. In 2016, Tony Vargas was elected to Nebraska’s unicameral legislature whose members are called Senators.
Tony Vargas gained recognition and responsibilities along the way. When he was working for Teach for American in New York, he served on the state Board of Professional Standards. In 2018 while Nebraska State Senator, he was appointed a Presidential Leadership Scholar. As the only Latino Senator in Nebraska’s legislature, he had additional responsibilities. He was a kind of representative for Latinos throughout the state. The BBC quote above came from a story about his hard, but futile work to protect Nebraska meat packing workers from Covid; to protect them from the circumstances of their work that exposed them to Covid. During the worst of the pandemic, Covid had a personal presence for him. His father, quoted above, died from Covid at age 72. His father was young man as far as I’m concerned. I am 80.
If the Democrats are due to win in NE 02 in 2022, Tony Vargas https://www.vargasfornebraska.com is in a position for that. He has earned respect; he has earned a place as a Nebraskan. Let’s help him take one more step up in Nebraska. Contribute to his campaign. He needs support. At the beginning of 2022, the incumbent Republican had just under a million dollars for his campaign. Tony Vargas had $440,000. That’s not nothing. He is in pepared to run a serious campaign. A winning campaign needs more. Donate.
Organizations to support that are not part of the Democratic establishment.
Focus for Democracy https://www.focus4democracy.org. They don’t ask for money for themselves, but recommend and run fund raisers for evidence-based programs that measure results
Fair Fight https://fairfight.com Stacey Abrams organization to support fair elections
The New Georgia Project https://newgeorgiaproject.org A non-profit registering voters.
The New North Carolina Project https://newnorthcarolinaproject.org A non-profit registering voters. I had a great conversation with their Executive Director
The New Pennsylvania Project https://www.newpaproject.org A non-profit registering voters.
The Lincoln Project https://lincolnproject.us. Ex Republicans with tough messaging.
Do you have other organizations you think I should list? Let me know.
Democratic Party Establishment Organizations to support
The Democratic National Committee (DNC). https://democrats.org
The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) https://www.dscc.org
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) https://dccc.org
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) https://democraticgovernors.org
The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) https://dems.ag
The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS) https://demsofstate.org
The Democratic (State) Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) https://dlcc.org
National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NRDC) https://democraticredistricting.com Led by Eric Holder
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