John,
We are thrilled to announce our newest endorsements for U.S. House of Representatives: Christina Bohannan of Iowa, Cora Neumann of Montana, and Patrick Schmidt of Kansas.
Christina, Cora and Patrick all embody the kind of candidate we love to see run in rural and working-class districts.
All three are running campaigns with broad bipartisan appeal focused on the kitchen table issues that matter to rural and working-class voters, and all three have personal experience and firsthand knowledge of just how hard it can be for folks in those districts to get by.
Like Christina Bohannan, who is running to unseat Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st district. Christina’s a state legislator and law professor now, but she grew up in a trailer in a small rural town, the youngest of three kids born to parents who never finished high school.
Christina’s dad had emphysema and lost his health insurance, so her family was forced to choose between paying for his medicine or paying for food, electricity, and everything else. She managed to piece together enough money from scholarships, student loans, and jobs picking oranges and cleaning trailers to attend college, becoming the first in her family to graduate, then went on to law school, where she graduated first in her class.
Christina, who currently serves in the Iowa State House and teaches law at the University of Iowa, says she’s running for Congress to make government work for families like the one she grew up in instead of wealthy special interests.
“Too many American families are struggling, worrying they’re just one bad break from not making ends meet, like my family was when my dad got sick,” Christina says. “I believe we need less bickering in Washington, and more working together, for a government that works for the people.”
Then there’s Cora Neumann, our endorsee running for the open 1st district seat in Montana.
Today, Cora is a successful health expert and advocate who runs a public health charity and founded the Global First Ladies Alliance, an organization that empowers the wives and partners of world leaders (including Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama here in the U.S.) to influence public policy in their countries.
But Cora grew up working-class in Bozeman, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather after her father was killed on the job at a lumber mill when she was just a baby. Cora’s stepdad was a union carpenter who traveled long hours across the state to help support his family, while her mom worked nights as a nurse to keep the family afloat.
Cora paid her way through college, grad school, and her Ph. D. with a combination of scholarships, loans, and side gigs as a nanny, waitress, and construction worker, but she still has thousands of dollars in student debt to this day.
“I believe Americans want leaders who understand their daily lives and struggles,” Cora says. “I know struggle, and I also know how to work with leaders at every level and from every background to get things done for the American people.”
Finally, we have Patrick Schmidt, who’s running for the open seat in Kansas’s 2nd district.
Patrick’s parents were both public school teachers who had to work second jobs to make ends meet. His father suffered from chronic heart disease and COPD, requiring the family to pay hundreds of dollars for lifesaving medication each month, even with insurance.
After graduating college with more than $120,000 in student loan debt, Patrick did what many rural and working-class young people do and joined the military, where he served as a Naval Intelligence Officer until transitioning to the reserves last year.
“I’ve seen the daily struggles families face when an unexpected illness or injury shocks the family budget,” says Patrick. “It’s a financial and emotional earthquake impacting everyone in the family. As a Congressman, I will do everything in my power for hardworking families in Kansas and throughout America to ensure they can thrive.”
Christina, Cora and Patrick aren’t out-of-touch career politicians, they’re regular, hardworking folks who know what hardship is like, overcame it to find success, and now want to do what they can to make life better for their families, friends, and neighbors.
We’re incredibly excited about our newest round of endorsements. We believe all three of them have what it takes to flip these previously red seats blue.
Will you help us support these fantastic candidates with a $20.22 contribution to the No Dem Left Behind Congressional Fund today?
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