This is Will Cunningham, the gay black Millennial running for Congress that you’ve probably never heard of
Will is a gay, black, formerly homeless, Ivy League grad, former teacher, and Millennial, running for House Representative for NJ District 2, a seat that has been Republican controlled for over 20 years. He was a member of NJ Senator Cory “Bae” Booker’s staff, and also worked for Elijah Cummings on the House Oversight Committee investigating price gouging by Big Pharma. Currently, he’s the only of 4 Democratic candidates running for this district who has actual on the ground experience in Washington and he’s progressive AF: read about his campaign platform here. To highlight though, Will supports civil rights for those communities that need them most (POC, LGBTQ+, women, immigrants, the homeless, etc), taking corporate money out of politics, preserving pro-choice policy, reforming education, making prisons more rehabilitative and less punitive, implementing socialized health care, advancing common sense gun control, amongst other things. If you ever have the opportunity to meet him, he’s one of the most down-to-earth, relatable people you’ll ever meet and he doesn’t come off at all like your typical stuffed shirt running for public office. He probably has a secret tumblr full of cat memes honestly because that’s just the kind of person he is.
And then there’s This Guy.
This is NJ State Senator Jeff Van Drew, Will’s main competition in the NJ District 2 Congressional race. If you’ve heard of him, it’s probably because Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg famously called him out on Twitter back in April.
Van Drew is a Democrat in name only, as he consistently voted against legalizing same-sex marriage and has an “A” rating from the NRA (who have donated to him in the past), probably because he helped sponsor legislation that would’ve allowed concealed handguns in NJ. When asked by NJ students who organized South Jersey March for Our Lives events about the donation, Van Drew LIED and said he’d never taken any money from the NRA. He also declined to make an appearance at the South Jersey March For Our Lives event, in spite of being invited. Van Drew also has a dirty history of sponsoring conservative anti-choice legislation and then removing his name from the bills after they pass or fail. In short, he’s a shady AF mayonnaise-flavored milkshake whose political leanings apparently change whichever way the donation winds blow. However, because he’s an old rich white guy with lots of old rich white guy friends involved in NJ politics, he’s taken the line for the primaries in pretty much every county in District 2. Many who sit on their County Democratic Committees have expressed a feeling that their county conventions were merely staged parties for Van Drew, and that having elected delegates vote for primary candidates was just for show, as his nomination had been secured the moment he announced he was running. Given the opportunity to throw their support behind a young gay man of color who worked in Washington and has appeal to a very wide constituency base and Another Old Status Quo White Guy™️, NJ Democrats in high positions chose Van Drew over his arguably more diverse and qualified competition for an election that has been identified by political experts as a battleground race that will be key in flipping Congressional control.
Gee, why does this scenario feel so familiar? It’s almost like old liberals learned absolutely nothing from the 2016 election cycle and are hell bent on alienating the people whose votes they need most. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The shame of it all though is that in spite of plenty of coverage locally in NJ, almost nobody outside of the state has heard of Will Cunningham.
So please, help me make this man go viral. Barack Obama said, “Be the change you want to see in the world” and Will is a part of that. If we want real change in our government, it starts at a local level by electing candidates who actually represent the interests of the people. Arguably, primary elections are more important than general elections, and if you don’t believe me ask yourself how the 2016 election would’ve gone if Bernie Sanders had won the democratic primary election instead of Hillary Clinton.
It’s rare to have the opportunity to vote for a candidate with as diverse a background as Will Cunningham, so I hope you all will help get his name out there so people in NJ know they have an option other than the same old same old who might as well be the Republican whose held that office since 1995.
#dismantlethemachine #whentheresawilltheresaway