Rep. Donna Edwards’ (D. MD) U.S. Senate campaign is picking up more big endorsements. Yesterday, a national nurses union officially backed her campaign:
A national union that was one of the first to back the presidential bid of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is now lining up behind Rep. Donna F. Edwards in the competitive Democratic Senate primary in Maryland.
National Nurses United is supporting Edwards over Rep. Chris Van Hollen for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D).
NNU is the largest nursing union in the country, with about 185,000 members. Its super PAC has spent $2.4 million in support of Sanders, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
The group is known for a combative style and commitment to liberal activism that goes well beyond nurse-specific concerns. In the past, the group has feuded with the Service Employees International Union, which is backing Van Hollen.
“[Edwards] shares nurses’ values of caring, compassion, and community,” NNU Vice President Sandra Falwell said in a statement. She cited Edwards’s support for single-payer health care and new taxes on Wall Street transactions, as well as her opposition to free trade deals.
Edwards picked up two more endorsements today. The first one from a major Progressive group:
Today, People For the American Way (PFAW) announced its endorsement of progressive leader Rep. Donna Edwards for Maryland Senate. “Donna Edwards has developed a remarkable record of progressive leadership in Congress and she’ll be a powerful addition to the United State Senate” said PFAW President Michael Keegan. “Edwards stands up for everyday Americans, fighting back against the undue power that Wall Street and the NRA yield in Washington. Edwards, who if elected would become only the second ever African American woman in the Senate, will protect a woman’s right to choose, push for essential reforms to limit the influence of money in politics, and advocate for equal rights for all Americans.”
"I am honored to receive the endorsement of an organization that has a long legacy of standing up for all Americans," said Rep. Donna Edwards. "Since its founding, PFAW has fought for a more inclusive, free, and just America. Together, we'll fight to make sure every American can realize his or her dreams, regardless of race, gender, or economic background."
A single mom first elected to Congress in 2008, Edwards knows personally the importance of giving everyone a fair chance and making sure that no voice, no matter how powerful or how wealthy, outweighs the voice of any other American. That’s why she’s used her time in Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, launch “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds: An Economic Agenda for Women and Families’ with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, work with local leaders to pass the DREAM Act ballot initiative in Maryland, and so much more.
She also scored the endorsement from the major Progressive news source, The Nation:
One of the first tests comes on April 26 in Maryland. Congresswoman Donna Edwards is running in a Democratic primary to fill the seat of retiring US Senator Barbara Mikulski (for more, see Joan Walsh’s “We’ve Had 1 Black Woman Senator in 227 Years.”), while State Senator Jamie Raskin is seeking an open House seat representing the suburban DC area. Both seats are likely to be won by Democrats this November, in a state that has not backed a Republican for president since 1988. In crowded primaries that feature a number of credible candidates, Edwards and Raskin stand out as the contenders who will quickly emerge as progressive leaders in their respective chambers. The Nation urges Maryland voters to support their candidacies—just as, in the coming months, we’ll urge voters in other states to steer the Democratic Party and Congress to the left through the power of their ballots.
Edwards, the first African-American woman to represent Maryland in Congress, took an activist route to the House: She cofounded the National Network to End Domestic Violence and played a vital role in the struggle to enact the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. In key positions with Public Citizen, the Center for a New Democracy, and other groups, she has worked for decades with civil-rights, media-reform, labor-rights, peace, and social-justice movements. And she has brought this sensibility to her work as a member of the House, reaching out to Black Lives Matter activists and to campaigners for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, championing criminal-justice reform and gun control. She’s an advocate for fair trade and a foreign policy that emphasizes diplomacy and development, with a special focus on addressing poverty and climate change. As chair of the House Democratic Caucus’s Democracy for All Task Force, she’s been at the forefront of the movement for electoral reform. Indeed, after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision removed all limits on corporate spending to influence elections, Edwards was the first member of Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to ensure that voters matter more than dollars.
Like Edwards, Raskin was an activist before he entered politics. As a constitutional-law professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and the founder, with the families of Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan, of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, Raskin has led fights for fair elections, voting rights, and broadening democracy. As a legislator, he has fought for marriage equality and against race and gender discrimination, defended civil rights and civil liberties, and won fights to protect the environment and expand protections for workers. In the class of new House members who will be seated in 2017, Raskin could join other public intellectuals, such as New York’s Zephyr Teachout and Washington State’s Pramila Jayapal, who recognize the vital importance of street-level activism—and insurgent candidacies—in pushing the Democratic Party and the House in a dramatically more progressive direction.
Lets help get out the vote for Edwards and Raskin on April 26th.
Click here to donate and get involved with Edwards’ campaign.
Click here to donate and get involved with Raskin’s campaign.