Stated Podcast: 2018 Candidates
Season 1, Episode 6 of Stated, a podcast by the DLCC
Jessica speaks with 5 extraordinary candidates who ran for state legislatures across the country in 2018, all of whom flipped their seat from red to blue. Listen to them tell you, in their own words, what inspired them to run, what they hope to do first if they’re elected, and what issue or story they think more people should know about this year. This interview was first published on November 3, 2018 and has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2018, Faith Winter won Senate District 24 in the Colorado state Senate, flipping the seat from red to blue, and also won our unofficial contest for best campaign hashtags with #gottohaveFaith and #Winteriscoming. She previously served two terms in the Colorado House. Since her election, Senator Winter has pushed for paid family leave in Colorado, sponsoring a landmark bill.
Senator Winter: In our country, states have a lot of rights, and we don’t have to listen to the administration. Taking back the Colorado Senate, being able to say we aren’t implementing awful sexist, racist, xenophobic laws is one of the reasons that I decided I wanted to run.
Jared Mead flipped HD 44b in the Washington state House. Jared previous worked as a legislative aide in the State Senate and and served as a member of the Mill Creek City Council. Since winning his race the state House, he has worked to make it easier for constituents to play an active role in the legislative session. Jared is one of the 700 Democratic millennials who ran for their state legislature in 2018.
Representative Mead: Every generation has something to add to the conversation. When it comes to things like college affordability for instance, older generations never had to worry about graduating with half a mortgage worth of school debt and then struggling to find a job with a salary high enough to just pay off their debts. When it comes to things like common sense gun reforms, my generation is the first post-Columbine generation who grew up doing active shooter drills. My generation is the one affected most by human-impacted climate change. And my wife and I talk about this all the time, but we’re going to be raising our son in a world with much less clean air, much less clean water… I’m not saying my generation has all the answers far, far from it, but we do all have something to add to the conversation and the discussion and our perspective needs to be heard.
Sydney Batch flipped HD 37 in the North Carolina state House. Sydney is a lawyer, social worker, and child welfare advocate. Since winning her race for the state House, Representative Batch has fought for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.
Representative Batch: I’ve met women who have not actually been able to get access to mammography or even when they do, they’re not able to afford the treatment. And so, you know, it’s so essential for the lower income individuals who would benefit from Medicaid. To be able to afforded the opportunity to have early detection of cancer or any other ailments that they may be suffering from. And then we all in turn benefit because we all know individuals who have had some diagnosis, be it cancer, diabetes, or other preexisting conditions. If Democrats aren’t elected, Republicans could roll back the pre-existing conditions clause and that would be devastating to so many people across the state and country.
Domingo DeGrazia flipped Legislative District 10 in Arizona’s state House. He is a Tucson native who has spent his career as an attorney working with families in the Arizona foster care system. Since winning his race for the state House, Representative DeGrazia has stood up against Republican efforts to allow guns on school campuses.
Representative DeGrazia: After the 2016 elections, I really had to do a self evaluation to see in which ways I could be involved to make the biggest impact. And for me, because of my knowledge of my knowledge of the Arizona statutes and how the budget affects families, running for the legislature is the best way that I can be useful and effective.
Tram Nguyen flipped the 18th Essex District in the Massachusetts state House. When Representative Nguyen was just 5-years-old, she and her family fled violence in Vietnam to find new hope and opportunity in the US. Today, she is giving back as a legal aid attorney specializing in family and immigration law, and working on legislation to preventing violence against women as a state Representative.
Representative Nguyen: I came here with a hundred dollars to our name and now I’m the first person in my family to go to law school. So when you are given the opportunity to succeed, amazing things happen… Every single person, if they work hard, should be able to have the quality of life that they deserve and that’s what I’ve committed to doing.
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