At VoteVets.org, we’ve endorsed a number of candidates in our relatively short history. We’ve even gotten four of them elected to Congress—all of whom have served during OEF and OIF. But one thing we’ve not yet had in our drive to elect Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to Congress is our own candidate for the U.S. Senate.
That all changed yesterday.
Yesterday, I’m proud to announce, we threw our full support behind Texas State Representative and Afghanistan veteran Rick Noriega in his bid to unseat Republican Senator John Cornyn.
This is a big step for us, as getting a veteran elected to the Senate is a completely different game from getting one elected to the House. In fact, it’s much more difficult with the intensity of primaries, coupled with the exorbitant sums of money that must be raised. But we’re not afraid of that. In actuality, we’re relishing this opportunity to elevate our operations to the next level. Because we know there’s a demand for competent, experienced, and proven leaders to replace those in the Senate who don’t support our troops—like John Cornyn, who recently voted against the Webb-Hagel Amendment, despite the wishes of the Army. And that’s why we know we can succeed.
This is what Jon Soltz wrote to Representative Noriega yesterday:
As an Afghanistan veteran, you are keenly and personally aware that the current course we are on has not only brought our fine Army and Marine Corps to the breaking point, but has endangered our security, as al Qaeda has been able to reconstitute and strengthen itself in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The dose of reality that you will bring to the floor of the Senate couldn’t come at a more important time.
Unfortunately for Texans, one of the weakest voices on troops’ and veterans’ issues has been John Cornyn. Whether it’s his steadfast refusal to allow our military time to refit and rearm for the long fight against terror ahead, or his votes against care for veterans, Texas has little to be proud of when it comes to John Cornyn’s record on the veterans and troops. We know, however, you will be our champion.
Besides our traditional monetary and media support, we’re also going to be able to offer tangible, boots-on-the-ground support to the Noriega campaign through our Texas VoteVets team. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while, and we now have a team of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans on standby (located primarily in the Dallas area) to support Representative Noriega in a number of ways.
I am very pleased and excited to have reached this point, and I know that we couldn’t have done it without the support of the Kos community and the rest of the Netroots. With your continued support, we’ll take this seat.
Heads up, Senator Cornyn.
UPDATE: Here is the donation link for the Noriega ActBlue page. You may donate there or at Rick Noriega for Senate.