We are lucky in the Texas 10th to have 3 progressive candidates — Mike Siegel, Shannon Hutcheson & Pritesh Gandhi are all good progressives. I’m writing to tell you about Dr. Gandhi. I first noticed him on Twitter, with a strong pro-choice stance:
He is also very much involved in the fight for gun safety:
I also found this thread about overcoming a stutter to be moving & impressive:
And he is continuing to treat patients — at a free clinic! — while running for the nomination. I love his compassion for people who can’t afford their meds:
Dr. Gandhi is originally from Houston — Houston did go blue, but the part of it in CD10 at least was conservative, and has always been the problem in this district. Houston is so big that even a little sliver of it just overwhelms us. But he has support there — the Katy area is changing - and that will help us win this time. There is a big immigrant community there, and Dr. Gandhi’s story resonates. I feel sure his story will help us finally win against McCaul’s millions of dollars.
Info from his campaign:
● This is his first time running for office, but he has been involved in activism for a long time, including working to combat gun violence and protesting the current
administration’s inhumane policies at the border with Mexico
○ Started a group called Doctors for Gun Safety after the Sandy Hook shooting in
2012
○ Led the nation’s largest rally of physicians and health care professionals at the
Tornillo detention center last year to protest the Trump administration’s border
policies
● He is a former Fulbright scholar and was voted Austinite of the Year
● Pritesh lives in Austin with his wife and three young daughters
About the race:
● There are 3 Democrats running in the primary, which will take place on March 3rd:
○ Pritesh
○ Mike Siegel - was the Democratic nominee in this district last year and he’s a great progressive, but while Beto won the popular vote in the district by about half a point, Siegel lost the district by a bit more than 4 points. Although Siegel made significant progress in the district,because of his background and diverse life experiences, Pritesh is better positioned to defeat Congressman McCaul in the general election next November.
○ Shannon Hutcheson - Shannon is a corporate lawyer in Austin; who left a big firm and started her own small, women-owned law firm with a longtime colleague and friend. According to the Emily’s List page for her, she has supported the Austin Children’s Shelter/SAFE Alliance, and done legal work for Planned Parenthood. However, the Texas Observer recently reported on Shannon’s work defending some troubling clients, including a prison guard who sexually abused migrant women. [and yes, she was endorsed by Emily’s List, but voting in a Republican primary, combined with her problematic legal work….. makes her a “no” for me. I know in a lot of areas of Texas, the only contests are in the Republican primary but that’s not the case in Austin. There’s no excuse to vote in their primary in Austin. ]
● Michael McCaul has been in Congress for seven terms and hasn’t held a town hall in the district in a decade.
[Personal note — I have never gotten a single reply to any e-mail I sent his office. For congressional constituent stuff, I go to the very best congressman ever in the history of the U.S., Lloyd Doggett. Technically, he has been gerrymandered away from most of Austin, but he still represents us. Oh, and he has a primary opponent, so if you want to give him some love also, that would be great]
● Soon after Pritesh announced his campaign for Congress, McCaul made an official visit to Pritesh’s clinic (for the first time) in an apparent attempt to intimidate Pritesh.
Needless to say, it didn’t work!
Issue-based information about Pritesh’s policies and views can be found on our website:
www.gandhifortexas.com.
I love this video from his campaign, on how important immigrants & diversity are:
DKHIVE Group Guidelines
The DKHive Community group has been created by former Kamala2020 Group members to positively support efforts to re-take the Senate and keep Democratic control of the House of Representatives.
We will support candidates supported by Senator Harris as well as other candidates, especially women, POC, and down-ballot democrats in local races.
All should be made to feel welcome here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
We’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Democratic control of the Senate and House, that we not respond to negativity from other campaigns’ supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace.
(FYI: Zero Tolerance for Misogyny/Misogynoir)
😋 ❤️ 😋 💜 😋 💙 😋
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If you would like to join our group, please ask for an invitation in the comments, and one will be KosMailed to you.
Our members will largely share in writing diaries, in much the same fashion as we did with the Kamala2020 group — all voices are welcome. We hope to continue with regular 2 or 3 x weekly diaries, although we will vary the publish times of the diaries throughout the week. Suggestions on this are welcome! Sign-ups will begin immediately!
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Please volunteer for the down-ballot effort!
YOUR VOICE MATTERS!
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Upcoming schedule:
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Thursday |
Jan 16 |
time TBA |
Dfh1 |
Saturday |
Jan 18 |
time TBA |
rflctammt |
Monday |
Jan 20 |
time TBA |
TBA |
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We would love to hear about your down-ballot-related idea, in the comments below or kosmailed to the group! Would you like to write about a challenger taking on a Republican-held or red-leaning seat? How about our embattled incumbents, many of whom have been targeted by dark money and other nasty attacks? Or do you have another down-ballot-related idea? This is a way to make a difference! 💭💡🖊️📄⚡🗳️🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊