In 2017 I got a call from Haley Stevens, a young woman who was running to represent western and northern Detroit in Congress (MI-11), a district represented by GOP bankster Dave Trott, who had the good sense to realize that
1- a huge blue wave was headed his way
2- being a Republican in Congress increasingly meant working for the despicable Trump
3- he was likely to lose
Trott decided to retire and the Republicans decided to run wealthy Republican donor Lena Epstein. Stevens outraised her $4.2 million to $2.7 million, while the DCCC and its allies spending $5.8 million to support Haley while the RNCC and its allies spending just $1.3 million on Epstein, dooming her campaign.
The reason Stevens called was because she was implementing a grassroots strategy and wanted an endorsement from Blue America. As part of the vetting process, I took her (and her mother) out for dinner at my favorite vegan restaurant in L.A., so we could get to know each other in a less formal way. And we did... and Blue America didn't endorse her or help her raise any money. My instinct was right; there was nothing remotely progressive about Haley Stevens-- just a garden variety Democratic political careerist. She won the election 52% to 45%.
Stevens hasn't been horrible enough in Congress for me to ask her to reimburse me for her part of the dinner. She isn't even the worst Democrat in Congress from Michigan; that would be Elissa Slotkin fist elected on the same day from a district next door. They both joined the corrupt Wall Street owned New Dems when they got to Congress and both racked up shitty voting records. Slotkin is rated "F" by Progressive Punch with a 67.30 lifetime score. Stevens has a "C," with a 79.72 lifetime score.
Elected on the same day as Stevens and Slotkin was a very different kind of Democrat, Andy Levin, one who went to Congress to get things done... and he has. For one thing, Levin doesn't just have the single best voting record in Congress-- an "A" and a 99.53 score, fractionally better than Jamie Raskin's and Mondaire Jone's-- he has been the strongest fighter for workers in the House and one of the Democrats' most serious foreign policy experts in Congress. He serves as Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Yesterday, Michigan's redistricting commission finalized the state's new district boundaries, which threw Levin and Stevens into the same southern Oakland County district (which Stevens doesn't live in). Levin's district is safely Democratic while Stevens' is competitive and she's too scared to run there. If you'd like to help Andy fend off a challenge from the New Dem, please click here or on the Blue America 2022 congressional thermometer on the left and contribute what you can. Expect groups representing the Republican wing of the Democratic Party to pile on in favor of Stevens. Chicagoland progressive Marie Newman, who serves with Levin in the Congressional Progressive Caucus leadership, told me this afternoon that she admires Rep. Levin "a great deal. Andy is a brilliant voice for labor, working families and equity for all and, an absolute joy to work with!"
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