Nate McMurray is a progressive Democrat running for Congress in the most Republican congressional district in New York. President Donald Trump may have lost statewide by 23 percent in 2016, but here in the 27th congressional district, which stretches across rural western New York from outside Buffalo to outside Rochester, he won comfortably by 24 percent.
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| Nate McMurray and Chris Collins |
Winning the 27th was thus destined to be a long-shot bid for McMurray. But that bid became a little more plausible in August when his opponent, Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), was arrested on charges of insider trading. In the last six weeks, Collins has suspended his campaign, un-suspended his campaign, and returned to actively running for re-election. Collins was the first person in Congress to give Trump his endorsement, which means all the conflicts over the president’s divisive rhetoric and policies colors the race in the 27th. And though Collins is currently out on bail and facing real jail time, he will still be difficult to beat.
McMurray’s campaign didn’t just throw out the traditional playbook on how Democrats can compete in safe Republican seats — it never bought it in the first place. McMurray, a small-town supervisor with international business experience, isn’t trying to hide his progressive principles. But he is trying to translate them for Trump voters to make the case that the economic ideas that originally got them excited about Trump’s message are actually rooted in Democratic party traditions: Bad trade deals have hollowed out the American middle class. The forgotten men and women of America need someone who fights for them. And progressivism, not Trump conservatism, is truly the home to the policy ideas that will fix these messes.
McMurray contends that both Trump voters, and progressives who want to stop losing elections alike, should listen to candidates like himself who forcefully articulate progressive policies, not those who emulate Trumpian conservatism.
Medicare for All? It’s the main reason he’s running, he told ThinkProgress. Insurance companies “protect their monopolies so they can price gouge.” If the richest country in the world “can’t afford a way to provide basic care to its citizens, it’s wrong, it’s shameful.”
“This is the moral and economically smart thing to do,” McMurray contends. Democratic politicians who don’t support it “need to read some books, wake up.”
Money in politics? He believes “dark money in politics is ruining our country” and so he isn’t taking corporate money. “If someone controls you financially,” he says, “they control you every single other way.”
Climate change? He says it’s an existential problem, and we have to invest heavily in renewables. “It’s horrible what’s happening to the world and it’s going to get worse and worse, and it’s going to affect our business,” he contends.
McMurray’s campaign didn’t just throw out the traditional playbook on how Democrats can compete in safe Republican seats — it never bought it in the first place. McMurray, a small-town supervisor with international business experience, isn’t trying to hide his progressive principles. But he is trying to translate them for Trump voters to make the case that the economic ideas that originally got them excited about Trump’s message are actually rooted in Democratic party traditions: Bad trade deals have hollowed out the American middle class. The forgotten men and women of America need someone who fights for them. And progressivism, not Trump conservatism, is truly the home to the policy ideas that will fix these messes.
McMurray contends that both Trump voters, and progressives who want to stop losing elections alike, should listen to candidates like himself who forcefully articulate progressive policies, not those who emulate Trumpian conservatism.
Medicare for All? It’s the main reason he’s running, he told ThinkProgress. Insurance companies “protect their monopolies so they can price gouge.” If the richest country in the world “can’t afford a way to provide basic care to its citizens, it’s wrong, it’s shameful.”
“This is the moral and economically smart thing to do,” McMurray contends. Democratic politicians who don’t support it “need to read some books, wake up.”
Money in politics? He believes “dark money in politics is ruining our country” and so he isn’t taking corporate money. “If someone controls you financially,” he says, “they control you every single other way.”
Climate change? He says it’s an existential problem, and we have to invest heavily in renewables. “It’s horrible what’s happening to the world and it’s going to get worse and worse, and it’s going to affect our business,” he contends.
Much more at the link.
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