Mediaboss Marketing

By Peggy OHare, Staff Writer

U.S. Air Force veteran and national security expert Gina Ortiz Jones, who is from San Antonio, announced Wednesday that she will challenge Congressman Will Hurd for the U.S. District 23 seat. She is a Democrat.

U.S. Air Force veteran and national security expert Gina Ortiz Jones, who is from San Antonio, announced Wednesday that she will challenge Congressman Will Hurd for the U.S. District 23 seat. She is a Democrat.

Congressman Will Hurd, a Republican from Helotes, has represented the 23rd Congressional District of Texas since 2014.

Congressman Will Hurd, a Republican from Helotes, has represented the 23rd Congressional District of Texas since 2014.

San Antonio Democrat challenging Hurd for congressional seat

A U.S. Air Force veteran and national security expert from San Antonio announced Wednesday that she will challenge Congressman Will Hurd for the U.S. District 23 seat.

Gina Ortiz Jones, 36, a graduate of Jay High School and a veteran of the war in Iraq, is running as a Democrat against Hurd, a 39-year-old Republican from Helotes first elected to lead the district in 2014.

Jones is a first-generation American and a former Air Force intelligence officer. She said she will work to protect peoples health care and the environment.

As a veteran, she said she wont oppose or vote against the wishes of the U.S. secretary of defense.

I know that national security starts at home. It starts with the type of opportunities that I had the type of opportunities that allow our most vulnerable to become our most promising, Jones said Wednesday. And those opportunities are protected or erased based on how people vote in D.C.

Ive talked to folks that are tired of being told one thing and then their representative (votes) against their interests in D.C.

Hurds campaign brushed off news of a Democratic challenger.

Will Hurd is focused on building upon his record of being the most effective member of Congress since 2014, Hurd campaign manager Justin Hollis said in a prepared statement. He delivers for the district while the Democratic challengers only deliver tired talking points.

Jones was raised by a single mother who came to the United States from the Philippines. After graduating from high school in San Antonio, Jones attended Boston University on a four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship. She went on to serve in the Air Force for nearly three years, deploying to Iraq in 2005.

She then pursued a 12-year career in national security, intelligence and defense, including serving in the Defense Intelligence Agency. She most recently was a director for investment at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, reviewing foreign investments coming into the U.S. for national security risks.

After serving for eight months under President Barack Obamas administration and seven months under President Donald Trumps administration, she resigned in June and returned to San Antonio.

pohare@express-news.net

Read the original post:
San Antonio Democrat challenging Hurd for congressional seat ... - mySanAntonio.com

(This post was updated at 12:45 p.m. Thursday to clarify that the potential candidate is exploring the race, but has not definitely made a decision.)

At least one more candidate, with roots in Washington County, might soon be entering the race for the Democratic nomination in the 21st Congressional District in 2018, said Warren County Democratic Chairwoman Lynne Boecher.

"It's a woman," Boecher said Thursday, referring to a new potential candidate exploring the race. "She's in Africa right now. She's from Granville."

Five candidates have already announced they are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Among other political parties, Russell Finley of St. Lawrence County, a beef cattle farmer and real estate broker, is challenging U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, a two-term incumbent, in a Republican primary.

Two female Green Party members are seriously considering the race, according to Matt Funiciello, the party's congressional candidate in 2014 and 2016.

Christopher Schmidt of Fort Edward, a political activist, announced earlier this year is exploring running in the Libertarian Party line.

Follow staff writer Maury Thompson at All Politics is Local blog, at PS_Politics on Twitter and at Maury Thompson Post-Star on Facebook.

Go here to see the original:
BLOG: Another Democrat exploring NY21 - Glens Falls Post-Star (blog)

The Oakland Press

Democrats begin to see Pelosi as a 2018 problem Belleville News-Democrat In a survey of 20 Democratic House candidates, only one a former Senate staffer from Orange County, California would state support for the congresswoman staying on as leader of the House Democratic Caucus. Of the rest, 18 declined to say if Pelosi ... Column: Democrats' 'better deal' is a raw dealThe Oakland Press all 13 news articles »

View original post here:
Democrats begin to see Pelosi as a 2018 problem - Belleville News-Democrat

"Tax reform cannot be a cover story for delivering tax cuts to the wealthiest," the senators wrote in a letter partially spearheaded by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Democrats laid down a marker Tuesday for any future tax reform legislation, urging President Donald Trump and the GOP to seek a bipartisan bill and outlining the conditions to secure their votes.

Many Republicans are pressing their leaders to move past the controversial Obamacare repeal debate and dig in on a tax overhaul, but the tax reform debate looks increasingly likely to reflect the same partisan divisions. Still, Democrats are making their move early in hopes of trying to secure the seats at the negotiating table that the GOP denied them on the Obamacare debate.

Story Continued Below

In a letter to Trump and GOP leaders Tuesday, 45 of the 48 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus urged the GOP not to use arcane budget reconciliation procedures to shield any tax reform bill from a filibuster. As the Obamacare repeal effort fell apart, some Republican senators began calling for the inclusion of Democrats on a bill that could win 60 votes.

"Using a fast-track process like reconciliation would undoubtedly result in outsized political influence on the process and significantly hinder lawmakers' ability to close loopholes and end special interest favoritism that plagues our current tax system," wrote the Democratic senators.

A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Although Republicans have long indicated they plan to sidestep Democrats again by using reconciliation to pass a tax bill, White House legislative affairs director Marc Short suggested Monday that Democrats representing states Trump carried in November might be inclined to work with his party on the legislation.

The three caucus members who declined to sign Tuesday's tax letter are all up for reelection next year and hail from Trump-won states: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).

The Democrats who signed onto Tuesday's letter, spearheaded by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee, also made two blunt demands on taxes: They will not back any bill that gives new breaks to the wealthiest individuals and will not back any legislation that adds to the deficit.

"Tax reform cannot be a cover story for delivering tax cuts to the wealthiest," the senators wrote. "We will not support any tax plan that includes tax cuts for the top 1 percent."

The Democrats added that they "will not support any effort to pass deficit-financed tax cuts, which would endanger critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other public investments in the future."

The White House has released few details on its preferred parameters for a tax package, with congressional Republicans likely to fill in many details. But the administrations broad tax reform principles suggest that Trump is entertaining a tax bill that would slash rates for upper-income earners. There is still debate within the GOP over whether the tax bill should be entirely paid for or whether it could add to the deficit.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

See more here:
Senate Democrats set conditions for tax reform - Politico

More than $3 million has poured into the race more than for some recent U.S. congressional races in Washington. The winner will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control Washingtons state Senate.

Seattle Times Olympia bureau

Democrat Manka Dhingra took a comfortable lead Tuesday evening over Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund in a key special Washington Senate election that will determine the balance of power in Olympia.

In the initial returns, Dhingra led with 50.5 percent of the vote in the 45th District race to fill a vacancy created last year by the death of Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond. Englund got about 42.5 percent.

The contest will decide whether the GOP keeps its one-seat majority in the state Senate. Democrats hold a slim majority in the state House, as well as the governorship.

Already, more than $3 million has poured into the race. Just last week, independent political committees reported spending $500,000 in the race most of it against Dhingra. The message I was getting at the doors and from the people in the community is that they were really upset about the ads, said Dhingra.

Democrats have coalesced around Dhingra, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County. In that job, Dhingra supervises a regional mental-health court, a veterans court and a diversion program.

She has pledged to better fund education and raise new revenue through a tax on capital gains, rather than the property-tax shift that lawmakers approved this year to fund a court-ordered K-12 school funding plan. Dhingra has also talked about changing the culture in Olympia to avoid gridlock and address problems with more long-term solutions.

Republicans have rallied behind Englund, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and spokeswoman for the Bitcoin Foundation. Recently, Englund managed a team that developed a phone app to help the U.S. Marine Corps, in which her husband serves.

Englund has campaigned hard against the notion of a state income tax, which Dhingra also has said she opposes. Englund wants to ease traffic on I-405 by converting one of the HOV lanes into a general-purpose lane. And she has also pledged to cut car-tab fees that voters approved to fund Sound Transit 3.

Tuesday night, Englund described the race as, a choice between a candidate who will raise or create new taxes, and a candidate who wont.

See the original post here:
In high-profile state Senate race, Democrat Manka Dhingra leads Republican Jinyoung Englund - The Seattle Times