IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dems’ first wave of recruits ‘outsiders’ in 2017 version of Tea Party
USA Today
By Heidi Przybyla
MURPHYSBORO, Ill. — If there is a Democratic wave election in 2018, the tide will probably bring in individuals like Brendan Kelly, a state’s attorney in St. Clair County and former Navy officer who’s never run for the state legislature or Congress.
For Democrats like 41-year-old Kelly — a clean-cut Irishman and University of Notre Dame alum who’s prosecuted corruption on both sides of the aisle and sat on the school board — entering national politics is no longer distasteful. It’s necessary.
“The things that have made us unique and special in history — the institutions of democracy and rule of law — are threatened in a way they probably haven’t been in our lifetime,” Kelly told USA TODAY during a recent 90-minute car ride through his southwestern Illinois district with vast rural pockets.
While Kelly’s desire to run has gathered for four years, “We are now at a critical turning point in the story of our country,” said Kelly. “The outcome will be determined by people who are willing to step forward and show a little courage,” he said.
Much like the Republican men and women who swept into Washington in the 2010 Tea Party wave, the majority of Democratic candidates are new to state-level or national politics. Unlike the Tea Party, many of these Democrats have a long record of public service. They are former public prosecutors, doctors, CIA operatives and veterans, and they are concentrated in “heartland” states like Kansas, Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota.
[…] In the summer of an off-year election, a number of candidates similar to Kelly in Trump districts have already decided to run.
Others include Michigan Sixth District’s Matt Longjohn, who recently stepped down from his role as the first national physician executive in the YMCA’s 170-year history and is challenging incumbent Republican Fred Upton. Elissa Slotkin is a former CIA official and acting assistant secretary of Defense who lives on a cattle farm in Holly, Mich., and whose grandfather invented the famous “Ballpark Frank” first sold at Tiger Stadium. She is challenging Mike Bishop.
These are what the Democratic Party’s version of “outsiders” look like in 2017.
[…] “There have been a number of Democratic candidates throwing their hats in after declining to do so during the Obama years,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan newsletter at the University of Virginia. “What Democrats are looking for are people who are not easily identified with the national Democratic brand,” he said.
[…] When asked about Bost’s liabilities, Kelly didn’t hesitate. “The bill they voted for would take away health care from 38,000 people in the 12th district. To deliberately choose to support that, I cannot live with that,” he said.
Voters in his district like Autum Cullers, a 33-year-old medical assistant from Harrisburg, illustrate why that may be the right approach.
Cullers, who has family in coal mining, supports Trump because she says he’s bringing jobs back and working on border security. Yet she also voted for Democratic Sen. Duckworth because of her military service and said she’d be open to learning more about Kelly.
For her, health care will be the top voting issue, and she had plenty of criticism of the GOP bill Bost supported that drastically cut Medicaid benefits. “There’s a lot of single moms that work, and they need that,” she said. “Something has to be done to make health care more affordable without just dropping people,” she said.
Janet Belles, a 64-year-old retired home health aide who also voted for both Trump and Duckworth, also said health care will be her top voting issue. She blamed congressional Republicans and defended Trump, whom she said “is doing the right thing.” On Bost, she said: “He could do a lot better job in some ways.”
As Kelly seeks to appeal to such rural Trump voters, he is also making his ties to law enforcement and fighting corruption a major focus.
As state’s attorney since 2010, Kelly’s taken on several of the nation’s largest banks for fraudulent mortgage lending and sued big pharmaceutical manufacturers for maximizing profits by deceiving patients about the dangers of certain opioids.
[…] Kelly said he is confident Trump voters can be won over with an aggressive message on the economy and health care that is essential to curing the opioid crisis.
“We have to hear and listen and understand why folks voted the way they did and not look down on people, not judge people,” he said.
“They are in some ways out of desperation looking for help,” he said.