Press Release
June 17, 2015
Contact: Amanda Waldron
202-543-4100 x2115
Today, the Council for a Livable World formally endorsed our first round of Senate candidates for the 2016 elections—and they are impressive:
- Progressive champion Former Senator Russ Feingold is back to run against the person who ousted him in 2010, Senator Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. Johnson rode into Congress on the 2010 anti-incumbent wave and has proved to be an ideologue and an ineffective Senator. Feingold was one of only 23 senators to vote against the Bush Administration’s rush to war in Iraq, and was the only senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act.
- Missouri’s Secretary of State Jason Kander is taking on hard-liner Republican incumbent Roy Blunt. At 34 years old, Kander is the youngest statewide elected official in America. As a former U.S. Army captain who enlisted after 9/11 to serve in Afghanistan, Kander wants war to be the defense of last resort.
- Representative Patrick Murphy of Florida, endorsed twice previously for the House of Representatives by Council for a Livable World, is running for the senate seat currently occupied by Senator Rubio, who is running for president. Murphy became a Democrat in reaction to President Bush’s failed Iraq War, and in 2012 ousted Tea Partier Rep. Allen West. Murphy has become a leader in calling for more sensible Pentagon spending and a Pentagon audit. He also has opposed overseas interventionism.
- Senator Brian Schatz is a freshman senator from Hawaii who has the bad luck of having to run in 2016 after having just won a special election in 2014. He has already earned a 100% rating on our legislative scorecard by courageously refusing to join dangerous Iran sanctions legislation and opposing a military strike in Syria, for example. He has also joined other Senators to press for a set of new, progressive foreign policy principles.
- A former Congressman from Pennsylvania and retired three-star Navy Admiral, Joe Sestak has the national security experience and political background to champion the progressive cause in Washington. His rematch with Republican Senator Pat Toomey will be one to follow closely in 2016.
- Former Ohio Governor and populist Congressman Ted Strickland is back with a strong message of rebalancing our national priorities. He faces incumbent Republican Senator Rob Portman, whose seat is believed to be vulnerable in a presidential year when turnout favors the Democrats. Already the polls show Strickland ahead of Portman.
Council for a Livable World Candidate Fund is proud to endorse these Senate candidates, and is already ramping up support for their election in 2016.
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Authorized by each candidate and paid for by Council for a Livable World Candidate Fund.
For more than 50 years, the Council for a Livable World has been advocating for a more principled approach to U.S. national security and foreign policy. Our mission is to increase peace and security and to reduce the threats of war and nuclear weapons by representing our members in Washington and electing congressional candidates who support our goals.
The Council for a Livable World Candidate Fund and its House project PeacePAC raise much-needed funds for congressional candidates who seek to reduce the threat of war and nuclear weapons. We raised more than $1.5 million for candidates running in 2014; and since 1962, we’ve helped to elect 359 members of Congress.
