While Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ceded his bid for the presidential nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he is continuing his “political revolution” pressing the establishment to lean further left by endorsing candidates who supported him during the heated primary battle, among them two Indian-Americans.
The website “Our Revolution” the new political committee created by the Sanders camp to carry his message forward to November, brought out its first list of candidates to include Peter Jacob, 30, running for U.S. Congress from a Republican leaning District 7 in New Jersey, which has repeatedly elected 64-year old incumbent Leonard Lance. The list also included Pramila Jayapal, from District 7 in Washington State.
“Join the fight to get Peter Jacob elected,” declares the Sanders’ site, and praised Jacob for his commitment to the community. “Raised in Union, New Jersey, in an Indian-American family, Peter understands how important a safe and caring community is to success,” Sanders’ endorsement says, taking from Jacob’s own biography. “Through various community organizations, Peter has helped fight the ongoing scourges of child abuse, human trafficking, and disastrous Iraq War,” it adds. It lauds his campaign for healthcare reform, environmental sustainability, and immigrant integration.
“If elected, Peter will continue to serve not just as a politician, but as a true public servant, and will fight to instill progressive values into New Jersey’s legislation.”
Jacob told News India Times the Sanders’ endorsement carries a lot of weight and puts an “official seal of approval. His opponent Lance is an avid supporter of billionaire Donald Trump for president. But Jacob contends District 7 “still has some progressive people who want gun safety laws put in place, improved public transportation and investment in infrastructure and green energy.”
“It (Sanders’ endorsement) consolidates the people who have, since the primaries, been on the sidelines, and (encourages) them to get involved with us,” Jacob said. “People are disenchanted.”
The neophyte’s campaign finances however, appear meager. According to Jacob’s filing with the Federal Election Commission, his total receipts as of June 30 were $35,367 and cash-in-hand was a mere $25,526. Lance on the other hand, boasted total contributions of $832,962 with cash- on- hand at $ 365,697 by June end. Jacob may draw some advantage from the redistricting map drawn after the 2010 U.S. Census. District 7 now includes parts of Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties as well as all of Hunterdon County.
However, in its In its August 10 assessment, the Cook Political Report placed N.J. District 7 in the “Solidly Republican” fold.
At the same time, it is notable that Jacob received 45,272 votes from Democrats in the June 7th New Jersey primary, “the most votes ever recorded in a 7th District primary,” as the news website Tapinto.net reported. This in a district that last sent a Democrat to Congress in 1981. Lance meanwhile, garnered 31,489 votes in the Republican in the June primary.
Though his district has few Indian-Americans, Jacob has received enthusiastic support from neighboring areas such as Middlesex county Indian-Americans as well as those living in Bridgewater/ Hillsborough area. “The Sri Venkateswara Temple in Bridgewater attracts a lot of South Indians, and many have been volunteering in our campaign,” Jacob said.
He urged voters to make sure to click not just on Hillary Clinton’s name when they are inside the polling booth but down the line on the ballot. “We’ve been doing voter registration and education drives,” he said. According to his internal polling of “uncommitted” voters, he said, 48 percent said they would vote for Jacob and 23 percent for Lance. “There are close to 8,000 unaffiliated voters,” Jacob calculates. “Many more people are coming to our headquarters in Somerville and see me as a transformational figure,” he said.
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