Adam Schiff Is Leaving His House Seat-- Maebe A Girl Would Be An Historic Replacement
Where I live in Los Angeles, we’re going to have an open seat next year. Adam Schiff has served this district— first in the state legislature (1996) and— since ousting Republican James Rogan in 2000— in Congress. Now he’s running for the open U.S. Senate seat and there could be at least a dozen candidates running to replace him. By far the best is community activist and past Schiff-challenger, Maebe A Girl.
She and Schiff had a cordial exchange of ideas in their past campaigns and she has no grudge against him. “I commend Adam Schiff for his diligence and commitment to investigating Donald Trump,” she told me, “and respect his move to the left on many issues over the last few years. But as future Congresswoman for CA-30, informed by years of on-the-ground activism and volunteering in this community, my priorities will be different.” I asked her for some specificity and this is what she wrote back. Please read it and consider contributing to her grassroots, no-corporate-contributes campaign here.
The first major issue is addressing homelessness with an empathetic, humane, and solutions-driven, housing-first approach. We’re having a homelessness crisis across the country, not just in cities like Los Angeles but in rural areas, too. The solution here and everywhere is permanent supportive housing and services. Public housing got a bad rap back in the 60s and 70s, but it works in other countries because they put in a concerted effort to maintain and upgrade their projects, rather than leaving them to decay like we did here. Even then, our underfunded public housing in the US generated positive outcomes for the communities where it was built.
The second issue is tightly intertwined with homelessness, and that’s healthcare. Everybody needs and deserves healthcare, whether or not you’re housed, whether or not you have a job. If you want to blame homelessness on mental health issues or addiction— which play a part, but aren’t as big a factor as the housing market— then part of the answer is universal healthcare.
I’m often misconstrued as running on an identity politics platform, which has been how the media tackles my campaign; “first trans person in Congress.” And though my platform includes LGBTQIA rights and justice, that is nowhere near the limit of what I’m campaigning on.
How do we change the perception of my campaign, and attract the endorsements and money needed to win this crowded open-seat primary? The answer lies in my Q1 fundraising numbers, which I have to file in fewer than six weeks.
Until we overturn Citizens’ United, money speaks. I don’t take any corporate PAC or special interest donations, but labor union and other issue-based groups pay close attention to Q1 fundraising numbers when choosing who to endorse.
I’ve been told our campaign needs to raise AT LEAST $100,000 over the next six weeks to be seen as viable by these orgs. It’s a doable goal, but I’ll need as many donations— big and small— as possible over these next few weeks to show we’re a force to be reckoned with.
Our politicians are responsible for making sure we’re housed, educated, and taken care of in terms of our healthcare needs. That is not the state we’re in right now.
My policies align with the heart and soul of this district, and we need to get the message out so people can vote for the most progressive, most community-oriented candidate. As more than 60,000 people confirmed with their votes in 2022, that’s me—that’s Maebe.
Please pitch in now and help progressives win this seat!
Maebe A. Girl
Candidate for Congress, CA-30