Democracy for America endorses William Cunningham for Congress in NJ-2

Today, Democracy for America (DFA) announced its endorsement of William Cunningham in his fight to defeat Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who is now running for reelection as a Trump Republican after winning as Democrat in 2018.

 While William Cunningham grew up poor in South Jersey and spent half of his high school career homeless, he went on to earn an Ivy League degree, spent two years as a policy staffer for Sen. Cory Booker, and served as a Chief Investigator for the late U.S. House Chairman Elijah Cummings. Cunningham is the unabashed progressive in the race to defeat Rep. Van Drew, championing Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and a robust response to the systemic racism built into our broken criminal justice system.

Statement from DFA CEO Yvette Simpson on the grassroots progressive group’s endorsement of Cunningham:

“It was clear that Rep. Jeff Van Drew was going to be a reactionary nightmare even before he got to Congress, but it’s hard to overstate the scale of his betrayal when he decided to ditch the South Jersey Democrats who helped elect him in 2018 to embrace Donald Trump a little more than a year later.

“Democracy for America is excited to endorse William Cunningham, not just because he’ll be better Representative than a traitor like Van Drew, but because he’ll be a massive improvement over Van Drew who’ll fight for bold, progressive reforms like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, voting rights, and criminal justice reform.

 “Also, as a member of the LGBTQ community whose family struggled with homelessness and a former congressional staffer, the lived and professional experience William Cunningham will bring with him to Congress is critically needed.

“William Cunningham gives South Jersey voters an opportunity to remedy the mistake Democrats made in 2018 by helping elect Jeff Van Drew and replace him with someone who understands struggle, perseverance, and our shared progressive values. Democracy for America is honored to stand with William Cunningham in this primary and we look forward to fighting alongside him all the way to victory in November.” -- Yvette Simpson, CEO, Democracy for America

Statement from William Cunningham on receiving DFA’s 2020 endorsement:

"I am honored to receive Democracy for America's endorsement. As the real progressive in my race, it means the world to me to have the backing of an organization driven by the vision of progressive pioneer Howard Dean. Congress must better reflect the American populace, and I am grateful that Democracy for America values diversity in supporting the next generation of leaders. Together, we will win this race and restore this seat to the people Jeff Van Drew stole it from." -- William Cunningham, Candidate, New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District

DFA has 2,484 members in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, 39,377 in the state of New Jersey, and more than one million members nationwide.