On Marleine Bastien and Dr. David Gill

Dear Friend,

Last week, something extraordinary happened: 162 members of the House voted for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, and 100 members voted to fully fund a withdrawal plan! Unfortunately, the supplemental spending bill passed, but a significant number of Democrats and Republicans pushed back.

That number will only keep growing as long as we keep pushing to elect progressive members of Congress. With that in mind, we announce the endorsement of two more PDA-endorsed candidates for Congress: Marleine Bastien and Dr. David Gill!

Both candidates won unanimous endorsement at the Wednesday, June 30 meeting of the PDA Inside the Party Working Group. (Learn more about Bastien and Gill.)

Bastien, who is running in Florida’s 17th district, said:


"The Progressive Democrats of America’s endorsement is tremendously important to our campaign.  As a member of Congress, I wish to continue the work I have done in the community—fighting for peace, for universal healthcare, for comprehensive immigration reform, and to protect our environment. I’m ready to be leader in Washington who fights hard to protect working families and drives the Democratic Party closer to it’s core values. As we build to our August 24th election, I look forward to working closely with PDA and the hardworking activists and volunteers behind it.  I’m very grateful for PDA’s support which will certainly be vital to our success."

Running in Illinois’ 15th Congressional District, Gill remarked:

"’Gill for Congress’ is a true grassroots phenomenon. Illinois-15 was gerrymandered to be a 70% Republican seat, but for nearly eight years, myself and hundreds of volunteers have worked tirelessly to take the seat back for the well-being of ordinary citizens. We are now right on the edge of victory, and the endorsement of PDA will provide the "final boost"—with the added work and financial support of PDA members nationwide, I fully expect to succeed this November. I’m a longtime member of Physicians for a National Health Program, and I intend to speak forcefully with my physician’s voice in Washington, D.C., to bring forward >TRUE healthcare reform, and to help bring an end to our involvement in endless and damaging warfare."


Working together we can deliver four more progressives to Congress who will vote for Healthcare NOT Warfare, Windmills NOT Weapons and Books NOT Bombs. Let’s double-down to ensure that our two newest candidates, Marleine Bastien and David Gill, join Bill Hedrick and Jonathan Tasini in Congress next year!

Yours in the movement,

Tim Carpenter
National Director