WE NEED BRAD BACK IN CONGRESS

Brad Schneider has earned and deserves support to go back to Congress

The 10th Congressional District race in the Democratic Primary includes two capable individuals. Nancy Rotering has been a good Mayor. Brad Schneider has been a good Congressman. Brad Schneider however stands out as the strongest and best candidate for a few key reasons and deserves our continued support to return to Congress

First and foremost Brad has the ability to go back to Congress and hit the ground running from day one. Brad knows how Congress works and has already demonstrated he can be an effective Congressman . As noted in in the Daily Herald endorsement of Brad,when comparing him to Nancy they noted “ she has struggled to create any substantive disagreements with Schneider outside of the Iran agreement while lacking his mastery of the issues.” Having attended debates and forums where both have spoken , I can say that Brad stands out as the stronger candidate who knows his stuff and can articulate his positions on progressive issues many of us care about with passion and clarity. Though Brad had indicated his opposition to the Iran deal when it was being debated since he had many questions and concerns that were not addressed in the draft agreement, he has indicated that with the agreement now in place he wants to make sure it really works and is strictly enforced to insure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Any previous disagreement over the approval of the Iran deal is really a non issue moving forward, and Brad’s understanding of the issues, and his work on the Foreign Affairs committee while he was in Congress gives him the foundation and background to be the stronger voice to speak out on and support strict enforcement . On the Guns issue on which we have seen countless campaign brochures, it is great that Highland Park passed a ban on assault weapons, but from his first speech in Congress, Brad has been a tireless supporter,co-sponsor, and advocate of stronger gun safety legislation .On this issue, columnist Lynn Sweet, who moderated one of the candidate debates, in her column after the debate in referring to Nancy said “she is unfairly attacking Schneider as if he doesn’t care about the issue. ”Brad has a proven track record which earned him an F from the NRA

Of critical importance ,Brad demonstrated when in Congress that he has been a strong advocate for equal pay, higher minimum wage, comprehensive immigration reform ,defending Obamacare and protecting women’s right to choose and support for Planned Parenthood and other progressive issues. He has also demonstrated his commitment to work across the aisle on issues to find common ground as a member of the bi partisan No Labels group which sponsored and passed job training legislation and promoted job creation and expanding manufacturing. He was won the respect and admiration of countless colleagues and leaders in Congress, and that is why so many of them want Brad back in Congress and have endorsed him . Those relationships and respect he has earned will likewise ensure that he will be able to continue to be an effective Congressman who can get things done. We need a Congressman like Brad committed to working with all of his colleagues.

Brad also ran a responsive Congressional office and reached out to learn and respond to issues that are of importance to all corners of the District. That is why he has the strong support and endorsement from numerous mayors and leaders from around the District.

Brad has also shown that he can win a tightly contested race as we know this race will be in November. The last election was still tight but the facts on the ground in a non presidential year with the top of the Democratic ticket not strongly supported throughout the 10th certainly had an impact. Brad has learned much from his experiences and shown himself to be a stronger candidate every day and has laid the foundation for generating enthusiastic support through his tireless campaigning and outreach throughout the District.Brad has earned respect and admiration throughout the District and shown his dedication to serving the District and rightly deserves our support and votes to go back to Congress to continue what he has already shown he can do and will do--- namely being an effective responsive Congressman for our district.

elliotthartstein@gmail.com