Sunrise Movement, a nonprofit political action group of young climate activists, announced their 2020 endorsements on Friday.
They include two Texans running for Congress: Julie Oliver in Texas’ 25th congressional district and Mike Siegel in Texas 10th congressional district. Both are facing Republican incumbents in competitive districts.
Oliver, a former healthcare finance analyst, is running against Rep. Roger Williams in Central Texas. Siegel, a former teacher and attorney, is running against Rep. Michael McCaul in a district stretching from Austin to Houston.
While the Sunrise Movement endorsed Siegel during his primary runoff race against Pritesh Gandhi in July, the group backed Oliver’s primary Democratic Socialist of America-endorsed opponent, Heidi Sloan.
“Now is not the time to tinker around the edges or think small,” Oliver told the Signal, reacting to the new endorsement. “Climate change is an urgent crisis that demands immediate, bold action — and the fires in CA this week are a stark reminder of that. It will take all of our ambition to build our clean energy future and the Sunrise Movement has shown real courage in leading the fight. I am honored to have their support here in TX-25.”
Both Siegel and Oliver support the Green New Deal, a climate action plan to rapidly transition to renewable energy via a Franklin D. Roosevelt-style public works program. The Sunrise Movement backs the plan and issues endorsements largely based on whether Democratic candidates support it or not.
In 2018, the group made headlines for organizing a sit-in protest in the office House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pressuring her to support the plan. More recently, the climate action group, along with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, helped secure the re-election of Sen. Ed Markey (the Senate author of the Green New Deal) after polls showed his more moderate Democratic opponent leading by double-digits numbers early in the race.
If elected, Siegel and Oliver would be sixth and seventh members of Texas’ congressional delegation to support the Green New Deal; in 2019, Reps. Joaquin Castro, Veronica Escobar, Lloyd Doggett, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Al Green were among 101 cosponsors to the Green New Deal bill introduced into the House.
Photo: Sunrise Movement/Wikimedia Commons
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
