New Poll: Xochitl a toss up, MLG pulling away, Beto is closing in, ways you can help with Beto win, update on NM races, research-based response to Trump’s baseless vitriol about refugees a comment on his moving troops to the border, and a national boycott called on all Fox News Sponsors for its ongoing reporting that fosters misinformation and hate.

Late Breaking Polling: An Emerson College Poll finds Michelle Lujan Grisham pulling away to a 9% lead over Pearce, Xochitl Torres Small is in a toss-up in her race for Congressional District 2, and Heinrich is safely ahead with the GOP candidate Rich and Libertarian Johnson splitting the more conservative vote. It looks like turnout will determine the outcome in District 2. See below for things you can do to turn NM fully blue including info on how you can call from home for Xochitl. If you want to call for Abbas Akhil (HD 20), I have a link to 221 names to call today. email me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org and I’ll have you set up in five minutes.

Two Things You Can Do To Send Messages to Trump, the GOP and Fox News

If you are as disgusted as I am with Donald Trump and his vitriol and the supporting role played by Fox News there are a couple things you can do to send an unmistakable message:  1) use a goodly portion of this week to do all you can to get out the vote and crush the GOP; and 2) boycott Fox News Sponsors (more on that below).

I have updated our page for What You Van Do In the Last Week of the Campaign to defeat Republicans in the Mid-terms in NM and in a handful of other national races.FYI- A new Quinnipiac poll shows Beto within 5% and as noted earlier. this does NOT take into account the 1.4 million newly registered voters, most all of whom will vote for Beto and it shows Beto cutting Cruz’ lead in half in just 8 days.  Click here to read about the Quinnipiac poll.….IF THE NEWLY REGISTERED VOTE BETO WINS. IF YOU CALL TEXAS, THEY VOTE.. our link above has info on how you can phone bank from home for Beto, Xochitl (who is tied in recent polling) and Stephanie Garcia Richards. While I haven’t seen polling, I have been told that Garcia Richards is a couple points down in that race and so she needs all the support you can muster. So check it out.

New Mexicans for All (NMFA) is the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s Coordinated Campaign and it has launched campaign sites throughout the state. At each site there are schedules of canvass launches, phone bank hours, and other ways you can help get out the vote. We now have locations for New Mexico for All (NMFA) sites throughout the state. And there are sites in Shiprock, Farmington, Las Vegas, Taos, Roswell and all points in between. Remarkable effort. Some races will come down to the narrowest of margins and I am blown away with the efficiency of the Democratic Party’s campaign efforts. Well organized and focused….but to a significant degree depending on you to volunteer. I want to reform the Party, too, but this week is not the time to focus on that. We need to oust some Republicans and make NM 100% blue.  Click here to get info on what you can do. And here are just a few things you can do right now:

• Send an email to people you know throughout NM who are the kind of folks who might get involved this week. Send them the link above and ask them to contact their NMFA office and devote some time to the race. Include this link to our Retake 2018 Mid-Term Voters Guide so that your friends have good advice on down ballot races like judge and local amendments.
• While you are at it, include What You Can Do in the Last Week.
• Send another email to friends and family anywhere and encourage them to vote and get others to vote.
• Click the link yourself and commit an hour or two a day and maybe this weekend go to the NMFA location near you and do something: call, canvass, whatever is asked of you.

Boycott Fox News Sponsors

The Financial Times launched a campaign yesterday to boycott sponsors of Fox News in reaction to their continuously fomenting hate and fear, messages that contribute to all forms of hate violence. I did some hunting and found a link on Fox News’ website to their top 20 sponsors in Q. 3 of 2018. Included among those easy to boycott: Angie’s List, Amazon, eHarmony, Nutrisystem, Office Depot, Ace Hardware, Bayer A-G/Monsanto, All State, Proctor and Gamble and Expedia. If you have a bit of time, I would love it if someone could do more digging for me, getting the contact info for these companies so that we could let them know we are no longer buying their products and why. If you are interested in helping with this, please write to me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org.

The Truth About Refugees

I spent a bit of time researching online about the impact of refugees on our country. I had a hunch it was a good impact across the board, but I had no idea just how positive a contribution they make. A few tidbits.

• No refugee has ever committed an act of terror in the US. NONE.
• The graphic at right shows that in the cities that have experienced an especially high infusion of refugees, only one experienced an increase in crime or poverty. All the others experienced significant decreases in both.
• Numerous studies point to how refugees are very entrepreneurial and that rather than stealing American jobs, their efforts result in an increase in economic activity and job creation.

The New American Research Fund has published a report that counters the kinds of misinformation so often promulgated on Fox and by our despicable President. Below is an excerpt from their findings:

• “Refugees have an entrepreneurship rate that outshines even that of other immigrants. The United States was home to more than 180,000 refugee entrepreneurs in 2015. That meant that 13 percent of refugees were entrepreneurs in 2015, compared to just 11.5 percent of non-refugee immigrants and 9.0 percent of the U.S.-born population. The businesses of refugees also generated $4.6 billion in business income that year.
• Refugees contribute meaningfully to our economy as earners and taxpayers. In 2015, the almost 2.3 million refugees captured in our analysis earned a collective $77.2 billion in household income. They also contributed $20.9 billion in taxes. That left them with $56.3 billion in disposable income, or spending power, to use at U.S. businesses.
• While refugees receive initial assistance upon arriving in the US, they see particularly sharp increases in subsequent years. While refugees here five years or less have a median household income of roughly $22,000, that figure more than triples in the following decades, growing far faster than other foreign-born groups. By the time a refugee has been in the country at least 25 years, their median household income reaches $67,000—a full $14,000 more than the median income of U.S. households overall.
• Even more so than other immigrants, refugees take steps to lay down roots and build lives in America. More than 84 percent of refugees who have been in the country for 16 to 25 years have taken the step of becoming citizens, compared to roughly half of all immigrants in the country that long. Additionally, more than 57 percent of all likely refugee households own their homes, a figure relatively close to homeownership rate among U.S. residents overall.
• In an era when the country faces unprecedented demographic challenges, refugees are uniquely positioned to help. Recent estimates have indicated that by 2030, 20.3 percent of the U.S. population will be older than age 65, up from just 12.4 percent in 2000. Refugees can help lessen the anticipated strain this will place on our workforce and entitlement programs. An estimated 77.1 percent of refugees are working-age, compared to the just 49.7 percent of the U.S.-born population. Refugees even outshine non-refugee immigrants on this metric: Only 72.2 percent of that group was working age.”

For the full report from New American Research Fund, click: From Struggle to Resilience: The Economic Impact of Refugees in America,

In solidarity,

Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics, Social & Racial Justice & Immigration Reform

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