So, I know it's been a while (almost two months) since I've done a candidate interview, but I wanted to start doing them again. And today, I had the pleasure of speaking to Tom Guild, a progressive Democrat challenging Rep. Kendra Horn of Oklahoma's 5th congressional district in the primary this Tuesday, June 30 (my birthday!), about his campaign and his plans if/when he is elected.
(Source: Guild for Congress/Twitter)
What inspired you to run for Congress in the first place?
"The incumbent Democrat is not representing the needs of the vast majority of people in the district. In March 2020, I decided she never will, and offered myself as an alternative in the primary June 30."
What has your main strategy to win?
"We have been endorsed by Blue America, Marianne Williamson, the Brennan Society, and the Progressive Voter Ballot. Those groups/organizations help get the word out. We have sent weekly email messages to ~7,500 supporters. We have distributed our literature without knocking doors, but simply placing the literature on the doors. We have aggressively promoted our campaign on Facebook and Twitter. We put up billboards throughout the district and did a mailer to 20,000 households."
You're running against incumbent Kendra Horn. How have you made the case to Democratic voters in your state that you're the best candidate?
"We have simply documented Horn’s record on the minimum wage, climate change, placing restraints on the president to engage in offensive military action in Iran that could lead to another endless war, her vote on the PRO Act, and her opposition to Medicare for All. I would have voted for raising the minimum wage to $15. Horn voted against raising the wage. I also want to go further and set a Living Wage with an automatic COLA. I favor bold climate action with the Green New Deal as a guide. She opposes the GND. She voted against the Kaine resolution to limit Trump’s ability to engage in offensive actions (like assassinations, shooting down planes, sinking boats) without prior authorization from Congress (unless our troops are attacked first.) I favor the Kaine resolution. She voted against labor’s main agenda item, the PRO Act that would make it easier for workers to organize. I favor the PRO Act. She opposes MFA. I favor MFA. This pandemic has clearly shown that profit driven, employer based health insurance is a clear and present danger to American workers. The 47.2 million Americans who have filed for unemployment in the last 14 weeks, are now without health insurance. With MFA they would all still be insured."
If you win the primary and move on to the general, you are no doubt facing an uphill battle; Horn's win here in 2018 was widely regarded as an upset, since the district is 10 points more Republican than the national average. How do you think you can win?
"There are cracks in the Republican Party. The Republican frontrunner now is being attacked by Club for Growth, a national conservative corporate group. The others have tied themselves closely to Donald Trump, who currently has a 43% approval rating in the fifth district. Putting together progressives, Independents, disaffected Republicans, and Yellow Dog Democrats is a winning coalition."
Your platform includes Medicare For All, a living wage, and environmental protection. Among all your policies, which one is the most important to you?
"It is very hard to choose between Medicare for All and Bold Climate Action. All people need accessible affordable health care. I grew up poor and before I was born, my sister Jeannie died from complications due to pneumonia, because my parents waited too long to take her to the emergency room, because they had no money or health care coverage. We have a short window of time before planet earth will be on an irreversible course towards becoming uninhabitable for all forms of life, including humans. Choosing one over the other is a Hobson’s Choice, that I’m unable to make."
Regarding campaign finance reform, will you pledge to sponsor or cosponsor the We the People Amendment (introduced in the House this session as H.J.Res.48) that would declare that corporations are not people, and that money is not speech?
"Absolutely. When I went to law school at SMU in Dallas, corporations were people only in the limited sense of being served with service of process for lawsuits. That is where it should be. As it says in the good book, the love of money is the root of all evil. Exhibit A—our system of campaign finance. Until serious reforms are made, our system will continue to spiral out of control and become even more out of touch with the needs of the American people."
One issue that I've recently started to prioritize is some form of a direct democracy, where citizens can vote on certain forms of public policy, at a national level. Would you support that (you don't need to worry about the details right now, just whether or not you're in favor of some form of it)?
"Yes. Politicians who have been bought or rented for long periods of time are not getting the job done. Reforms such as direct democracy are steps in the right direction."
Another candidate that I've interviewed, Daniel Kilgore, who ran for Congress in Ohio, had a fantastic idea for a bill that I wanted to get your opinion on -- the Aaron Burr: Public Servants Trust Act -- which he says is "designed to fine those taking lobbyist funds before a vote or insider trading. What do you say to that?
"It’s sounds reasonable to me. Would you support it in Congress? Yes. It would be a fitting twist on the book I used in my Legal Issues in the Workplace class at the University of Central Oklahoma, The Richer Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison by Jeffrey Reiman."
How are you feeling about your chances Tuesday?
"It’s hard to tell. Medicaid Expansion is on the ballot, so we will have many times the number of voters we would normally have for a primary. We invited Independents to vote in the Democratic Primary starting with the 2016 presidential primary. I have been outspent by about three million dollars. We have done everything we could possibly do campaigning during a pandemic with a modest campaign budget. Predicting the future is a mighty hazardous occupation!"
Anything you'd like to add?
"Thanks for the opportunity to share my views on your blog."
No problem, Tom, and thank you for agreeing to this interview! You can learn more about him right here, and if you live in OK-05, and you're able to vote in the Democratic primary, please vote for him on June 30!
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