Nate for NY

While in Ithaca for my sister’s graduation, I spent some time making phone calls at my good friend Nate Shinagawa’s campaign headquarters. Nate is running for the U.S. Congress in New York’s newly drawn 23^rd congressional district.

My freshman year of college, I attended the Cornell Democrat’s first meeting where Nate, then campaign manager for Assemblywoman Barbra Lifton, gave a very impressive and motivating speech on the importance of students getting involved in the democratic process. When I saw him a few weeks later at another university event, I unabashedly introduced myself and asked him thousands of questions. Nate and I have been great friends ever since.

Visiting Nate at his campaign headquarters in Ithaca

While on my short vacation, I made calls for Nate not only because he’s a good friend but because I truly believe in what he stands for and what he wants to accomplish. Nate is a progressive democrat who believes in supporting women’s health, strong environmental policies, and progressive education reform.

Nate is the frontrunner in June 26th's Democratic primary election. He is the only candidate with elected office experience. The Republican contender is Tea Party Republican, and current Representative, Tom Reed. Mr. Reed supports hydraulic fracking, which extracts natural gas by blasting millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep into the ground. Fracking can seriously contaminate ground water, deteriorate air quality, and release numerous toxic gasses into the air which have serious extended health consequences for the population. Reed also voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for the indefinite detention of US citizens without trial.

If you believe and support progressive politics,  visit Nate’s website http://www.nateshinagawa.com/. You can make campaign donations here.