MoveOn members endorse Social Security Champions Brian Schatz (U.S. Sen – HI) and Mike Honda (U.S. Rep – CA 17)
MoveOn members are using their first endorsements of the 2014 election cycle to go to bat for Social Security champions.
MoveOn.org Political Action announced today that MoveOn members have voted overwhelmingly to endorse Sen. Brian Schatz for U.S. Senate in Hawaii and Rep. Mike Honda for Congress in California’s 17th district.
“Sen. Schatz and Rep. Honda are strong progressives who have helped lead the fight to protect Social Security. Time and again, they’ve stood up to big corporations and special interests to do right by their constituents. MoveOn members overwhelmingly support them for reelection, and we will use our combined people power of more than 8 million MoveOn members nationwide to see that they win,” said Ilya Sheyman, the executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action.
Both candidates easily surpassed MoveOn’s requirement that candidates receive at least two-thirds of a member vote in a two-candidate race in order to be endorsed. Sen. Schatz received more than 76 percent of votes cast in a vote of the 39,040 MoveOn members in Hawaii, and Rep. Honda won more than 91 percent of votes cast in a vote of the 15,934 MoveOn members in California’s 17th congressional district. Each is running in a contested primary.
In casting their votes, MoveOn members pointed to Sen. Schatz and Rep. Honda’s unwavering support of Social Security and to their strong, vocal opposition to President Obama’s Chained CPI proposal that would cut Social Security benefits. Hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members have signed petitions calling for the protection and expansion of Social Security benefits in the last year, and MoveOn members have led in organizing congressional opposition to benefit cuts.
MoveOn members also cited Rep. Honda and Sen. Schatz’s support for marriage equality, leadership in fighting climate change, and their support of comprehensive gun safety legislation as factors in their endorsement votes.