Arena Talks

Zellnor Myrie is running for New York State Senate in District 20.

If you caught our last pod with Alessandra Biaggi, you’re already familiar with New York’s strange State Senate.

For seven years, a group of turncoat politicians have run as Democrats, been elected as Democrats, and immediately caucused with Republicans in the New York State Senate. They formed a conference, called the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) to vote as a bloc, ceding control of the chamber and preventing progressive policies from being sent to Governor Cuomo’s desk.

Everything from codifying Roe v. Wade at the state-level, to passing Universal Health Care, or the DREAM Act, and even to more local issues like Affordable Housing, Speed Cameras, and the funding of Public Schools, has been blocked as a result of the IDC.

Enter Zellnor Myrie. State Senator Jesse Hamilton, the incumbent in Zellnor Myrie’s district, is one of the IDC Members, and Zellnor has had enough. He thinks the time is now to knock him out.

With the typical machinery at-hand, politicians are turning on each other trying to either oust the incumbent, or keep him in power. Zellnor is finding himself right in the middle of it all, and he’s staying focused on the mission at hand and rolling with the punches.

On today’s pod with Nathan Rubin of Millennial Politics, we talk with Zellnor about his race for the State Senate against incumbent Jesse Hamilton and the IDC.

Welcome to a special crossover edition of our pod with Nathan Rubin of Millennial Politics.

We’re joined by Alessandra Biaggi, a candidate for New York State Senate and a longtime member of our community.

Alessandra is challenging the leader of breakaway Democrats known as the IDC, who sold out their district for personal gain and ceded control to Republicans.

Her incumbent opponent, State Senator Jeff Klein, is the leader of the Independent Democratic Conference (or IDC). He ran as a Democrat, was elected as a Democrat, and purports to govern as a Democrat, while caucusing with Republicans.

As a result of the IDC and Republican control in the New York State Senate, progressive legislation passed by the New York State Assembly dies time and time again. Democrats have a Super-Majority in the Assembly, but year after year, legislation that should be a hallmark of a “progressive” state like New York never reached the Governor’s desk and never becomes law.

Alessandra is running on a platform of Affordable Housing, expanding the electorate through small “d” democratic reforms, criminal justice reform, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ civil rights, and more.

Welcome to a special episode of The Arena Talks produced in collaboration with The Great Battlefield podcast.

You’ll hear from The Great Battlefield host Nathaniel Pearlman and The Arena Co-Founder Kate Catherall.

Nathaniel founded Resistance Dashboard after the 2016 Presidential election. Nathaniel has a long history of connecting progressive politics and technology. In 1997, he founded NGP Software (now known as NGP VAN), a leading technology provider to the Democratic Party. He served as CTO of the Hillary 2008 Presidential campaign. He also founded Graphicacy, a firm that helps organizations tell complex stories in visual form.

Kate is a Co-Founder and Partner at The Arena. She founded Chorus Agency in the wake of the 2016 election, which later merged with The Arena. Kate talks about her work supporting new civic leaders and candidates.

DeJuana Thompson is a Partner at Think Rubix and the creator of Woke Vote — a movement for equity and justice that is empowering communities of color to fight mass incarceration, voter suppression, and urban gun violence.

DeJuana talks about how her community organizing experience shapes her work, her strategy for winning elections in 2018, and how to make movement building work more sustainable.

Lucas St. Clair is running for Congress in Maine’s 2nd District.

Lucas is one of the most genuine, real candidates around. Watch this video to see what we mean.

We talk about the twists and turns in his life that led him to this moment, why he’s running for Congress, and what bold leadership in today’s world means to him.

Lucas’ primary election is this Tuesday June 12. Spread the word.

January Contreras is an Arena Fellow running for Attorney General in Arizona.

As a Deputy County Attorney, Assistant Attorney General, founder of a non-profit, and mother to two children, January has always been driven to protect others.

We talk with January about growing up in Arizona and how it shaped her point of view, why she feels called to serve, and how she’ll deal with the pressing challenges of our current political climate - including protecting DACA recipients and addressing the opioid epidemic.

Liuba Grechen Shirley is an Arena Fellow running for Congress in New York’s 2nd District. That district includes parts of Suffolk and Nassau counties on Long Island.

While running for office, Liuba has also led the charge to change campaign finance law so candidates can use campaign funds to pay for childcare. Last week, the FEC ruled 4-0 in favor of the change.

Liuba talks about how we can’t just have millionaires running for office. Instead, we need to make campaigning accessible to new mothers and fathers.

Liuba also talks about how a meeting with longtime incumbent Peter King inspired her to host a town hall for his constituents - and run against him.

Karl is running to be the next governor of Tennessee.

Karl is the former two-term Mayor of Nashville, serving during the great recession and historic 2010 flood. Before that, he was elected and served as the city’s public defender for nearly a decade.

We talk about how both crises shaped his pragmatic leadership and vision for Tennessee’s future. We also discuss running as a Democrat in a state where they haven’t performed well in a long time.

Mike Johnston is running to be the next Governor of Colorado.

Mike is a former educator. He taught in the Mississippi Delta, and went on to lead three different schools. He later moved home to Colorado and won a seat in the State Senate, where he pushed for many policy reforms - but is most well known as a leader in education policy.

We talk with Mike about his vision for the kids of Colorado, the problem of gun violence, and how you can get involved in his campaign.

Two weeks ago, Lauren won the Democratic Primary for Congress in the Illinois 14th District.

In an upset victory, Lauren beat six other candidates - all men - with 57% of the vote.

We met Lauren at the first Arena Summit in December 2016. She walked through the doors and said she was thinking about running for office. And that’s where she met her eventual campaign manager.

Lauren later declared a run for Congress and joined our inaugural class of Fellows.

We’ve been privileged and honored to support Lauren during each step in her journey and can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in the years ahead.

Lauren is a first-time candidate, former Senior Advisor in President Obama’s Health & Human Services Department, and Registered Nurse.