The Congressional Progressive Caucus is hoping to grow its presence in the House, with Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) suggesting it would be great to have “double good trouble” in Congress by electing her sister, Susheela, in 2024.
Our Revolution, a progressive political action group and outgrowth of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) 2016 presidential campaign, hosted a town hall on Monday with Reps. Jayapal, Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), as well as Susheela Jayapal, who is running for Oregon’s 3rd District to replace retiring, longtime Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).
“We together are double good trouble,” Pramila Jayapal said. “We need to get her into Congress.”
Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese, who hosted Monday’s town hall, quipped that he wants everyone to “imagine another Rep. Jayapal in Congress.”
“That’s possible, and that’s actually what we need for the revolution to succeed,” Geevarghese said.
Susheela Jayapal announced in November that she would be running for the 3rd District’s open seat, and she shares her sister’s political views when it comes to several policy areas, such as public social housing, “Medicare for All,” and a ceasefire in the Middle East.
She has drawn on her identity as an immigrant to stand apart from the other leading candidates, of which she ranks in the top three, per Oregon Live. Climate change is also a significant portion of Susheela Jayapal’s platform, and she has used her experience during her time as a former Multnomah County commissioner to move businesses away from fossil fuels as a key talking point in debates.
Susheela Jayapal, who called her sister “incomparable,” said it would “not have occurred to her” to enter politics without Pramila Jayapal. Though Blumenauer’s seat is rated “solid Democratic” with D+22 by the CookPoliticalReport, she said the primary election matters.
“I have a lot of people when I’m making my calls say, ‘Well, it’s safe. A Democrat is a Democrat is a Democrat — you got a bunch of Democrats running, we got other priorities.’ We need to prioritize everything,” Susheela Jayapal said.
“When we have a safe Democratic seat, we need to put the strongest progressive in that seat because that is where our representatives have room to push bold, progressive policies,” Susheela Jayapal added.
Pramila Jayapal called her sister and California House Democrat candidate Lateefah Simon “new champions.”
“Their elections really represent, in my mind, a battle for our democracy,” the Washington congresswoman said.
The town hall served both as an introduction for Susheela Jayapal and other candidates and as a national rallying call for support from the progressive voter base to reelect vulnerable progressives. Bowman, Omar, and other caucus members, such as Reps. Summer Lee (D-PA) and Cori Bush (D-MO), are facing strong competition for their 2024 primaries due to their support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Pramila Jayapal blamed Republican “megadonors” for coming into their districts and recruiting challengers.
“And the reality is that we need to protect, now, progressives in Congress like me, like Ilhan, like Jamaal, who are under attack by Republican megadonors who are coming into our districts, recruiting people to run against us, pouring enormous amounts of money into these races,” Pramila Jayapal said. “And we need to expand our progressive ranks by bringing in more proven leaders like Lateefah and Susheela.”
“That is how we build our movement. That is how we grow our power,” the Washington congresswoman added.
Susheela Jayapal is the top fundraiser in the Oregon 3rd Congressional District race, with over $610,000 raised and over $400,000 cash on hand, per Federal Election Commission filings. Like her sister, she also warned about the role “MAGA-Republican” organizations are playing in Democratic primary elections.
“We expect that to happen here because of my stance on Gaza,” Susheela Jayapal said.
The town hall comes a week after the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which includes 103 members, outlined seven policy ideas for the 119th Congress should Democrats regain control of the House in 2024. The ideas cover lowering the cost of living, protecting the planet, and advancing justice, among others.
The agenda did not include some policy ideas that progressive Democrats have pushed for in the past, such as “Medicare for All.” It also did not outline foreign policy concerns, such as Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has been a point of contention for many Democrats. Pramila Jayapal said last week that leaving Gaza off the agenda was intentional because they, as a caucus, had not made a collective decision on the matter.
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Pramila Jayapal said Monday that outside groups like Our Revolution, labor unions, and other progressive groups endorsed the “progressive proposition agenda.”
“We’re not just an opposition party. We’re not just better than the other guy. We are actually a proposition party,” the Washington congresswoman said.