[BwayDems] endorsement vote tomorrow night

[Mark Levine]

Dear Broadway Dems member,

For many years we’ve worked together to advance progressive politics
in Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, Manhattan Valley, and beyond.
Now I am pleased to be seeking your endorsement for my campaign for
New York State Senate.   It would be an honor for me to carry on the
tradition of the great progressive activists who have represented the
31st Senatorial district in decades past--Franz Leichter and Eric
Schneiderman--and to build on the outstanding work of  Adriano
Espaillat, who is now running for Congress.

For my entire adult life, I have been fighting for progressive causes
and have been dedicated to implementing solutions to complex problems
in our neighborhood and our city.  In my role as Democratic District
Leader, founder of the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper
Manhattan, and former Community Board Transportation Committee Chair,
I have been a voice for tenants, school children, mass transit riders,
and senior citizens.

My work in the community started long before I entered the political
arena.  I began my career as a bilingual math and science teacher at
JHS 149 in the South Bronx.  Working with a group of fellow teachers
concerned that local families had been shut out by banks, I created
Upper Manhattan's first and only community development credit union.
In the years since, Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union has given
thousands of low-income families a place to save their money and
receive financial literacy training, and has given over $10 million in
small loans, helping residents start small businesses, pay for
education and more.

In recent years I have continued my leadership in the education field,
drawing in part on the public policy training I received from
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.  I have served as Executive
Director of Teach for America-New York and the Center for After-School
Excellence, an initiative that supports after-school programs in
public schools throughout our district and around the five boroughs.
And of course, the education credential I'm most proud of is that of
parent - my wife Ivelisse and I have two boys who attend PS/IS 187.

I am running for State Senate now because I believe the stakes today
in Albany could not be higher.  I am committed to fight, together with
Broadway Dems, for the issues which are most critical to us as
progressives: banning hydrofracking, passing a state version of the
Dream Act, increasing the minimum wage, publicly financing campaigns,
avoiding further school cuts, creating a more progressive income tax,
passing the Women’s Reproductive Health Act, and more.

On each of these issues the Republican-controlled State Senate is a
barrier to the creation of sound, progressive policy.  But not every
Democrat in the State Senate has been a reliable ally for us in these
fights either.  That’s why I believe it is absolutely critical that
our district send an independent, reform-minded, activist Democrat to
the State Senate--someone who under no circumstances will caucus with
the Republican conference.  I am running to be a true progressive
representative for  Broadway Democrats, and all of the 31st District.

I would truly be honored to have your support, and hope you will join
me to advocate for our progressive agenda in the New York State
Senate.

Thanks,
Mark

-- 
Mark Levine
(347)688-8683
MarkLevineNYC at gmail.com
www.MarkDLevine.com
Follow me on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/marklevinenyc