Esau Gutierrez has been canvassing six days a week in Reno with UniteHERE/Culinary Workers Union for Jacky Rosen for U.S. Senate and Steve Sisolak for Governor.
He described his work in a post for Millennial Podcast:
UNITE HERE! Local 226, is a group of people who have come together to form a union. As a union, we represent and fight for millions of the hardest working, most under-appreciated, and underpaid people in this country: the food and service industry workers. Endorsing the two candidates that are most well positioned to shape not only the lives of our bartenders, dishwashers, housekeepers and other invaluable service industry workers, but also the political landscape and lives of the entire United States.
As our team of 30-35 started this canvassing campaign I noticed a quick and ever-increasing hunger in the eyes of everyone. From week one we knew the stakes; Jackie Rosen is the most likely candidate in the whole of the United States to flip a Republican seat to a Democratic seat. Should every other senate race in the country result in the incumbent winning, Jackie Rosen would shake the political landscape and bring balance to the senate, making it 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats.
In an April 2018 article posted by The Hill; Democratic Senate candidate Jackie Rosen is the most likely candidate in the entire country to flip a congressional seat. In order to do so she will have to beat Republican challenger Dean Heller who now holds a notorious reputation here in Washoe County NV. He is infamous for having flipped completely on his promise to his constituents to not vote against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). As he put it; “I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans.” Then, following sly, and public threats from Donald Trump, Republican Dean Heller made a complete 180 and voted multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, completely betraying his promise to his constituents. His votes for the Republican repeal were votes that would lead to 1 in every 6 people losing protections if they have a preexisting condition, and millions of Americans losing coverage all together.
It may be easy to boil this down to a door knocking campaign to get votes, but what many don’t see from the outside looking in, is the personal connection and raw humanity that is possible to see at each door that opens. Or that this is the product of 30-35 folks that decided to put their lives on pause, to travel from as far as Florida to come and spend ten weeks in a hotel and walk miles upon miles every week to make a difference for the country.
When we get the priceless opportunity to have a chat with someone, we are repeatedly reminded of the raw truth that is the impact politicians have on the every-person’s life.
Nevadans have made it clear at their doors, they want to see their children’s education be funded properly (K-12), and they want to see a livable wage become the norm. Nevada citizens know that those ideals are indeed what we are fighting for by encouraging them to go out and vote early from October 20th to November 2nd, aside from the all-too-important election day of November 6th.
Jackie Rosen has made it a top priority to stress that as the 50th democratic senator in the upcoming congress, she will have the platform to constantly bring up the idea of a $15.00/hour minimum wage or “livable wage” to the floor. This is a heavy and powerful choice that Nevadans have, especially because her opponent Dean Heller (R) has shown support for getting rid of the Federal minimum wage and letting states decide, opening the floor for businesses and entire industries to exploit workers even more. Aside from that, while Heller has represented Nevada, the state population has earned on average, 5,600 less dollars per year compared to the average for the rest of the country.
At the state level, for the all too important Governor’s race, there could not be a more polarized pair to choose from. Steve Sisolak, single father of 2 girls, and outspoken supporter of unionized labor, faces against Adam Laxalt. A millionaire being funded by billionaires the likes of Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Vegas Sands Corp. What we see is that Nevada has the chance to vote for two candidates; Jackie Rosen and Steve Sisolak who know the value of investing in the future of the state, and know what it’s like to earn a livelihood.
It goes without saying that Properly funding schools, providing quality STEM education, and paying teachers what they deserve for their labor of love seem like the best steps forward for a bright future. Since sending Catherine Cortez Masto to the US Senate in 2016, Nevada now has the chance to send another progressive woman senator to Washington DC, and that’d be a big meaningful progressive leap for what’s considered a red state.
Ultimately, we at UNITE HERE! Local 226, Culinary Union in Reno would like to invite any and all to come and help in the fight for a blue Nevada. The people here in Reno are ready to make this leap and it takes well meaning and dedicated folks to take a couple hours out of their days to jump into the group and allow us to show you the ropes. Seeing for yourself the grassroots action and collaborative efforts of one of the world’s largest unions will prove to be a massive and valuable experience. Good-old union training teaches you to roleplay scenarios and expect curveballs at the door, but most importantly, motivate the would-be nonvoter into a participant of the movement, motivated to vote for a brighter future. While Jackie Rosen and Steve Sisolak are both in pretty even races, it takes teams like us and forward thinking, motivated people like you to come together and push them to victory!
For prospective volunteers; Email: Renovictory2018@gmail.com or Text: 415-378-2050.
