Yesterday Gil Cisneros, who just squeaked by his Republican opponent to flip a targeted House seat from red to blue, put out a statement announcing that he had decided to oppose Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. He did not tell the voters during his campaign that he would do so. As a volunteer who worked on his campaign, his decision made me angry. The following is the text of the letter I sent him this afternoon:
Dear Mr. Cisneros,
I chose to campaign for you during the primary and the general election campaigns – because you had the official endorsement of the Democratic Party.
I am distressed that you have decided to oppose Nancy Pelosi – who was an extraordinarily effective Speaker of the House, the leader in place during the successful 2018 cycle in which Democrats regained the majority, and the person with support from the majority of Democratic Members of the 116th Congress, which will convene in January.
I find your statement, “The people of the 39th District made it clear, however, that they want to see real change in Washington, and I intend to follow through on my commitment to support new leadership,” to be both misleading and disingenuous:
- Few if any of the people of the 39th District who voted for the Democratic candidate for Congress were looking forward to dumping Nancy Pelosi; far more voted for you to make her Speaker again.
- Whatever vague commitment to “new leadership” you embraced, you did not advise the people of the 39th District that you intended to evict Pelosi from the Democratic leadership in the House.
- Notwithstanding your after-the-election revelation about dumping Pelosi, this was not the “real change” voters embraced by choosing the Democratic candidate in the 39th CD.
Allow me to offer some background: I attended a Congressional candidate forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, in Diamond Bar in January. Mr. Cisneros, you were hardly the best qualified candidate on stage, or the most well versed on public policy. You did not stand out from the pack.
For whatever reasons – I’m betting that a combination of your capacity for self-funding and your past contributions on behalf of Democratic candidates – the Democratic Party, via the DCCC, supported you in the June primary.
That endorsement is the reason I campaigned for you prior to the primary – to ensure that a Democrat won a place on the November ballot. After you garnered a top-two spot in June, I campaigned for you on Election Day and the prior weekend – to flip the seat from red to blue. Virtually every campaign volunteer I spoke with – including a number who had spent many weeks or months volunteering on your behalf – had similar motivations. Several were my neighbors – far from Orange County.
I live in the 28th CD, many miles from the district you will represent. I was invited by other Orange County campaigns to help flip the House from red to blue. I attended a Congressional candidate forum hosted by the West Hollywood Democratic Club in July. Several candidates proved to be better at voicing Democratic messages than you – more knowledgeable, more passionate, more eloquent. I could have opted to help another Democrat. I stuck with the Cisneros for Congress campaign.
I believe your decision to undercut Nancy Pelosi this week calls into question your judgment, your appreciation of the blue wave the country – and Orange County – experienced in November, your understanding of your own constituents, and your loyalty to the Democratic Party, without which you would not have been elected. I hope your conduct, policy positions, and voting record over the next two years don’t make me regret deciding to help you in 2018.