Brand New Congress


Brand New Congress is an American political action committee formed by former staffers and supporters of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign to elect hundreds of new congressional representatives in line with the campaign's political platform.

Background

Brand New Congress is a volunteer-led American political organization that intends to run hundreds of campaigns for United States Congress with candidates of the organization's choosing by the 2018 midterm elections, regardless of party affiliation. The organization plans to make staffing and fundraising decisions for all its candidates at once. About 20 volunteers from Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign formed the group in April 2016 as Sanders conceded the primary to Hillary Clinton. They planned the organization to support Sanders's platform and carry its supporters' momentum into policymaking. Brand New Congress planned to announce 50 candidates by March 2017 and over 400 by July 2017. Of the 535 total seats in the United States Congress, 468 will be up for reelection in 2018. The group intends to run both Democratic and Republican candidates, depending on regional demographics, as well as independents when an incumbent wins the primary. Brand New Congress requires candidates to align with Sanders's presidential platform, regardless of party affiliation. While there are large differences in Republican and Democratic policy beliefs, Brand New Congress hopes that people will unify under the goal of reforming Congress.
The group attended the July 2016 Democratic National Convention to canvass for support in protester sites and throughout the city. By then the group had raised $85,000, about 90% of it in small donations. Its email list contained 20,000 addresses. Brand New Congress began a tour of 100 cities in mid-2016. Founding members of the group were encouraged by the success of grassroots fundraising in the Sanders campaign, which surpassed the Clinton campaign several times in monthly income. As of October 2016, the group is accepting nominations for future candidates and openly developing its economic platform.
In March 2017, Brand New Congress announced that it had teamed up with Justice Democrats to further its goals.

Candidates

2018

In the 2018 primary season, Brand New Congress officially endorsed 30 candidates:
CandidateStatePartyOfficePrimary datePrimary result%General result%
ArkansasRepublicanArkansas's 3rd congressional district2018-05-22
CaliforniaDemocraticCalifornia's 4th congressional district2018-06-05
CaliforniaDemocraticCalifornia's 12th congressional district2018-06-05
FloridaDemocraticFlorida's 7th congressional district2018-08-28
FloridaDemocraticFlorida's 27th congressional district2018-08-28
IllinoisDemocraticIllinois's 7th congressional district2018-03-20
IllinoisDemocraticIllinois's 13th congressional district2018-03-20
KansasDemocraticKansas's 3rd congressional district2018-08-07
KansasDemocraticKansas's 4th congressional district2018-08-07
MaineDemocraticU.S. Senator from Maine2018-06-12
MichiganDemocraticMichigan's 2nd congressional district2018-08-07
MichiganDemocraticMichigan's 6th congressional district2018-08-07
MissouriDemocraticMissouri's 1st congressional district2018-08-07
MontanaDemocraticMontana's at-large congressional dsitrict2018-06-05
NevadaDemocraticNevada's 4th congressional district2018-06-12
New HampshireDemocraticNew Hampshire's 1st congressional district2018-09-11
New JerseyDemocraticNew Jersey's 7th congressional district2018-06-05
New YorkDemocraticNew York's 14th congressional district2018-06-26
North CarolinaDemocraticNorth Carolina's 4th congressional district2018-05-08
North CarolinaDemocraticNorth Carolina's 5th congressional district2018-05-08
TennesseeIndependentTennessee's 2nd congressional districtN/AN/AN/A
TennesseeDemocraticTennessee's 3rd congressional district2018-08-02
TexasDemocraticTexas's 2nd congressional district2018-03-06
First round
TexasDemocraticTexas's 12th congressional district2018-03-06
TexasDemocraticTexas's 14th congressional district2018-03-06
TexasDemocraticTexas's 23rd congressional district2018-03-06
First round
TexasDemocraticTexas's 23rd congressional district2018-05-22
Runoff
TexasDemocraticTexas's 26th congressional district2018-03-06
WashingtonDemocraticWashington's 3rd congressional district2018-08-07
WashingtonDemocraticWashington's 9th congressional district2018-08-07
West VirginiaDemocraticU.S. Senator from West Virginia2018-05-08

2020

U.S. Senate

U.S. House

Platform

Their platform contains many progressive priorities, with the following overarching goals:
Several progressive organizations, including Our Revolution, Justice Democrats, Democratic Socialists of America, National Nurses United, Working Families Party, and Fight for 15, announced in July 2017 a push to encourage House Democrats to sign on to a #PeoplesPlatform, which consists of supporting "eight bills currently in the House of Representatives that will address the concerns of everyday Americans." These eight bills and the topics they address are:
  1. Medicare for All: H.R. 676 Medicare For All Act
  2. Free College Tuition: H.R. 1880 College for All Act of 2017
  3. Worker Rights: H.R.15 - Raise the Wage Act
  4. Women's Rights: H.R.771 - Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act of 2017
  5. Voting Rights: H.R. 2840 - Automatic Voter Registration Act
  6. Environmental Justice: Climate Change Bill - TBD
  7. Criminal Justice and Immigrant Rights: H.R. 3227 - Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2017
  8. Taxing Wall Street: H.R. 1144 - Inclusive Prosperity Act