NAUPAC DECLARATION

THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS CRITICAL SENATORIAL RACES AND

ISSUES OF CONCERN TO THE NIGERIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

Traditionally, midterm elections do not attract a lot of attention, but this midterm election is different because of what is at stake. The upcoming 2022 midterm elections are critical because our fundamental human rights are under attack. Should the right-wing politicians gain more seats in the United States Congress, our democracy would be damaged, centuries of hard-fought battles for equal rights threatened and our nation’s insecurity heightened. NAUPAC is committed to raising the consciousness of the Nigerian American community to get out and vote in great numbers in the upcoming midterm elections. We encourage the Nigerian American community to register and collectively vote in support of candidates who can protect the interests of our community in the United States Congress. It is not to our best interest to see further roll backs of our civil liberties if more candidates with extremist ideologies are elected to the US Congress. We are concerned that this will happen with the support of the conservative leaning US Supreme Court Justices, as in the case of Roe v. Wade. We are not confident that civil liberties will be adequately protected by individual states, who will have the power to decide on what protections they will provide residents instead of the previous federal protections for which they fought long and hard. Below is the list of critical issues of concern, and Senators we recommend that members of our community should consider supporting and vote for:

CRITICAL ISSUES OF CONCERN

  • Extremism Agitation: The US Congress is facing a fierce battle from people with extremist ideology bent on taking control of the Congress;
  • Civil Liberties, Voting and Human Rights: Our undamental rights and freedom are increasingly threatened, including the prospects of rolling back current minorities’ protective laws;
  • Security Issues: United States is experiencing alarmingly growing tensions and insecurity felt in many fronts: rising extremism, increasing gun violence, war against our political process, and threat to our democratic principles;
  • Financial Issues: Programs designed to ease financial burdens of the average American family are constantly under attack;
  • Abortion Rights: We believe in a woman’s right to choose.
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THE FIVE DEMOCRATS IN KEY SENATE RACES:

Raphael Gamaliel Warnock

Raphael Gamaliel Warnock is a Pastor, Politician and a serving Junior United States Senator from the State of Georgia, a seat he won in 2021 following the State of Georgia’s 2020 United States Senate Special Election. He is a Democrat, and currently running for the full-term Senate seat in the upcoming 2022 midterm election. Warnock contested the Georgia’s 2020 United States Senate Special Election to unseat incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. None of the candidates received a majority of the vote on election day, Warnock faced Loeffler again in a January 5, 2021 runoff, and won by more than 93,000 votes. On the same day, a fellow Democrat, Jon Ossoff won the runoff for Georgia’s other Senate seat against Republican David Perdue. Their victories gave the Democrats majority control of the Senate for the first time since 2014. Recall that NAUPAC promoted the Warnock and Ossoff campaigns during that runoff elections. Warnock is the first African American to represent Georgia in the Senate and the first Black Democrat to be elected to the Senate by a former state of the Confederacy. Since 2005, Warnock has been the Senior Pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was the Senior Pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church until 2005. Warnock came to prominence in Georgia politics as a leading activist in the campaign to expand Medicaid in the state under the Affordable Care Act. Warnock lives in Atlanta, was married to Oulèye Ndoye, and they have two children. The couple separated in November 2019, and their divorce was finalized in 2020.

 

John Karl Fetterman

John Karl Fetterman was elected as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Pennsylvania in 2019. He served as mayor of Braddock for thirteen years, which is more than 70 percent Black, and championed the idea that Black lives matter long before it became a hashtag. He is currently running as Democrat in the 2022 United States Senate election in the State of Pennsylvania.
Fetterman studied finance at Albright College and earned an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Fetterman served with AmeriCorps, which led him to Braddock, where he moved in 2004, and was elected mayor the next year. As mayor, Fetterman sought to revitalize the former steel town through art and youth programs.
Fetterman received national attention for his efforts to legalize cannabis statewide and pushing back on President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud in Pennsylvania. He lives in Braddock, PA with his wife, Giselle Bareto Fetterman, and three children.
He won the Democratic nomination for the Senate race with 59% of the vote and faces Republican Mehmet Oz in the general election. He is generally described as a progressive, an advocate for health care as a right, criminal justice reform, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and legalizing marijuana.
John is married to a Brazilian American, Gisele Barreto Fetterman with three children.

Cheri Lynn Beasley

Cheri Lynn Beasley is a Democrat running for the 2022 United States Senate election in the State of North Carolina. She is an Attorney and Jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 2019 to 2020, becoming the first African American woman to serve in that capacity in North Carolina. She was appointed an Associate Justice in 2012; previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals; and as a District Court Judge in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Cheri always acted independently and without bias to uphold the law and keep communities safe – no matter the politics.
Throughout her service, Cheri protected constitutional rights and applied the law fairly and independently; implemented paid family leave as Chief Justice to over 6,000 court employees to help people take care of their families and succeed in their jobs; and created the first human trafficking court in North Carolina to hold traffickers accountable and support victims.
Cheri earned a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Political Science and Economics at Douglass College of Rutgers University, New Brunswick in 1988; and a Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1991; also earned a Master of Laws Degree from Duke University School of Law in 2018.
Cheri is married to Curtis Owens, a scientist, and they have twin sons.

Tim Ryan

Tim Ryan is a tireless advocate for working families in Ohio’s 13th District. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, successfully reelected nine times, and now serving in his tenth term. Ryan serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus. His primary focus remains on the economy and quality-of-life in Northeast Ohio. He works closely with local officials and community leaders to help attract high-quality, high-paying jobs to his District.
Ryan is among the force to make college more affordable, revitalize America’s cities and improve the health and well-being of American families and children. His work on these and other issues has garnered the attention of the national media. He holds a law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Ryan is native of Niles, Ohio, and currently resides in Howland, Ohio with his wife Andrea and three children.

J. Mandela Barnes

J. Mandela Barnes is the 45th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Wisconsin following his election into office in 2019. He is the first African American to serve in this position in the State. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and was the State Representative for the 11th District from 2013 to 2017. He is presently running for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin, challenging the incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson. If elected, he would be the first Black senator to represent Wisconsin.
Barnes was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during college. He noted that Barack Obama’s keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention inspired him into active public service. Barnes received his B.A. degree in communications from Alabama A&M University in 2020.
He was born in Milwaukee, the son of a public school teacher and a United Auto Workers member. Named after his father, Jesse, his middle name, Mandela, is a tribute to the anti-apartheid activist and first South African Black President Nelson Mandela. Barnes says he has gone by his middle name since birth.

Congressman, Dr. Adeoye ``Oye`` Owolewa

Congressman, Dr. Adeoye “Oye” Owolewa, is the US Representative of our nation’s Capital, Washington, District of Columbia (DC), who is running for a second term in office. He is a proud Nigerian American, born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were born and raised in Nigeria, raised him with two guiding principles, a value in community service and an early exposure to science. This exposure became a love for science, culminating in him earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. In 2014, upon graduation, he moved to Washington, D.C. to practice, residing in Ward 8, and has used his time in Washington, D.C. to get to know his community by becoming involved in local politics. He also volunteers at the neighborhood elementary school to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program.
Congressman Oye has been a strong advocate for District of Columbia Statehood since his inception in politics, and now as the elected US Representative for the District of Columbia, a millennial, advocate, and a first-generation Nigerian American, he is committed to fight for equality for all Washington, D.C. residents by achieving DC Statehood.

COLLECTIONS OF CANDIDATES POSITIONS
(Not necessarily a representation of each individual candidates’ positions):
⦁ The minimum wage should be a living wage of at least $15 an hour: All work has dignity, and all paychecks must too.
⦁ Health care is a fundamental human right: just like housing, food, and education.
⦁ Climate change is an existential threat: Need to transition to clean energy as quickly as possible, and we can create millions of good union jobs in the process.
⦁ Weed should be legal, nationwide: for jobs, justice, veterans, farmers, and revenue. It’s time to end the failed war on drugs.
⦁ Immigration is what makes America, America: We need a compassionate response to immigration reform that actually treats immigrants like human beings.
⦁ Black Lives Matter: John Fetterman served as mayor of a city that’s more than 80% Black and has championed the idea that Black lives matter since long before it became a hashtag.
⦁ The union way of life is sacred. It’s what built this nation, and it must be protected.
⦁ A woman’s right to an abortion is non-negotiable. Women should have control over their own bodies and their own lives. Period.
⦁ LGBTQIA+ communities deserve equal protections under the law. John Fetterman has always stood for equality and was one of the first elected officials in PA to officiate a same-sex wedding – when it was still illegal.
⦁ Get corporate money out of politics. John Fetterman refuses contributions from corporate PACs, and he signed the “No Fossil Fuel Money” Pledge.