Congratulations! Indivisible Houston invites you to complete our 2020 US Texas Senate Candidate Questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to better understand the policy positions, values, and strategic plans of Democratic candidates for Senate.
You are eligible to receive the questionnaire because your name will be on the March 3 ballot as a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nominee for the United States Senate. To be considered for endorsement, return the completed questionnaire by email to nisha @ indivisiblehouston.org no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.
Introduction
The questionnaire contains 68 questions over 9 sections, including prompts related to strategy, policy positions, and campaign management practices. The yes-no questions also include an option to explain your response if you wish to, but it is not required. To successfully submit the questionnaire, you must respond to every question.
- Campaign Management: 7 questions
- Strategy and Nominations: 6 questions
- Democracy: 10 questions
- Immigration: 9 questions
- Health Care: 8 questions
- Climate: 7 questions
- Economic Justice and Civil Rights: 11 questions
- Other Domestic Policy: 5 questions
- Foreign Policy and National Security: 6 questions
Section 1: Campaign Management
1.1 On your campaign, will you make every effort to create work spaces for your staff and volunteers that are safe and free from all forms of sexual harassment? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.2 Do you commit to equal pay for equal work for staff on your campaign? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.3 If your campaign staff chooses to unionize, do you commit to voluntarily recognizing a staff union? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.4 Do you plan to campaign in languages other than English and Spanish? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.5 Will you build a team on your campaign, senior staff and entry level alike, that represents the demographics and diversity of the Democratic base? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.6 Do you commit to voluntarily submit data about the demographic composition of staff on your campaign? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
1.7 Should you win the Democratic nomination at the conclusion of the primary, do you commit to a meeting between your transition team and Indivisible to discuss your priorities for the general against Cornyn? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 2: Strategy and Nominations
2.1 Do you support eliminating the filibuster if Democrats gain full control of Congress, in order to pass progressive legislation? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
2.2 If elected, will you your staff be inclusive and diverse by hiring individuals who identify as people of color, indigenous people, women/gender non-conforming, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities into key positions? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
2.3 Do you commit to fully investigating corruption and other illegal activity by members of the Trump administration if you are elected president? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
2.4 Do you agree to IH’s Indivisible 2020 Texas US Senate Pledge to make the Senate primary constructive, rally behind the winner, and do the work to defeat John Cornyn? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
2.5 Do you agree to rally behind the winner of the Democratic Presidential primary and do the work to defeat Donald Trump? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
2.6 If you win the primary, will you commit to supporting progressives candidates at the state and local levels to build grassroots organizing capabilities and to develop a bench of viable new candidates? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 3: Democracy
3.1 Do you support statehood for the District of Columbia, including full voting representation in the House and Senate? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.2 Do you support statehood for Puerto Rico and other territories, if they choose it? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.3 Do you support the reforms contained in the “For the People Act” (H.R.1), which would fight back against money in politics, end corruption through ethics standards and accountability, and protect and expand the right to vote? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.4 Do you support restoring the Voting Rights Act and overturning policies designed to suppress voting, including strict voter ID laws, voter roll purges, and other barriers targeting communities of color? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.5 Do you support modernizing and reforming the federal judiciary, including by adding seats to the U.S. Supreme Court? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.6 Do you support imposing term limits on U.S. Supreme Court Justices? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.7 Do you support increasing investments in a free and independent media infrastructure, like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or media vouchers citizens can use to support local journalism? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.8 Do you support a ban on federal lobbyists fundraising for politicians? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.9 Do you support voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
3.10 Do you support voting rights for individuals who are currently incarcerated? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 4: Immigration
4.1 Do you support a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, as well as for other long-time residents who currently have no path to citizenship? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.2 Will you commit to humanizing U.S. immigration policies and protocols such that migrants crossing our southern border are treated with care, compassion, dignity, and respect? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.3 Do you support a “people-first” immigration policy that does not condition relief for immigrants and their families on increased enforcement (agents, border militarization, and detention)? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.4 Do you support decriminalizing migration offenses and instead handling them through the existing civil immigration system? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.5 Do you support a moratorium on forcible deportations until we first overhaul our unjust immigration system? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.6 Do you support significantly cutting funding for border militarization and interior immigration enforcement, in light of the abusive practices that agencies such as ICE and CBP have engaged in over the last 15 years? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.7 Do you support eliminating detention of immigrants, except in extremely limited circumstances, and investing instead in community-based case management programs? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.8 Do you support due process and appointed counsel for asylum seekers and immigrants with pending immigration cases? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
4.9 Do you support protecting and improving our family-based immigration system, including by prioritizing family reunification, reducing backlogs, providing equality for LGBTQ+ families, and restoring discretion to prevent additional family separations? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 5: Health Care
5.1 Do you support a single-payer Medicare For All system, including elimination of most or all private insurance, as the best way to achieve universal access to health care? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.2 Do you support ensuring access to health care and other safety net benefits for all individuals, regardless of immigration status? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.3 Do you support ensuring affordable long-term care for people who need it, including care at home or in the setting of their choice? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.4 Do you support challenging pharmaceutical corporations’ monopolies to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible to patients who need them? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.5 Do you support guaranteeing access to abortion throughout pregnancy, including later in pregnancy, without medically unnecessary restrictions? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.6 Do you commit to rescinding Medicaid waivers approved under the Trump administration that add barriers to access, including but not limited to work requirements? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.7 Do you support community-based treatment programs to combat substance use disorders and the opioid epidemic? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
5.8 Do you commit to robustly enforcing civil rights protections for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, women, seniors, and immigrants? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 6: Climate
6.1 Do you support the Green New Deal as the best way to address climate change while also combating income inequality and racial injustice? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.2 Do you support a federal mandate to bring U.S. carbon emissions to net zero by 2050? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.3 Do you support limiting future fossil fuel production by banning exploration and drilling on federal lands and offshore sites? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.4 Do you support eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and tax credits? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.5 Do you support a complete ban on hydraulic fracking? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.6 Do you support retiring remaining coal-fired power plants, the single biggest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S.? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
6.7 What distinguishes you from other Democratic candidates in your plans to address climate change? [Open-ended]
Section 7: Economic Justice and Civil Rights
7.1 Do you support reparations to Black people for slavery? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.2 Do you support reparations for atrocities committed against Native people in the U.S.? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.3 Do you support a tax on wealth as a way of tackling economic inequality? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.4 Do you support requiring that a percent of corporate board membership be selected by the company’s employees? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.5 Do you support a $15.00 minimum wage for all workers by 2024, including tipped workers and workers with disabilities, and indexing it to inflation moving forward? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.6 Do you support federal legislation ensuring public and private sector workers in every state have the right to form a union and collectively bargain? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.7 Do you support legislation that would provide 12 (or more) weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.8 Do you support legislation that would provide universal access to early childhood education and affordable, high-quality childcare for all families? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.9 Do you support a comprehensive review by the Department of Justice of police violence, with recommendations to address it? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.10 Do you support eliminating the money bail system, a key component of the mass incarceration industry that disproportionately harms Black and brown communities? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
7.11 Do you have a comprehensive strategy to address income inequality, including the racial wealth and gender wage gaps? [Open-ended]
Section 8: Other Domestic Policy
8.1 Do you support a gun buyback program, a ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines, and other policies aimed at reducing gun violence? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
8.2 Would you support the president declaring a national emergency to activate federal resources to address gun violence as a public health emergency? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
8.3 Do you support student debt forgiveness, as well as making public colleges and universities tuition- free? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
8.4 Do you support closing the teacher pay gap so that teachers are paid on par with other college graduates? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
8.5 Do you support extending federal financial aid to D.A.C.A. recipients? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
Section 9: Foreign Policy and National Security
9.1 Do you support repealing the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) as part of a plan for ending “forever wars” in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and beyond? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
9.2 Do you support rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran nuclear deal)? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
9.3 Do you support ending U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen and ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as a result of their human rights abuses? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
9.4 Do you commit to ending the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan and bringing our troops home by the end of your first term in Congress? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
9.5 Do you commit to pressuring Israel to end the occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories? [Yes / No / Explain more (optional)]
9.6 In your assessment, what are the greatest national security challenges to the United States? If elected, what tools and tactics would you employ to address these challenges? [Open-ended]