Who Is Jessica Mason? Meet The Dallas-Based Activist Running For Congress In Texas. Photo: Credit: Tetiana Chaban https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/Tananda?mediatype=illustration / https://www.jessicamasonforcongress.com/
There’s a progressive Democrat candidate running for Congress in Texas who is growing in popularity. Jessica Mason is running in Texas District 30, which encompasses a large portion of Dallas including the downtown central business and arts districts.
The 30th District population is 792,445, and nearly 19 percent of residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2019 Census data. About 41 percent are Black and 16 percent are white.
So who is Mason?
A U.S. A Navy veteran, Mason bills herself as a longtime anti-poverty activist and an affordable housing coordinator.
Born and raised in Dallas, she said she grew up in underserved and impoverished communities.
“From growing up housing insecure and not being able to afford preventative medication to enlisting in the Navy to complete my degree, my story is not unique to working-class people,” Mason said on her campaign website. “I grew up in a community that was set up to fail by design.”
Texas’ 30th congressional district in Dallas in the bluest district in the state and it’s the district where the fewest Texans — just 18.9 percent — voted for Trump, according to Blue America, which is supporting Mason.
Blue America PAC is a collaboration between the authors/publishers of DownWithTyranny.com, Hullabaloo.com and CrooksandLiars.com, who are Howie Klein, Heather “Digby” Parton, and John Amato, respectively.
The primary election is scheduled for March 1, 2022. The general election will occur on Nov. 8, 2022. Mason is running against Democrats Vonciel Jones Hill, Zachariah Manning, and Abel Mulugheta. They are taking on Democratic incumbent Eddie Bernice Johnson, who has held office since 1993. Johnson has not announced if she will run again.
Mason can be seen as “a younger and more progressive alternative,” according to Dallas Weekly.
Mason’s four main policy planks are affordable housing, Medicare for All, unions for all, and holistic criminal justice. Her campaign is also entirely grassroots-funded and has not accepted money from corporate PACs, Dallas Weekly reported.
Mason said she supports tuition-free college and the total cancellation of student loan debt.
Mason said she was accepted to attend seven historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)and chose Grambling State University, only to drop out because she could not afford to pay the tuition.
Instead, she enlisted in the Navy. “For five years, I worked as a Navy medic while making sure to pursue my bachelor’s degree. I counseled service members ailing with the mental tolls of war, sexual harassment and sexual violence, and substance abuse. After completing my military contract, I decided to pursue my master of public administration while working as a legislative aide in the Virginia State Legislature,” she said.
On Nov. 30, Mason tweeted that she had been endorsed by former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner, who was the national co-chair for Bernie Sander’s 2020 presidential bid.
“I’m humbled to announce that my candidacy has been endorsed by @ninaturner! Sen. Turner has championed for progressive causes throughout the nation, and I am honored she has chosen to support the grassroots movement we are building in #TX30. Thank you, Sen. Turner!” Mason tweeted.
Some on Twitter celebrated Mason’s bid for Congress.
“Like I’ve been saying Jessica is a strong and serious candidate, and we have a chance to elect a socialist woman to Congress,” Ezra Willson (They/Them) #FreePalestine@Ezra_Willson tweeted.
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In a post on Medium announcing her candidacy, Mason wrote that she managed to survive in Dallas, but others weren’t so lucky: “There are tens of thousands of people in our district who aren’t able to get out from under our current representation’s failed leadership.”
Photo Credit:Tetiana Chaban. / https://www.jessicamasonforcongress.com/
