Running in Democratic primary, he believes pandemic brings to light policies that have been necessary
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Will Cunningham believes the COVID-19 pandemic, and the systemic problems it has brought to light, demonstrate the need for a progressive policies to best serve average Americans.
Cunningham, who is competing with four others in the July 7 Democratic primary for the Second Congressional District seat, said he is fighting for systemic change on issues that existed before the pandemic began and will be here when the crisis is over.
“What we’re seeing now in this great time of crisis is that our government is more and more leaning on progressive policies to remedy the situation,” Cunningham said. “If we know what is going to do the most good and help the most vulnerable populations then we need to use this moment to really create systemic change. We’re going to need our government to respond to the crisis in direct proportion to the severity.”
Cunningham, of Vineland, spent the past six years on Capitol Hill, two and a half as a policy staff member for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and then, until he announced his run for Congress in January, as chief investigator on the House Oversight Committee. He worked for the late Chairman Elijah Cummings.
“For so long progressives have been told that our policies were too expensive or too ‘pie in the sky,’” Cunningham said. “However, in our darkest hour, we find ourselves turning to those same policies because they provide the greatest good to vulnerable populations. The value of universal health care, expanded unemployment akin to a universal basic income, and sick leave benefits have never been clearer. We must fight for broad expansion of these policies beyond this crisis and use a progressive tax system to do so.
“The time is now for bold, systemic change within our government the magnitude of which reflects the severity of the current devastation,” he added. “Merely going back to what we knew before won’t cut it. We need to rebuild and reimagine our economy with green jobs and green industries that lean America into its future with policies like the Green New Deal. The time is now.”
“We’re going to need to have policies to lift up folks as much as this pandemic has pulled them down,” Cunningham said. “The government’s role should always be to correct market failures and right now there has been a self-imposed market failure and we have not reformed the health care industry enough to the point where it actually addresses human need. We have to do that now. We have a chance to do that now. And we have the policies we know should be in place to address it. And those are preventive policies.”
Cunningham has been having a series of virtual town hall meetings. The first in early April was dedicated to the stimulus package approved by Congress and eligibility requirements. The second was “devoted to shining a light on local heroes, nurses on the front lines, the profession at large. There was a curiosity about our health care structure in south Jersey” and what people could expect if they went to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cunningham moved on to town halls on climate change and homelessness, issues that existed before the pandemic, and then on to racial health disparities with a doctor from Tuskegee University medical school.
“I did health care policy on the Hill for years,” Cunningham said. “These aren’t new trends. What’s happened in the pandemic has been exacerbated and brought to light. The public health field has been ringing the alarm on this for a while and, unfortunately, it’s taken this pandemic for folks outside of that field to really see it.”
Statistics from the New Jersey Department of Health about the pandemic have shown blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately in danger from COVID-19. “This is what it looks like when there is inadequate access to health care, especially when health care is tied to employer coverage,” Cunningham said. “That doesn’t always come when you have a lower wage job. Disproportionately people of color have lower wage jobs and so you’re seeing the way this is playing out is predictable. I hate to say it, but we should not be surprised that it is having this disproportionate impact because that disparity has always existed.”
He believes the nation has to be bold and “meet the moment” on health care.
“We have to take a serious look at Medicare for all and a single-payer government system. I’m not saying it is going to be easy to implement. The majority of Americans have already supported Medicare for all and that number is going up, especially now, especially in the middle of this pandemic,” he said. “People are starting to see that we need a single-payer system that streamlines the process and really caters to the needs of average Americans. The system as it is working now is not working. I know there is a desire to return to normal, but normal wasn’t working for the vast majority of Americans. I think this is proof, the way it has played out during the pandemic.”
Cunningham, who experienced homelessness while a student at Vineland High School, went on to Brown University and University of Texas-Austin School of Law. He points to his mother, an hourly wage worker, who, like his brother, have become essential during the COVID-19 crisis, as justifying the need for a $15 minimum wage.
“In the middle of this pandemic they have gone to work every day … If we can’t provide folks, who we’ve deemed essential, who are risking their lives this entire pandemic, a livable wage of $15 an hour, shame on us,” he said.
Climate change and
an endorsement
Cunningham was recently endorsed by New Jersey Youth Climate Strike. This group was formed out of the movement Greta Thunberg created. Thunberg is a Swedish teenage environmental activist who sparked a worldwide movement.
“I am honored to have the endorsement. I’m the only candidate who is unequivocally for the Green New Deal. I devoted a town hall, in the middle of the pandemic, to climate change. I did that because we need to be aware of the looming crisis that was here before COVID and that will be here after,” he said.
“We’ve already seen devastation on the Bayshore in Cumberland County and it should be a cautionary tale so we can take action in the state and at the Jersey shore. Our guest speaker was Andrew Lewis, an Ocean City resident and Cumberland County native, the author of ‘The Drowning of Money Island.’ We had a conversation about what needs to be done now to protect those coastal communities and I’m the only candidate who’s come out with a proposal to do just that, to make sure the coastal communities can stay intact as long as possible on the Jersey shore, which is funding the Army Corps of Engineers comprehensive risk mitigation plan, investing $10 billion into new infrastructure and really making sure we get ahead of this. We know without a plan of this nature, $1.7 billion in damage can occur annually, so the plan plays for itself in seven years. None of my opponents have talked about this. None of my opponents have come out with a package of reforms to save our coastal communities. As someone from Vineland, I’m not the candidate from a beachfront home. That is Brigid (Callahan Harrison) and Amy (Kennedy),” of Longport and Brigantine, respectively. “I’m the one who cares a lot about protecting those communities.”
A progressive in a
moderate district
Cunningham doesn’t believe the Second Congressional District is conservative.
“I think it is a moderate district. And I think if you talk to folks about these policies and how they will benefit their lives, you win folks over. That’s what we’re seeing as this pandemic plays out. Frank LoBiondo was a moderate. He kept his seat because Democrats voted for him. There are more registered Democrats in this district than registered Republicans. And I think when we talk about Jeff Van Drew, he is a reactionary nightmare. He betrayed his entire community and went about it in such a flagrant way. We’re going to restore a Democrat to this seat, hopefully a progressive Democrat. I’m going to be in the fight and out front for working families.”
In the Democratic primary, Cunningham is facing Callahan Harrison, Kennedy, John Francis and Robert Turkavage.
“I am the only one in this race who has worked on Capitol Hill. I have a proven track record. When we talked about holding corporations accountable, I’ve done that. I’ve had CEOs fired because of my work on Capitol Hill. When we talk about holding the Trump Administration accountable, I’ve already done that. I’ve investigated (Secretary of Education) Betsy DeVos and gotten students student loan relief when they were defrauded by for-profit colleges.
“If folks are looking for someone to do this job on day one, that they can trust to do the job because they’re already had results, hands down I’m their candidate,” he said.