Latest / Breaking The Meta / First Primary Challenge in CT-01 Since 1998: Ruth Fortune Speaks
Transcript
- Breaking The Meta: Hello everyone and welcome to Breaking the Meta. Today we are sitting down with Ruth Fortune, who is running for US Congressional District 1 in Connecticut. I'm so excited to sit down with her and find out what she hopes to do ⁓ for the United States and specifically for her constituents. Hello Ruth, how are you? Ruth Fortune: I am well. Thank you for having me, Michael. It's pleasure to be with you. Breaking The Meta: Absolutely, So good, so good to be here. would you mind just giving us ⁓ little bit of background on who you are and why you decided to run for Congress in the first place? Ruth Fortune: ⁓ sure, absolutely. So I am an attorney and a mom and my three children are nine, six, and three. I was the first candidate to jump into this race to challenge our incumbent. ⁓ because I'm just really fed up with politics. I'm at this stage. Politics found me in a very personal way. My family moved here from Haiti when I was 12 years old. ⁓ in our first decade in the U S I was undocumented. So I. Breaking The Meta: Wow. Ruth Fortune: knew firsthand what it was like to live with a constant fear of deportation. We shared one bedroom with eight relatives. ⁓ I remember my mother saying her first paycheck was $76 in the US and that's for a family of four. So we struggled, but we were fortunate that I was in a school district where I had access to wonderful teachers, supportive staff and a great education. ⁓ I had a loving family all along. Breaking The Meta: Wow. Ruth Fortune: ⁓ And I managed to make it to college. I waitress my way through college because I couldn't get financial aid. ⁓ And I was four months away from graduating college with no job prospect because I wasn't authorized to work here lawfully. ⁓ And getting just pretty just sad about that because a lot of my classmates with grades like I did and the course and major that I did, they had job offers at big companies ⁓ with benefits and just their futures were looking just so much brighter than mine at the time. And four months before graduation, a terrible earthquake ravaged Haiti. ⁓ And the Obama administration, I don't know if you recall, in January of 2010, in response to that horrible earthquake, he gave Haitians here without documentation, temporary protected status. And it did two major things. It allowed us to work here lawfully, and it gave us protection from deportation. And for me, it was transformative, not only personally, because I was able to pursue a full-time job with benefits. It also taught me that government really can be a force for good, but we need people in those positions of power who want to use their power to serve the public and help others. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. So as you've gone around your district and talked with people, what have been, we just want to give people kind of an understanding of your district in general. What kind of pain points are you hearing from the people you're talking to? What are the areas that the first district of Connecticut could really use the support of the federal government? Ruth Fortune: Three main concerns I'm hearing, which probably won't be surprising to you. First is affordability. Being in New England in the Northeast, is quite expensive to be in Connecticut. Property taxes are high, utilities are really high in Connecticut, and for families that don't have lot of wiggle room in their budgets, those rising costs really are crushing. ⁓ I'm hearing from a lot of people, particularly more progressive side of the party, they're just very concerned about the state of our democracy. And I don't think it's limited to Democrats anymore at this point. think reasonable people on both sides of the aisle are concerned about the state of our democracy. And then finally, I think people are concerned about just the federal government and its cruel tactics, particularly towards immigrants and demonizing them and just harming and hurting anyone who dares to stand in their way. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Yeah. One of the issues that I think a lot of people that are looking at our government today and society today, but specifically our government, and regardless of which side of the aisle you consider yourself, I think one of the things that a lot of us are struggling with is this idea of accountability in our government, or lack thereof. ⁓ What does accountability look like to you? How do you hope that these are a few, these are three separate questions. What does accountability look like to you? How do you see your constituents holding you accountable? And how do you see accountability going forth in the House of Representatives if you were to get in it? Ruth Fortune: Gosh, so accountability first in terms of the systemic level. I think having each branch of government not cede their power to another branch is paramount. What we're seeing right now is essentially the legislative branch has just been deferring to the president on everything ⁓ from war powers to allowing him to not distribute and relinquish funds that have been appropriated by Congress. Breaking The Meta: Mm-hmm. Ruth Fortune: which has the power of the purse, to not holding him accountable when he oversteps his power or simply abuses that power, that weakens democracy. It doesn't just strengthen a president, it weakens democracy in the very fabric of our nation. So that's very concerning. In terms of personal accountability, ⁓ I personally have already committed to serving up to five terms in Congress. I think from my observations, power can be very addictive. And when we have people who are serving for decades at a time in a very elite position, you become out of touch whether or not you want to be. The job requires so much. You have to split your time between your hometown ⁓ in Washington, D.C. You have benefits that are unmatched compared to what regular people have. You're earning more. You have access to so much more. I think there's just this natural ability to just lose touch when you've been in Congress for so long. And frankly, that's what I've seen with my own ⁓ Congress member who I'm challenging after 28 years in office. I think even someone who was originally effective, that efficacy begins to just diminish over time. So I'm committing to up to five terms in Congress, which would be 10 years. And it's also a way to just put a clock on the time I have to serve. I will fight as vigorously as I can while I'm serving, but then pass the baton to someone else. Fresh voice, fresh energy, even to the same issues sometimes can just help make way and deliver solutions for people. Some of the grid light that we're seeing ⁓ is because we just, it's the same people who think the same way, similar backgrounds. We're just not getting enough fresh blood and fresh energy and fresh perspective. ⁓ And then finally, you know, we do have a federal system. There's national law, there's the federal law, and then there's the states. I think the states have been stepping up, particularly states led by Democrats, in some meaningful ways to hold ⁓ the president and his administration accountable. But I do want to see more of that. For example, I do want to see state police departments and state attorney generals prosecute ICE agents who violate state criminal laws more vigorously and more swiftly because that's one way to send the message to them that you are not fully immune contrary to what Stephen Miller might say because it's simply not the law. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Obviously, as someone who is an immigrant themselves, the what's going on with ICE in this country, ⁓ I'm sure hits home to some extent. What do you see? If you are if you are elected, what what? Immigration reform is something that this country has talked about in some way, or form for a long, long time and nothing has gotten done. What does the idea of immigration reform look like to you? What does the idea of an immigration system look like to you were you to get into office? Ruth Fortune: ⁓ so I firmly support and I have that on my website as well, my immigration policy proposal. I want comprehensive immigration reform. And for me, that includes two key things. One, people who have been here, who are hardworking, who have no other path to legalization. We need to offer them a path to citizenship. It is the right thing to do. It is the best thing to do economically for our country because These are people who can come out of the shadow economy and participate more fully. lot of them, immigrants overall pay so much into our tax system, get little back, and they could contribute more because they could get better jobs. They could pursue higher education if they were to be legally here and have a path to citizenship. And also, I think our way of enforcing immigration law, it's simply cruel. And what we're seeing now is an administration that has just exploited and abused the system that we've had in place. Frankly, since 2003, when we established DHS after the 9-11 attacks in the US. it's not only an ineffective way of enforcing immigration, it's incredibly cost prohibitive and it's detrimental to our economy while harming people, harming immigrant families and Americans alike. It's simply not a model that is sustainable. We are deterring and pushing away really brilliant people who may want to consider coming here. We've always attracted the best and the brightest from across the world in our policies now. It's not simply deterring, you know, the average person from coming here. It's deterring really brilliant people from wanting to come and make this country their home. And we're seeing, and I hope it's not going to be the case for the rest of this administration's term, but We're seeing a brain flight too. People fleeing, wanting to go to countries that are more welcoming to scientists, more welcoming to academia and just studying various aspects of our society. And it's a huge loss to our society, to our country. There's a lag, but eventually we will feel that if it continues. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Obviously, this idea of division is something that we are dealing with as a country, regardless of whether all of it is true in the way that we look at it. think a lot of us, regardless of which side of an aisle we associate with, we all are dealing with a lot of the same issues. Both sides of the aisle are dealing with affordability and things like that. What has been your experience when you've been going around in your district and you interact with someone who ⁓ has considered themselves a conservative but sees a D next to your name when you start talking to them. Ruth Fortune: The exp... So professionally, I'm a trust and a state attorney. And before that, I was a financial advisor. So even my professional life prior to running to office has been a front row seat to seeing how people deal with money, period. How do they spend it? How do they acquire it? How do they lose it? How do they pass it on to the next generation? And it's an interesting perspective to bring to Congress because it's not a perspective that a lot of Congress members have. And the reality is I see systemic... barriers, ways that our society is failing people at every stage in life. People, I'm 37, my peers and people probably a few years younger than me, their concern is whether or not they'll ever be able to do what their parents did, buy a house, start a family, because it's just so cost prohibitive. Some, if they were from a middle-class family, they're just, they're feeling crushed by the overwhelming debt that they have from pursuing, from going to college, or if they did pursue an advanced degree. ⁓ For middle-class folks, or I'd say middle-aged people who have had careers, saving for retirement is more challenging because they likely are not going to get a pension the way their parents did. Now it's all on them to try to contribute to their 401ks and buy long-term care insurance. And then for seniors, and I would say I've done a lot of work with seniors, just that's mostly who do planning. I've seen people who were retired teachers, principals, nurses, who did all the things that they were supposed to do and all the things that we all see as just the American dream and accomplishment. They bought their homes, they've paid it off, they have some retirement savings, they have some savings in their bank accounts. Then they start to age and their health begins to decline and they realize that the cost of long-term care is not covered by Medicare and they're going to go bankrupt and broke just paying for their care so they could maintain, you know, the ability to live in their home and be there and live safely. So, and I've had to advise them about Medicaid laws and how you can only have $1,600 to get any assistance and find ways to get them that assistance without entirely impoverishing themselves, which takes some very sophisticated planning, sometimes over months, and is costly in terms of legal fees that they have to pay. So to see it over those full spectrums at each stage in life is very disconcerting. But what I also realized is that the majority of people in Congress who can change those laws, they don't actually have to live with those struggles and consequences because they can private pay themselves out of a lot of those issues. How many Congress members have had to get their parents on Medicaid and watch them lose the home that they work hard to pay for? How many Congress members have had their own family face bankruptcy because of crushing medical debt when they have Cadillac health insurance? So the disconnect between the people who have the Breaking The Meta: No. Ruth Fortune: power to change those systems and who struggles, there's just zero overlap. And my view is the way we close that gap between our values and our laws is to have a Congress that's representative of the people it serves, to have the people who've been held back by these systemic barriers, put them at the decision table so they can address them and solve those issues. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Well, good luck. I hope there are days I will admit that that feels like a stretch. it's great to hear you and so many other people say how they talk about wanting to fix that problem, because I definitely think that that's one of the bigger problems that we are interacting with on a regular basis. I think it got us to where we are now is that inability to have those kind of discussions. ⁓ This current administration has been in power for a little over a year now. one of the many things that it has done is, in my opinion, single-handedly change, irrevocably change our seat at the world stage, whether you're talking how we've dealt with tariffs, ⁓ Venezuela. the whole thing with Greenland. There is This administration has damaged our relationship with our allies to an extent that has not existed in the last 80 years at minimum. And regardless of what this administration thinks going forward, I think there's going to be an extreme struggle to gain that trust back. How do you see America's place moving forward in terms of our foreign relations, especially with people that have normally been considered our allies. Ruth Fortune: It's very concerning to me to see the destruction that is happening at the world stage. If, you know, I've listened to President Trump's speech, Davos, and I listened to Prime Minister Carney's speech as well. I think as we should expect, the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that America under this administration cannot be a trusted partner. a superpower that really tries to keep the peace when we have a president who is so consumed with power and wealth for himself and his friends. ⁓ It's we're losing that trust. I hope that it's not irreparable, but I think there's going to be a lot of structural changes that we'll have to make when Trump is out of office to earn that trust back over time. And the sad part is some of those laws we have in place, we're just not enforcing them. and Congress has relinquished them. we, Congress could compel Trump to not go and take out a head of state in another country, whether or not we think he's legitimate or not. Congress could stop President Trump from imposing tariffs on our allies simply because he thinks it's a bargaining chip. It's choosing not to. So we do need to revisit those laws if they're not being enforced and then put in more measures to ensure that the president cannot simply destruct years. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Ruth Fortune: decades sometimes of relationships that we build and single-handedly just dismantle the America's standing on the world stage. But it's going to take a lot of hard work. And I don't expect that those countries will just start trusting us again when you threaten to go and take Greenland and they stand up and all of a sudden Donald Trump backs up, which by the way, that's his history. That's what bullies do. They try to take a strong posture, hope that you cave. But if you stand firm and you stand your ground, bullies usually back down because their power is only really real to the extent that we allow them to have it. So we internally can start taking a lesson from world leaders, particularly I'd say Prime Minister Carney in terms of realizing that this facade that he's created, it's a world that benefits him but doesn't benefit the rest of us. Breaking The Meta: Mm, yeah. I'd like to do a little future casting if you wouldn't mind. ⁓ Let's assume you get through Connecticut's primaries and you are the Democratic nominee. You get through November 3rd, you win, you're going to become the next congressman. January 3rd, 2nd comes around and you get sworn in. What is the first thing that you do? Ruth Fortune: The first thing I would do ⁓ is what I've done when I've been in new settings. think developing relationships with the people in Congress really matters because it's a body of 435 people. No one person can deliver on their agenda single-handedly. Developing those relationships, finding common ground, and hopefully not only with Democrats, but with some reasonable Republicans to the extent there are any of them remaining in Congress then. Finding some common ground to see How do we deliver for the American people on policies that I care deeply about, such as increasing the federal minimum wage? I've proposed a $25 an hour with inflation because we know inflation happens and a lot of studies have shown that the wage it takes for people to be able to afford housing, food, necessities, it's closer to 25 an hour. So that's informed by data and research. find, because that's something that reasonable people should support. It's a matter of how do we implement it? Where do we need to give support? I think small business owners will need some support at first from the government to be able to implement that. But large corporations who are making billions in profits while their employees are receiving SNAP benefits or Section 8 housing, they don't need support from the government. To the contrary, we have these workers subsidizing corporate profits. Those are things that we could work to stop together. But I think the very first order of business is getting to the colleagues I'll have to work with. because it is by design that Congress is a collective making decisions. And if each of the parts have different perspectives, different strengths, different experience, draw from different sources, the body itself becomes stronger. And I think that's one of the aspects of Congress that is lacking and that weakens it is that right now it is predominantly wealthy people who are born into privilege. So people for whom the status quo frankly have, it's benefited them. They are in Congress in part because of the barriers that we have. And for me, challenging an incumbent or simply running for Congress is challenging because I am not from that privilege background. So I wasn't born in the family where I get to be a Congress member. I have to fight and claw my way through, but that's been my story my whole life. But that perspective is lacking in Washington, DC. And that's a needed perspective. We need more members who know what it's like to struggle day to day under the failed policies that we've had. Breaking The Meta: If anyone who's listening, especially someone from the first district of Connecticut is listening to this interview right now, has listened all the way through, gets to this point, what is one or two things that you would want to make sure that those people come away with knowing about you and knowing about your campaign? Ruth Fortune: Thank you, that's a great question. So about me, they should know that I am bringing to DC perspectives that are really lacking. Not simply in terms of my professional experience, but also in terms of my lived experience. I am a mother of three young children in public schools. About 7 % of Congress has mothers of young children, or 7 % of the members are mothers of young children. I have parents who... were hardworking immigrants and could not retire on their own. I've had to step in and help them. There are so many other seniors who can probably never retire and are working well beyond the years that they expected to. I'm living that struggle day in and day out. For my family, it was more cost effective to retire my parents, have them live with us, than to pay for childcare while my parents earn poverty wages that just pay for rent and for food. So I see those struggles in my own family. I see it in neighbors and friends. So I have that experience that I can bring to Congress that frankly is not experienced that you can inquire after you get to Congress. You've either struggled and overcome obstacles or you've had a cushy life where everything's been handed to you and you simply keep racking up accomplishments. That's not me. I've really had to work for everything. And then in terms of the race, what I wouldn't want everyone in this district to know is that I was the first to enter this race, not because I really... felt that I want to make a name for myself, but because I'm frustrated with the status quo. Here in the first district, we haven't had a primary where we have chosen the candidate this entire century. The last Democratic primary we had for Congress was in 1998 when Congressman Larson was elected. Ever since he's been selected as the Democratic nominee every two years and placed on a general ballot. So of course I've always voted for him because I'm a Democrat. And I wouldn't risk a Democratic ⁓ congressman during a general election. So I vote for him. But this is an opportunity where we can be more strategic. Being a very blue district or a safe blue district, as we say, it's safe for the person who has the job because he just keeps getting reelected every time. This is a time when we use that safety to fight for ourselves and put someone who will really fight with zeal and just not. not compromise where they shouldn't on the positions and have someone who is more progressive on the issues, someone who's going to be unashamed to fight for everything that we deserve in the first district. And that's who I want to be. And that's why I'm fighting to have a primary before the election in August. I need to get on the ballot. It is a fight to get on the ballot in Connecticut. We have the most ballot, you know, restrictive ballot access laws in the country. So if you want to see a primary, regardless of who you want to actually serve as your congress member. You have a role that you can play in this to ensure that we actually do have a primary where voters choose who the candidate gets to be. Breaking The Meta: Yeah, there's a lot of people in this country that have said that they are tired of the status quo, that they're tired of things feeling like they have no actual say in anything. ⁓ And people such as yourself and many others that I've been talking to are trying to do it the right way. They're not taking corporate money. They are wanting to break the status quo. They want to ⁓ They want to make this country better for everyone, have people thrive, not just survive, things of that nature. And one of the things that all people, for anyone listening, people such as Ruth and such as so many other amazing people that are running, they need things because they are doing it the right way, because they actually care about these things. They need things like visibility. They need things like name recognition. They need the support of the people that actually say, day in and day out that you want this stuff to happen. If you want real change, if you want this, then please ⁓ support them. Supporting them can mean a lot of things. In just a second, we're going to find out how you can support Ruth if you need to. But you can watch a video like this. You can watch their social media videos. You can share them with people that are out of the district as well as in the district, because we all know that social media works on an algorithm. And the more people watch and the more people engage, Ruth Fortune: Right. Breaking The Meta: the better the chance that their name will get out. just as much, just as important as it is that we have people like Ruth that are running, it's just as important that people such as anyone listening to this also gets involved and helps out because that's the only way we're gonna make this kind of change actually happen. Ruth Fortune: Absolutely. Breaking The Meta: ⁓ So speaking of that Ruth, ⁓ if anyone wants to learn more about you and your campaign and support you, whether ⁓ volunteering or financially, ⁓ where can they find you? Ruth Fortune: Thank you. ⁓ My website is ruthfortuneforcongress.com and that's F-O-R spelled out, ruthfortuneforcongress.com. You can go on my website to sign up to volunteer, to donate via at blue securely. ⁓ The first, in terms of the stages of this fight, the first battle is getting on the ballot. ⁓ There's going to be a convention in early May with about 450 delegates and they are the first, think about it, just a handful of people relative to our population get to determine who gets on the ballot. And each candidate needs 15 % of the delegate support. The delegates will be announced in March. If you want to see a primary when those delegates are announced, you should reach out to the delegates in your hometown. Tell them you want to see a primary. You want them to ensure that every candidate who's fighting really hard to represent this district gets to be on the ballot. Because if I don't get the 15 % support, then I have to do a petition signature to get on the ballot. And that's 42 days. I have to collect thousands of signatures. It is a huge Herculean task. And it creates two paths, right? Where a group of candidate can coast easy and get on the ballot. Another group have to spend so much time and energy and potentially money trying to get those signatures. and risk getting signatures disqualified and get thrown off the ballot either way. And the reality is here in Connecticut, we have never had an incumbent face a primary challenge in Congress because at the convention, they have never allowed a challenger at the convention level to get onto the ballot, period. So that would be, if we get on the ballot through the convention or via the signature petition, we will be making history as a campaign, which is mind blowing to think of in and of itself. Breaking The Meta: Mm. Yeah. Ruth Fortune: So that's the first stage. You can really play an instrumental ⁓ part in ensuring that we have a robust competitive primary here in the first district. ⁓ And then continue to stay involved and volunteer with the campaign. Certainly, I appreciate any donation folks can make. As a very financially responsible person and former advisor, I say donate within your means. I never want to say donate where you don't know where your next meal will come from, but if you have the ability to give, And you do think that the perspective of a young mom who is an immigrant, who's overcome obstacles in her life and who is now running for office, because I see the paths that I use to get to where I am, they're being systemically dismantled by this administration. That's why I want to go to Congress, to create and fight for opportunity so that everyone, people like me and people who are different from me can achieve their dreams and aspirations. That's what I, when I came here as a bright-eyed 12-year-old, just thinking about America, my vision was if you work really hard here, you can be anything you want. And it was hard working to see that some people who work really hard, many people who work really hard cannot become anything they want because of those systemic barriers. And that's why I think I want to challenge that. I want America to live up to the promise that it has, the ability that all of us can have the right to pursue life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. And I've achieved that for my family in part through hard work, but also through good fortune. I want to eliminate the fortune part out of it. want it to be the system is designed for us to thrive versus you get lucky if you're from an impoverished background and you thrive. That is not a recipe for success. That is a recipe where, you know, I can be the exception. I want to be more of the norm. I want anyone who comes here, who was born here, regardless of zip code that you live in, regardless of families, social economic status. If you want to work hard and you want to be someone, you want to make a good life for yourself, you can do that. And it starts with fighting for our democracy and fighting for the ways that the opportunity continues to be available to all of us. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. And I guess this message also goes out to just anyone in Connecticut that is listening, ⁓ not just in District 1. you want, there are people running ⁓ against incumbents in multiple districts that I've already talked to in Connecticut. If you want this for your state, reach out and actually help make a choice possible for you and your state. ⁓ Ruth Fortune: Absolutely. Breaking The Meta: Ruth, thank you so much for sitting down with me and letting us get to know you and your amazing campaign. Ruth Fortune: Oh, thank you so much. know, I think my final piece, I may, that I wanted to add is I know I say systemic barriers a lot and I was doing an interview last week with someone said, well, can you explain what systemic barriers are? And, you know, the way I think of it is think of the things that are hard for you, but you never really question. You just accept that, well, it's just really hard to figure out how to get healthcare because there's just, it's just so complicated. It's complicated because we, Breaking The Meta: Sure, yeah. Ruth Fortune: have the system designed this way, we can choose to do them differently. And with respect to running for Congress, it is very challenging because I am taking on special interests. I am taking on really, really wealthy donors who are vying for their own candidates. And I'm aware of that. I'm a pragmatic person. I'm a very logical, reasonable person. I'm aware of that, but also I know if I don't fight, then who will? Because the impacts will get to me. And as someone from marginalized background, I already see family members and friends who are being crushed by the setbacks and the rolling back of progress that we're seeing, but I am stepping up to do my part. And the way that we battle systemic barriers is by doing something differently. Doing your piece the way you've always done it maintains the status quo. If you take nothing else away from this, changing the status quo requires that you do something different. Is it that you're gonna show up and vote and bring friends with you to vote? Is it that you're going to volunteer for the first time? Is it that you're going to donate for the first time? Is it that you're going to just inform yourself more on the issue so you can be a more active participant in our democracy? It does require a behavioral change because the systems thrive when we just do our piece and we just are just a clog in the machine. And I urge every single one of you. Find one or two things that you can do differently to protect democracy and make sure that you're fighting for the country that you deserve and the country that you believe in. Breaking The Meta: Totally agree. Totally agree. Again, thank you for spending time talking with us. I really do appreciate it. For everyone else that has listened this far or watched this far, thank you so much. ⁓ Please consider liking, subscribing. It really helps me out, makes it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing here, ⁓ which is fighting for the idea of ⁓ having hard conversations, necessary conversations, breaking the status quo, and fighting for the... the idea that all people, matter your race, religion, gender, or identity deserve rights, respect, dignity, and safety. And it's something that we all need to be ⁓ fighting for. that's how we make a society that is for all people. ⁓ Again, Ruth, thank you so much. And for everyone else, we'll see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye, guys. Ruth Fortune: Thank you for having me, Michael. I appreciate it.