When Max Pushkin ’22.5, Dylan Douglas ’22 and Ben Lipson ’22.5 reluctantly finished their work on Will Cunningham’s ’07 campaign for Congress — Cunningham had lost his primary bid in New Jersey’s second congressional district this summer — they wondered what more they could do to push progressive candidates and policies.
How could they fight what they called “establishmentarianism,” they asked themselves, while making room for the ideas they wanted to see represented and the politicians they wanted to see elected?
So, the three University undergraduates decided to create Make Room, a grassroots political action committee that works to identify, amplify and make room for progressive candidates within the Democratic Party.
Pushkin, Douglas and Lipson believe that Cunningham received less media coverage than his Democratic opponents, Amy Kennedy and Brigid Callahan Harrison, and that this may have led to his loss. So Cunningham, who now serves as an advisor to Make Room, and his campaign motivated them to continue to fight for other candidates.
“It's really difficult because … (progressivism) is framed in the media, and especially in mainstream, Democratic politics … as almost a threat,” Pushkin said. He served as the deputy campaign manager for Cunningham and currently works as executive director of Make Room.
“Once the election ended,” he said, “we were just, like, ‘how can we apply what we've learned from the campaign onto a wider scale and bring it national?’”
Make Room collaborates with congressional candidates by offering endorsements and working to increase media exposure. The PAC offers social media consulting and graphic design development, which is overseen by graphic designer Heather Robinson, a junior at George Washington University. Three of Make Room’s endorsed candidates have won their primary races — Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) for reelection to the U.S. Senate and Adam Christensen and Cindy Banyai for Florida’s 3rd and 19th congressional districts, respectively. Still, progressive politicians have not gained widespread support everywhere.
In retrospect, Douglas said he felt Cunningham stood on a more solid progressive platform than Kennedy, who ultimately won the party’s bid and is going on to the general election.
Born and raised in southern New Jersey, Cunningham faced homelessness and poverty throughout his youth. He is a visible grassroots figure in his native South Jersey and spent six years in Washington, D.C. as a congressional staffer for the late civil rights icon Elijah Cummings. During his time on Capitol Hill, Cunningham worked as an aide on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, investigated pharmaceutical companies and helped draft Medicare negotiation bills.
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“You can just tell by money and endorsements who’s going to win,” Douglas said. But the organizers at Make Room still have faith in grassroots organizing.
The Make Room team is applying their grassroots ideals as Election Day approaches. “For now … we're trying to get as many progressives elected to Congress and state houses and state senates as we possibly can between now and November 3,” Pushkin said.
The PAC also hopes to move its focus to issue-based politics at the state level after the November election. Douglas said that Make Room will lobby for ranked-choice voting on state ballots and automatic voter registration.
“Truthfully, that's the real meat and grit of American democracy: issue-based state politics,” Douglas said. “Because that's where the stuff gets done. I'm a huge believer that all politics should be trickle up and not trickle down.”
Although Make Room will not be formally endorsing any candidate in the upcoming presidential election, its founders are all personally supporting Democratic Presidential Nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, of whom some progressive leaders were initially skeptical, in November. “We will support Joe Biden no matter what, because nothing can be done on the climate justice, racial justice, economic justice side of things without a Joe Biden administration,” Pushkin said.
Cunningham also said he supports Biden for president. He has returned to the House Oversight Committee, “where additional oversight is needed to make sure we have a fair and transparent election,” he told The Herald.
Regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, Cunningham emphasized that the progressive movement must continue to grow. “I think the movement has to expand. We're seeing new, incredible figures with amazing stories like Mondaire Jones,” who would be the first openly gay Black man in Congress if elected to represent New York's 17th congressional district, Cunningham said. “We're seeing the change, and we would love for it to happen more quickly, but it's happening.”
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