Rep.

Grace Meng
2209 Rayburn HOB
Wasington, D.C. 20515

July 23rd, 2019

Dear Congresswoman Meng,

By now I’m sure you’ve been alerted to my FEC filing on July 12th, as a candidate for the 6th Congressional
District, the seat you currently hold. I understand that it is odd to launch one’s own bid, not with some 3-
minute ready to be viral video-short attacking you, but with an open letter instead. However, I’m running to fix
a broken political and economic system. Launching my campaign trying to tear down a fellow member of the
AAPI community, working mother, and woman of color would only serve to add to the cancer that is ripping
our country apart.
Have no doubt, we share stark differences–and where there are contrasts on policy and approach, they will be
drawn.
I am a member of DSA, and as such am running to bring more democratic control over our economy, put
people at the heart of policymaking, and fight back against the fascist governance that has typified the Trump
presidency. The respect I extend you is done in an effort to raise the level of discourse in this primary race, and
it is my hope that you find it within yourself to resist advice that steers you in the opposite direction.
Were we living in normal times, I’d be more than happy to continue my tenure as a stay-at-home dad quietly
living out my life with my wife and three children in our rented apartment in Kew Gardens. However, we are
not in normal times and our country is in crisis.
I wish there was time to move you towards realizing the importance of championing a new vision of social
housing in America that will create affordable housing for all while meeting the sustainability goals of the
Green New Deal, addressing the needs of our homeless, providing shelter for the justice involved looking to
restart their lives, while providing prevailing wage paying jobs to local workers.
I wish there was time to convince you that Abolish ICE is not a political slogan but a moral imperative. I wish
there was time to convince you that experiments in Universal Basic Income must be funded to address the
changing nature of work, as even traditionally “white collar” jobs are replaced due to advances in deep machine
learning. I wish there was time to convince you that legislation should exist that goes beyond social security in
ensuring that our seniors spend their golden years living in dignity not economic uncertainty and fear over how
they will face their final days. These are just a few of my policy proposals that you and I will surely debate in the
months ahead.
But time is not on our side, and in six years Democrats in our district have not had a real choice about what our
collective future looks like, and have spent nearly four years bulldozed by a President happy to disregard the
Constitution while our party debates whether holding him accountable will affect the next election.
I am providing our district a choice. I am running to put people before politics, human dignity before corporate
greed, and the needs of the many over the benefit of the wealthy and the powerful.
I came up in traditional Democratic politics and even represented parts of this district as a Congressional Aide
in my younger years, but we have lost our way. It is only by providing a true progressive alternative to the
people of our district and this nation, that we can definitively send a message to Trump, his allies, and those
who have become emboldened to publicly display their hate. Those of us who truly stand for progress, with no
care for our political fortunes, will do so unapologetically guided by the interests of the those who for too long
have not had their voices heard in the halls of power.
For them, for the children who could so easily have been our own that find themselves abandoned in tax-payer
funded cages, and for the countless Americans who feel powerless in the face of a new tyranny is why I run.

Sincerely,

Melquiades Rosario Gagarin