Last September, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (New Jersey) was accused of receiving bribes and serving as an agent for Egypt, which complicated his path to re-election to the US Senate.
Tammy Murphy, wife of New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy, entered the race, but soon abandoned that effort to endorse Andrew Kim, who also has the support of Democratic leaders.
However, a fighter for workers’ rights also raised her hand: Dr. Patricia Campos Medina, daughter of immigrants.
“Patricia has a more than 30-year history of standing up for working families,” her campaign website says. “Inspired by her parents’ struggles as low-wage workers in the hotel and restaurant industry without access to stable income and health care, Patricia became a tireless advocate for the rights of American workers.”
Workers are the basis of the campaign of Campos Medina, a graduate of Cornell University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations, as well as a Master of Public Administration and a PhD from Rutgers University.
The primary election in New Jersey is June 4, before and after this interview, different Democratic Party PACs were asked if they would support Campos Medina, but none responded to the request.
Campos Medina competes in the primary with Lawrence Hamm and Andrew Kim.
At what moment do you decide to jump onto the electoral stage, precisely for the Senate directly?
Firstly, I am a Latina woman, a labor leader here in New Jersey and nationally I have more than 30 years of working in the field of workers’ rights, immigrant rights and Latina women’s rights.
I am president of an organization called Latina Civic, in which we train, empower and support Latina women to run for public positions, whether electoral…
So when Senator Menéndez was accused in September for the third time of bribery, at that time we as a Latino community here in New Jersey, remember that Senator Menéndez had a very important position in the United States Senate… and he is one of the five Latinos in the Senate… and manages a very important agenda for New Jersey, but also for all Latinos in the United States specifically in the field of immigration and foreign policy [relaciones exteriores].
So, at that time when he was impeached for the third time and immediately the New Jersey Democratic Party asked him to resign and proposed someone, at that time the governor’s wife, as his replacement, there was a feeling in the Latino community that If we were going to lose Senator Menéndez as a representative and voice of the Latino community, remember that we are 21% of Latinos in New Jersey, there had to be an electoral contest to be able to give the opportunity to another Latino voice… there was no consultation of the Democratic Party, there was no open election to replace him and, therefore, it felt like Latino leaders, we saw that there had to be another option and that is where the conversations began that it was time for a Latina woman to run for the Senate.
What is the agenda? What are the themes you are looking to focus on?
My agenda, my electoral platform is based on four points that are critical for the New Jersey community, but also for the Latino community, I always say that Latino issues are issues for all Americans and American issues are issues for all Americans. Latinos.
First is the economy, what kind of jobs are we creating for our children, for our workers, decent wages, access to health insurance, investment in jobs that give Latinos a pass to the middle class, the rights of unionism… The investment in our Latin merchants… to be able to give capital to Latin merchants so that they can grow their companies and create capital.
The second… is the issue of accessibility to housing in New Jersey, it is one of the states where access to housing is very difficult, rents have risen, there is no access to houses that are reasonable, access to mortgages has risen a lot and so We have to create a work plan between the state and the federal government…
The third point is the right of women to their reproductive health and for us, we are at a very critical moment in that women in the United States have lost rights by the Supreme Court of Justice to have their own decisions about their right to be mother, not being a mother, and when to be a mother…
…Finally, I am an immigrant woman, I came from El Salvador at 14 years old, I suffered family separation from my parents for eight years, they left at the beginning of the war in Salvador and it took eight years to reunite us in the United States, I always say that I understand immigration because of my personal life and family separation… and that is why I will always fight for the dignity of the Latino family in the immigration process.
Do you feel that you are more attached to the policies of current Senator Bob Menéndez or would you distance yourself?
Like every public politician, I supported, I support a lot of their policies and in some other positions I have differences, we have always had differences and that is part of having a political engagement with your political representatives.
Since I announced my candidacy and said that I am a candidate for peace, as I grew up in the war in El Salvador, my family was separated by the war in El Salvador, we were displaced by the war and therefore I will always fight for a foreign policy that supports the construction of democracy and the maintenance of peace through diplomatic means.
Regarding Latin America, I think that many things change, we must have a lot, a lot of understanding of the different dynamics of each country, its position on many Americans and the third generations of Cuban Americans have changed their position on how we have to work with Cuba, I think that this is something that we have to continue evaluating, we can no longer follow a policy of the [años] 60…
I am of the opinion that there are new ideas, there are new leaders in Latin America and that we have to have a type of foreign policy that is in constant dialogue with the different pro-democracy institutions…
How do you feel in the campaign?
This campaign started for me on January 3rd… but it is a new campaign, because my first opponent, who was the first lady of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy, who was the favorite to win… withdrew from the race, because she saw that she had no road to victory, so now everyone, the media, all the political entities had told her that she was going to be the winner, but we knew that there was an opportunity to change the political environment and what she withdraws from the race shows that anything can happen in a political campaign, she went from being the favorite to having to withdraw from the race…
[Ahora] It is a totally different race Andy Kim, who is the one who has now been supported by the New Jersey political machine, has a lot to explain about his positions on different issues, I am very clear from the beginning about what my positions are on different issues. political sectors.
You are, in a way, going against the current, ultimately you are at a certain disadvantage, right?
I have always said that, as a woman, as a Latina woman, we are always devalued in terms of whether we are capable or if we are ready… I see it as an advantage, because then one can do different things and can do what I have always done. , talk to people, understand what their concerns are and create a campaign team that understands that situation and creates coalitions at the grassroots level…
Andy Kim is a male candidate and so anything can happen, just because you’re on top one day doesn’t mean you’re going to be on top at the end of this race… so what I’m saying is if the message is clear, If there is a communication and involvement strategy for the Latino community, remember that no Democrat wins a position at the state level if Latinos do not vote for them or African Americans do not vote for them…
We have the contest between Biden and Trump, if for some reason Trump wins, the Senate is the only place where the abuses of the Executive stop, like when Trump the other time was separating children from their families… he put the moratorium on immigration , then the Senate has the power to stop Donald Trump, I always say that this Latina woman from New Jersey would be the worst nightmare for Donald Trump.
A nightmare…
The worst nightmare for Donald Trump, because I would be sure that we would stop his abuses and that is why we have to send someone strong on the New Jersey immigration issue to the Senate, because we have to stop any abuse and, if God wins first President Biden, I am supporting President Biden and I am going to work so that he can win, he has to have someone to help him advance and create consensus on an immigration solution, because we cannot accept another four years without progress in resolving the immigration problem.
Do you think that Senator Bob Menéndez’s situation affects the party in any way in New Jersey?
The legal situation that Senator Menéndez is facing, which, I have always said that the courts, the courts are going to decide his innocence or not, but he has already lost the credibility of his party and of the voters of New Jersey, the Latinos. They are disappointed… Corruption is corrosive to the credibility of our democracy, so what it does if he continues to maintain that position is that it is corrosive to the ability of citizens to believe that democracy can actually change the daily situation. of the community.