Eloy Delgado

• Education: Every child deserves a world-class public education. Politicians have tried many disastrous reforms in the last 15 years that have left many children of the 8th district behind. Instead, I envision the federal government finally allowing professional educators the autonomy to truly meet the needs of their children. Working together we can roll back the disastrous reforms of the last 15 years and instead work together, as a community, to truly create a world-class educational system that our children deserve.

• Higher Education: Every capable student should be able to attend college and graduate without student loans. Former and current college students have a combined total of 1.7 trillion dollars in student loan debt. This massive burden not only hurts individuals, but it also hurts our collective economic growth. I believe that we must commit to debt-free public college and help those currently in debt to better manage their debt. Doing this will unleash American prosperity.

• Urban Renewal: Our cities need a Marshall plan to bring back prosperity. The United States spends billions of dollars investing in other nations when our own communities are ignored. In addition, many of our cities have had middle class residents move out further straining local budgets. Many of our renewal efforts have focused on gentrification, which is not a sustainable solution to our economic urban problems. A new covenant must be created for our urban cities. Creative solutions must be developed in order to help residents help themselves in achieving a secure financial future. Strategic and targeted investments and programs must be developed to raise the standard of living of current residents of our cities.

• Economic Policy: During the last 50 years our country has stopped investing in the middle class. I grew up poor and worked my way into the middle-class. I truly wish this was the reality of many but unfortunately our politicians have decided that corporations and the rich are the ones to be invested in. The truth is that we have a system in place that maintains the status quo and that is not acceptable. We cannot expect change if we don’t elect representatives that understand middle-class anxieties. I am from the working class and I will represent working class values in Washington D.C.

• Income Inequality: Supporting the right to unionize will directly start reversing income inequality. This, by itself, will begin reducing the income inequality that has been increasing for the last 50 years. As the percentage of people who belonged to a union declined, the wages of middle class families has also declined. This is not a sustainable trend and must be reversed to keep America strong.

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