Getting Real with Jamie Ager & Bobby Pulido
Two dynamic Democrats running in red districts talk guns, respecting voters, and whether there's still room for moderates in the Democratic Party.
At last week’s WelcomeFest, The Bulwark's Lauren Egan sat down with two congressional candidates who are familiar faces to WelcomeStack readers: Jamie Ager, running against Chuck Edwards in North Carolina’s 11th (R+5), and Bobby Pulido, running against Monica De La Cruz in Texas' 15th (R+7).
Part of Welcome’s Win the Middle slate, Ager and Pulido represent the type of centrist Democrat needed to win in conservative districts. Ager is a fourth-generation farmer running for the western North Carolina seat his grandfather held in the 1980s in a district no Democrat has won since Heath Shuler. Pulido is a Tejano music artist challenging for a Rio Grande Valley seat at the center of the South Texas realignment, where Trump's support among Texas Latinos has slipped back to 30%. Neither is running away from a tough map. Instead, they spoke with Egan about how they're running toward it.
Jamie Ager discusses how moderate candidates can navigate Democratic primaries:
I didn’t get strategic about it much. I was mostly just: I am who I am. A lot of people in this community know who I am, and if there’s still a spot in this party for me, let’s go learn and see. In some ways I leaned into that. Y’all know me. I’ve been around this community for 48 years. I went to high school here. I built our business here.
If people are always trying to litmus-test me, I tell them that’s actually really unhelpful in all scenarios, because we’re here to be leaders and to learn and to become familiar with this community. Nationalizing all these questions and making them the core differentiating point where people make their decisions: you can choose to make that choice, but that’s not the kind of campaign I’m going to run, and you probably shouldn’t vote for me.
Being really clear with people, being upfront, being friendly, being generous with ideas, and being nice. Mostly that worked. You’re going to get some criticism, no question. But hey, welcome to politics.
Bobby Pulido on why the Rio Grande Valley won’t elect just another Democrat:
The people down in the Rio Grande Valley, in South Texas, on the border, their politics is between the 40-yard lines. It’s always been very Blue Dog-ish, and probably more culturally conservative than the average area. Religion is big. You walk into a house and you’ll probably see a cross in every house.
My district is one of the poorest in the nation. If we’re talking about issues helping people, they’re really gettable. But if you start getting into stuff that’s more social justice, that they perceive as going against their religion, then we start having a problem.
Guns are a big thing down there. It’s South Texas. My oldest son’s name is Remington, not a joke. I’m a competitive long-range shooter. Guns are part of our lives. When you talk about gun control down there, people say: keep guns out of the hands of the people who shouldn’t have them. That’s where the focus should be. But don’t say you’re going to ban them. Full disclosure, I have eleven AR-15s, and I actually shoot them and use them.
But I’m also a father. I know what it’s like to get a phone call when there’s a false alarm about a school shooting at your son’s school. We have to bridge that gap. When they talk about banning fracking, that’s a problem, because for a lot of people in my district, those are the jobs they feed their families with. You say you’re going to ban that, like you’re going to ban AR-15s, and they look at it as extreme.
To win in November, both will need to win over Trump voters. Bobby shared how he approaches earning trust among Trump voters:
I never mention Trump very much in my campaign speeches. And I actually say, and I believe this: if you voted for Trump, I don’t hate you. I don’t even blame you. And they’re like, really? You’re a Democrat. Why are you saying that? Because we’re literally all in informational bubbles right now. You’re not seeing the things I’m seeing, and I’m not seeing what you’re seeing. That’s why grassroots campaigning and getting out on the ground is so important. It’s the only way to break that algorithm.
I never had a fight with somebody who voted for Donald Trump. I always say I never voted for the guy. But it was a binary choice. Your candidate resonated more than our candidate. That’s the past, and I’m looking for the future. Do you care about the future? I do. Well, then vote for me. I don’t have any problem flipping them. They understand, because they don’t feel disrespected.
And Jamie discussed how he’s earning trust among rural voters:
Let me tell you something about rural people. Us rural people have learned to live with less. Money is not our chief motivation. Do you know what our chief motivation is? It's respect. If you respect me and don't try to change me and just try to make my life a little better, they will vote for you, they will trust you. But if you come at them with "How's that economy going now? Having trouble paying gas prices?", they will dig in, I promise you. They will say I don't care, because if they feel like you disrespect them, they will never vote for you.
For more on these two, check out Welcome’s documentary on Jamie Ager and his NC race; both candidates’ episodes of Welcome’s Winner, Winner podcast (Jamie Ager here, Bobby Pulido here); Bobby Pulido on Central Air, our coverage of how Democrats can break the Texas gerrymander; and lessons from the Welcome Democracy Institute’s survey of South Texas.