Another Candidate Signs the American Promise Pledge to Make People, Not Corporations, Count in our Democracy

Democratic Senatorial candidate Kerri Evelyn Harris will be on the primary ballot in Delaware September 6, hoping to join recent incumbent challengers such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in raising the profile of a number of reforms—including supporting the 28th Amendment to ensure an equal vote for every American.

Kerri recently sat down with American Promise Delaware member Travis Bicher to sign the American Promise pledge and discuss why getting big money out of politics, and ensuring equal representation for every citizen, is critical to her campaign goals.

“Above all else, this nation was set up for each of us to have one vote,” Kerri says. “It doesn’t matter if we have a dollar in the bank, a thousand dollars in the bank, a million dollars, or a billion dollars. It’s our one vote that is powerful. The moment we realize we have the same strength and the same power as everybody else, we will change how this nation represents us and serves us.”

Standing with the People

A veteran, mother and longtime community organizer and volunteer, Kerri has also been endorsed by Justice Democrats, Democrats that represent people not corporations, and as such she has pledged not to take campaign contributions from billionaires and corporations.

“I stand with the people,” Kerri says. “We often hear politicians say, ‘I am you.’ But I’m a little different because I truly am you. I’m not a politician. I’m a community organizer. I’ve been in the military, I’ve worked blue collar jobs…I’ve participated in the system in the same ways as you. I have the same struggles. I worry about my children. I worry about my parents. I worry about my future. And I believe in democracy.”

Although her campaign officially launched in February 2018, Kerri had begun working on her senatorial bid in fall of 2017, but had to drop out of the race when finances forced her to choose between continuing her campaign or supporting her family. She says that heartbreaking choice helped her understand even more deeply how money in politics limits our ability to participate in a system that was designed to be a representative democracy.

“So many of us have been written out of the democratic process, have had our opportunity to serve our country pulled from us because we don’t have the finances,” she says. “We have the ideas, we have the abilities, but we don’t have the financial resources. Allowing corporations and the ultra-rich to control our system is a problem.”

We are proud to add Kerri—a candidate dedicated to improving life for all Americans—to the growing list of current and potential politicians committed to supporting the 28th Amendment to limit money in politics and ensure equal representation for all. “Signing American Promise isn’t because it looks good,” Kerri says. “It’s because I know firsthand what it means to be written out of our system…I’m going to make it a point to make the voices of the people count. That’s what drives me.”