2020 Delegate Candidate Statements
Warm welcome to the 2020 Democrats Abroad delegate candidates! We are looking forward to hearing from you about your candidacy, why you are running and who you are! Please use this space to tell us about yourself 150 words maximum please). If you'd like, please add a picture here too, and you can also add a link to a video, and any relevant affirmative action information (optional). Note that your information will be publicly viewable from this page, so only send in content you are comfortable sharing widely.
Our moderators will review your story, confirm that you are a candidate, and publish! Note that we can't edit stories after they are published, and will not publish information if it violates our code of conduct, including obscenities, harassment and promotion of your non-Democrats Abroad work or business. This space is reserved for our delegate candidates. Any story submitted by someone who is not a candidate will not be published.
Adam Bresnahan - Delegate Candidate for Bernie Sanders
I worked extensively for our grassroots organization Germany for Bernie and thus helped Bernie achieve his landslide victory in the DA primary. Germany for Bernie made over 10,000 phone calls and canvassed heavily during the primary. I want Medicare for All to be placed on the Democrats' platform at the convention, so that Americans abroad will be able to afford to move back to the US if they would like to do so. GfB knows that this will be crucial for us to mobilize our 150+ member group and be able to get out the vote abroad. I am otherwise supportive of Bernie's platform. I have spent a lot of time helping refugees find permanent housing in Berlin. I am a translator and copy editor.
Anne-Isabelle Moritz, delegate candidate for Senator Bernie Sanders
I’m a 19-year-old, French/American citizen currently studying International Strategy and Diplomacy in Paris at an international college. As a queer woman, I co-founded a feminist and LGBTQI association at my school in order to raise awareness and provide a safe space. My experience with being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 18 and the universal healthcare treatment I receive in Europe has made me realize that healthcare should be a human right and not a privilege. I am also dedicated to the fight for people to have the right to love who they want to love, marry who they want to marry, work where they want to work. I bring to my candidacy my enthusiasm, my love, and my hope for the USA. I am grateful for this opportunity and hope I have your support to become one of the delegates for Senator Bernie Sanders!
Anya Leonhard - Youth, LGBT, Asian-American delegate candidate for Bernie Sanders
Sen. Sanders's policies strive for empathy and accessibilty in all forms of government. I think of these values as the best of politics and the best of America -- summarized by his movement of diverse, progressive people. Laws affect us: those that govern who can marry, who can stay in the country, who can afford an education. I organize protests against racial injustice here in Germany, in the wake of devastating white supremacist attacks. I handed out ballots and counted votes at the Global Presidential Primary. I volunteer for reproductive rights. I'm genuinely afraid of the consequences of the last administration, but also hopeful for improvement. My experiences as a lesbian of color and as a medical student in Europe have shown me the incredible importance of Sen. Sanders's campaign -- a campaign I would be honored to represent. https://anyaatthednc.wordpress.com/
Austin Cooney-Foubert, Delegate Candidate for Bernie Sanders
My name is Austin Cooney-Foubert. I am running to become a delegate for Democrats Abroad because I would like to be part of the change that America so desperately needs. I’m running for this position because now more than ever, we need members who are willing to actively engage in building our party in this critical election year and beyond. Born to a French mother and an Irish/American father, I’ve lived with and enjoyed the challenges of an international perspective all my life. After graduating high school south of Boston, MA, I attended school in France. One of the main reasons was the comparative cost for education. I was elected president of the freshman class and soon thereafter elected president of the ISLR and ERASMUS student associations. My abilities to connect, drive, empathize, and communicate with people, have always been a strength of mine. I respectfully ask for your support.
Caroline Kim Bembia, Delegate Candidate for Bernie Sanders
My name is Caroline Bembia and I'm a New Yorker living in Guadalajara, Mexico. I am a classically trained harpist and I'm currently the Principal Harpist of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco. An orchestra is like a miniature democracy in which each of its 90 musicians must come together in musical agreement. In rehearsals I have learned how to demonstrate diplomacy both verbally and nonverbally through my instrument. As a native New Yorker who is half-Korean and half-Caucasian, I am proud to be part of a political party that celebrates diversity. If I am elected as a Democrats Abroad Delegate, not only would I be honored to represent the strong, brave community of Democratic expats, but I would also proudly give a face to all of the multiracial Americans out there who never know which race box to fill in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yXQNr68cJg
Charles Baranski - Bernie Sanders Delegate Candidate from Canada
I'm Charlie Baranski, and I'm very proud to be running for Bernie delegate. As the president of Democrats Abroad McGill, I have intimately learned how to advocate for students and youth abroad, and I am currently running for office in the states, giving me experience in uniting the party and focusing on the progressive solutions we all need. Pushing our platform and party to be more progressive is how we bring in new voters, and we all know as Democrats Abroad the benefits of policies like universal healthcare. When you send me to (digital) Milwaukee, I look forward to voting for Bernie on every ballot and pushing for the progressive policies we need, know, and love.
Christian Wollny, delegate candidate for Senator Bernie Sanders
Howdy! I'm a 28 year old Hispanic Merchant, I call Laredo, Texas my home. Currently running my own company, I operate in Europe and am based in Germany. I've lived in a few European Countries, and speak six languages. I know how hard it is to explain American politics to Europeans, and I would like to contribute my part to make Americans proud (or at least not as ashamed) of their Nation when abroad. America needs reforms on many fronts, but together we can achieve anything! Healthcare, Digitalization and Free Trade are my great interests, although admittedly I would like to see America prosper on all fronts. I grew up at the border to Mexico, in a bi-cultural environment, and I've lived in Germany for many years, and I know that tolerance and engagement, not walls, are the answer!
Eero Carroll, Delegate Candidate for Senator Bernie Sanders
I was born in Hawaii, and ended up in Sweden in 1991 after getting my sociology BA at MSU. I got my sociology Ph.D at Stockholm University, and have worked as an analyst at the Swedish Agency for Public Management since 2011. I have worked on the campaigns of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, have organized events and been the contact person for Sweden for Bernie in 2020, and campaigned on the groud for Bernie in SC in 2020. I phonebanked for DA Sweden to up participation in the general in 2016 and in the GPP in 2020, and serve on the ExComm of the DA Sweden Progressive Caucus. I ardently support tuition-free higher education, as well as single-payer public health care--vital planks in Sanders' program, whose time I believe has come in America, and which I want to see in the Democratic Party platform for the upcoming election.
Dirk Zschocke - Delegate Candidate for Bernie Sanders (EMEA)
Born in Michigan of German, Italian and Swiss roots, of a grandmother that had to flee due to a war made possible by a nation that followed an irresponible, destructive leader, I carry a multiecultural background since before I even could speak. Living and working in Europe, Asia, India and the Americas as a trained biologist, artist, therapist and shaman thaught me the power of being able to choose my own way and taking responibility for my fellow ones around me, in my community and the world. To find a balance between individual freedom and supporting each other to create a society that leaves no one behind in the clear consciousness that it is our birthright to live and walk in beaut. It‘s now time that we integrate these virtudes of the „old“ with the virtudes of the „new“ world. Bernie Sanders is the one that brings these virtudes.
Elizabeth Rosenberg - Delegate Candidate for Senator Sanders
When I learned of Senator Sander's first campaign for the presidency, I was pursuing my BA in political science in California. He boldly addressed the most pressing systemic challenges facing the United States, which I had experienced both in and out of lecture halls. I campaigned during both of his runs; this time, phone banking from Berlin, Germany, where I earned my MA. As a delegate, I will be committed to rationalizing the party platform, exercising my academic and volunteer experience. I say "rationalizing," because an honest attempt to secure the presidency requires a much-emboldened democratic platform. My priorities include addressing the climate crisis with robust, transformative strategies and Medicare for All. I am supportive of progressive re-structuring of our many failed systems which have resulted in a variety of injustices. I would be honoured by your support and look forward to continuing the struggle for a better world.
Gregory Hogue, Sanders Delegate Candidate (Global, Americas)
I, Gregory Hogue, am a 23-year-old Canadian-American dual-citizen born in Rockville, Maryland and raised in Burlington, Ontario. I am a graduating student at the University of Waterloo, majoring in computer science and statistics. I hold close family ties to the United States and have recently spent time working in California for software internships. Despite being a young expatriate, I have been politically active as a Democrat and Bernie supporter since turning 18 in 2015. I reflect the youngest demographic of Democratic voters who overwhelmingly support ideals such as universal healthcare (Medicare for All), urgent climate action (Green New Deal), cancelling student debt (College for All), and getting corporate money out of politics. As a National Convention Delegate for Democrats Abroad, I will commit to representing the interests of the majority of Democrats Abroad members and Democratic youth from around the world who voted for Senator Bernie Sanders.
Hayoung Wong, Delegate Candidate for Senator Sanders
In Korea, I teach on-campus undergraduate, MA, and PhD students in Korean history, and I have voted in the past as a resident of New Hampshire and as a resident of New York. In order for us to transform the discourse of our nation, we have to present Senator Sanders’s policies as ideas that transcend the divisiveness of our politics today. With humility and with thankfulness for the opportunity to run for a delegate position, I feel that I must help to participate in restoring America’s stewardship of our cares, dreams, and hopes. Not everyone in this world has entered the world with a family full of connections to the echelons of power, and we have the duty of empowering the neglected in our midst. Through our efforts in bringing about a revolution in human rights for all, we can finally allow the downtrodden to step out from the shadows.
Justin Sosnoski, Delegate Candidate for Senator Bernie Sanders
I joined the ex-pat community in early 2015--the very same year a U.S. presidential candidate emerged who both cared about and represented every American. In Hungary, I first experienced "socialized medicine" in a time of need. In Switzerland, my opportunities boomed thanks to a virtually free masters degree education. These policies changed my life for the better and it sickens me that so many Americans living in the largest economy in the world cannot benefit as I have. It would be my greatest honor to be a part of the democratic process, representing commonsense progressive policies, America's youth abroad, and the Sanders movement.
Kaitlyn Min, Bernie Sanders Delegate Candidate
I’m an 18-year old from New York, currently attending the University of Toronto studying political science & history. Bernie Sanders is the reason that I got involved in politics because he represents a politics of compassion and empathy. He inspires me to fight for the issues that I care about: climate action, healthcare, and more. All these issues will be on the ballot in November which is why I got involved with Democrats Abroad. I hosted twice-weekly canvasses on my university campus to encourage students to vote in the Global Presidential Primary. I traveled to Ann Arbor to knock on hundreds of doors before the Michigan primary. I continue to dedicate my time phonebanking and textbanking with voters across America for down-ballot races. I believe in Bernie’s slogan of “Not Me, Us” and it is only through all of us working together that we can elect Trump out of office.
Kyle Wlodarczyk, Sen. Sanders Delegate Candidate
My name is Kyle, and I am a 22-year-old Polish-American MSc Student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. I have supported Senator Sanders from the moment he announced his 2016 candidacy from the steps of the Supreme Court building. I’m proud of the movement that has since come over the last five years, the support that we’ve garnered for his signature policies, and for being with Bernie since Day 1. In the summer of 2016 prior to the election, I canvassed with Clean Water Action in New Jersey, and in summers since, I have been predominately working in the environmental research sector; I am registered as a GIT with Engineers and Geoscientists BC. I therefore understand the urgency to implement Bernie’s policies such as the Green New Deal, and from my health experiences abroad, Medicare for All. I’d be honoured to take this fight to the DNC.
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