June 26, 2018

Ben Jealous Wins Maryland Primary

In November, he could become the third African American ever elected governor.

Mariel Calloway/ZUMA Wire

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Former NAACP president Ben Jealous won the Maryland Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, setting up a November matchup with Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Jealous, a leading supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, will have an uphill battle against Hogan, one of the most popular governors in America. But his primary win over six other candidates, including Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, represents one of the biggest victories for Sanders’ political movement this year. There’s an added significance to Jealous’ primary victory. Only two African Americans have ever been elected governor anywhere in the country, and none are serving currently. Now Jealous and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is also African American, will both be running high-profile races with a chance to make history this fall.

For more on Jealous read my profile from the magazine.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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