I ran as a Green for US Senate. State: Tennessee Election Day: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 Election Results: Not Elected
About Chris Lugo
Job History:
Chris Lugo is a peace activist who has been involved in the movement for peace and global justice for twenty years. He began his work as an advocate for peace in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1989 where he was active with the organization Women Against Military Madness and the American Friends Service Committee. Originally drawn into the social justice community through the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980's, Lugo participated in actions dedicated to the dismantling of nuclear weapons and drawback from the cold war arsenals of the Reagan administration.
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Chris attended Macalester College and then the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he majored in studio arts and also studied political science and became involved in the peace community of the twin cities. Early in his activist work he had the opportunity to meet former Senator Paul Wellstone and was inspired to get involved in local politics as an advocate for progressive political action by organizations such as the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action.
In 1996 Chris moved to Nashville, Tennessee with to be supportive of a good friend for a short period of time before moving to California. But life happened as it often does and Chris became involved in the Nashville community with the Nashville Peace and Justice Center and began a business and established residency in Nashville.
Shortly after moving to Nashville Chris also became active in the Green Party and supported Ralph Nader in his 1996 initial run for president, having met Nader in Knoxville in 1996. Since living in Nashville Chris has been an active member and supporter of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center, having served on the board for ten years. Since 2001 Chris has been involved in the Nashville Peace Coalition, an organization dedicated to ending the war in Iraq.
While getting to know members of the Nashville Greenlands community Chris became interested in adopting a philosophy of simple living. He started a small business which would allow him to earn a living and sustain himself at a minimal level while dedicating the majority of his time to social justice advocacy. He was active in the struggle to save Tenncare in 2005 when 323,000 people were kicked off of the State's health care roles and also active in support of an income tax in 2002 when then Governor Don Sundquist proposed adopting a state income tax.
In 2002 Lugo along with a coalition of independent media activists started the Tennessee Independent Media Center, an independent progressive news service which operated for four years providing news and information regarding progressive and liberal politics for Tennessee. He was also supportive in the founding of Radio Free Nashville, Tennessee's first low power fm community radio station currently operating in Pasquo, Tennessee.
In 2006 he decided to step up his politics a level by running as the Green Party of Tennessee candidate for US Senate. Having been active in the campaigns for Ralph Nader for President, David Cobb for President, Tom Burrell for US Senate and Jonathan Farley for Congress, Lugo decided to step in the race in 2006. He cited the need for a peace alternative in the 2006 race after having interviewed Harold Ford Jr. at an open meeting where Ford encouraging a stepping up of the US war effort in Iraq.
In 2008 Chris decided to run for the US Senate in Tennessee again to advocate for peace and social justice issues that he feels are being ignored by political insiders including the crisis of poverty in Tennessee, the lack of adequate health care for hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans, and the need to bring an end to the war in Iraq.
Why Vote For Me:
The war in Iraq has been dragging on for over four years. Thousands of Americans have been killed, and, even more alarmingly, an estimated 700,000 to 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed. Two to four million Iraqis have been made refugees. We have polluted Iraq with depleted uranium manufactured here in Tennessee at the Aeroject Manufacturing Corp. in Jonesborough. The current leadership has failed to make any clear advances to end the war in Iraq.
This misguided war in Iraq has cost our state seven billion dollars. The war in Iraq has cost the United States what was left of its good name internationally, in addition to creating hundreds of thousands of enemies. If the United States was interested in promoting democracy, it has taken a step backwards in the Middle East through its example.By staying in Iraq, remaining as an occupying power, we have only reinforced perspectives in the Middle East and throughout the world that we are rogue bullies, hellbent on occupation and devastation whenever it is deemed to be in the interests of the rich and powerful of this nation.
In the meantime, we have continued the abandonment of our cities, barely remembering the national disaster of Katrina and the displacement of over 250,000, mostly poor people of color. Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling and federal estimates put the cost of replacement at $100 billion for just the most immediate repairs to guarantee the minimum public safety, let alone investing in options such as light rail, urban rezoning to reduce sprawl, and investment in alternative energy such as wind and solar. Our national priorities are completely misguided and misdirected.
We are investing in war and corporate subsidies, creating the greatest gap between the rich and the poor in our nation's history. The middle class is disappearing as free trade agreements, corporate profiteering, and the race to the bottom drive down wages for the working class not just in this country but around the world. This is not just destroying the quality of life for those in this country but also contributing to generations of misery around the world.
If there was ever a clarion call for our elected leaders to wake up, now is the time . Tennesseans deserve candidates that represent the best, progressive values in our country, values that built the working class into the middle class, that brought our nation out of the deep injustices of the pre-civil rights era, values that spawned the environmental movement, the queer liberation movement, the women's movement and the immigrant rights movement.
I am running for Senate this year because these are the values that I stand for. I intend to run to be a voice for the progressive issues that need to be discussed in Tennessee -- ending the war, bringing health care to every citizen, abolishing our nuclear weapons stockpile, addressing issues of racial justice in the South, media democracy, election reform, international peace, and publicly funded campaigns.
The only way to move forward in this state is to build a progressive movement to win on these issues that a majority of Tennesseans support. Now is the time for change. Now is the time to move forward in Tennessee. That is why I am asking for your support in my efforts to seek the seat of US Senator from Tennessee in 2008. My work as a peace activist working with statewide coalitions to end the war in Iraq for the past five years will be helpful in getting out the anti-war message which is at the core of my campaign. Having worked for the past ten years with a range of progressive coalitions in Nashville, Tennessee, and across the country has given me a sense of what progressives want in terms of representation at the Federal level and the issues that they are concerned about. Your support will ensure that a Progressive Political Voice is a presence in the 2008 election.
Thanks for your consideration of support this election season
Thank you.
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