Kai Newkirk

Kai Newkirk attended St. Andrew's School and graduated from Ashland High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Hampshire College in 2004. His career experience includes working as a community organizer.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am nationally-recognized community organizer who has helped lead fights that have made a difference for millions of people in our country.

The son of a carpenter and a child care worker, I grew up in West Virginia and came to Arizona to be close to my wife's family in 2018. I serve as the co-chair of the Progressive Council of the Arizona Democratic Party, as the founding president of For All, a center for nonviolent action, and as a faith leader guiding the Salt River Mindfulness Meditation Community.

I have been tested as a leader as a shop floor union leader and union staff organizer, as a deputy to a Los Angeles city councilmember with over 250,000 constituents, and as a primary founder of multiple nonprofit organizations and social movement campaigns like Democracy Spring.

Fights that I have helped lead have contributed to victories like union recognition for workers who gained living wages, passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), preventing the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, defeating Trump’s attempted repeal of the ACA, blocking Kyrsten Sinema’s path to re-election, and limiting the expansion of new toxic fossil fuel infrastructure.

Dolores Huerta, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a mentor, has called me “a nonviolent warrior for justice” who “embodies the Si Se Puede spirit.”

I’m running for Congress to bring the same fight for justice from the strikes and streets into the halls of power.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Fighting the oligarchs. For an Arizona we can afford.

My first priority is to lower costs now and Make Arizona Affordable for All of Us –– not just the wealthy.

In Congress, I will fight to deliver bold action to guarantee the basics of a decent life: Medicare for All. Ban Grocery Price Gouging. Freeze Utility Rates. Cap Gas Prices. Universal Child Care. Tuition-Free Public College & University. A Moratorium on AI Data Centers. Free Solar Power. National Rent Stabilization Policy & Affordable Housing Investment. Federal Living Wage & Jobs Guarantee. Expanded Social Security.End corruption and Save Democracy. It’s time to end Trump’s authoritarian tyranny once and for all and take back our power from the oligarchs.

Impeach, remove, and prosecute Trump. Ban billionaire and corporate political spending. Tax the billionaires.

We will flip the tables of a corrupt status quo that produces mega-billionaires who use their wealth to buy our elections and rig the economy to grow their fortunes while the rest of us fall behind.

I take no corporate PAC money, I'll never take a dime from AIPAC, and I challenged my opponent to join me in the People's Pledge to keep big money Super PACs out of our primary. He refused. But I will always walk the talk in the fight to end corruption.Abolish ICE and Honor Immigrants.

ICE has proven it is a danger not only to the rights but the lives of all of us in the United States –– immigrants and citizens alike. Never again will we allow masked federal agents to abduct, abuse, and murder people in our nation. We must reject authoritarian mass deportation and build a new system of immigration law and enforcement that honors the immigrants who contribute so much to our nation and upholds the values memorialized on our Statue of Liberty.

Stop Genocide and Criminal Wars

We will build a new order of peace, justice, and shared prosperity for our nation and the world by leading the way to protect human rights, uphold international law, advance democracy, and ensure collective security.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I've felt the pain that so many working class families, immigrants, and Americans are feeling bearing the crises of our time. From fighting with a greedy insurance company when you're sick or struggling to find housing to seeing loved ones afraid to leave home because of ICE's terror and losing them to violence at home and abroad. My ancestors made great sacrifices in service to this country and I will never abandon the struggle to defend the democracy they believed in and make it serve all of us. I am in this fight because I know that we're all connected, a part of something greater, and I am determined to live true to the ethic of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

National Organizations

Progressive Democrats of Arizona

Our Revolution

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Catch Fire Movement

Track AIPAC

Turn Left PAC

Progressive Voter Network

Vote for Peace

Arizona Organizations

50501 Arizona

Arizona College Democrats

Arizona State Young Democrats

Arizona Medicare for All Coalition

Indivisible Mesa

University of Arizona College Democrats

ASU Young Democrats

Arizona Elected Officials

Sen. Catherine Miranda

Rep. Cesar Aguilar

School Board Member Hector Jaramillo

School Board Member Markus Ceniceros

Councilmember-Elect Bobby Nichols

National Leaders

Alan Minsky

Lawrence Lessig

Larry Cohen

Harvey Kaye

Nomiki Konst

Lily Greenberg