Nada Elmikashfi
Nada Elmikashfi: "I am running because our community deserves a voice that cares about their marginalization."
A single mom lies in bed wondering how she will get to work on time when her car broke down and the bus takes two hours. Why can’t our neighborhood have a direct bus line like the others do, she asks herself?
A retiree who relocated to Madison to help care for her grandkids wonders how she’ll possibly afford another $100-per-month rent hike. She’ll have to pare back on groceries and tighten her belt— again — she realizes.
Sitting down to the nightly news, a family turns it off right away — another kid on a walk to the park was shot while being black. Spare the little babies the agony of the reality of their skin color for just a bit longer, they think. The parents make eye contact across the living room, silently wondering when it’ll be time to expose them to the ugly, hateful truth.
I am running for Wisconsin state Senate because these are the realities of Madison. Stories I have heard echoed time and again in the communities I grew up in propelled me to step up and to face a system that does not serve them — and yes — does not even acknowledge their existence.
I am running because our community deserves a voice that cares about their marginalization. I am running because our community is valid, viable and real. And to Citizen Dave and the political establishment, yes, I am real, too.
The erasure of my candidacy by Citizen Dave is not just an erasure of my story as a black immigrant Muslim woman, but the erasure of the struggle of many Madisonians who live in crushing disadvantage. Not being seen, much less understood, is how many of us are feeling about our leaders.
In his May 10 post, “Where have all the candidates gone?” Dave decided that the three candidates of color were so undeserving of any recognition or agency as “viable” or “credible” candidates that he intentionally never even said our names. In his column, he bemoaned that only one serious candidate was running to represent the people of Madison. But there are three others. Others, to Citizen Dave, indeed.
I believe that the seriousness of a candidate is gauged by their ability to envision a better life for the people of their community — it is rooted in their commitment to change and their dedication to public service.
To be absolutely clear, my seriousness and validity as a candidate will not be dictated or defined by a former mayor who continues to miss the mark on the value of the people who aren’t in his club or social circle.
When I declared my candidacy for the 26th state Senate District in January, I was warned that those out of touch with Madison’s working class would ridicule my efforts. Heart in hand, I declared against a 57-year incumbent because I refused to be limited by the unimaginative assumption that the status quo was all Madison could aspire to.
Let’s talk about what’s serious and valid.
My neighbors are burdened by an affordable housing crisis. Our children are falling behind in a wantonly neglected school system, and our state has become the most segregated in the entire country, according to a 2019 survey by the personal-finance website WalletHub. Masters of a broken system have handed us a watered-down whitewashed progressiveness while hiding their lack of initiative behind Republican obstructionism.
The status quo sees politicians who have had their time in office and numerous opportunities to institute real progressive change wanting us to again look to them for leadership. But we tried that. And it hasn’t worked.
We reject the status quo and aspire to something more. We do not need permission to heal our communities ourselves and we certainly will not wait for that healing to be given to us. We reserve the agency to alleviate our own burdens.
I did not get in for an easy race, nor did the other two candidates of color. We did not wait for Sen. Risser to retire to hastily announce our campaign the next day and speak lies dressed up as an email about being the only declared candidate, as Kelda Roys did.
Maybe she decided that her best political strategy would be to say that I am not a real person. But erasing me as Dave has done, erases our stories; it erases tired, poor, marginalized working-class Madison. It erases people of color, and that is exactly what must be left behind.
To her credit, Kelda has since acknowledged and apologized for her mistake. However, the damage was done when she hit send.
Many Madison area newspapers have overlooked our campaigns. And yet, our campaign has been here, steadily elevating the voices of Madison’s working class, fundraising, creating policy, forging the path towards a better 26th District. We are here to serve and will continue to serve, and if columnists like Dave do not see that as traction, then we welcome him to step out of his bubble and speak to the thousands of supporters that do.
We look forward to reading Citizen Dave’s column following the Aug. 11 primary when Madison proves that you do not need to be white, wealthy, or part of the club to run for office and win.
Join our campaign to re-establish Madison’s proud progressive tradition at www.nadaforwisconsin.com!
Nada Elmikashfi is a long-time resident of Madison and has worked for Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Jennifer Shilling, NextGeneration America, and currently serves on the Sustainable Madison Committee and United Way of Dane County’s Elementary Schools of Hope Delegation.
