Swing-district Democratic hopefuls join anti-police, anti-ICE virtual town hall

Manny Rutinel, the Democratic nominee in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, and JoAnna Mendoza, running in Arizona’s 6th, will take part in a virtual town hall hosted by the anti-police, anti-ICE organization CareWins, with expenses covered by the MomsRising PAC. MomsRising, which receives substantial funding from foundations linked to George Soros, Melinda French Gates, and the Ford Foundation, has a history of partnering with groups such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and the Bail Project to push for reduced policing and the closure of immigration detention facilities.

The panel also features Alida Garcia, a former Biden administration migration adviser, and Dawn Huckelbridge, a director at Paid Leave for All with a background in pro-abortion advocacy. Both Rutinel and Mendoza have recently sought to downplay past support for defunding the police as they vie for two of the nation’s most competitive House seats. Neither the candidates nor the panelists responded to requests for comment, and the MomsRising organizations also declined to speak.