Laura Moser | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. | August 30, 1977
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Amherst College (BA) |
Laura Moser (born August 30, 1977) [1] is an American author and politician who founded the anti-Trump resistance movement Daily Action. She was a candidate for the United States Congress in Texas's 7th congressional district. [2]
Moser was born in Houston, Texas. [3] Her grandfather arrived in Houston in 1942 as a refugee from Nazi Germany. [4] She attended St. John's School and graduated from Amherst College in 1999. [1] She later worked in publishing at the Harvill Press in London before becoming a freelance journalist. [1]
Moser is Jewish. [5]
Moser published her first book, an "efficient, compact" biography of the actress Bette Davis, in 2005. [6] With her friend Lauren Mechling, she co-authored a series of young adult novels about the experiences of a girl who moves from Houston to Brooklyn. [7]
Moser has contributed to The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , Vogue , and The Jewish Daily Forward . She was the education columnist at Slate . [8]
After the 2016 United States presidential election, Moser founded the organization Daily Action. [9] In 2017, she moved back to Texas's 7th congressional district to run for Congress in 2018. [10]
In February 2018, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), citing concerns about Moser's electability in the general election, called attention to her past controversial statements. [11] That DCCC action was condemned by DNC chair Tom Perez [12] and Our Revolution, which endorsed Moser a few days later, on March 1, 2018. [13]
In the March 6 Democratic primary, in a seven-candidate field, Moser earned 24.3% of the vote to Lizzie Fletcher's 29.3%. [14]
In the May 22 runoff, Fletcher defeated Moser, 68% to 32%, becoming the Democratic nominee in the general election. [15]
In the November 6 general election, Fletcher defeated incumbent representative John Culberson by five percentage points (52.5% to 47.5%). [16]
Moser is married to Arun Chaudhary, who was President Barack Obama's White House videographer. [17] Her brother is writer and translator Benjamin Moser. She has two children. [18] In April 2020, she and her family moved to Berlin, Germany. [19]
As he has in the past, Lujan said the DCCC's move was about promoting what party officials see as the most electable candidate to challenge Seventh Congressional District Republican incumbent John Culberson in November...Meanwhile, the DCCC has backed away from formally endorsing Fletcher.
I would have done it differently," he continued. "I think the DCCC has the ability to endorse in primaries, and they do that from time to time. But again, I would have done it differently."...The DCCC has framed Moser as an unelectable candidate in a critical race, pointing to concerns about her residency and accusations that her husband is improperly benefitting financially from her campaign. The Sanders-affiliated group called the DCCC's attacks "ridiculous.
A progressive group allied with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed a Texas Democrat running in a crowded House primary on March 1, just days after House Democrats' campaign arm targeted the candidate.
Moser still made it into a runoff against Fletcher but was unable to build momentum during the next two months.
The primary in effect became a referendum on whether Democrats should oppose Culberson by whipping up the dormant part of their base or, by nominating Fletcher, pull in centrists and ex-Republicans. Tuesday's election results proved they could do both: In beating Culberson with more than 52 percent of the vote, Fletcher's winning coalition included right-leaning moderates, but also hardline progressives who turned out in droves to support Democrat Beto O'Rourke's turnout-driven Senate campaign.
I think Claudia will like the photograph when she is old enough to understand it...Arun worked for Obama for four years, and we have pictures of my son Leo with him at Halloween over the years.