Scoop: Ben and Jerry jump into battle for the House

Ben and Jerry want a new flavor in Congress — and they’ll be fighting for it by the pint. The famous co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, joined by MoveOn.org, announced a contest on Friday to raise awareness for seven Democratic House challengers in districts ranging from the most competitive battlegrounds to long-shot Democratic targets like GOP Rep. Steve King's seat in Iowa. The effort — called Ben and Jerry (the people, not the corporation) Take Back Congress, Flavor by Flavor — asks voters to invent ice cream names and flavors inspired by the seven Democratic candidates. Then, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who spearheaded a similar effort for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016, will make a limited, homemade batch of each flavor and raffle off the pints to supporters. MoveOn.org will also send fundraising pitches for each of the candidates as part of the contest. The endorsed candidates include: Jess King, the challenger facing Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.); Ammar Campa-Najjar, who’s running against Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.); Lauren Underwood, who’s challenging Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.); Aftab Pureval, running against Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio); J.D. Scholten, the Democrat facing King in Iowa; James Thompson, who’s running against Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.); and Stephany Rose Spaulding, who’s challenging Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). Cohen and Greenfield selected the slate of candidates by focusing on “longshots, up and comers and candidates who might not be given a chance by institutional actors,” said Edward Erikson, a consultant who’s working with Cohen and Greenfield. “They’re all in difficult seats to win, but we want to spread out the map.” "This is our way of honoring some of the best up and coming progressive champions across the country," Greenfield said in a statement released with the contest announcement. Back in 2016, the duo made an ice cream for Sanders, called “Bernie’s Yearning,” featuring a milk chocolate disc covering the top of plain mint ice cream. The disc represented “the huge majority of economic gains that have gone to the top 1% since the end of the recession” and “beneath it, the rest of us,” read a description of the ice cream flavor on the pint, POLITICO reported. Like the Sanders flavor, the ice cream for the seven House candidates will not be for sale, Erikson said. Cohen also plans to travel throughout October to several of the districts, including Hunter's in San Diego and Smucker's in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to host events with ice cream, but they will not be coordinated with the candidates. source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/21/ben-and-jerrys-house-835609 #Headlines by: eschneider@politico.com (Elena Schneider)

Original Post: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/21/ben-and-jerrys-house-835609