Indianapolis, Indiana – Cedric Richmond, a top advisor to President Biden from January 2021 to May 2022, is traveling the country encouraging people to vote in the upcoming midterm election.
“America is not a zero-sum game. You don’t have to do bad for me to do good,” he told a small crowd gathered at Olivet Missionary Baptist Church Friday.
He credited record voter turnout in 2020 for helping President Biden advance several key pieces of legislation including student debt cancelation, gun reform, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
About how the administration planned to address violent crime, Richmond said the president’s “Safer America Plan” introduced last month would increase funding for law enforcement.
“It also involved money for summer jobs programs, money for after school programs, money for reentry, money for mental health, money for community, violence intervention, and community violence interveners,” Richmond said.
He also stressed the importance of a fair criminal justice system. He’s supporting Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, whose running for reelection this fall. Mears stood behind some of the controversial decisions he made while in office. “We made the decision not to prosecute low-level misdemeanor marijuana offenses because it disproportionally impacts people of color. That’s a choice you’re voting for when you go to the ballot box.”
According to Mears, he won’t prosecute women who violate the state’s new abortion law which takes effect in September.
Richmond encouraged voters who have a problem with the system to vote in every election, including local, state, and federal. “If you are having a problem putting your kid in a good school, you should be voting in the school board election.”
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