Feel-good update: 6 winners in Virginia!
Last week, Virginians voted! Six RFS candidates moved on from competitive primaries.
Last week, Virginians voted! Six RFS candidates moved on from competitive primaries…
Qasim Rashid, who was the first Muslim in Virginia history to win a Senate primary.
Justin Hannah, a military veteran who’s focused on improving transparency and strengthen the county’s drug rehab programs, won his primary for Loudon County Sheriff
Suhas Subramanyam won his primary for House of Delegates, district 87 — if he wins this November, he’ll be the first Indian American in the VA state legislature.
Jess Foster won her primary for House of Delegates, district 88, Amanda Pohl won her race for Virginia state senate, district 11, and Kenny Boddye is moving on from the primary for Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
And get this: in HD-28, Republicans nominated Paul Milde, a man who wants to repeal Medicaid expansion and is aggressively anti-choice. He’ll be going up against RFS candidate Joshua Cole, who ran last cycle and lost by barely 73 votes.
Every candidate who was up last week — win or lose — took huge strides forward in engaging voters, bringing up critical issues, and holding incumbents accountable. I can’t wait for November, when we need to win just two seats in the VA House and two seats in the VA senate to flip each chamber. Legggggo.
In alumni news…
Missouri has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country — and as the state continues to slash funding for women’s health and institute a near total ban on abortion, it could only get worse. For Rep. Keri Ingle, who nearly died giving birth to her daughter, this fight hits close to home.
New York passed a massive overhaul of rent laws — pro-tenant reforms that will affect half the renters in NYC and more folks across the state. This was in no small part due to RFS candidates taking out the IDC last fall (shout out to Alessandra Biaggi, Jessica Ramos, and Zellnor Myrie), and especially to Zellnor, who explained the fight was personal for him, as he had represented his mom in housing court in years past.
Maine just passed their very own Green New Deal — introduced by RFS alum Rep. Chloe Maxmin.
“Meet the gay Twin Cities cops who straddle the rift between police, community” — an amazing story including Sheriff Dave Hutchinson.
Madison City Councilmember Avra Reddy has been named one of Glamour magazines college women of the year. (Fun fact: This is the second year in a row an RFS alum has made this list — last year, they honored Bushra Amiwala!)
If you’re looking for some RFS-related reading, look no further:
For the first time in more than 100 years, all but one state legislature is dominated by a single party. The outcomes are staggering but not surprising.
Minneapolis just took huge steps forward in changing zoning laws to allow for more affordable housing — in no small part because of a government “by and for millennials.”
Opinion | Americans Need More Neighbors
A big idea in Minneapolispoints the way for other cities desperately in need of housing. By The Editorial Board The…www.nytimes.com
“Gerrymandering is part of the reason why our politics are so polarized and our political leaders keep debating critical issues like rebuilding our infrastructure or reforming our immigration system, but nothing ever gets done.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eric Holder
Finally, in events: On June 19th, we’re co-hosting a free meet-up in Albuquerque for candidates, potential candidates, lurkers, and everyone in between. On June 25th, we’ll be in Boston, with special guests Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu and MA state senator Eric Lesser.
Thank you for making this and all things possible. We’ve got more candidates on the ballot next week — gotta keep on keeping on.
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