Feel-good update: Is 2020 the year of the millennial!?
Start the back-half of February strong with some good news.
Hope you had a great long weekend! A few good updates for you to start the back-half of February off strong:
In case you missed it: Our latest class of endorsements are phenomenal. Take a few minutes to scroll through and see the present & future leaders of our party.
“Will 2020 be the year of the millennial in Texas politics?” 22% of 288 candidates running Congress, state leg, and other state-level elected positions from Houston & San Antonio areas are millennials. (A reminder: We spent $100k+ and lotttts of staff time to recruit in Texas. This is what building sustainable power looks like.)
“In a state once synonymous with the Old South, Democrats are using their newfound legislative control to refashion Virginia as the region’s progressive leader on racial, social and economic issues.” This is not the Virginia I grew up in — and I am thrilled to see it.
Thanks in part to the three RFS alum who sit on it, the Alleghany City Council in PA has banned LGBT conversion therapy for minors.
CT state Sen. Will Haskell is pushing forward legislation to combat the epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses. Meanwhile, IN state Sen. J.D. Ford is doing his part in his state with a bill to mandate sexual assault hotline info on the back of college student IDs.
If Godfrey Plata wins his race for CA state assembly, he’ll be one of the only renters serving in the state legislature — and he’ll make sure his community in Koreatown is heard.
NY state Sen. Jessica Ramos is pushing for legislation to make it easier for lawyers to take jobs helping under-served communities by mitigating some issues around student debt.
CO state Rep. Brianna Tittone is not backing down from her mission to bring free tampons and pads to schools in low-income communities in spite of strong GOP opposition.
Paris Bienert is part of a wave of women running for office in Baltimore — if she joins the city council, she wants to create a task force to tackle the specific issues women face using public transit. (Right now, the entire transportation committee is men.)
If you’re looking for a podcast to dive in on, this quick hour with Jon Favreau and Chris Hayes is worth listening to. I loved the first 10 minutes especially — when they discuss the “lose by less” strategy (meaning: run up the score even in red areas to help the top of the ticket) — and the final 10 minutes, when they talk about local politics being an entry-point for otherwise reluctant voters. Sound familiar? :)
Finally, flagging for you: We’ll be in Boca Raton on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday — if you want to join, just email me! And heads up, we’ll be back in San Francisco next month for an event on 3/20 and are looking for more folks to join the host committee. Email me on that, too.
Thanks for making this work possible, fun, and uplifting. I’m so excited for what we’re up to.