Feel-good update: Letters to the editor that will make you smile
Good morning! We are one week and one day from 157 Run for Something candidates being on the ballot across the country.
Good morning! We are one week and one day from 157 Run for Something candidates being on the ballot across the country. (Fun fact: In 2019, we’ve already elected 24 people in 2019 elections, including brand new members of the city councils in Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, Raleigh, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Dallas, Lincoln (NE), Madison, and Nashville.)
A few fun stories about some of those 2019 candidates…
— Over the past few weeks, voters have been sending in letters to the editor to local papers in support of our candidates. A few we loved:
- Burhan Azeem for Cambridge City Council, because he’s bringing young people into civic engagement
- Jack Eccles for Melrose (MA) Councilor-at-Large, because he will energize the conversation at City Hall
- Jennifer Kitchen & Sally Hudson for VA House of Delegates, because they’ll fight for working Virginians
- Abbie Smith for Kokomo (IN) mayor, because she can do the adaptive work needed to lead the city
- Grace Kestler for Columbus City Council at-large, because of her approach to problem solving
- Crystal Paradis (and others) for Somersworth (NH) City Council, because of the chance to break down the “good ol boy” system of governing
- Rachel Junck for Ames City Council, because of her curiosity and perseverance. (This one was written by Rachel’s AP history teacher from high school!)
— A group of Virginia candidates — including RFS endorsed folks Jennifer Woofter and Jennifer Kitchen — are running a strategic and focused rural ground game to win back areas Democrats haven’t seen huge gains in before.
— Suhas Subramanyam is running for a Virginia House of Delegates seat against a Republican who compared gun control to forcing pregnant people to wear “ankle bracelets” to prevent abortions. Cool cool cool.
— Final VA story: While Rep. Danica Roem was passing transportation legislation, her bigoted opponent was protesting abortion access. Read the HuffPost deep-dive into her race.
— ”I never imagined I’d become involved in politics. Certainly, the profile of many politicians would indicate that politics aren’t for people like me. But that’s a perspective I hope to change.” — Ashley Peele, candidate for mayor in North Charleston, NC
— Joash Ward is 24 years old and running for mayor of Poughkeepsie. I loved his answer to the best piece of advice he’s ever gotten: “Run for those who can’t.”
Meanwhile, our alumni are still moving the ball forward and making progress on the issues that matter:
— Sen. Alessandra Biaggi has introduced a bill to make it easier for women to get abortions — New Yorker will be able to donate to an abortion access fund when we’re filing our taxes.
— Also in NY: This week Gov. Cuomo signed a new law that will ensure families of first-responders get increased benefits. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Andrew Gounardes.
— The structure of our institutions determines who can enter them: We need to pay our state legislators more to ensure more working people can actually serve. So glad Kansas Rep. Rui Xu is bringing attention to this.
— One of the best parts of monitoring our alumni network: Seeing trends pop-up across amazing elected officials. Two that stood out to us this week:
Helping women & girls access menstrual products. Rep. Sara Innamorato introduced a bill to bring free pads & tampons to schools in Pennsylvania; Sen. Elizabeth Lockman is doing the same in Delaware, and Rep. Katrina Robinson is leading the fight to bring women’s products to women in prison.
Banning racist discrimination against hairstyles. Rep. Kambrell Garvin introduced the bill in Maryland and City Councilor Lydia Edwards sponsored the resolution on the Boston City Council.
Finally, a few RFS-related stories:
— Since Republicans took over state legislatures in 2010, they’ve enacted 424 abortion restrictions — more than a third of all restrictions enacted since 1973. States are THE abortion battleground. (And gerrymandering is, of course, part of the structural root of the problem.)
- -That’s one of many reasons why ALEC is prioritizing state legislative races in 2020. They are the KEY to Republicans’ holding power.
— This is a super interesting story about BLOC, a local group changing the game around engaging Black voters in Wisconsin: “Increasing voter turnout requires convincing people that their votes will make a difference and that it does matter who gets elected. Lang’s group is making a bet that, contrary to the view that voters are drawn in or repelled by the top of the ticket, organizers can spark excitement about the stakes involved in races that are closer to the bottom of the ballot.”
Looking for a way to get involved before next week’s elections? Check out our volunteer hub and get going.
Thanks as always for making all this possible!