Feel-good update: New endorsements & new progress
Why you should feel hopeful even when the world is falling apart.
Last week felt like it lasted a thousand years, between all the news happening and our own swing of amazing events across California. But good news: We’re going to start this week off strong. Later today, we’ll announce a new class of endorsements.
Spoiler: The 43 endorsements are 49% people of color, 47% women, 35% LGBTQ, and are running across 17 states, and the candidates are amazing. Keep an eye on your inbox & our social media feeds later today for more details.
In the meantime, if you need to feel hopeful, look at the incredible progress happening across the country:
You absolutely must watch Virginia Del. Danica Roem’s incredible testimony in favor of the LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination bill that passed last week.
Jonathan Melton, Raleigh City Councilmember, helped bring about a much-needed police advisory board that’s a first important step toward creating accountability.
Colorado Rep. Dylan Roberts has been busy, leading on legislation like: updating child pornography laws for the internet age; instituting caps on the price of insulin; and carefully navigating the creation of a public insurance option in Colorado.
Also in Colorado: State Sen. Julie Gonzales is introducing a new bill to increase the state’s vaccination rates. Rep. Brianna Titone’s efforts to install free pad and tampon dispensers in schools passed its first legislative hurdle last week. And Rep. Yadia Caraveo has sponsored a bill that would expand access to the polls by creating sample ballots in different languages, creating multilingual ballots, and creating a hotline for ballot translation. Colorado! So great!
SC Rep. JA Moore’s bill to increase mental health education & resources in public schools passed with nearly universal support. I didn’t realize this: South Carolina ranks 44th in the nation for mental health concerns.
Taking back the NY state senate (with the help of RFS alum Alessandra Biaggi, Zellnor Myrie, Jessica Ramos, and Andrew Gounardes) continues to make life meaningfully better for people: New York renters will no longer have to pay broker fees.
Kansas lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban transgender kids from participating in girls’ sports — Rep. Brandon Woodard, one of the first LGBT members of the KS state legislature, is fighting back.
A few other things you might find interesting…
A fascinating read on why New Mexico elects more women of color than the rest of the country.
Why New Mexico Elects More Women Of Color Than The Rest Of The Country
When Angelica Rubio was a little girl growing up near the border between New Mexico and Mexico, she had a dream that…fivethirtyeight.com
Teen Vogue singing our song on thinking beyond the presidency and why 2020 has to be about building a movement of elected officials across the country.
Lana Putnam, an academic historian who studies grassroots movements, explains how the funding ecosystem has flooded politics with unhelpful technology — and how that $$ could be better spent on local campaigns and infrastructure:
“Providing seed money for the handful of staff and media it takes to run a bare-bones local campaign unlocks an extraordinary in-kind contribution: volunteer labor by people who actually live in the community and will be there long after the campaign is over, reinvesting the knowledge and connections they build in the campaign…. When you fund a down-ballot campaign, you are providing support to people who are trying to win an election here and now — which forces them to connect with less engaged peers and learn from the conversations.”
Last week was a lot. But honestly, after spending so much time with our candidates and supporters, I’m as optimistic as ever. Good things happen when great people step up, put their names on the ballot, and do the work. Thanks for making this all possible.
P.S. Next week, we’re having events in Boca Raton on 2/19 and Miami on 2/20. Please let me know if you’re in the area and in town or want to meet for coffee!