Feel-good update: Tomorrow is Election Day in Oklahoma & Texas!

Happy Monday and happy day-after-we-saw-Michelle-Obama-on-the-Grammy’s. What a time to be alive!

Happy Monday and happy day-after-we-saw-Michelle-Obama-on-the-Grammy’s. What a time to be alive!

First, in RFS news: We endorsed two new candidates for 2019 elections — both are on the ballot tomorrow! Meet Jobeth Hamon, a mental health advocate and candidate for Oklahoma City Council, and Coda R. Garza, an education advocate who’s now candidate for TX State House district 125. Happy Election Day, OK City and Texas!!

Also good stuff: The Chicago Tribune has endorsed RFS candidate Katie Sieracki for ward 33 alderman. Go Katie.

Our alum are still chugging on… some fun synergy: In the South Carolina state house, alum JA Moore sponsored a bill to bring mental health and wellness classes to middle school classrooms — and in Texas, State. Rep. James Talarico sponsored a bill to create a ratio of mental health professionals to law enforcement officials in schools.

Last week, both Colorado and Nevada welcomed majority-female legislative chambers, in part due to RFS winners. This is your friendly reminder that the best way to get more women running for president is to get more women into state and local office.

Also, check this out: The EMILY’s List Gabby Giffords Rising Star nominees are out and TWO RFS alum are up: Jennifer Carroll Foy from VA and Wendy Carrillo from CA. Previous EL Rising Star recipients are Stacey Abrams and Ayanna Pressley, to name a few…

In RFS-adjacent news — take a few minutes to read this story on the student debt crisis that’s devastating millennial economic participation and will have consequences for generations to come. Many of our candidates note: They’re running in part because they want to tackle student debt. Many others note that their debt hinders how much time they can commit to their campaign.

Finally, apropos of, well, everything: We are currently recruiting candidates to run in the Virginia state elections this fall — there are ~1600 offices on the ballot. Two ways you can help: (1) post our recruitment link far & wide and tag any Virginians you know who may want to run or (2) donate today to help us run more recruitment ads in Virginia. It couldn’t be more important.

Thanks for making all this possible.