Feel-good update: What "building the bench" looks like
Two of our three candidates won last week, one of our 2017 candidates was just nominated to be the LG candidate in Michigan, and more.
FIRST: WINNERS! We had three candidates in contested elections last Tuesday, and TWO will move on to the general election in November — congrats to Dave Hutchinson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s office and Josh Pauly for Minneapolis School Board.
In particular, I want to flag Dave Hutchinson’s story: He’s running to take down an atrocious conservative sheriff who’s been elected three terms in a row. The incumbent, a former Minnesota house Republican, has been working with ICE to get undocumented immigrants deported.
SOME OTHER GOOD STUFF…
We talked with Michelle Goldberg at the New York Times about the ways student debt affects people running for office — in particular, that for many of our candidates, it’s both an obstacle to overcome and a reason for running in the first place.
Time Magazine dug in on why we — along with Flippable and other groups — are focusing so intensely on state legislatures in particular. The answer: Because winning back the House in 2018 is a temporary fix to what will become a permanent structural problem unless we also win back state chambers now and in 2020.
Check this out: Garlin Gilchrist II was one of our first-ever endorsements last summer when he ran for Detroit City Clerk. He lost that race, but he stayed in the fight, and as of this morning, he’ll be joining Gretchen Whitmer on the ballot in Michigan as her lieutenant governor candidate. When we say we’re building the bench, this is exactly what we mean.
Earlier this month, our candidates were joined by activist/filmmaker Lori Silverbush and Top Chef’s Tom Collichio for an in-depth briefing on food policy and hunger in America. You can watch the full session on YouTube.
We’re gearing up for more primaries next week and into September, and then full-steam ahead to November. None of this would be possible without your help. Thanks for doing what you do.
Catch last week’s update on our big endorsements…
Feel-good update: The response to our big news!
Last week was a big one for us! 101 endorsements, 2 election days, and some top-notch reading.medium.com