RFS feel-good update (10/25): Counting down to Election Day!
271 people on the ballot. It's going to be amazing.
Hi all -
We’re hard at work in the final stretch of the election season for the 271 Run for Something candidates on the ballot on 11/2. (If you want to volunteer either remotely or in-person, you can find opportunities now.)
In the meantime, a bunch of excellent updates from across the Run for Something community:
While D.C. is floundering on to passing meaningful paid leave, RFS alum are taking concrete actions to make lives better — the Waterloo (Iowa) City Council, led by RFS alum Jonathan Grieder, passed a resolution calling for a bereavement policy for pregnancy loss. After personally experiencing a miscarriage early in her time in office, MI Rep. Kyra Bolden filed a bill to require eligible employers in the state to offer paid medical leave to a person and their spouse or partner if they experience a miscarriage or stillbirth; she’s continued working on it with the help of fellow RFS alum Rep. Laurie Pohutsky.
In case you haven’t been following the drama around India Walton’s race for mayor of Buffalo: The NY Democratic Party Chair compared India Walton to David Duke in a very poorly articulated analogy explaining why he wasn’t endorsing her in spite of her victory in the Democratic primary against the incumbent. The chair apologized, but the point was made… now national Democrats are jumping in — endorsees now include Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Jumaane Williams, and an old-endorsee-but-new-in-person-campaigner, AOC. (And if you don’t remember who India Walton is, this is a great summary: “A mother at 14 who's been poor for much of her life – including during a campaign when she's supported herself in part by driving DoorDash – Walton is nothing if not resilient.”)
The Erie-Times News editorial board has endorsed Tyler Titus for county executive: “Their win would be historic, but we endorse them because of how their platform and abilities align with the purview and power of the chief executive’s office and county residents’ needs and potential.”
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit successfully got permanent funding for the Conviction Integrity and Expungement Unit - a promise kept from his campaign.
Evan Holt’s campaign for Cincinnati City Council is making waves with his explicit focus on affordable housing.
CO Rep. Dylan Roberts helped open a new state park — Colorado’s 43rd! — that is the first state-federal partnership of its kind.
NY Sen. Jessica Ramos makes a powerful case for the parole justice platform to help release hundreds of prisoners (mostly people of color) who deserve freedom.
Cincinnati School Board candidate (and former Olympian!) Mary Wineberg argues for hiring and retaining more Black teachers — right now, 94% of district teachers are white and 65% of students are Black.
South San Francisco Councilmember James Coleman and Rep. Alex Lee are part of a wave of young diverse progressives running and winning in the Bay Area.
Broward County School Board member Sarah Leonardi speaks up about the attacks school board members are facing.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, voters in Kettering will have a contested clerk of courts election. RFS-endorsed Keara Dever is taking on the incumbent Republican.
NY City Council candidate Jaslin Kaur has joined the NYC taxi drivers in their hunger strike. This is personal for her.
In our ongoing bench-watch:
CO Rep. Dylan Robert is laying the groundwork to run for state senate now that new maps have been drawn — as Colorado Pols says, “Deep Benches Matter.”
In related reading:
The NYT confirms what we’ve been saying for months: “Republicans are using fears of critical race theory to drive school board recalls and energize conservatives, hoping to lay groundwork for the 2022 midterm elections.” Not to share my own tweets, but if you’d like to scroll through, I highlighted 30+ of our school board candidates on the ballot this fall.
The GOP attack on school boards is the biggest threat to public education since the 1950s.
Meanwhile, records from the Oath Keepers leaked and outlets like ProPublica and Buzzfeed confirmed that dozens of the anti-government far-right group have been elected to local government, nearly 100% as Republicans.
On top of that: 15% of all state-level Republican lawmakers participated in or enabled the insurrection/"Stop the Steal" lies in some way.
Why it matters to elect pro-choice legislators in every state — even in places where we can’t immediately flip the chamber: After Texas passed their anti-abortion bounty law, Missouri, Arkansas, South Dakota, Indiana, and Florida have all either introduced or announced plans to introduce copycat legislation.
On the Run for Something podcast this week: When Kelly Ross Krout was a teenager, she fell into a crowd of Evangelical conservatives and identified as a Republican -- over the last decade, she's been slowly but surely changing her mind as she realized some of the policies she believed in were not inclusive of people she loved. In 2020, Kelly ran for state house in deep red Arkansas as a Democrat, surprising many in her community -- but as a foster mom for a decade and now leading a family of seven kids, she knew there was more the state could do for families like hers. She came up short, and now she's running for lieutenant governor to give a megaphone to the causes she cares about. You might occasionally see Kelly on TIkTok, where she's explaining politics and Arkansas for her nearly 70k followers. Learn more about her campaign at kellyforarkansas.com
Thanks for making all this possible. Onward to Election Day!
- Amanda