RFS feel-good update (11/23): Where Democrats go from here
Plus: A save-the-date...
Hi all -
First: As promised, some news: Save the date!! National Run for Office Day — everyone’s favorite holiday that focuses on getting young people to consider running for office — will be January 19th, 2021. (It’ll also be a bit of a celebration of four years of Run for Something, which launched on 1/20/2017.) We’ll have more details over the coming months on how you can celebrate and about a special virtual event that evening, so stay tuned.
Second: Ross and I wrote a piece for Crooked Media on what comes next for the Democratic Party. In it, we lay out 10 principles we hope the entire party will embrace, from operatives to electeds to funders to candidates and everyone in between. These aren’t hot takes in response to the election — in fact, Ross and I discussed them in-depth in our Election Day episode of the podcast, because after everything we’d seen and experienced doing this week, we knew that win or lose, there is a dire need for sustained long-term investment in local infrastructure is key. Let me know what you think. (And ICYMI, last week we laid out specifically where Run for Something goes from here, informed by those same principles.)
Third, Run for Something is now up to 226 winners from the 2020 election cycle. Our 2020 win rate (43%) is actually higher than our 2018 win rate — and while winning is not our primary metric of success, we do love to do it. We’re still tracking results for a handful of elections, and have at least four who will be in run-offs in the coming months.
Another fun Run for Something fact: In this cycle, we’ve nearly doubled the number of city councils, county boards, and school boards with 2 or more RFS alum serving together (it’ll go from 15 to 28). There are multiple RFS alum in 37 of the 99 state legislative chambers.
For example: At least three of the women in this photo are RFS alum imminently serving in the Missouri state legislature - congrats to Ashley, Maggie Nurrenbern, and Emily Weber!
Speaking of our candidates & alumni, here are some good stories to dive in to while you stay home & stay safe during the holiday week…
After a very close loss for Champaign county coroner, Chaundra Bishop is already back at it and has announced she’s running for Urbana City Council; elections are in April.
James Coleman is the youngest and first openly LGBTQ member of the South San Francisco city council; he’s part of a wave of queer people of color winning municipal office in the Bay Area.
IL state Senator Robert Peters is working to make Illinois the first state to abolish cash bail.
Incoming Travis County DA José Garza is building a strong pro-reform office as he prepares to take office next year. His work is going to immediately make life better for Texans.
The Madison City Council has decriminalized marijuana in the city - alderman Max Prestigiacomo is making sure that the city moving forward “recognize[s] the need to use tax revenue from cannabis to fund reparations for Black and Indigenous people of color in our community.”
Brianna Lennon, Boone County Clerk in Missouri, explains how she and so many other election administrators are feeling now that the election is over. TL;DR: Good!
Four years ago, Alex Lee was the student body president at UC Davis. Now he’ll be the youngest member of the CA state legislature.
Let’s prove the haters wrong 😎At 25, @VoteAlexLee2020 is the youngest person elected a state legislator in Calif in 80+ years. The San Jose Dem. warned against underestimating him. "To those doubters it's going to be my job to prove them wrong by working 10 times as hard." https://t.co/Usnx1i91EH @mmcphate https://t.co/GqG3yeFL6Q
Jeff Schechtman @jeffs2009Ricky Hurtado will be the first Latino member of the NC state legislature. His message to other people of color in Alamance County: “I want to see you be the next council member of Graham, I want to see you as the next mayor of Burlington, there's no reason you can't run for county commissioner here.”
In Prince William county, VA, District Supervisor Kenny Boddye led on a resolution that creates a pathway for the county to comprehensively address climate change.
Mai Vang was officially declared the winner of her campaign to join the Sacramento City Council; she’ll be the council’s first Hmong woman and first Asian American woman.
Pierce Freelon has introduced the creation of a mutual aid fund on the Durham City Council. This is a cool idea.
Michelle Hinchey was declared the winner and has officially flipped a seat in the NY state senate — Democrats are inching ever closer to a supermajority in the chamber.
Andrew Gounardes held on to the NY state senate seat he flipped in 2018 in spite of millions of dollars spent against him. It was close, but his willingness to fight for his district overcame the odds.
In Arkansas, Gayatri Agnew is still fighting for her race for Bentonville city council; her run-off is December 1st. She came in first on Election Day, but did not get the majority or plurality of votes as required.
Katharine Clark, new county clerk of Santa Fe, is committed to bringing new technology to the county clerk office.
Tiara Mack is unapologetically Black, queer, and imminently joining the Rhode Island state senate. She unseated a longtime Democratic incumbent who opposed abortion and had been serving since 1985.
One of former educator Sarah Leonardi’s priorities as she joins the Broward County school board in Florida: Raising teacher pay for the more than 15,000 teachers in the county.
This week on the Run for Something podcast: Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta has been lauded as the future of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania -- but his journey there has been a wild ride, with twists and turns along the way. He had never seen a gay Black man in the state capitol before, and didn't know campaigns like his were possible. Now his leadership is breaking new ground for those who come next. His story will inspire you. Get the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Finally: It’s an unusually bleak holiday week this year as we watch COVID numbers rise and collectively feel stuck with no good decisions to make, due in large part to the complete breakdown of the federal government. I know I’m finding it hard to see the silver lining as we dive headfirst into this absolutely miserable winter.
Even with all that shittiness, we are so grateful for you. What this Run for Something community has accomplished over the last four years, and especially over the last year, has absolutely exceeded our wildest expectations.
Thank you in no particular order to the lurkers, the donors, the candidates and alumni, the volunteers, and especially to the entire RFS team, who have managed to persevere through 2020 with more grace and a better sense of humor than we could’ve imagined.
Thank you even to the people who respond to this email pointing out my typos or telling me what points they vehemently disagree with (hey, at least you’re reading!) and thank you to those who’ve shared with us what a difference this organization has made in your life. Especially in the last few weeks, it has been so meaningful to hear how proud you are to be invested in this work, whether you’ve invested money, time, attention, or something else entirely.
Together we’re redefining what leadership looks like. We’re rebuilding both the capital-D Democratic Party and our lowercase-d democracy. We’re making life better for millions of Americans immediately by electing leaders who give a shit into offices where they can quickly take action. It’s a joy and privilege to do this with you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I say it every week and yet somehow still can’t say it enough. Have a good and safe holiday.
- Amanda