RFS feel-good update (1/20): A not-so-happy birthday
Hi all -
As I steel myself for Trump to be inaugurated again — and to officially rejoin the RFS team tomorrow after maternity leave! — forgive me for a moment of reflection:
Eight years ago today, the morning of Trump’s first inauguration, Run for Something was born.
I remember sitting on my couch, rowdy dog at my side, furiously texting with Ross as we made the website live and crossed our fingers.
I’ve told this story maybe one million times at this point, but I’ll say it again: We really thought this would be small. It was supposed to be our side hustle while we got real jobs, because based on everything we know about candidate recruitment, we expected maybe 100 people to sign up in the first year at most.
In that first week, more than 1,000 people raised their hands to say they wanted to run.
In the eight years since, more than 180,000 have joined them, building what has become the largest candidate pipeline on the left — including more than 13,000 just since November 5th, 2024, doing a brave thing at a moment when cowardice seems to be the norm.
Nearly 1,500 Run for Something candidates have won elections in nearly every state. They’ve fought for and won more affordable housing, free lunches for kids, and cheaper insulin, among many many other things.
They are the present and future leaders of our party and, as hard as it might be to see right now, they will lead our country one day.
That’s because of you and this community. Thank you. You made this all possible.
While Run for Something was born along with Trump presidency and was often looped into the ~resistance~, we have been clear from the start: This work was never just about Trump.
Run for Something has been and always will be about the future.
We work to transform what leadership looks like in America in order to build long-term power and a more reflective, responsive, and sustainable democracy.
This team’s mission has not changed. We recruit and support young diverse progressives to run for state and local office in all 50 states — and over the next four years, we will need strong state and local leadership more than ever.
We will need principled school board members willing to protect public education. We will require strong municipal leaders who will fight for their communities in the face of an adversarial federal government. State legislators will be asked to do it all — protect the right to vote, expand access to abortion care where they can, advance climate legislation and more.
And we need to rebuild our party from the ground up — and since the party is defined by its candidates, that means we need to keep bringing in new, exciting, authentic and genuine people who can connect with voters everywhere and anywhere.
The generation of leaders that got us to this point cannot get us to the next one. Run for Something’s leaders are ready to take the baton.
It’s hard to be positive today, and I don’t want to fake it. To put it lightly, all of this sucks, and much of the next four years will also suck.
And/But: There will be bright spots — just as somehow there was during Trump’s first term, and COVID, and the hard days of the years since.
There will be leaders that rise from the Run for Something pipeline who advance progress or stop harm.
They will make history or even change history — and they will be in a position to do so because of the support and encouragement from the RFS community.
Doing this work for the long-haul requires finding and celebrating the wins where we can.
That’s why this note has always been the “feel-good update.” Fear and rage will burn you out fast but good news is like a jumpstart to the system — and starting next week, I’ll be back in your inbox at the top of each week to deliver it.
Do what you need to do today to care for yourself. Tomorrow, join me in getting back to work. We’re in this together.
- Amanda
As a boomer, I've been saying for several years that it's past time for us to pass the torch to the upcoming generations. I support RFS not because I want to run, but to help the "kids" to take action and take the reins. It's past time for those who are old enough to retire, to do so.
I’ve contributed to a lot of Democrats over the years; less so lately b/c it’s frustrating to hear progressive politicians refer to basic transgender rights as a “distraction”. I know we’re a small voting bloc, but I hope you’ll train potential candidates not to use dismissive language when referring to trans issues.