RFS feel-good update (1/4): Moments you made possible
Swearing-in ceremony season is the best
Hi all -
Happy new year! We made it to 2022. Phew.
First up: Over the holidays, many of our 2021 candidates had their swearing-in ceremonies. You did this! These big steps forward are because of you. Be proud.
A few other small updates from across the RFS community:
Nebraska state Senator Megan Hunt is introducing legislation to protect and expand access to abortion — including repealing current laws that require specific insurance riders to cover abortion, repealing the state’s ban on telehealth for medication abortion, and modifying requirements for abortion providers. Even in “red” states, it matters to have pro-choice leaders like Megan.
Boston City Councilmember Ruthzee Louijeune, the first Haitian Americans elected to the city’s leadership, powerfully argues for what more the city can do for its large Haitian community.
In Arizona, Chandler school board member Lindsay Love got candid about the realities of being a Black woman on the school board facing anti-mask and anti-CRT community members.
Hawaii state Rep. Adrian Tam reflected on his first year in office as the only openly gay man in the state house — in spite of being dismissed because of his age, Adrian’s passed legislation dealing with real estate investments and protections for homeless youth.
NY Sen. Zellnor Myrie introduced legislation cracking down on COVID test fraud that he’s already seen rampant in his Brooklyn district.
In related reading, a must-read: “In battleground states and beyond, Republicans are taking hold of the once-overlooked machinery of elections. While the effort is incomplete and uneven, outside experts on democracy and Democrats are sounding alarms, warning that the United States is witnessing a “slow-motion insurrection” with a better chance of success than Trump’s failed power grab last year.
They point to a mounting list of evidence: Several candidates who deny Trump’s loss are running for offices that could have a key role in the election of the next president in 2024. In Michigan, the Republican Party is restocking members of obscure local boards that could block approval of an election. In Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the GOP-controlled legislatures are backing open-ended “reviews” of the 2020 election, modeled on a deeply flawed look-back in Arizona.”
We’ll keep saying this over and over and over again: Winning local election administration roles is going to be key to the survival of democracy.
On the same thread: I also recommend you read this for a reminder of how critical it is to elect pro-democracy leaders to city councils, school boards, and every other local position extremist groups are targeting.
Kept it short — with the holidays behind us, we’re back to work. So much to do this year (including celebrating Run for Something’s five year anniversary in just a few weeks) — let’s go go go.
Thanks for making all this possible,
Amanda
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