RFS feel-good update (2/10): 37 amazing new leaders

Scroll for some hope

Hi all -

Do you need some hope this morning? Scroll through our new February endorsements - 37 amazing young leaders running for local office this year. We’ve never needed them more.

This class includes leaders like:

• Jolie Lippit running for Topeka City Council, District 1. Jolie has called Topeka home since 2018, seeking solace after a difficult experience in 2017. Arriving in the city with her young child, two suitcases, and limited funds, she relied on Topeka Rescue Mission for support before finding stable housing through local programs.

• Amy Mathieu running for Judge, Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. Amy Mathieu began her career clerking for the Honorable Christine Ward in the Civil Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. During her time as a clerk, she played a key role in establishing and operating the Name Change Court, specifically designed to assist transgender individuals in legally changing their names to align with their gender identity. Amy’s been targeted by hateful bigot “Libs of TikTok” — we’ve got her back.

  

• Willie Burnley Jr, running for Somerville mayor in MA. Having experienced firsthand the challenges of displacement due to rising rent costs, Willie is a fierce advocate for tenant rights and affordable housing initiatives.

This class includes candidates from 17 states — CA, CO, FL, IL, KS, ME, MA, NE, NH, NY, OH, PA, TX, UT, VA, WA & WI — and 9 of these folks are running specifically for school boards.

Every election from here on out — no matter how big or small — is a chance to show the GOP that their actions have electoral consequences. The way we build the momentum to win big in 2026 (because we will still have elections in 2026 — don’t give in to doom on that) is to win every possible chance between now and then.

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In RFS alumni updates:

• The LA fires hit during Jessica Caloza’s first week as a CA state assemblymember. She immediately got to work: “Her team worked nonstop to ensure residents had accurate information. She joined media briefings with Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders. On Jan. 16, she stood with Rivas and Assembly members to announce new legislation. The next day, she introduced two bills: AB 262, offering up to $1,500 in immediate fire aid to households, and AB 265, providing $2,500 to $100,000 in grants to help small businesses and nonprofits recover and rebuild.”

• Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii is already impressing folks just one month in — she’s “smart, straightforward, introspective and refreshing”!!

• This is a great profile of Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the newest elected and youngest member of the Seattle City Council: “Rinck sees herself as a “generational voice” for the city’s hundreds of thousands of young people who typically don’t find anyone like themselves—or their long-term concerns about affordability and housing—on the dais or the docket.”

  

  

• NE Sen. Terrell McKinney is working on a state constitutional amendment that would ban the death penalty.

• SD Rep. Kadyn Wittman makes the case for doing the same in South Dakota.

• Portland City Councilor Angelita Morila is working on street safety — a specific issue that can meaningfully affect quality of life.

• Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is the new co-chair of an effort on behalf of state and local leaders to combat climate change

  

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• FL Rep. Anna Eskamani introduced legislation to combat unfair ticketing practices for concerts and events.

• At a rally last week, MI Rep. Laurie Pohutsky shared that she chose to get sterilized rather than have kids under a Trump administration — since then, she’s been getting death threats from Republicans across the country.

• NY Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Rep. Alex Bores are introducing legislation that would let users turn off algorithms on social media and apply warning labels — we’re into anything that makes the big social media companies uncomfortable.

• Dauphin County commissioner Justin Douglas has a powerful oped out on the importance of being a good neighbor in this particular moment.

• CO Sen. Julie Gonzales has introduced first-of-its-kind legislation that would ban assault weapons with detachable magazines.

Some sad news: RFS alum Middletown Township Supervisor Anna Payne passed away earlier last week — Anna was the quintessential kind of leader RFS loves to work with: Committed to her community and to public service, ready to fight when she needed to, and deeply passionate about her work.

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In related reading:

• A number of (mostly) red states are setting up their own DOGE-like enterprises, trying to dismantle their own governments. People will be hurt by this. I consider this an important reminder not to give up on any state, red or blue. We have to keep fighting everywhere.

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I know everything going on is terrifying, bleak, or a combination of the two. But there are still good leaders doing the work across the country, and this team is in the fight with them.

As I told the Guardian:

“On everything from immigration to climate change to abortion access and education, they are going to be able to do so much, whether it’s harm mitigation or actually advancing progressive policies that we’re just not going to get in DC,” said Amanda Litman, the [cofounder] of Run For Something, a progressive group that helps young people run for local office.

One of their recruits, Alyshia Dyer, was elected in November to serve as sheriff of Washtenaw County, Michigan. Last month Dyer said her office would not assist federal immigration authorities.

There are also early signs that the next four years could yield a new class of Democratic leaders, as happened during Trump’s first term. Since election day, Run for Something has had more than 17,000 people express interest in running for office, Litman said, including 4,000 since inauguration day

The future might be bright. Maybe.

Thanks for making this all possible.

- Amanda