RFS feel-good update (2/6): Chicago elections are just 3 weeks away
Listen to an interview with an RFS alum about how progressives can win in rural America
Hi Team - RFS alums and Kansas State Reps. Rui Xu and Brandon Woodard were featured in a story about a topic that Congressman Maxwell Frost helped bring more attention earlier this year: Young people disproportionately can’t run for office because they can’t afford it.
Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, said his previous employer told him he chose to put his career on hold the day he decided to run for office.
When he tries to recruit candidates to run for office, they aren’t willing to make the sacrifice.
“I have people, especially with the most recent election, saying, ‘I couldn’t justify leaving my job to do that or my spouse would laugh at me,’ ” Woodard said.
Rep. Ru added that “the reality of it is just like, I’m giving up a lot of prime income-earning years to do this. And it would make me sad to have to leave, but that’s something I have to think about at least. I would love to not have to make that choice. I don’t want to.”
We know giving pay raises to lawmakers isn’t the most popular issue, but if we want our representatives to look more like the rest of the country, and be younger, it’s something that our elected officials are going to have to do something about.
One of the most interesting things we read last week was a Q&A with Maine State Senator Chloe Maxmin about how progressives can win in rural America.
When I say that the Democrats have abandoned rural America, I really mean it from a national and institutional perspective. In 2009, there was almost no partisan lean amongst rural voters. But by 2019, rural folks were voting Republican by 16 points. In that same period, the Democrats lost almost a thousand state legislative seats in majority rural districts. In 2022, 70 percent of rural voters voted for Republicans.
The whole interview is worth a read, or you can listen to the audio version here.
Here’s what our alums were working on last week:
Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley, Jr. “will soon introduce an amendment to the 2020 city ordinance that will not only allow traffic stops to be reported but will track, in more detail, use of force complaints and other misconduct by MPD officers.”
“That transparency portal will require misuse of body-worn cameras to be reported," councilman Smiley said. "Excessive force complaints to be reported and the end result is the dashboard we currently have. But that’s not mandatory."
Councilman Smiley says the main goal moving forward is making this system mandatory for MPD.
"Take it a step further, that provides more detailed information to the people," Smiley said. "Because we need to know what’s happening and what officers are being accused of and figure out how we can root out any bad apples among our Memphis Police Department.”
Minnesota State Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn was the chief author of the state’s PRO Act, which was signed into law last week.
New York City Council Members Shahana Hanif and Crystal Hudson are standing up for asylum seekers who have come to the city.
The local pol began seeking out ways to aid organizations in their efforts to help support the newly arrived immigrants.
“We are coordinating with on-the-ground organizations like the Gowanus Mutual Aid, CHiPS, and Mixteca, who we knew are serving asylum seekers in our district, to see what they needed, what they were hearing, and how we could support them,” Hanif said.
Other city leaders like Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents Crown Heights, have also helped to provide service directly to migrant families, and also assist community members who are looking to help asylum seekers.
Watch Colorado State Rep. Iman Jodeh floor speech recognizing World Hijab Day:
Nevada Assemblywoman Selena Torres inspired Congressman Ro Khanna to file a resolution to “urge President Joe Biden to acknowledge the United States’ role in El Salvador’s 12-year civil war that killed an estimated 75,000 people.”
As Torres talked to Khanna more during one of his trips to Nevada about her dad, who made the journey in 1990 as a teenager along with others who fled the country because of the Salvadoran civil war, Khanna decided the United States had a “special responsibility to support Salvadoran people.”
Virginia Del. Danica Roem introduced two bills to strengthen the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
“I am for better or worse — and God, it seems like worse sometimes — absolutely hellbent on being the voice, if there can be no other, who is going to strongly, passionately support an accessible, strong Freedom of Information Act, as opposed to a restricted one that has so many exemptions,” Roem said.
Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari is advocating for the city to convert its bus fleet to low and zero emissions - and Phoenix is spending $230 million to start the process.
We love an RFS alum collab: Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval testified on behalf of Maryland Delegate Vaughn Stewart’s legislation to make homes more energy efficient and accessible.
Today I’m honored to testify on behalf of @DelegateStewart's HB79, which would create #WholeHomeRepairs for the people of Maryland. My office designed #WholeHomeRepairs with the hope that this policy would be replicable in other states to help fight our collective housing crisis.BILLS: Here is a smattering of my pre-filed bills that have been assigned hearing dates. From clean drinking water to more affordable housing and from affordable menstrual products to freedom from spam, these bills will help thousands of Marylanders live more dignified lives. https://t.co/WO5ZssL9hV
Vaughn Stewart @DelegateStewartSaint Paul School Board Member Uriah Ward led the charge in a successful effort to “stop investing the school district’s money in fossil fuels and private prisons.”
Utah State Senator Nate Blouin fought against anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in a floor speech:
Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani filed legislation to ban assault weapons in Florida.
Rhode Island State Rep. Enrique Sanchez filed legislation that would require public high schools to offer students courses about nutrition, food preparation and cooking each year.
Last week, Politico highlighted our Clerk Work program in an article about conspiracy theorist, election-denying candidates running for local election authorities in 2023 and beyond. As they noted, “far more races for local election positions … will be up for grabs next year.”
[Run for Something] had a hand in recruiting more than 220 candidates in the midterms for voting-related positions, Run for Something co-founder Ross Morales Rocketto said in an interview. That included 32 top-tier candidates, with a focus on county clerk positions in states like Colorado and California and county commissioners in Nevada. The group said 20 of them won their contests, including 10 of the 13 who were running against candidates Run for Something identified as an “election denier.”
“The thing that keeps me up at night isn’t whether we can beat most of these folks — I think we can beat them in most places — it’s actually whether we get people on the ballot to run against them,” Morales Rocketto said. “And that to me is actually the harder challenge in all of this.”
Politico also wrote that “The slate of below-the-radar campaigns will test how much money and attention will be available for these critical roles in the midst of a presidential race.”
You can be part of the solution to that incoming problem by contributing to our Clerk Work program.
Election Day in the first round of the Chicago aldermanic races is in just a few weeks, on February 28th. It’s a two-round system, so if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in February, a second round will take place on April 4th.
We’ve endorsed nine candidates in Chicago aldermanic races, and if you haven’t learned about them yet, now is your chance:
Aida Flores: Aida is an educator currently serving as Assistant Principal at Darwin Elementary, and helped launch dual language primary schools—programs that promote accessible, enriching education environments that bring students closer together and to embrace differences.
Oscar Sanchez: Oscar is a long-time resident of the Southeast Side and a community organizer running for alderman of Chicago’s 10th ward, with experience working on community development, anti-violence, environmental justice, and education justice.
Warren Williams: Warren founded 30th United, an Independent Political Organization, led by 30th Ward neighbors, for the 30th Ward. With 30th United, he has organized with the community on zoning and new development issues, cleaning up busy streets throughout the ward, ensuring the most vulnerable communities have access to COVID-19 vaccinations,, supporting community leaders in local elections, and canvassing regularly to directly hear and learn from neighbors.
Ronnie Mosley: Ronnie has created wins on local and national levels for issues like Gun Violence Prevention, Cannabis, Education Reform, Youth Health, Voting Rights and Entrepreneurship. With over 15 years of professional experiences ranging from community outreach to intergovernmental affairs, he has proven his abilities to navigate through challenges and build an infrastructure effectively towards an organization’s goals.
Marianne Lalonde: Marianne is a scientist, energy efficiency professional, and long-time community activist. In light of the recent pandemic, it's more important than ever to have scientifically trained representatives at every level of government - to protect public health, promote infrastructure resilience in the face of climate change, and work as problem solvers in areas of equity, safety, and economic prosperity.
Ayana Clark: Ayana is a single mother and community organizer running to become the first Black Alderwoman in Chicago's 21st ward. She was thrust into action after her child’s school experienced shootings three times in a year.
Heather Wills: Heather has been a community organizer for over 20 years. After hearing from her neighbors, Heather is committed to developing residential and commercial infrastructure, advancing community resources for all ages, and community engaged public safety.
Adrienne Irmer: Adrienne has been a champion of social causes for over 18 years. Adrienne currently serves as AVP for External Affairs at Illinois Tech. Before joining Illinois Tech, Adrienne served on the legislative staff for the Cook County Board President. Adrienne was appointed a Commissioner for Special Service Area #42, where she voted on how special tax revenue is used to help drive economic and community development.
Alderman Matt Martin: Alderman Martin is a lifelong progressive, who is serving his first term on the Chicago City Council. Before that, he worked as a civil rights lawyer in the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where he focused on police reform, workers' rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and immigration. Through his work, he helped draft the consent decree to hold the city accountable when it comes to reforming the police department.
We’ve also endorsed two candidates for District Council, a new office in Chicago: Maurilio Garcia and Sam Schoenburg, who are running together to be the first-ever 19th Police District Councilors.
We want to leave you this week with an amazing profile of New York City Council Member Chi Ossé, who recently finished his first year in office.
Now announcing his re-election campaign, Ossé intends to continue to make good on his promise of public safety: seeing through current goals in sanitation, public safety and building relationships with constituents, as well as introducing initiatives in transportation equity, freelance worker protections, increased access to PrEP and, of course, police reform. If his first term is about dispelling the community’s distrust in government, his second will be to instill hope.
Please read the whole story if you want to start the week feeling good.
See you in your inboxes next week!
Ross and Abe
P.S. We have a volunteer training coming up next week: February 15th at 8pm ET. If you want to help candidates run for office, sign up here.