RFS feel-good update (2/8): "Something needs to change."
71,000 people want to run for office. We're here to help them.
Hi all -
Last week, I told you more than 5,000 people had signed up in January, bringing our grand total to more than 70,000 young people who’ve signed up to run for office.
A few hours after you got that email, we refreshed our stats, and CNN.com got the exclusive: 6,554 people signed up for our pipeline in January, compared to 1,939 people who signed up to run for office in January 2020.
CNN spoke to some of the folks who signed up…
Meanwhile, Luis Vizcarrondo Jr., a 30-year-old minister in Cleveland, intends to run for city council in Cleveland this year.
Vizcarrondo has considered running for a while, after experiencing racism and hearing of hatred toward the Latino community in the city, he says. "But the insurrection was the last straw for me," Vizcarrondo told CNN. "As a father of three kids, I would never have thought I would see a day like this."
Vizcarrondo has a disabled daughter and an autistic daughter, and says he hopes to build a better world for them, as well as his 1-year-old son.
"I don't want them to live in a world where people are constantly bashing them and something needs to change."
We’re just getting started! On Friday, which would have been Trayvon Martin’s 26th birthday, we kicked off our Black History Month effort to recruit young Black progressives to run for local office. We have a few events planned in the next few weeks - stay tuned.
In 2017, 6 Run for Something candidates helped Democrats close the gap in the VA House of Delegates; in 2019 our candidates helped flip it. A few of the consequences of those victories: A state-level Voting Rights Act, legalizing marijuana and abolishing the death penalty, rolling back an abortion ban, committing to 100% clean power, protecting domestic workers rights, banning LGBTQ discrimination, and of course, Medicaid expansion, which has granted health care to more than 400,000 Virginians and counting.
All of that work is setting Virginia Democrats up for more success this November, in the state legislative and gubernatorial elections.
Winning majorities is good. Let’s do it more.
In RFS candidate & alumni updates:
After the Rochester Police pepper-sprayed a handcuffed 9-year-old girl, State Sen. Samra Brouk, who represents Rochester, did not hesitate to introduce legislation banning the use of chemicals against minors.
Tyler Murphy was made chair of the Fayette County School Board in Kentucky — he’s one of two RFS alum from 2018 who are now leading the school boards they were elected to. (The other is Everton Blair Jr, in Georgia!)
Kari Bloom won an upset victory over an incumbent and is now the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge she’s got big plans to reform the Ohio county’s juvenile system. Listen in.
Louise Snodgrass may have lost their election for South Dakota state house in 2020, but they’re not done working: Louise is advocating and fighting hard against anti-trans legislation.
CA Assemblymember Alex Lee introduced legislation to create social housing and introduce more affordable housing options for folks in need. Also, this is pretty cool!
Assemblymember Lee, who fought to #FundTheUC as a student, now sits on the budget subcommittee on education finance which oversees the UC budget... WHILE students he went to school with are still enrolled! Elect more young people. Things are about to get real interesting 🍿🍿🍿Higher education can be transformative. I graduated in 2017, so there are still students I went to school with still enrolled in the UC/CSU/CCC system. I’ll never stop advocating for students who’s voices often get ignored https://t.co/8KKviLPSAz
Alex Lee 李天明 @VoteAlexLee2020NV Assemblywoman Cecilia González is a perfect example of the kind of leaders we need more of. From a profile on her in The Nevada Independent:
”When Cecelia González talks to her constituents, she sometimes gets surprised reactions when she tells them she can relate.González, 29, has struggled with the state’s beleaguered unemployment system. She’s watched a younger brother navigate the challenges of remote learning in the Clark County School District. And she’s multiracial, the daughter of an immigrant mother from Thailand and a father who’s of Mexican descent.
“That's also why I'm here, is to be a voice for a lot of communities that have been disenfranchised, a lot of communities that get left [out] in conversation, and just are always an afterthought,” the Las Vegas Democrat said.”
MI State Rep. Kyra Harris Bolden is getting praised across the aisle for being unafraid to speak her mind on race, gender, and age.
Marti Cummings, NYC council candidate, was matched with DE state Sen. Sarah McBride as their alum advisor. Seems to be working out!
Oklahoma State Representative Mauree Turner has been everywhere lately. In the Guardian, they discuss their complicated relationship with all the media attention: “People have asked me to justify what it means to be Muslim and queer. I shouldn’t have to justify how I exist.”
In BET, Mauree explains how their victory resonated: “But Nov 4th, when I woke up, I didn't know I’d just become the first openly non-binary person to be elected (as a state representative). I was contacted by people from across the globe who said they felt empowered to tell family about their pronouns for the first time.”BET also talked to Denver School Board Director Tay Anderson about his role in the fight for racial justice. A must-watch.
The Indianapolis City-County Council passed a resolution banning LGBTQIA+ conversion therapy — led by Keith Potts, one of 5 RFS alum on the council. It models the legislation introduced on the state level by Sen. J.D. Ford, also an RFS alum!
TX State Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, a former voting rights lawyer, is serving as vice chair on the Elections committee in the TX state house; she’s not going to let the GOP suppress voters without a tough fight.
The Texas Tribune broke down the demographics of the TX state legislature; RFS alum (and youngest state legislator) James Talarico flagged this…
Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and NYC council candidate Pierina Sanchez talked with the Bronx Times about the challenges of running as women in the Bronx: “Sanchez, who is running for office for the first time, has witnessed sexism her entire life. As a child, she saw how her mom and aunt get taken advantage of by the landlord for their lack of English.
She is Afro-Latina and looks young, so often people question if she is really a candidate and if she is qualified. Sanchez has been paid less on projects and asked if she has kids and what her husband thinks.
“You’re told to wait, it’s not your time,” she explained. “But for me my time is now. Women need to be a significant part of the leadership. We do have to hustle harder and work harder.””
If you need to feel inspired by some smart as hell public policy, watch NYC council candidate Tiffany Cabán explain her approach to reforming the NYC policing program.
Missouri state Rep. Emily Weber is being hailed as a freshman to watch in the state house — on top of her legislation priorities, as the first Asian-American woman elected to the House, she’s committed to making sure she’s not the last.
NH state Sen. Becky Whitley has been hard at work, along with her colleagues, on a bill that requires employers with a certain number of employees to create policies for lactating parents.
In related reading - a few infuriating things to highlight for you…
Republican state lawmakers in Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Dakota have filed bills to punish schools that teach the 1619 Project. This is a key part of the broader GOP plan to build sustainable power: Control what gets taught in schools in order to lay the groundwork for the kind of voters they want kids to grow up and become. It’s absolutely political.
Republicans have a concerted and strategic effort to use the Big Lie of the 2020 election as the foundation for aggressive voter suppression on the state and local level. We cannot take our eyes off them for a single minute. As Ross told Business Insider, we’re doing our part by working to recruit local election administrators.
On a lighter note:
I talked with Gen Magazine on Medium about the importance of Democrats working hard in all 50 states, and why the onus is on donors to give to critical infrastructure work. (Like, ahem, Run for Something!)
I joined Sami on The Betches Sup podcast for a convo on why everyone should run for office, including a roleplay on how to recruit a friend to run. Listen in!
A thread worth clicking through to… this is why Run for Something’s key metric is not wins (although we love wins!) — it’s people running in the first place.
This week on the Run for Something podcast, available wherever you get your shows: First, a little rant about the gerontocracy. (Sorry if it makes you mad!) Then: A conversation with Kerri-Ann Nesbeth, candidate for Miramar City Council down in South Florida. She explains why she ran, what a day in the life looks like for her right now balancing her full-time job and her full-time campaign, the racism and sexism she's encountered, and why it's all worth it. You can volunteer for Kerri-Ann at http://www.mobilize.us/miramar and donate to her campaign at https://www.kerriannnesbeth.com/.
Thanks for making all this possible. Stay warm and safe!
- Amanda