Hi all -
First: Last week’s tragic and hateful murders in Atlanta were painful for so many in our community -- if you are grieving, angry, or hurting, please know: The Run for Something team sees you and stands with you.
It’s hard to know the right thing to say in moments like this (which are, unfortunately, all too frequent) and the work to eradicate anti-Asian bigotry will not happen overnight. But we know there are a few things we can do right now to get started.
Take a look at this exhaustive list of resources on anti-Asian violence, including materials on further education.
Consider a donation to Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Atlanta, which supports, organizes and advocates for the AAPI community in Georgia and the broader southeast. You can also give to Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective that organizes for and with migrant communities and sex workers. If you want to specifically support organizations that empower AAPI women in leadership, consider the Asian American Women’s Political Initiative or AAPI Women Lead.
Begin educating yourself on bystander intervention methods.
Our team remains deeply committed to our efforts to elect anti-racist leaders who can make meaningful progress on combating structural racism against all communities who experience it and can work to root out the toxic white supremacy and misogyny that’s embedded in our institutions. Elections will not solve all our society’s problems but we believe better, more reflective leadership is certainly one part of the solution, and we’re glad this entire community can play a small part.
With so much sadness as the backdrop, I know it feels abrupt to shift to good news & the usual Run for Something stories from across the country. But our mission continues, and even in bleak moments, I find so much hope in this community doing the work. So…some good stuff!
Last week we endorsed 68 amazing 2021 candidates for local office, bringing our grand total for the year so far to 140 leaders.
The March class is as phenomenal as they all are. Some fun facts about our 140 2021 candidates:
They are 56% women, 53% BIPOC, and 23% LGBTQIA+.
We have candidates in AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, & WI — 16 states overall.
More specific stats: 36% are BIPOC women, 24% are BIPOC men, 11% are LGBTQIA+ folks of color. 21 candidates identify as people with disabilities. 48 candidates are caretakers of kids under the age of 18. 8 candidates are immigrants and 41 are children of immigrants.
27 people in the 2021 class are RFS alum; 13 of them are folks who ran before, came up short, and got back in the fight.
We have our first winner in NYC (and I expect not our last - Run for Something has endorsed 36 candidates for NYC council across 32 of the 51 city council districts.) Congrats to new councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers!
And ICYMI, we talked to the The Daily Beast about the wave of people who signed up to run for office after the 1/6 insurrection: “The Capitol Riot Pissed Off These People So Much They’re Running for Office.”
Some highlights from RFS candidates & alum across the country:
WI Rep. Francesca Hong, the first AAPI lawmaker in the WI state assembly, introduced a powerful resolution condemning the violence against her community.
MO Rep. Emily Weber, the first Asian American lawmaker in the state house, shared how “she has been harassed herself because of her race amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying her office received threats after she called out another House lawmaker for using the phrase “China virus” during a floor speech.”
GA Rep. Marvin Lim joined other AAPI state legislators to speak up for their community: “We’re there for you. We’re trying to do everything we can and we empathize with everything you’re going through. We’re heartbroken and confused as well."
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang gave a beautiful and tearful speech to a vigil in her city after the shootings. Watch here.
Alum Godfrey Plata talked with YahooNews: “As early as age six, Godfrey Plata knew he was different. After he and his family immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in the 80s, Plata wanted to change his name to Richard "because it felt like an American name that multiple people on TV had."“
NC Sen. Mutjaba Mohammed spoke on the critical need for new hates crimes legislation begin introduced, which would include the creation of a hate crimes database, expand protections against hate crimes, and increase punishments.
MI Rep. Ranjeev Puri introduced a resolution in the state chamber to condemn the rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community and encourage Michiganders to report hate crimes and discrimination.
MA Rep. Tram Nguyen is introducing a new bill to crack down on hate crimes, making it easier to prosecute offenders.
“I never saw myself as someone who would be an electoral candidate. What’s happened during the pandemic and seeing my family struggle without a solution from our city for years, especially on the taxi medallion crisis, drove me to change my mind.” - Jaslin Kaur, NYC council candidate.
NYC Council candidate Elisa Crespo was featured in both NBC News and Marie Claire for the historic nature of her campaign as the first trans woman running for city government — but that’s not the real point of her campaign, as she explains in both articles. She’s running to fight for working families.
Lindsay Love is the first Black woman to serve on the Chandler Unified School District board in AZ, a district that like many suburban areas, has become a majority-minority community — leadership and programming is beginning to reflect that shift. The subsequent backlash is alarming.
Also in AZ: State Rep. Andrés Can is the state’s youngest LGBTQ+ legislator; he knows how hard it will be to get equitable policies passed through the GOP-controlled chamber but he’s not going to stop fighting.
FL Rep. Andrew Learned has a powerful op-ed on the need to defeat FL House Bill 1, which essentially criminalizes free speech and weakens the right to free assembly.
CO Reps. Dylan Roberts and Iman Jodeh are both sponsoring legislation that would create a public insurance option in the state, helping lower costs for Colorodans who buy coverage off the marketplace.
NYC council candidate Jaslin Kaur and DE State Sen. Sarah McBride were featured in this episode of the Cut’s podcast, appropriately titled “Maybe you should run for office?”
WBUR talked with Alex Gray on his campaign as a Boston City Council candidate; if he wins he’ll be the first blind councilor in city history.
For the first since 2012, three women are now serving on the Sacramento City Council; two are RFS alum Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela.
NY State Sen. Samra Brouk is advocating for $1 million in police accountability funds.
Also in NY: State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi has introduced a plan to specifically help moms and caregivers recover from the pandemic.
In related stories:
Ross and I talked to NYMag for this: Gerontocracy is hurting American democracy.
”Not having enough millennials and Gen-Zers, or even Gen-Xers, at the table isn’t only worrisome because it’s unfair or because of senility concerns. It threatens the very future of the nation. Because a gerontocratic government is a government that doesn’t represent all its citizens; it’s a government that doesn’t feel very democratic at all.”We said this all through 2020 and it’s now bearing out: It matters to elect Democrats locally in no small part because we need to give a Democratic president governing partners. As the Atlantic describes it: “The Biden agenda doesn’t run through Washington.”
Women now make up 60% of the NV state legislature; the impact has been immediately obvious. One clear example: “A law stiffening the requirement that women receive equal pay for equal work. Previous attempts failed in part because male lawmakers questioned whether gender discrimination was, in fact, a problem requiring legislative action.”
This is some peak Florida shit: A disgraced GOP former state senator is facing charges for recruiting a “sham candidate” to act as spoiler in a state legislative race. It worked: the sham candidate got 6382 votes while the Democrat ultimately lost by just 32 votes. This is what we’re up against.
We have two events going on this week: Tonight, we’re hosting Black Women Run, a deep dive into building strong campaigns hosted for and by Black women. The call is free; RSVP here.
Then this Thursday at 8pm ET, join us for Unapologetically Progressive Women — a free event spotlighting some amazing women making history right this very minute. Sign up now.
This week on the Run for Something podcast (which FYI, Apple named “New & Noteworthy” and featured on their homepage all week long!): First, I talk through some new Run for Something research that shows local candidates really do have "reverse coattails." Then: A conversation with Tay Anderson, Denver School Board Director and the youngest elected official in Colorado, who ran and lost in 2017, but didn't let that stop him -- he ran again in 2019 and handily won, and has now been leading the work to make Denver schools safer, more equitable, and more welcoming. Listen in, then find him at @TayAndersonCo on any social media platform you like.
Last week was rough, but we can do the work to make things better together. Thanks for being part of the team.
- Amanda