RFS feel-good update (5/20): Michigan!
Meet a few of our many amazing leaders from this key battleground
Hi all -
On Friday, I got a chance to join RFS MI state director Kelsey Heck-Wood and our incredible Michigan candidates for a training, put together by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC. (In a weird scheduling quirk, it was the second time I got to spend with the governor last week — I also presented her with a Webby award last Monday.)
I met so many of our excellent candidates running in a key battleground state this year, all of whom are already out there knocking doors, talking to voters, and fighting like hell for democracy.
A few of the many many candidates you should be excited about (along with Rep. Mai Xiong, whose tweet is above, and who just won a special election to the state house helping hold the majority and will be up again this fall!)
Christina Hines is running for Macomb County Prosecutor against a Republican incumbent who (1) has vowed to prosecute abortion providers and patients whenever given the opportunity (he believes in no exceptions, including for rape, incest, or life of the mother), (2) is under investigation for many many credible allegations of sexual harassment both when he served in the state Senate and now in his role as prosecutor, and (3) is now facing multiple charges of violating the county ethics ordinances. Christina has been working in a neighboring county’s prosecutor’s office for years, fighting for victims and raising her young family in the area. This is a county of nearly 900,000 people — the stakes are high.
Trevis Herrold is running for one of Michigan’s most competitive and flippable state house races. Trevis is a military veteran who wants to keep serving his community — this district was recently redrawn, and Trevis is up against a Republican incumbent in what could be a very tight but very winnable race.
Austin Marsman, a current school board member, is running for MI state house in a rural community. His opponent is a GOP incumbent, the House Minority Leader, who was in the news last week for gambling away $73,000 in one month (which, it should be noted, is more than a Michigan state lawmaker makes in a year.) Members of his own party have called for him to step down for domestic violence allegations.
These are the kinds of leaders who we’re thrilled to support: Amazing community-oriented folks (often running against literal trash people) who will generate reverse coattails for the entire ticket and actually deliver for their constituents.
Get to know the rest of our Michigan candidates on our directory and find one (or ten) to support!
In other RFS community updates:
This a huge deal in Texas: The Austin City Council, including RFS alum Vanessa Fuentes, Paige Ellis, and Zo Qadri, passed a massive housing bill that dramatically cut the minimum lot size down, changed buffer zones, encouraged more density near transit, and more. This will directly lead to more affordable housing.
I want to call this out because it’s one of many many steps RFS alum across the country have taken on housing (as you may have read in previous editions of this email) — an issue that, while it’s affecting everyone, disproportionately and directly affects young people. The more we can do to make housing cheaper for both renters and buyers, the more we can do do show young people government can make life better for them.RFS alum Jessica Cifuentes is one of only two Latinos currently serving on the Oklahoma City Public Schools board, and one of only five Latinos to ever serve — in a district with two-thirds of the students are of Latino descent. Jessica’s a 25-year old teacher who brings much-needed representation and expertise to the board.
MI Rep. Carrie Rheingans is leading on legislation to decriminalize the use, possession, and distribution of needles, which is a key part of the state’s drug harm reduction strategy.
In Minnesota, thanks to incredible leadership on the city council from RFS alum like Aisha Chughtai, Jason Chavez, and Aurin Chowdhury, who first passed legislation setting minimum wages for ride-share drivers earlier this spring, the state now has legal protections for workers who’d been abused and underpaid. This is a huge victory.
Also in MN: Two RFS alum, Sen. Zaynab Mohamed and Rep. Esther Agbaje became the first Black women to chair a conference committee in the state legislature, to align on a bill focusing on tenant protections.
RI Rep. Megan Cotter introduced legislation to create a skateboarding program for state schools — entirely because her teenage son wanted it, and she wanted to show him how a bill becomes a law. (Slowly!) She ran for office in 2022 for exactly this reason: To show her three kids and that of other families like hers deserve a voice in the state capitol.
Sacramento City Councilmember Caity Maple is fighting to bring back a neighborhood library - we love to see it.
A quarter of lawmakers in Albany are landlords and almost none of them are covered under the recent new laws protecting tenants. Hmmmmmm. Gotta elect more renters, like Eon Huntley, running for assembly in NYC!
PA State Sen. Nick Miller is leading on payroll modernization legislation to update systems and bring them into the 21st century. A small thing that’s a big deal for workers!
Also in PA: Rep. Jessica Benham is sponsoring legislation to ensure that 911 dispatchers are considered “first responders,” opening them up to a ton of legal benefits and services they’d be entitled to. 18 other states already do this.
NC Sen. Sydney Batch is fighting back against a proposed bill that would make it illegal to wear a mask in public (like, the COVID/sneeze/cough masks…) Ridiculous.
Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem is pushing one of the most ambitious re-zoning policies in the country, legalizing six-story apartments by-right citywide. It would make the city the first in MA to end single-family zoning as the default policy.
AZ Reps. Oscar De Los Santos, Analise Ortiz, and Lorena Austin are all pointing out how the state’s effort to pass anti-discrimination bills has become almost entirely a single-party project. (Said another way: Republicans won’t vote for nondiscrimination bills.)
MI Rep. Jason Morgan is sponsoring legislation to ban discrimination on housing based on a potential tenant receiving housing assistance.
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones passed a budget that will give public safety employees a 5% raise - a big deal!
Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins has started a new organization working explicitly on the conservative takeover of school boards. The more the merrier in this fight!
Keeping an eye on our alum who’ve moved up:
Rep. Jasmine Crockett has made a name for herself in Congress, raising hell (and making viral moments) in the House Oversight Committee. Fuck ‘em up, Congresswoman.
If you missed Rep. Crockett absolutely wrecking Marjorie Taylor Greene in a hearing last week, watch this and see why Rep. Jamie Raskin is having trouble keeping a straight face…
Finally, some related reading!
~65% of all races went uncontested in 2023 — that’s a lot, and also down from 70% in years past. Progress!
This is a fascinating story about a far-right extremist school board member in Texas who, once she started actually digging into the curriculum, became a little bit less extreme — because as it turns out, the radicalization she thought she was fighting wasn’t even happening. Hmmm.
Quick event to highlight for you: On May 28th we’re hosting our next candidate intro call, where our team will talk about the realities of running for office, how you can prepare, and our endorsement process. We’ll be joined by special guest and RFS alumni Raaheela Ahmed.
Raaheela served five years as the elected representative for the Prince George's County Board of Education, District 5, representing over 80,000 Maryland residents. As a young, first-generation American Muslim woman of Indian and Pakistani descent, she understands and passionately strives for equity and justice for marginalized people and communities. If you’re thinking about running for office or know someone who should be thinking about it, sign up here.
Thanks for making all this possible. Much more to come!
- Amanda
What amazing work you and your team are doing! So very grateful and I have hope, which I was losing. Thank you!