RFS feel-good update (5/6): The power of local candidates

Hi all -

If you missed it - last week we published an op-ed in Newsweek about the power of local candidates to drive up turnout for the entire ticket. The future of our democracy is at stake, and we can’t save it without young voters — shaming or berating them won’t cut it; we have to give them something and someone (or someones!) to vote for. That’s where local candidates come in.

I hope you’ll read it and share it widely. If you get this email, you already get it — we need to make sure everyone else does, too.

---

In RFS community updates:

• In West Virginia, Del. Kayla Young, the House Minority Leader Pro Tempore, identified a critical tactic in ultimately defeating a “Women’s Bill of Rights” that was a well-named but ill-intentioned bill intending to cause explicit harm to LGBTQ+ West Virginians. So she introduced 30+ amendments — stuff ranging from banning marital rape to expanding maternity leave to free tampons and pads in schools. The overwhelming number of amendments made Republicans — who have a supermajority in the chamber — give up on passing the bill. Even in the reddest of states, one voice can make a difference.

• Arizona Sens. Priya Sundareshan and Eva Burch were key leaders in the fight to pass a law repealing the state’s centuries-old abortion ban. Having legislators willing to be fierce fighters for access matters.

• Over on X/Twitter/whatever you want to call it, we’re highlighting some of our amazing AAPI candidates in honor of AAPI Heritage Month. Click through and find a few to support!

• TN House candidate Alison Beale explains how she got into this race:
  
  ”I never set out to be a politician… but I bought my daughter Bennett, who is in preschool, a bulletproof backpack following the Covenant shooting. I remember the day I bought it; I told her we were ordering a new backpack and let her pick the pattern. She picked blue dinosaurs. I paid extra for it to withstand assault rifle bullets. I paid extra for it to be lighter, but it was still too heavy for her. So, I moved the bulletproof insert to my diaper bag for now.
  

  That way, if I’m out with both of my girls and there is a shooting, I can use my body to cover one of them and throw the bag over the other. I’m no longer willing to simply accept these feelings of anger and helplessness anymore, so I knew I had to step up and run for office – especially in the midst of Tennesseans coming together to create a movement toward change. I’m currently running for Tennessee House District 45.”
  

• NH Rep. Cassandra Levesque has been fighting for years — since she was a teenager — to raise the marriage age and end child marriage in the state. The law has finally passed the state house and will go to the governor!

• In Durham, NC, County Clerk of Superior Court Aminah Thompson has led on digital court records, expanding access to the judicial system.

• CO Rep. Brianna Titone successfully passed legislation to require Colorado candidates to disclose if they use generative AI in campaign communications.

• Alabama Rep. Phil Ensler’s legislation to ban devices that convert handguns into machine guns is moving to the full chamber. Progress!

• In Delaware, Wilmington City Councilmember Shané Darby is leading on efforts to audit the city’s parking enforcement processes to ensure equity.

• Also in DE: Sen. Marie Pinkney is leading on legislation to change the rules for people on parole and probation to make them more fair.

• A small thing that’s a big quality of life thing — MI Rep. Natalie Price introduced legislation to crack down on vehicles intentionally modified to make excessive noise.

• Also in MI: Rep. Jaime Churches introduced legislation to force construction sites to create spaces for menstruating and lactating employees.

In related reading:

• In the NYT, Jamelle Bouie explains the impact having almost no working class state legislators has had on labor laws. (Spoiler: Bad consequences!) The structure of our institutions determines who is able to enter them, and right now, our institutions are not welcoming to working class leaders. Our folks are trying to change that, but it’s gotta come from the inside.

---

Quick email this week because we’ve got a lot to do! Next week we’ll have election results from some of our folks in Texas, Indiana, and Massachusetts — stay tuned.

Thanks for making this all possible.

- Amanda