RFS feel-good update (6/21): Your regular reminder on why Clerk Work matters...
RFS feel-good update (6/21): Your regular reminder on why Clerk Work matters...
Plus, some great wins from RFS candidates!
Hi all -
Welcome back! Hope your long weekend was refreshing, joyful, meaningful, or whatever you wanted from it. We’re back to the races here at RFS.
First, some ongoing election updates:
Christy Holstege is on track to win her election and flip a state house seat this November. We’ve been with her since the start!
@amandalitman @runforsomething Thank you @amandalitman!! 🤩 incredibly proud to be a 3rd time @runforsomething endorsed candidate! RFS endorsed me in 2017 when I was the first millennial to run for my city council and the youngest woman elected since 1950. Investing in the pipeline and local races pays off!Congrats to ReZsaun Lewis for handily winning his primary for a state house seat in South Carolina. On to November!
Teacher Selena La Rue Hatch beat out the establishment pick for a Nevada assembly race and will face off against the former county GOP chair in the general. This will be a tough race but we’ve got her back.
Your quasi-regular update on why our Clerk Work program — our work to save democracy from the ground up by recruiting and supporting candidates for local election administrator roles — matters:
Earlier this month, a GOP-controlled county commission in New Mexico initially refused to certify an election — including races for the county’s only state house seat and county sheriff — until forced to by the state supreme court. Reminder: Democracy is at stake in all 50 states, and this will keep happening at every level and in all kinds of elections until we stack the election apparatus with pro-democracy leaders.
Conservatives have been hosting summits across the country to recruit and train election officers and host panels on topics including “Voting Systems and Machines” and “Building the Election Integrity Infrastructure.”
“The potential for far-right Republicans to reshape the election systems of major battleground states is growing much closer to reality.”
Meanwhile, a bright spot: A pro-democracy election administration candidate handily won her election against an opponent who claimed the 2020 election was invalid and demanded an end to mail-in voting. Read about how.
In RFS community updates:
While the GOP-controlled Ohio state legislature has made it easier for teachers to bring guns to school, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is committed to banning teachers and other non-security personnel from bringing firearms to school grounds.
Austin City Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes is co-sponsoring legislation to decriminalize abortions in Austin by ensuring no city funds can be used to report or investigate abortion, and would require police to look at abortions as a low-level priority.
A number of RFS candidates & alum - including Julie Gunnigle in Maricopa County, AZ, Jose Garza in Travis County, TX, and Eli Savit in Washtenaw County, MI - have affirmed they’ll refuse to prosecute abortion in spite of state laws when Roe v Wade is overturned.
DE Rep. Madinah Watson-Anton introduced a bill that would eventually amend the Delaware constitution to conserve and protect natural resources.
Somerville city councilor Willie Burnley Jr.’s first law is about to go into effect - electing people who will fight for tenants is good; let’s do more of it!
IL. Sen Robert Peters successfully created a task force to investigate missing and murdered women across the city.
For Pride month, we’re raising money for LGBTQIA+ candidates. Help support these amazing leaders!
We are also raising money for Black candidates running for office, in honor of Juneteenth. You can chip in right now.
We’re rooting for RFS alum Kyra Harris Bolden in her race for Michigan state supreme court. She’s such a star.
Thanks to the work of RFS candidate Caitlin Clarkson Pereira, state and local candidates in CT can now use campaign funds to pay for childcare. Running for office is a tiny bit easier thanks to her efforts!
One quick piece of related reading: We desperately need a new generation of leaders at every level of government.
Just one RFS event coming up: On Wednesday we’re hosting See Yourself Running: Pride, a 100% free event for anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+ who might be thinking about running for office. Get the word out!
If you missed Party for Something earlier this week (which was so fun!), you can catch up on the quick 23 minute program; it’s all on YouTube.
Thanks for making all this possible. We’ve got a lot to do this summer and we’re very excited to get it done!
- Amanda