RFS feel-good update (6/26): "Youngest city alder 🤝 Youngest Congressperson"
Make new friends, keep the old, etc etc
Hi all -
First, a quick update on the VA election results!
Congrats to our winners and those moving on to the general election:
Adele McClure-State House, District 2, VA
Natalie Oschrin-City Council, Charlottesville City, VA
Johnathan Duncan-City Council, District 6, Kansas City, MO
Maureen Coffey-County County Board, At-Large, Arlington County, VA
Susanna Gibson-State House, District 57, VA
Nadarius Clark-State House, District 84, VA
Kimberly Adams-State House, District 82, VA
Russet Perry-State Senate, District 31, VA
Suhas Subramanyam-State Senate, District 32, VA
Plus, shout out to long-time alum Jennifer Carroll Foy for winning a seat in the VA state senate.
(Also in VA: All 3 of the folks who participated in the January 6 riot who were on the ballot last week lost in their GOP primaries. Trying to overturn an election does not help you win the next one!)
Also last week, Party for Something! In spite of a brutal rain, more than 200 people came out in DC last week to celebrate progress and get inspired.
It was especially fun to see so many RFS candidates & alum in person.
We love hosting events big and small - if you're interesting in pulling together a few friends (or a few dozen friends!) for a RFS fundraiser, just reply to this email and we’ll make it happen!
In RFS community updates:
We have 22 candidates running in New York this week — let’s go!
Tucson Unified School District board president Dr. Ravi Shah is leading on a proposed $480 million bond to improve and update facilities and classrooms - a funding proposal that’s been languishing for years.
The kind of headline you love to see about RFS alum like Sara Innamorato: “Next generation of Allegheny County progressives prepare to take the lead.”
NE Sen. Terrell McKinney proposed legislation to prohibit schools from suspending kids in pre-K through second grade.
MN Rep. Esther Agbaje led on transformative tenants rights legislation, including everything from banning landlords from requiring pets to be declawed and devocalized to requiring reasonable notice before a landlord enters a unit.
Boston City Councilmember Ruthzee Louijeune took charge and cleaned up the city’s redistricting drama.
MI Rep. Jason Morgan (who is preparing to marry his fiancé, Jon, in the fall!) is working to introduce a referendum that would revise the state constitution to remove a ban on same sex marriage that, if anything happens on the national level, would put marriage equality at risk.
OH Rep. Dani Isaacsohn leading when it matters most, working on a bipartisan resolution to make July 1 “Taylor Swift Day” on Ohio, as she’ll be playing in Cincinnati. She implores her colleagues: “Please don't turn this into a cruel summer. Shake it off, and co-sponsor this resolution."
Also in MI: Rep. Joey Andrews is leading on legislation to repeal a GOP law that would prevented local governments from setting their own minimum wages and benefit packages. Fellow alum Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford is doing his part to support the measure!
AZ Rep. Alma Hernandez is running for House Democratic Leader - go Rep. Hernandez!
SC Rep. JA Moore declared his campaign for state senate - movin’ on up!
Tess Cohen is taking on a machine-backed incumbent for Bronx DA — this is a tough race but one worth fighting.
We love to see it: RFS alum DE Sen. Sarah McBride is running for Congress! Read all about it in the NYT and watch her campaign launch video.
Some related & interesting reading:
This is horrifying: The deep ties between Moms for Liberty and the Proud Boys (plus other extremist violent organizations.)
An alarming read/listen to keep in mind as we continue our Clerk Work effort to recruit pro-democracy election administrators: Those same office-holders are facing threats of violence and serious harassment. Meanwhile, TX Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a bill that would allow the GOP to take over control of Houston’s elections.
Fun lil’ survey in the NYT on what kind of candidates Democrats like: “Voters preferred a candidate who was a teacher, construction worker, warehouse worker, doctor or nurse. The least popular candidate professions were lawyer and corporate executive.” The ability to connect the candidate’s with personal story with their values matters!
I don’t agree with all of this but it’s worth a listen: Whether or not we should have age maximums for elected office…
Relatedly: Americans are older than ever. And as reporter Charlotte Alter notes, this is not an accident: Over the last 30 years, politicians in their 60s, 70s, and 80s have made it harder for young people to settle down, start families, and keep things moving forward.
We talk a lot about sustainable power: The GOP is building it. They’re using their control of Republican state legislatures to take over election administration from local elected officials.
This weekend was the one year anniversary of the Dobbs decision that ended abortion access for more than 25 million people across the country. A few things to note for you:
From the NYT’s focus group on abortion in Kansas: “Abortion has made me pay attention to politics differently. When it was overturned, Kansas then had to determine how we handle abortion versus it being a federal right. I pay more attention to the state and local level, right down to our City Council members, which I didn’t necessarily do before.”
Republican state legislatures are blocking cities’ ability to take action — which is a key reminder why we need to elect Democratic state legislators and also powerful local leadership who are willing to use whatever power they’ve got.
On Friday, RFS candidate Adele McClure, who’s campaigning for VA House of Delegates and I spent a few minutes in a maybe shockingly hopeful conversation about the future of abortion access. Watch at your leisure.
In the NYT: Fifty years ago, the anti-abortion movement was in a similar spot, having just lost at the nation’s highest court. By 1974, a year after Roe v. Wade was decided, the anti-abortion movement had already begun crafting and even putting in place a multifaceted, long-term strategy to overturn what it saw as an egregiously wrong decision. … To state the obvious, overturning Dobbs is not going to be simple. The work will be daunting, requiring a multipronged and complex attack. It will also require patience, as overturning Dobbs will require the courts to become more hospitable to abortion. We have no idea when a different future will come: It may come unexpectedly soon, or it may be several decades from now. But that did not deter the anti-abortion movement in 1974, and it should not deter the abortion rights movement in 2023.
RFS’s work is one small but important part of the larger fight to win back abortion access. I wrote it about this time last year — it remains true.
Don’t miss See Yourself Running: LGBTQIA+ edition tomorrow night! RFS alum Rep. Taylor Small (VT), Toledo Public School Board President Sheena Barnes (OH), Sen. Emily Randall (WA), and Derry School Board Member Cairnie Pokorney (NH) will be sharing their experiences and answering questions about running for office. 100% free, 100% worth it.
Also this month:
July 12th, 5pm CT, 100% free, in Chicago: Ready, Set, Run at Netroots Nation
July 19th, 12-4pm: Statehouse Futures, a free virtual summit for anyone interested in the future of state policy & advocacy
And a reminder - if you’re interested in attending our small event in the Hamptons in August, let me know and I’ll send you the info!
Thanks for making all this possible. We’re lucky to have you on our team.
- Amanda