RFS feel-good update (6/3): None of these candidates have been convicted of 34 felonies

I promise!

Hi all -

Happy June — get excited for good stories all about candidates running for state and local office, none of whom have been recently convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to win an election. 😵😵😵

You may have missed it in all the news, but last week, we endorsed another class of 83 amazing new candidates running across 31 states — 46% of them for state legislatures, 42% for municipal offices, 11% for education-related roles, and 1% for legal offices.

A few to highlight and inspire you:

• Ashwin Ramaswami, a cybersecurity expert running against one of Trump’s fake electors for GA state senate. If he wins, he’ll be the first gen Z member of the chamber.

• Jacinda Morigeau, a member of the Bitterroot Salish tribe and raised on the Flathead Reservation, has a deep history of community service and leadership — she’s running for Montana state senate.

• Isabel Rolfes is running in part to bring a much-needed gen Z perspective to the MInnesota state house — as a young queer Indian-American woman currently working in the state legislature, she’s seen how much her generation’s voice is unheard in the chamber.

• Jessica Jackson is a social worker running for County Clerk in Berrien County, MI - she wants to address social, financial, and transparency issues in the clerk’s office.

• Brady Coulthard, a seventh-generation Wisconsinite and first-generation college student, is running for WI state assembly in order to public health, promote public schools, and keep communities safe by reducing gun violence. At 24, he’d be the youngest WI legislator this session.

• Brittany Hall is a working single mom who chose Lawrence, KS, as her home when she came to the town to attend Haskell Indian Nations University. She wants to give back to the community she loves by serving in the KS state house.

They’re all incredible. The doors they knock and voters they talk to will show up this fall and deliver results for the entire ticket. Check the RFS candidate directory for amazing candidates near you and find one or ten to help out!

---

I’ve also got some fun election updates from the last few weeks — because we can and do win when we get in the fight:

• Lauren Ashley Simmons easily won her run-off against an incumbent Democratic state representative who’d cast multiple anti-LGBTQ votes in the state legislature. This is a huge win for what it means to be a Texas Democrat.

• Gen Z cleaned up in Georgia: RFS candidates won big in the state leg primaries, including Gabriel Sanchez’s victory over a Democratic incumbent, Bryce Berry, who could be the first public school teacher to join the GA state house if he wins the fall, new endorsee Ashwin Ramaswami (who was unopposed in his primary but is going up against a fake Trump elector in the fall) and Madeline Ryan Smith, who is the first woman with a disability to run for the seat. There is going to be a generational change in power in Georgia — stay tuned. 😎😎😎

• A fun fact: Emma Curtis could be the first trans member of the Urban County Council in Lexington, KY, if she wins the runoff fall.

We have more folks on the ballot tomorrow in Montana, Massachusetts, Iowa, New Mexico, New Jersey, and South Carolina - stay tuned for updates.

---

In other RFS community updates:

• Nearly every woman named in this story is an RFS candidate or alum — including these two all-stars, House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell and state house candidate Sarah Henry — who are leading the charge to save Florida.

  

  Read this from Sarah’s experiences canvassing in her central FL district:
  
  “Jay McFall, 32, who lives in the complex, said he wanted to see abortion rights restored. But it wasn’t the only issue on his mind.
  

  “I’m concerned about the Nazis,” Mr. McFall told Ms. Henry. In September a white supremacist group marched through a local park, waving flags with swastikas on them. “We are everywhere,” they chanted. Mr. McFall, who is white, said he now overhears remarks disparaging Democrats, immigrants and Black people nearly daily. “There’s a widening of hatred,” his partner, Dana Anglada, said, coming to the door.
  

  Elsewhere in the complex, Eli, 30, promised Ms. Henry he would vote for her before he and his partner Lucas, move to Minnesota next year. Both are transgender and Lucas lost access to gender-affirming treatment last year after Republicans barred nurse practitioners from providing hormone therapy. When Ms. Henry invited Eli to volunteer for her campaign, he thanked her. “It means a lot to have someone come out here and want to represent me for who I am,” he said.”
  

• Democracy and abortion are connected issues, episode million and three: In November 2018, we helped elect Brianna Lennon as Boone County Clerk in Missouri — she’s been leading on election administration ever since. Now her office is responsible for verifying petition signatures in order to get an abortion referendum on the ballot this fall. As one former party chair said: “The most important place for the pro-choice movement in 2024 is Boone County, Missouri.”

• This is an alarming story out of St. Louis - Alfred Montgomery is running against an incumbent sheriff who is “joking” about shooting his opponents. Not a funny joke!

• PA Rep. Jennifer O’Mara and Liz Hainbidge are leading on legislation that would allow more families to qualify for childcare reimbursement and give tax breaks to help encourage employers to cover childcare

• NY Sen. Jeremy Cooney is making the case for expanding affordable broadband across upstate NY - a huge issue for rural communities!

• Just two weeks after giving birth, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam came down to her chambers specifically to help negotiate out the county’s budget, including major needed increases (although not sufficient!) for the county’s budgets.

• CO Rep. Brianna Titone has been leading on “right-to-repair” laws that will allow Coloradans to fix their own cell phones, making it easier and cheaper for folks.

• In the OH state house, alums Rep. Michele Grim, Munira Abdullahi, and Phil Robinson have been core members of the efforts to introduce gun safety legislation.

• Meet Haley Creighton, a young queer activist running against a Q-Anon’er Oath Keeper Republican incumbent. We love to see it.

  

• Also in OH: House Minority Whip Dani Isaacsohn is leading on a range of bills to improve the state’s public education system, covering everything from teacher pay to oversight of private school vouchers and broadly more school funding.

• Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari is introducing a measure to take the first steps necessary to offer psilocybin and ketamine treatments as part of the city’s health care plans.

• Keeping an eye on that bench: Hamden Legislative Councilmember Abdul Osmanu, a 22 year old leader, is collecting signatures to run for CT state house!!

---

This email is so long because your support enables so much good stuff. Thanks for making it all possible. More good vibes to come all summer long — stay tuned!

- Amanda

P.S. If you’re in New York City this Saturday, June 8th, in my personal capacity, I’m hosting a kid-friendly (but not kid-mandatory!!) event at 10am-12pm for Zellnor Myrie for Mayor. Zellnor is an RFS alum from when he first ran in 2018; he’s been an incredible leader for both democracy and working families as a member of the New York State Senate. He’ll bring competent stable leadership to New York and will make sure this is a place families can live and thrive. I would love to see you there!