RFS feel-good update (7/17): If you have small kids ... if you have big kids ... if you have fur kids, you can run!"
Everyone & anyone can run for office
Hi all -
Last week, Run for Something hosted a training at Netroots Nation — a major progressive conference — talking about running for office. Our alum who joined knocked folks’ socks off.
Take exactly one minute to hear these must-have tips…
This week, we’re joining the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and the Democracy Policy Network for a free virtual summit on state & local governance. RSVP now for FREE.
Speakers include NE Sen. Megan Hunt, MI Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Jefferson County Clerk & Recorder Amanda Gonzalez, Miami-Dade School Board Member Luisa Santos, AL State Rep. Phillip Ensler, MN Rep. Esther Agbaje, MI Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, and a bunch of folks from the RFS team, plus countless more experts. It’s going to be excellent.
In RFS community updates:
Iowa Republicans have passed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans in a flash-in-the-pan special session. Rep. Sami Scheetz and Sen. Zach Wahls were among the many RFS alum & Democrats in the state to speak out against this bullshit.
The DLCC put out their spotlight races in Virginia, which includes RFS candidates/alum Lily Franklin, Joshua Cole, Phil Hernandez, Michael Feggans, Schuyler VanValkenburg, Danica Roem, Susanna Gibson, and Nadarius Clark.
Alum Precious Brady-Davis was appointed to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and officially sworn in last week — a historic moment as the first Black trans woman appointed to public office in Cook County. She ran for the office in 2022 and came up short, but did not let that loss discourage her!
Allegheny County Councilmember Tom Duerr is working to limit the influence of mega-donors in local elections through a series of reforms that will make campaigns more fair.
In Terre Haute, Indiana, Brandon Sakbun’s candidacy for mayor is at the top of one of the most diverse slates the community has ever seen.
This is awesome: Mo Brown’s campaign for Onondaga County Legislature, district 15, won the most votes anyone has ever gotten in a Democratic primary in the county.
FL Rep. Anna Eskamani is speaking out after an insurance company announces they will not be writing new policies for Florida homeowners.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. is leading on construction of a new project that will provide transitional housing and community support for folks in need.
If you need to be inspired, listen to DE Sen. Sarah McBride on the Daily Kos’s podcast talking about her historic campaign for Congress.
I love scrolling through social media (sometimes) because I get to see excellent pics of our folks knocking doors, talking to voters, and building genuine relationships. Some of the only people actually doing meaningful organizing right now — not waiting for 2024!! — are the local candidates like the ones Run for Something works with. This is how we win big: By winning small many many times over!
In related reading: This is a super interesting conversation about young voters in rural communities - they talk about the local issues that are of highest priority for them, and how they don’t necessarily vote for the party, they vote for the person. (Which is why candidate recruitment really matters!)
A Clerk Work reminder from Bolts magazine: “Two Republicans have spent the better part of the past three years sowing doubt about Washington state’s election system, filing frivolous lawsuits that questioned the mail ballot system, and running (and losing) races for office.
And now, they’re both running against avowedly nonpartisan, experienced election administrators in an attempt to take control of two of their state’s largest county election offices. … Their campaigns are elevating false claims about the election system—and as threats to election workers continue to grow around the nation, that could increase the chance that local election workers face harassment just for doing their jobs while undercutting voters’ trust that their elections are free and fair.”
Thanks as always for making all this possible. You’re the best.
- Amanda
Thanks for giving us this info every week, Amanda. It is what seems to be the little things, the not so important things, with politics and elections that truly make the difference in the long run. To read about these young people stepping up for all sorts of seats, campaigning in new and creative ways, and just showing all the rest of us that they care and that what they do really matters, is so inspiring to me. I have loved RFS for years and am always so inspired listening to or reading about your work. Thank you to you and Ross, and your growing and inspiring staff, for making what I truly believe will be a very long term difference in our lives and in this country. So grateful for all you do.