Hi all -
Last week we celebrated the best day of the month: Endorsement Day!! We announced 57 new folks we’re supporting this year across 21 states — including 8 RFS alumni who are running again. 7% of this class is running for state legislature, 68% are for municipal office, 19% are running for education-related offices and 4% for legal roles.
Take a scroll through this list (or the RFS directory, or our candidate map!) and find the folks near you, then get involved. Stay tuned for more from this incredible class.
In other updates from across the RFS community:
Last week the Florida Dept. of Education released new standards for social studies that noted that slavery had some “personal benefits” for the enslaved — among a number of other absolutely batshit “clarifications” about African American history in the U.S. VP Harris went down to Florida to call out this crap - and was introduced by none other than RFS alum Jennifer Jenkins, Brevard County School Board member who beat out one of the women who’d go on to found Moms for LIberty.
This is a beautiful essay from WA Sen. Emily Randall, who explains what it felt like to have to explain to her colleagues what “queer” meant live on TV.
MI Republicans are trying to win back their majority the shittiest way possible: Recall petitions protesting votes on gun regulations and hate crime legislation. In particular, they’re targeting five women, including RFS alum Rep. Jaime Churches. Typical.
IL Sen. Robert Peters’ effort to abolish cash bail notched another win when the state supreme court deemed his legislation constitutional.
Pasadena City Council candidate Brandon D. Lamar has a thoughtful take on how the city can tackle the recent surge in crime and graffiti tagging.
Lots of RFS alum joined the White House for their convening on child care — MN Rep. María Isa, KS Rep. Rui Xu, NH Rep. Becky Whitely, NC Rep. Ashton Clemmons, and NY Sen. Samra Brouk, among others, because our folks are leading the way on this critical work in the states.
WA State Sen. Joe Nguyen was named president & CEO of the AAPI Victory Fund - we’re so glad to keep working with him in this capacity!
We talked with Emerson Collective about five lessons for any person thinking about running for office, including stories from Judge Lina Hidalgo, Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, Rep. Erin Zwiener, Sen. Chloe Maxmin, and others.
In related reading & listening:
A reminder that the fight for school boards does not care if you’re in a red state or a blue state or a purple one (such as those exist): A school board in southern California rejected a curriculum because it mentioned Harvey Milk in three paragraphs.
Clerk Work continues to matter, example one zillion and three: The Shelby Township Clerk in Michigan is no longer allowed to actually administer elections because he was one of 16 Republicans charged with eight felonies for signing a false certificate stating Trump had won in 2020.
College towns are destroying the GOP’s prospects. You love to see it.
I chatted with poet Dwayne Betts about how and why to run for office — this is a quick but (I think) really lovely conversation.
Finally, a few upcoming events:
Ongoing until August 3rd: We’re partnering with Lead Locally to host Run for Climate, a free series of trainings on running for state or local office to fight climate change. Don’t miss these every Tuesday & Thursday night for the next few weeks.
On Wednesday, August 16th, at 8pm ET: We’re partnering with Disability Victory for a conversation encouraging people with disabilities to run for office. This is 100% free — don’t miss it.
If you’re in the Hamptons on Saturday, Aug 12th, let me know — I’ll send you details on a small dinner we're pulling together!
Happy last week of July — you got us this far; let’s get it done.
- Amanda