RFS feel-good update (9/12): 655 all-stars in 2022 & 2,329 since 2017. Whoa.
The next generation of leadership is here!!
Hi all -
Last week’s short week was a busy one.
Get to know a bunch of our new 2022 endorsees:
Ryan Thompson is a 21 year old graduating senior at the College of Charleston, running to flip an open seat in the SC state house. He got interested in politics because the state does not have a hate crime law: “Growing up as a queer individual in this state makes you feel very powerless.”
Madeline Ryan Smith is running for GA state house — she’s a grad student at Georgia Southern University who wants to fight for education, health care access, and for access for people with disabilities. The latter is personal for her - Madeline is legally blind and uses a guide dog.
Sahara Hayes, candidate for Utah state legislature, would singlehandedly double the size of the UT House Queer Caucus if she wins in November.
Also in Utah: Hope Goeckeritz put herself through college; after her father died, she helped raise her 5 siblings. She was recently the ED of an organization that helps register young Utahns to vote. Her story will stun you.
Jasper Martus is a recent grad of Michigan State; he’s running for state house to focus on schooling, creating job opportunities, and fixing infrastructure.
Elementary school counselor Cameron Reny is running to fill the seat of RFS alum Chloe Maxmin in Maine; Reny’s got a strong perspective on local issues like fishing, off-shore wind projects, green energy, and housing.
In Iowa, Matt Robinson works in construction by day and is knocking doors, making calls, and talking to voters by night (and also day) for his campaign for state legislature.
Sam Lawrence is a sophomore at Miami University in Ohio - at 19, he’s too young to drink but not too young to run for (and hopefully win!) a seat in the Ohio state house.
Audryn Damron, candidate for Utah State School Board, district 8, explains her perspective as a teacher and asks “How would I feel if one of my students became a murderer?”
These folks are amazing. They bring us up to 655 endorsed candidates in 2022 and 2,329 endorsed candidates since Run for Something launched in 2017. Some fun facts about those folks:
50% are women, 49% identify as people of color, and 22% identify as LGBTQIA+
We’ve endorsed candidates in all 50 states plus D.C.!
44% of our endorsed candidates ran/run for state legislature, 41% for municipal office, 11% for education roles, and 5% for legal positions
A full 34% of our lifetime endorsements have been to folks between the ages of 18-30; 33% have been ages 31-35 and 33% have been 36-40.
We’ve elected 651 people so far: 57% women & non-binary leaders, 58% people of color, and 21% LGBTQIA+ folks. (Remember: That only includes people who’ve gone through elections so far - including 16 winners in 2022 already!! - and we’ll have hundreds of folks on the ballot in November!)
And good news, this is what the people want! CBS rolled out a poll last week about whether or not folks want age limits for elected office — 47% of Americans say having more young people in office would make politics better. (45% say the same of women, 41% of racial minorities, and 32% of LGBTQIA+ folks — good news, we’ve helped all those groups and then some!) I love these stats.
We’re doing it: Cultivating a new generation of leaders and making politics better in the process. You’re making it possible. Thanks. :)
In other RFS community news:
Tomorrow is Election Day in Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island — our last big Election Day before November! Stay tuned for results.
RFS candidate Jennifer Rourke and alum (and current LG candidate!) Cynthia Mendes are part of a broader movement by the RI Political Cooperative to rebuild the state’s Democratic Party - we’re so proud to work with them on so many races.
In NY, City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan is pushing the mayor to end a city contract with the Trump Organization over a golf course in the Bronx.
Lead Locally has put together an incredible slate of candidates who can make a difference on climate action locally, including RFS candidates/alum like Erin Zwiener (TX), Laura Terech (AZ), Aisha Wahab (CA), Alfred Twu (CA), Katie Muth (PA), and Jennifer Carroll Foy (VA).
Future NY state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez gave a great interview explaining how her experience in tech informs her views on policy & gov’t - this is worth a listen.
Some related reading for you:
538 dug deep and found that 60% of Americans will have an election denier on the ballot this fall - they reached out to all 540 GOP nominees for House, Senate, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general and found 199 who fully denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election; another 62 “raised questions” about it. Notttttt a great sign for our democracy….
Also bad for democracy: GOP officials were caught instruction poll workers in Michigan to “secretly” break rules. A reminder that in Michigan, elections are administered at the municipal level — that’s over a thousand individual city/town clerks (most of whom are elected, a few of whom are appointed) that then oversee those poll workers. That’s why our Clerk Work program matters!
An absolute must-read about the book bans sweeping the country and the impact they’re having on librarians, families, and kids. Local elected officials (in this particular instance, the Llano County Commissioner in TX) have a direct role to play in either giving in or refusing censorship.
In upcoming RFS events:
This Thursday, 9/15, our team is hosting a free event in San Antonio, including a conversation with Becca Moyer DeFelice (TX House 121), Josh Tutt (TX Senate 18), Jonathan Hildner (TX House 54) and Zohaib Qadri (Austin City Council, district 9), moderated by Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez. Join online or IRL.
Next Tuesday, 9/20, we’ll be in Atlanta and on Thursday, 9/22, we’ll be in Philadelphia. Don’t miss it!
Thanks for making all this possible. You’re a star.
- Amanda