RFS feel-good update (9/19): Red, white, and gray
Updates from our last primary day + some stats about the gerontocracy...
Hi all -
Last week was our last primary day before November! A few of the highlights:
Shoshanna Kelly won her primary and will be the nominee for the NH state executive council. You love to see it.
Jennifer O’Rourke dealt with some real bullshit during her campaign — from literally getting assaulted by her Republican opponent during an abortion rights rally to the state party fielding a candidate who’d once performed in black face against her — and yet, she never backed down. She’s officially the nominee for RI state senate.
Even after far-right trolls tried to take her down, harass her, and even attack her with death threats, RI Sen. Tiara Mack held her ground and won her primary.
A few other primary winners: Neil Misra, Michela Hites, Curtis Devetter, Jessica Grill, Robin Vogt, and Christal Lloyd all advanced in their races for NH state house. Brianna Henries, Enrique Sanchez, and Brandon Potter will move forward for their races in Rhode Island state legislature. Miguel Sanchez won his primary for Providence City Council!
We expect to have 400+ folks on the ballot in November — stay tuned for more on who you can help and how.
Insider is running a series they’re calling “Red, White, and Gray” about the American gerontocracy. It’s all worth reading but seriously, look at this chart!
Combatting the gerontocracy and diversifying the pipeline of folks who run for local office (and later, higher office) is quite literally why Run for Something exists.
Relatedly, the team at CIRCLE, a research program at Tufts, put out an excellent memo on young people running for office — including this fun fact that 1 in 5 young people would consider running for office if they were encouraged. We’re here to encourage!
A few other RFS community updates:
NY City Councilmember Shahana Hanif helped secure $1 million for abortion support funds - the single largest municipal investment in reproductive care anywhere in the U.S. Hell yeah.
Nabeela Syed and Hoan Huynh are part of a growing wave of Asian American leaders running for office in Illinois who could break state records later this year.
Fayette school board chairman Tyler Murphy helped led a successful vote on increasing county property taxes (a thing school boards in Kentucky have control over!) to help fund a huge surge of improvement for county schools.
We hosted Unapologetically Progressive: Texas earlier this week - the event was amazing.
We’ve pulled together an excellent list of 15 candidates running for legal-related positions like judge, justice of the peace, county attorney, and more. Get to know ‘em and help them out before it’s too late.
Some related reading:
Get inspired by Shiva Rajbhandari, an 18 year old climate activist and organizer who beat an opponent incumbent school board member in Boise, Idaho, who’d been endorsed by a far-right local extremist group. As Shiva notes: “Students are the largest stakeholders in education.”
While all of you are all-star supporters of democracy-saving work on the state and local level, too many Democrats (especially in the major donor space) are lagging behind in funding the critical races and efforts needed. Meanwhile, election deniers are advancing to the general election in statewide races in at least 27 states.
Two upcoming events to put on your calendar:
Next week we’ll be in Lansing, MI, for another 100% free excellent line-up. Get all the details here.
Thanks for making all this possible. You’re part of something special!
- Amanda