RUN FOR SOMETHING'S
2023 VICTORY
WRAP
2023 = OUR BEST YEAR TO DATE!
STATES WHERE WE WON
30
RFS ENDORSED WINNERS
223
WIN RATE
54%
OUR CANDIDATES MADE HISTORY
Across the map, 30 candidates of color broke barriers in their elections, and 7 LGBTQIA+ candidates became the first out person elected to their seat.
MEET OUR HISTORY MAKERS:
Candidate | State | Office Title | Record Set |
|---|---|---|---|
Kenny Nguyen | Colorado | City Council, Ward 1, Broomfield, CO | First Asian American Candidate Elected |
Paloma Delgadillo | Colorado | City Council, Ward 2, Broomfield, CO | First Latina Candidate Elected |
Shawna Ambrose | Colorado | City Council, District 2, Arvada, CO | First LGBTQIA+ Candidate Elected |
Caroline Tanbee Smith | Connecticut | Board of Alders, Ward 9, New Haven, CT | First Asian American Candidate Elected |
Roberto Alves | Connecticut | Mayor, Danbury, CT | First Immigrant/First Generation American Elected |
Brandon Sakbun | Indiana | Mayor, Terre Haute, IN | First Caribbean American and AAPI Candidate Elected |
Ngoc Vuong | Kansas | School Board, District 3 USD 259, Wichita, KS | First Asian American Candidate Elected |
April Fournier | Maine | City Council, At-Large, Portland, ME | First Indigenous American Candidate Elected* |
Robert Preciado | Massachusetts | City Council, Ward 3, Marlborough, MA | First Chicano Candidate Elected |
Ruthzee Louijeune | Massachusetts | City Council, At-Large, Boston, MA | First Haitian American Candidate Elected* |
* Re-Elected
SPOTLIGHT CANDIDATES
FABIAN
NELSON
FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN ELECTED TO THE STATE HOUSE IN MISSISSIPPI
CATHERINE
FRAY
FIRST NON-BINARY PERSON ELECTED TO PUBLIC OFFICE IN NORTH CAROLINA
CARRIE
BUDZINSKI
FIRST BLACK CANDIDATE ELECTED IN LIVONIA, MI
MATTHEW
GERDING
YOUNGEST MAYOR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S HISTORY
GAVIN SCOTT GRIFFIN
THE YOUNGEST PERSON ELECTED IN PENNSYLVANIA AT 19 YEARS OLD
ELIZABETH RODRIGUEZ-ROSS
FIRST LATINA TO SERVE ON THE MESQUITE CITY COUNCIL
JUSTIN
LOFTON
FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN ELECTED TO A COUNTY SUPERVISOR ROLE IN MISSISSIPPI
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY
Clerk Work is our initiative to elect pro-democracy election administrators to keep elections accessible, fair, and equitable.
We elected 138 clerks this year, including 34 wins against noted election deniers.
That’s a 59% win rate (our best yet!).
THE FREEDOM TO LEARN
Moms for Liberty and other far-right extremists have infiltrated school board races to institute book bans, attack LGBTQIA+ kids, and censor curriculum on racial justice.
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To combat this, we launched our 50 State School Board Strategy, a pilot program to recruit and support school board candidates who believe children should have the freedom to learn and be themselves.
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Our win rate topped 72%.
Moms for Liberty barely hit 30%.
(Talk about getting burned.)
VICTORY IN VIRGINIA
In 2017, we recruited and endorsed three winners to the Virginia House of Delegates: Schuyler VanValkenburg, Danica Roem, who became the first transgender state legislator in the country, and Jennifer Carroll Foy, who is the first Black Woman to represent Northern Virginia.
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In total, 19 Run for Something endorsed candidates won in Virginia, and 5 of those wins were in key battleground legislative races.
Thank you to every candidate, alum, and supporter (including you!)
We are already laying the groundwork for next year. There are tens of thousands of races every year, and the first filing deadlines start next month. We’ve already endorsed over 50 candidates for 2024 races with more to come.
We've elected over 1,000 candidates since we started in 2017.
Last but not least...
We surpassed one huge milestone this year.
Your support is critical to keep this work going.
Will you donate to help recruit and support young, diverse progressives?