Update courtesy of Indivisible.
On the face of it, elections are all about winning.
Don’t get us wrong, that’s important. But only judging elections by winning has led to Democrats choosing to compete in only the most “winnable” places (i.e. purple and blue states and districts). And that’s left us with a map checkered with forgotten places where progressives stopped building power for far too long (and Republicans gained control of the White House, Congress, governorships, and state houses in the meantime).
A few months back, we announced our Indivisible435 political program -- our campaign to take the fight everywhere from ruby red places where Trump won by 20 points, to safe blue places represented by candidates who don’t always support our movement’s values. And, earlier this month, we announced our first five nationally-endorsed candidates to start that work.
One of our first IndivisiCandidates -- Dr. Hiral Tipirneni -- faced off last night against Republican Debbie Lesko to replace disgraced Rep. Trent Franks in Arizona’s 8th District. Though Dr. Tipirneni didn’t win, her candidacy showed what Indivisibles’ work across the country is all about: building power in every. single. district.
(cue wonky political analysis in 3… 2… 1…)
Few people thought this deeply red Arizona district could be competitive. Democrats hadn’t fielded a candidate in this race since 2012. This race -- without scandals, with no blue trends or history, with a progressive candidate -- swung 19 points since 2016. Republicans were forced to compete (and spend a lot of money) to barely secure a very, very safe seat. And Dr. Tiprineni and Lesko will likely both be back on the ballot, going head to head, on November 6.
Working on races like AZ-08 and supporting candidates like Dr. Tipirneni show that the blue wave will be built by real, progressive, grassroots energy. If progressives and Democrats only support candidates who “can win” or raise a lot of money, we’ll continue to have the too pale, too male representation in Congress that often leaves us feeling the opposite of represented.
Here’s how we’re continuing to expand what’s politically possible, and build for the long haul:
- More progressive candidate endorsements: Voting starts tomorrow for our second round of endorsements. We’ll endorse as many as 11 new IndivisiCandidates this time next week. That’s more folks like Dr. Tipirneni that Indivisibles are ready to work hard to elect.
- More organizing support: We’re doubling our organizing team to support the work Indivisibles are doing on the ground, e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, to help groups win in November and build toward the next Congress. Training. Hands-on organizing support. Voter contact tools. Helping grow and retain group membership.
So, if you’re ready to get to work to elect folks like Dr. Tiprineni, there are three things you can do right now:
- Register to vote! Visit indivisible.turbovote.org to get registered now. Once you’re done, forward to your friends and family to make sure they’re registered too!
- Visit our one-stop-shop for all of our political resources -- elections 101, fighting voting rights and voter suppression, voter registration, and endorsed candidates.
- Support our work financially (if you can). Our average donation is $37 and that keeps us accountable to you -- our movement -- not corporations or big donors. That allows us to respond to what Indivisibles on the ground want and need, challenge the status quo, and build something new.
We’re taking chances, expanding the map, and capturing people’s imaginations, and… sometimes that means we don’t always win on election night. But we can’t win if we don’t compete and, last night, we came pretty darn close. And after last night, there’s no ignoring the fight we’re about to bring to Republicans in November.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
PS -- Congrats to Indivisible Westchester, NY CD-16 Indivisible, Indivisible New Rochelle, Indivisible Rivertowns, and Indivisibles across the state who supported this race for their HUGE victory last night. They put in the work -- held candidate forums, registered voters, phone-banked, canvassed, and much, much more -- to elect Shelley Mayer to the state senate (and she even thanked them in her victory statement!).