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New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund 501(c)4
Executive Director James Jiminez has spent 26 years working at the state and local level in New Mexico. He has served both as the State Finance Secretary and worked as the chief of staff for Governor Bill Richardson, as well as worked within the state legislature in several different roles. NMVCAF holds a statewide focus across New Mexico, knowing the critical importance of rural counties across the state where much of the conservative Democratic power is currently held. The fund is laser focused on supporting candidates that align with their funding priorities regarding education, both for pre-K and K-12 public education. It is actively supporting and contributing to all of our Maria's List New Mexico candidate slate this year, supporting community outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts in these key races!
Melissa Armijo
New Mexico House of Representatives Candidate, District 12
Melissa Armijo has dedicated her life to working to ensure access to quality education in her native Albuquerque. Born and raised in the South Valley, she attended Río Grande High School and graduated as a first-generation college student from New Mexico State University. She has held different elected and non-elected positions within the Education system in New Mexico. Armijo is currently an elected public education commissioner for District 1 in Albuquerque as well as the Executive Administrator for the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation. Melissa has been a board member at Central New Mexico Community College and at the Mark Armijo Academy Charter High School.
Policy
Melissa Armijo’s extensive education background is an important driver for her campaign’s focus on education policy in New Mexico. Armijo’s expertise and her previous work in different areas of the education system give her a breadth of perspective regarding local educational needs.
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Education: Armijo is an advocate for the access to quality education in New Mexico. Melissa Armijo is focused on bringing equity to the local education system. Armijo cites the Yazzie Martinez v. State of New Mexico decision which states that the state has failed to comply with state and federal laws regarding the education of Native American and English Language Learner students, highlighting the lack of equity in New Mexico’s public education.
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Healthcare: Another key priority for Melissa Armijo is the provision of universal high-quality healthcare including making sure women’s reproductive health rights are protected.
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Voter Rights: The Armijo campaign prioritizes informing citizens about voter registration. Melissa understands that New Mexico has a lower rate of registered voters and believes it is important to let constituents know their vote matters.
Campaign Team and the Field
Melissa has the support of Brittney Barreras, former representative for District 12 who resigned to the seat in January this year. Brittney was succeeded by one of Armijo’s opponents who’s now running to keep the seat. Nevertheless, Melissa Armijo is confident that the constituents of District 12 see in her a needed leadership change and are willing to vote for a candidate who is closer to the residents in the district.
In addition to Brittney Barreras, other elected officials have endorsed Armijo, Senator Linda Lopez, Senator Jerry Ortiz Y Pino, and Representative Joy Grant among them. Melissa has the organizational endorsement of Planned Parenthood, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Moms Against Gun Violence in New Mexico, NM WFP Familias Trabajadoras, Animal Protection Voters, among others.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race
The 12th District lies in Bernalillo County, which is an identified Deep Democracy County for 2022. It meets three of our four primary demographic screening criteria for such an identification:
30.7% of it’s households are headed by women, making it higher than the national average.
34.4% of its residents holding a Bachelor Degree of higher, making it higher than the national average.
37.5 of its residents are people of color, making it higher than the national average
10.1% of its residents are foreign born, making it below the national average
In HD-12, at $43,000 the Median Household Income is slightly below the state median of $45,000.
The state is composed of over 85% people of color of which 83.7% are Hispanic.
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Melissa is a 2013 alumna of the Emerge New Mexico program, an initiative looking to inspire women to run for office. More than half of the women who participated in Emerge New Mexico and were part of Armijo’s cohort have now been elected to some kind of political office. Similar programs could help bridge the gap between New Mexico’s House of Representatives where Armijo sees a more diverse body of representatives with a high number of women and women of color which contrasts with a male dominated State Senate.
The lack of diversity of the Senate has also been reported by other progressive candidates of the area who note that the homogeneity of this electoral body is reflected on how progressive legislation that is popularly voted in the State House, does not have the same fate when it reaches the Senate.
Melissa is endorsed by the New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund, Maria’s List recommended 501(c)4 Deep Democracy New Mexico organization. She is on this NMVCAF slate with the other Maria’s List Deep Democracy New Mexico Candidates: Tara Jaramillo, Janellle Anyanonu, and Eleanor Chavez.
Fundraising and Opportunities for Giving
Melissa has a fundraising goal of $45,000 of which they have raised $31,000 by May 5, 2022. The campaign has been successful in hosting fundraising events that have consistently raised up to $4,000 per an event. Melissa plans to hold two more of these events in the upcoming weeks leading to the Primary on June 7th. The remaining funds to reach Armijo’s funds will be used to cover the costs of mailers in high target voter expansion areas of the district. Donate here.
Janelle Anyanonu
New Mexico House of Representatives, District 19
Janelle Anyanonu was raised in Albuquerque from the age of two where she attended Manzano High School and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences at Wayland Baptist. Janelle is the descendant of Nigerian immigrants and has been a leader in the Democratic party working to elect progressive candidates to different positions as well as to pass anti-discrimination legislation in New Mexico. Janelle realized that the political changes that were looming required a deeper level of involvement, therefore she started volunteering for local State House races as well as for local judges and for national campaigns. Janelle is a member of the New Mexico Black Central Organizing Committee and the State Central Committee.
Policy
Janelle has a data driven policy approach. She says that while many of the issues New Mexico is facing are easy to identify, the solutions proposed are often based on beliefs and hunches and not rooted in fact. Her pledge is to make decisions considering what data and evidence is available in order to be more effective and impactful for her constituents.
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Public Safety: Janelle highlights the shortcomings of the criminal system arguing that people who are prosecuted and charged on drug related crimes often don't receive access to treatment while they’re incarcerated, often leading them to become repeat offenders. She supports the expansion of programs external to the Albuquerque Police Department like Albuquerque Community Services to reduce the instances in which police officers interfere in situations they’re not trained to handle. Janelle’s vision regarding crime and homelessness reduction is to attack the root causes that tend to be poverty and drug dependency.
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Environmental Justice: Janelle is an advocate for the passage of the Green Amendment which would make it easier for constituents to hold leaders accountable when it comes to environmental pollution in their own communities. Janelle supports research and development of alternatives to oil and gas in New Mexico to alleviate the state’s dependency on fossil fuels.
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Youth Employment & Economic Opportunity: Janelle is proposing the creation of dedicated state funding for expanded youth employment across a spectrum of employment. She views this work as going beyond the traditional frame that seeks to remove young people off street corners and into a low-wage job. She seeks to create pathways that could foster a true career for her district’s young people.
Campaign Team and the Field
Janelle has a robust campaign staff including a campaign manager, a treasurer, a campaign secretary, a field coordinator, and a data coordinator. Anyanonu’s campaign has had great reception among neighbors in HD-19 that she has engaged through door knocking and voter contact calls. Her campaign strategy is based on direct contact with the community, and it has been successful thus far.
From 1995 until 2021, HD-19 was represented by Sheryl Williams Stapleton. In July 2021, Stapleton resigned from the House amid a criminal investigation into alleged embezzlement. Stapleton was succeeded by Viengkeo Kay Bounkeua, the first Asian American woman in the New Mexico Legislature. Viengkeo Kay Bounkeua was chosen by The Bernalillo County Commission to fill the vacant seat among a list of applicants including Anyanonu. Bounkeua personally contacted Janelle to inform her that she would not be running to keep the seat and that she considered Anyanonu to be a good fit for the position
Janelle has been endorsed by Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Senator Katy Duhigg and Senator Harold Pope. Additionally, she lists the endorsement of Planned Parenthood New Mexico, Equality New Mexico, Conservation Voters New Mexico, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 18, New Mexico and Colorado, The New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund, and Emily’s List.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race
The 19th District lies in Bernanillo County, which is an identified Deep Democracy County for 2022. It meets three of our four primary demographic screening criteria for such an identification:
30.7% of it’s households are headed by women, making it higher than the national average.
34.4% of its residents holding a Bachelor Degree of higher, making it higher than the national average.
37.5 of its residents are people of color, making it higher than the national average
10.1% of its residents are foreign born, making it below the national average
The median income in District 19 is $31.2k, more than $10k below the state median income of 45.7k. Over half of the population in HD-19 are people of color at 58% of which 42.9% are non-white Hispanics.
Janelle is endorsed by the New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund, Maria’s List recommended 501(c)4 Deep Democracy New Mexico organization. She is on this NMVCAF slate with the other Maria’s List Deep Democracy New Mexico Candidates: Tara Jaramillo, Janellle Anyanonu, and Melissa Armijo.
Fundraising and Opportunities for Giving
Janelle has raised over $23,000 for the campaign, just $7,000 short of the campaign’s target raise for the primary. She saw great momentum in April, raising over $10,000 in that time period. Extra resources in the final stretch would go towards an increased expansion of voters within the campaign’s mail universe. Donate here
Eleanor Chavez
New Mexico House of Representatives Candidate, District 26
Eleanor Chavez is a native New Mexican, having received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington. She moved back to Albuquerque’s south valley in 1981 and has lived in the area encompassing the 26th House District since 1985. She has been actively involved in community organizing since returning, specifically the labor movement across Albuquerque and greater New Mexico. She is currently the Executive Director for the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees District 1199 New Mexico. She previously represented portions of this district as a State Representative from 2009-2012 before redistricting reshaped the district in 2020. She has also served on the Public Education Commission as well as the Bernalillo County Labor Board.
Policy
As a longtime labor organizer, Eleanor is committed to representing working families across her district in fights for economic and racial justice. Her platform represents decades of involvement in the labor movement, combined with a deep understanding of the inner workings of the New Mexico legislature in her time as a former State Representative from 2009-2012.
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Healthcare: Eleanor is a proponent of the New Mexico Health Security Act, a public-private government-run health care system that would expand health care coverage for thousands of New Mexicans. In essence, it is a state-based system that can serve as a strong alternative to a universal “medicare-for-all” type system.
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Education: Eleanor wants to provide additional funding for the hiring of social workers and guidance counselors across her district. Her district faces large dropout rates and Eleanor wants to identify at-risk youth early in their schooling as a means to keeping these children in school. Additionally, the district is facing likely budget cuts, meaning less teachers and larger classrooms. The securing of additional funding for teacher hiring will be a key priority for her.
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Crime & Homelessness: With fentanyl abuse rampant across her district, Eleanor wants to address the root causes of crime and homelessness as opposed to the failed system of over policing. She wants to utilize available Federal funds to increase public offerings of drug treatment programs alongside public mental health systems that humanize and respect her unhoused constituents.
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Affordable Housing: Eleanor recognizes the direct connection between Albuquerque's rise in unhoused residents and the clear lack of affordable housing options across her district. The housing boom and rise of rents across the district has directly resulted in long-time residents being simply unable to afford shelter. She has found deep compassion across her district for this, and intends to raise it as a primary topic as a State Representative.
Campaign Team and the Field
Three new precincts have been redistricted into District 26th, including Eleanor’s precinct. It has been a long-held Democratic seat, with the current incumbent choosing not to seek re-election. Eleanor has been considering running for office again for years, but was friendly and supportive of the current incumbent. When it became apparent the incumbent would not seek re-election, many across the progressive community implored Eleanor to seek the seat herself.
Eleanor is facing a Democratic primary opponent on June 7th that has received donations from the oil and gas industry. Concurrently, Eleanor has been the target of a state-based super PAC funded by these same interests that are supporting conservative Democrats in several upcoming Democratic primary elections.
The campaign employs both a campaign manager and general campaign strategist consultant, alongside volunteer committees for both fundraising and voter engagement. As a long-time labor organizer, Eleanor holds endorsements from unions across the local and national ecosystem. This includes the Teamsters Local 492, United Food and Commercial Workers, and American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, among others. She also holds strong movement organizational support, including Planning Parenthood Votes, Organizers in the Land of Enrichment, The Working Families Party, and New Mexico Native Vote.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race
The 26th District lies in Bernalillo County, which is an identified Deep Democracy County for 2022. It meets three of our four primary demographic screening criteria for such an identification:
30.7% of it’s households are headed by women, making it higher than the national average.
34.4% of its residents holding a Bachelor Degree of higher, making it higher than the national average.
37.5 of its residents are people of color, making it higher than the national average
10.1% of its residents are foreign born, making it below the national average
The 26th District is overwhelmingly non-white Hispanic, with 71.5% of residents identifying as such. It is additionally 17% white, with the remaining residents split amongst other demographics.
It is slightly below average for median household income, averaging $42.5k per a household compared to the statewide median of $45.5k. However, the district is deeply economically segregated with Interstate Highway 40 a clear dividing line between upper-middle class residents to the north of the highway and lower-income families to the south.
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Having previously represented almost 60% of the current district, Eleanor holds strong community ties already with many of her potential constituents. With that in mind, she has focused on reaching out to parts of the district of which she is new to, including those more affluent neighborhoods north of Interstate Highway 40.
Janelle is endorsed by the New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund, Maria’s List recommended 501(c)4 Deep Democracy New Mexico organization. She is on this NMVCAF slate with the other Maria’s List Deep Democracy New Mexico Candidates: Tara Jaramillo, Janellle Anyanonu, and Melissa Armijo.
Fundraising and Opportunities for Giving
The campaign set a goal of raising $50,000 at the outset. They have currently raised $44,000, putting them on a solid path achieving this goal. Extra resources would be focused on additional mailers in the final two weeks of the campaign. In particular, the campaign wants to do this in response to likely negative mailers coming from the conservative Democrat Super PAC. Eleanor expects them to misconstrue two recent incidents in which she was arrested alongside fellow protestors in which she was participating in direct actions protesting for labor and immigrant rights. Donate here
Tara Jaramillo
New Mexico House of Representatives Candidate, District 38
Tara Jaramillo is a life-long resident of New Mexico who was led to political action by her community-based work. Jaramillo, a special education specialist and speech pathologist, co-founded Positive Outcomes, a company that bridges the gaps in the provision of health services for families with children living with disabilities. Tara is a member of the Consolidated School Board, a chair to NM Next Generation Council, and previously served as a chair to Socorro Democratic Party.
Policy
As a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience working with healthcare and children living with disabilities, Tara’s view on policy is heavily influenced by the needs of her most vulnerable residents within her district.
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Education: One of Jaramillo’s top priorities is education and early childhood education. The Jaramillo campaign highlights the lack of facilities that provide early childhood education in New Mexico. Tara is a strong proponent and advocate for the upcoming constitutional amendment ballot initiative this November that would utilize 1% of the state land grant fund for permanent funding of expanding public early childhood education programs.
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Healthcare: Tara has a strong focus on access to healthcare. HD-38 is composed of rural areas in which residents must travel over two hours to see a physician. The Jaramillo campaign considers that it is key to invest in infrastructure to provide access to telehealth and general healthcare in rural areas.
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Environmental Justice: Another key policy issue for Tara is environmental policy. Jaramillo plans to put water access issues as a prominent policy campaign once she is in office, a subject that has not seen a legislative endeavor since 1950.
Campaign Team and the Field
Tara’s campaign prioritizes the unique characteristics of District 38 in the design of her community outreach. As a mixed rural and urban area where broadband is not guaranteed for all, HD-38 requires direct engagement of its residents. Therefore, the Jaramillo campaign has been traveling to remote towns on a regular basis to reach constituents face to face. Tara’s team anticipates that she must reach 4,000 people to win out of which she has already reached 3,000. The staff, made up of a Campaign Manager and eight volunteers, has focused their fundraising efforts on financing the mobilization needs of the campaign.
Tara Jaramillo’s candidacy has been encouraged by a wide array of elected Democratic leaders who have motivated her to run for office, endorsed her campaign and financially supported it. Among these endorsers are U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, State Senator Siah Correa Hemphill, State Senator Bill Soules, State Representative Nathan Small, Socorro County Commissioner Craig Secatero and Socorro City Councilor Michael Olguin, Jr. Additionally, organizations and collectives like Planned Parenthood and New Mexico Native American Vote have endorsed Tara.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race
The 38th District partly lies in Doña Ana County,, which is an identified Deep Democracy County for 2022. It meets three of our four primary demographic screening criteria for such an identification:
29.6% of it’s households are headed by women, making it higher than the national average.
27.1% of its residents holding a Bachelor Degree of higher, making it lower than the national average.
27.1% of its residents are people of color, making it higher than the national average
17.2% of its residents are foreign born, making it higher the national average
HD-38 includes Sierra County, Doña Ana County, and Socorro County. Doña Ana County is 67% Hispanic and has a median household income of $38k which is below the state median household income of $45k; while Sierra County has a median income of $29k and Socorro County reaches a median of $34.5k. Socorro County is also a majority-minority county.
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Tara is endorsed by the New Mexico Voices for Children Action Fund, the recommended 501(c)4 Deep Democracy New Mexico organization. She is on this NMVCAF slate with the other Maria’s List Deep Democracy New Mexico Candidates: Eleanor Chavez, Janellle Anyanonu, and Melissa Armijo.
Fundraising and Opportunities for Giving
Tara has relied on small donations to fund her campaign. Tara’s budget for the primary election on June 7th is $58,000 , with the campaign having already raised $42,000 as the previous filing period. Donate here
US Representative Cori Bush’s deep investment in grassroots organizing and movement leaders in her upset 2020 primary victory has called for a deeper analysis of the possibilities of progressive gains both in and around St. Louis, as well as the potential growth in the progressive ecosystem statewide.
In 2020, Maria’s List National continued its strategy of funding the Southern progressive candidates and movement organizations that helped deliver the turnout needed to elect Democrats to the White House, Congress, and state legislatures across the strategically critical regions of the southern United States. This was done through our political research and giving framework known as Deep Democracy, a political giving strategy of stacking your political and philanthropic contributions early and vertically over a political cycle in a geographic region to candidates, movement organizations, and intermediaries who strategically complement each other. One of the most impactful movement victories in all of the 2020 cycle was undoubtedly the upset victory of now Representative Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st Congressional district. And we saw key electoral victories in states like Georgia, Arizona, and New Mexico, where long-term movement organizing worked in concert with women of color candidates determined to reshape our democracy.
On the statewide level, Missouri will be critical in 2022 and in years to come, with a competitive Senate race coming up and a promising pipeline of candidates; investment in Deep Democracy should start in St. Louis, but it shouldn’t end there. There are counties across the state where mapping movement infrastructure and investing in BIPOC-led organizations can help build long-term power across Missouri. In 2021 and beyond, we at Maria’s List will be focused on the candidates and organizations that will be at the forefront of building and empowering the next generation of progressive movement leaders across the state.
Tishaura Jones
Candidate for Mayor for the City of St. Louis
In her 8 years as Treasurer of St. Louis, Tishaura Jones has transformed the office, creating the city’s first Office of Financial Empowerment, building new financial literacy programs, and opening savings accounts for 18,000 students in St. Louis Public Schools. As a State Representative, she “stood and waited to be recognized for two hours” in opposition to a Republican anti-contraception resolution. In her nearly 20 years of public service — from her time as a Democratic Ward Committee member to her service at the State House and City Hall — she has fought to make the government more responsive and accountable to constituents, and she is running for Mayor to create a city that is “united, strong, confident, and equitable.”
On The Issues
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Tishaura Jones has fought income and wealth inequality throughout her career, and prioritizes the issue in her platform with proposals to expand financial empowerment programs, promote access to banking and credit, and support businesses owned by women and people of color through streamlined certification.
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Jones’s agenda for children, youth, and families emphasizes expanding pre-K programs, promoting paid family leave, and expanding youth jobs programs.
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Jones argues that development in St. Louis should benefit the entire community, and would work to promote jobs, food access, and access to banks outside of the city’s wealthy central neighborhoods.
Status of the Race
Tishaura Jones finished first in the city’s first ever approval voting primary, in which residents can vote for as many candidates as they wish. She earned approval from 57% of voters, making her the only candidate with majority approval in the city. She will face Cara Spencer in the general election on April 6th; Spencer earned approval from 46% of residents, and her support was concentrated in precincts with the most White residents, while Jones performed well city-wide. Public polling has the race within the margin of error, with Jones at 40%, Spencer at 35%, and 25% undecided.
Jones brings a strong city-wide base to the contest, both from her time as Treasurer and from her 2017 mayoral campaign, in which she lost by just 879 votes to current mayor Lyda Krewson.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race
St. Louis — and particularly the northern St. Louis precincts where Tishaura Jones most outperformed Cara Spencer in the preliminary round — demonstrates the power of sustained Deep Democracy organizing. Rep. Cori Bush recently won election to the House of Representatives by winning support in neighborhoods where she had failed to break through in 2018, and her campaign team cites their work building trust across northern St. Louis as the key to her victory. As a major election between Rep. Bush’s win in 2020 and important statewide contests in 2022, the mayoral election is a great opportunity to stack contributions and keep building out the movement ecosystem to deliver more wins in and around St. Louis.
Your support for our slate of six Georgia state house candidates and three base-building organizations in the November election resulted in incredible gains. Nationally, Joe Biden won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes for Democrats for the first time in 28 years and both Democratic senate candidates have forced January run-offs with the state’s Republican incumbents. Democrats won back the 7th Congressional district, which is located in the heart of our Deep Democracy county focus. Locally, four of our six Maria’s List endorsed candidates won election to the state house. The gains for Democrats up and down the ballot in our Deep Democracy counties of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett were staggering. Now with two Senate seats up for grabs in January, we can once again invest in the local organizers and organizations that can officially turn out the voters needed to take back the U.S. Senate for Democrats.
In the spring of this year, we at Maria’s List laid out for you our strategy for the 2020 election cycle. Dubbed Deep Democracy 2.0, it is a quantitative and qualitative approach that seeks to identify U.S. House and State House legislative districts that held the potential for extraordinary Democratic turnout in November. By investing in these down-ballot candidates in areas with A) power-voting centers of people of color and B) areas with high levels of college-educated voters, we hoped to boost turnout in low-propensity, high Democratic support regions in key swing states for the President and U.S Senate races. We believed that by supporting these community-driven, women-of-color down-ballot candidates, Democrats could accomplish meaningful progressive gains at the U.S. House and state level while providing the kind of turnout needed with low-propensity voters for Democrats to take back the White House and U.S. Senate.
Asian American Advocacy Fund
The Asian American Advocacy Fund’s (AAAF) mission is to advocate for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians in Georgia. Through a combination of policy advocacy at local, state, and federal levels, and by supporting candidates that believe in our values, we fight to create a better Georgia for us all. AAAF Independent Committee funds independent expenditures in state and local races, and will be participating in the Georgia run-off.
Black Voters Matter
Black Voters Matter (BVM) is dedicated to increasing power in the Black community. They have organized chapters in 9 states, including Georgia. Their theory of change is the execution of effective civic engagement and community power is understanding, respecting and supporting local infrastructure. BVM was an instrumental part of the civic infrastructure that turned Georgia blue in the November election. Through their C3 Capacity Building program, they provide training and support for community-based organizations.
Georgia Muslim Voter Project
The Georgia Muslim Voter Project was founded in 2015, in response to the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric and the low rates of civic engagement in the Muslim community. As a c3, their goal is to activate members of the Muslim community to vote. To date, they have registered over 4,000 voters and made thousands of phone calls to Muslim voters in Georgia. Turning out Muslim voters for the January run-off is critical to both Senate candidates.
The New Georgia Project
The New Georgia Project (NGP) is a c3 non-partisan organization dedicated to voter registration and the civic engagement of Georgians. Founded in 2013 by Stacey Abrams, to date they have registered nearly 400,000 people from underrepresented communities to vote in Georgia. For the January run-off, they are on the front lines of demanding protections for, and expanding access to, the upcoming run-off election.
Women Engaged
Founded in 2014, the mission of Women Engaged (WE) is to support the power-building of Black women and young adults. They offer leadership development opportunities, public policy advocacy, savvy communications and outreach strategies, and year round non-partisan voter engagement campaigns through their c3. WE has already begun engaging and training youth activists for voter outreach for the run-off.
In the spring of this year, we at Maria’s List laid out for you our strategy for the 2020 election cycle. Dubbed Deep Democracy 2.0, it is a quantitative and qualitative approach that seeks to identify U.S. House and State House legislative districts that hold the potential for extraordinary Democratic turnout in November. By investing in these down-ballot candidates in areas with A) power-voting centers of people of color and B) areas with high levels of college-educated voters, we're hoping to boost turnout in low-propensity, high Democratic support regions in key swing states for the President and U.S Senate races. We believe that by supporting these community-driven, women-of-color down-ballot candidates, Democrats can accomplish meaningful progressive gains at the U.S. House and state level while providing the kind of turnout needed with low-propensity voters for Democrats to take back the White House and U.S. Senate. And with the Texas GOP leading the charge in suppressing the vote of Democratic voters in these key counties and cities, it’s more important than ever to support community leaders on the ground who know how to implement key Get-Out-the-Vote programs across the state.
Across Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona, we’ve identified one U.S. House candidate, five State Senate candidates, and seven State Representative candidates that are running progressive, grassroots campaigns that will excite the very voters Vice President Joe Biden and four Democratic Senate candidates will need to win in November. By boosting the turnout of communities of color in partnership with the enthusiasm of college-educated voters in 2020, these candidates, campaigns, and regions can turn these states blue up and down the ballot.
Nikki Merritt
Senate District 9
Women of Color State Senate Pick Up
Red to Blue INCUMBENT CHALLENGE
Nikki Merritt (latest campaign advertisement) grew up in Austell, GA, and attended Pebblebrook High School, the University of Georgia, and Georgia State. She is a 16-year resident of Gwinnett County and currently resides in Grayson, GA. Nikki has a twenty-three-year career in telecommunications, working in customer service, billing, and account management for AT&T. Like many, Nikki was inspired by the movement of women and women of color running for office in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. She initially got involved in voter registration efforts and local political education groups. Later, she became focused on local legislators, ways to inspire voter turnout, and the disconnect she saw in local representation. Nikki’s family has deep roots in Georgia and suffered constant disenfranchisement and political violence across the Jim Crow south. She is a proud and active union member in CWA Local 324, as well as an active member of the Gwinnett County Democrats. She is married to her husband, with two teenage children.
On the Issues
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Nikki has placed education at the center of her campaign. She is focused on the plague of student debt and wants to emphasize on making secondary education affordable if she is elected. She points to the HOPE scholarship, a program gutted by Republicans that benefited working families who want to send their children to college. Nikki promises to prioritize the reinstatement of funding HOPE and other education attainment programs.
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Nikki has also prioritized maternal healthcare, namely maternity rates for African-American women in her district. She is a strong opponent of the “heartbeat bill” and an advocate for fighting restrictions on all forms of women’s healthcare.
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Other focuses include voting rights, worker’s rights, and a commitment to work towards reforms in law enforcement with a focus on racial justice.
Status of Race
Nikki received 44% as a first time candidate in the June Democratic primary, just missing the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff in a three-person contest. She easily won the runoff in August, garnering 65% of the vote.
SD-9 has been represented by a Republican for nearly 30 years. The current incumbent, P.K. Martin was elected in 2014 and has faced minimal opposition in his time in the position. Martin easily won re-election in 2014 with 61% of the vote, and ran unopposed in 2016. He wasn’t challenged again until 2018, when the Democratic challenger raised very little money and had little campaign infrastructure. Despite that, the Democratic candidate came within 4% of upsetting the Republican incumbent.
She is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Georgia WINList, GA AFL-CIO, Vote Mama, Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race: Gwinett County is perhaps the fastest shifting red-to-blue county in America, with pronounced shifts towards Democrats in all elections from 2012 to 2016 to 2018. Georgia’s 7th Congressional District will be a prime target for the DCCC and national Democrats this November. Democrats lost the seat by less than 500 votes in 2018. It is now an open seat, with the same Democratic nominee, Carolyn Bordeaux, as in 2018. 10 State House districts reside within SD-9, with six being held by Democrats.
Of those six, five face Republican opponents in November. Of the four Republican-held seats, three face Democratic challenges. Of particular note:
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HD-101: Shared with other Maria’s List endorsee candidate Matielyn Jones in Senate District 9. Lean Dem incumbent seat, but faces a Republican challenger.
HD-102: Shared with other Maria’s List endorsee candidate Matielyn Jones in Senate District 9. Toss up Dem incumbent seat, and a priority hold for the Dem state party.
HD-104: This is the state Rep. district of fellow Maria’s List endorsee Nakita Hemingway, who is challenging a Republican incumbent. It is also shared with other Maria’s List endorsee candidate Matielyn Jones in Senate District 9.
HD-108: This is the state Rep seat of current incumbent and fellow Maria’s List endorsee Jasmine Clark, who is facing a Republican challenger. It is also shared with fellow Maria’s List endorsee Kim Jackson in Senate District 41.
Campaign Status: The campaign had raised $45,000 prior to the August 11th runoff election. The incumbent held over $200,000 cash-on-hand in the August reporting period, funded by a deep array of Republican PACs and the Koch Brothers. However, Martin had over $150,000 cash-on-hand in the 2018 election and only won by less than 4% against a candidate that raised $3,000 in total.
Regina Lewis-Ward
Georgia 109th State House District
Women of Color State House Pick-up
INCUMBENT CHALLENGE
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Regina Lewis-Ward (campaign video) grew up in public housing with her parents and siblings and attended public schools. She comes from a working class family where her father was a tractor trailer driver and a member of the Teamsters Labor Union. After graduating college, she worked for the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission where she served as the shop steward for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. She later started a job at New York City Transit where she worked her way up to managerial roles. Her experiences as a Union member helped her navigate her managerial duties and build relationships on both sides. After she retired from NYC Transit, she moved to Georgia and has since lived there for over 16 years. After moving, she wanted to get involved in the community so she did a leadership class where she learned more about community stewardship. During that time, she worked with a nonprofit organization called Feed My People, which provided different resources such as clothing and food pantries to the community. This experience allowed her to learn more about her community and the struggles they faced. Currently, she is an adjunct professor of political science at the local junior college.
On the Issues
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Lewis-Ward’s policy priorities are largely centered around the struggles that working class families in her district face. Her top two policy priorities on this issue are employee re-classifications and raising the Georgia state minimum wage. Employee misclassification is an obstacle many individuals in her district face where they are misclassified as contractors rather than employees and are losing out on many of the benefits that come with being an employee. The Georgia minimum wage is currently lower than the federal minimum wage.
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Public education is also a top issue for Lewis-Ward because of her experiences as chair of Get Georgia Reading and her current position as a junior college adjunct professor. Georgia recently cut 1 billion dollars from the education budget this year. Making sure that teachers and staff are well paid and that students pressing learning needs are met are big educational priorities for her.
Status of Race
This is Lewis-Ward's second time running for this district. She first ran for this seat in 2018. She won the Democratic primary with 58% of the vote, winning by just 600 votes. In the general election, she lost to the Republican incumbent by only a little over 800 votes. Although she ran unopposed in the 2020 Democratic primary, she garnered over 8,500 votes.
In 2016, the Democratic challenger lost the general election by over 4,000 votes. Lewis-Ward’s loss by only 800+ votes in 2018 shows that great strides have been made in this district to potentially flip blue in 2020. The Republican incumbent, Dale Rutledge, has been representing this district since 2013. Prior to Lewis-Ward, he has only been challenged in 2016 by someone who is a relative.
She has a long list of endorsements including, but not limited to: Warren Democrats, Fair Fight, Planned Parenthood, #VOTEPROCHOICE, Georgia Stonewall Democrats, SwingLeft, Georgia Working Families Party, AFL-CIO etc. Many more endorsements came out during mid-August because organizations were waiting till after the Georgia primary (NARAL, Emily’s List, etc). She also has support from many sitting members of the Georgia House and Senate including House Chairman James Beverly and State Senator Zahra Karinshak. She also has been the only GA candidate invited to a weekly COVID update via Facebook live hosted by the Georgia House Caucus and is invited every week.
Deep Democracy Dynamics of Race: HD-109 does not overlap any of our deep democracy congressional districts; however, it does overlap with our deep democracy counties Newton and Rockdale. Lewis-Ward describes this district as “conservative-progressive” where it is trending and moving towards blue but still left of underlying conservativeness. Henry county has historically sent a white male delegation to the legislature but that could change with this cycle.
Campaign Status: As of the June 2020 campaign finance report, her campaign has raised $45,718.44 to date, has spent $4,966.96, and has $20,000 in loans. As of the June 2020 campaign finance report, Rutledge’s campaign has raised $48,480.30 and spent $42,577.09, netting only $5,903.21 left.