Progressive Candidates
to Watch & Support
These candidates are handpicked by member-led organizations doing the work on the ground. They are committed to organizing political power to win municipal and state electoral victories.
-
Cori Bush
Cori Bush is a politician, pastor, registered nurse, and activist from St. Louis, Missouri, who became the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress. Born and raised in St. Louis, she built her career through community organizing, healthcare work, and advocacy for working-class families.
-
Justin Hurst
Justin is running to make sure Springfield’s policies center working-class families, not special interests. As a tireless advocate for workers and renters, he has stood shoulder to shoulder with everyday people demanding dignity, security, and opportunity. Justin is running for city office to make sure…
-
Michelle Wu
Mayor Michelle Wu, a Harvard-trained lawyer and Boston Public Schools mom, has led Boston with record investments in affordable housing, historic reductions in gun violence, and major expansions in early education and youth jobs. She has made Boston a national leader in climate action, public transit access, and community-centered policing,…
Maria’s List
Maria’s List is a political communication and progressive donor hub that identifies and supports exceptional women, working-class candidates, and people of color running for office.
Through rigorous electoral research, campaign and movement analysis, and strategic community partnerships, we guide values-driven political contributions. Grounded in co-governance, we follow the lead of member-led, community-based organizations—uplifting the candidates they trust and cultivating leadership rooted in lived experience. By investing in community-backed, people-powered leaders and the organizations that support them, we help build a more representative, participatory, and equitable democracy.
Community Organizations
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts Action Fund is building democracy by putting our people — working people who are Black, brown, and white, immigrants, and lifelong locals — at the center of civic engagement in their communities. By training members to be leaders in their communities, they are building the power to transform our government and change our world. They get out the vote in every election and educate our communities about the values that are most important to us – prioritizing people and the planet over profit.
RTCV is a citywide political collective working to build the political power of Boston’s rising electorate around a progressive agenda led by low-income, working-class communities of color. It is the only multiracial, multilingual, and multigenerational 501(c)(4)/IEPAC project in Boston and one of the few in Massachusetts. RCTV activists are a powerful force involved in year-round organizing and civic engagement to transform communities of color into high-turnout neighborhoods.
Core Strategies
1. Deep Democracy
A political giving strategy that increases the likelihood of progressive candidates, especially women and women of color, to win races formerly deemed impossible when using only traditional indicators like polling, TV spending, and fundraising.
2. Electoral Strategy and Planning
Using deep democracy research, identify and target–high–value progressive campaigns for both Massachusetts and federal elections, and down-ballot races.
3. Campaign and Candidate Research
We combine quantitative research with qualitative consultation from key stakeholders to evaluate progressive campaign infrastructure both across Massachusetts and nationally.
4. Candidate Endorsements
We endorse candidates and movement organizations in these races each quarter of the election cycle, based on our shared values and deep democracy research.
5. Donor Cultivation and Comms Strategies
We are focused on political giving research and messaging for donor education.
6. Candidate Fundraising
We plan, build, and host fundraisers progressive champion organizations and candidates.
7. Strategic Partnerships and Grantmaking
We outreach, track, and analyze the synergy among electoral races from the top to the down-ballot sets, movement-building organizations, the progressive infrastructure, and political and philanthropic giving in often-absent communities in Massachusetts and in targeted states nationally.