Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski announces launch of massive new initiative to elect Democrats to local and county offices
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | January 15th, 2019
The Washington State Democratic Party is excited to announce the launch of Rise and Run, a new program targeting thousands of municipal and county elections in 2019.
The hub of the new effort, termed Rise and Run, is an online resource bank for prospective candidates. Candidates can sign up for information and resources at www.wa-democrats.org/riseandrun where they’ll receive a set of custom-made tools to help them run their best races. Some candidates will be matched with targeted races, and receive additional support from the Party.
Said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski: “We’ve been knocking doors and talking to our neighbors in every county in our state since the spring of 2017. Together with activists and leaders all over our state, we built a grassroots army – and on the heels of major state legislative victories and flipping the 8th Congressional District, we’re now setting our sights on big wins in 2019. We’re going to take the fight to Republicans in the thousands of city council, county commission, mayoral, school board, and public utility district seats up for election this year. We’re going to identify, recruit, train, and empower a new generation of Democratic candidates. And we’re going to win.”
Said Bruce Tabb, Mayor of Ellensburg: “Democrats support initiatives which make our communities more resilient and welcoming. Working together, we have supported long-term funding for public transit, the first successful local initiative to create affordable housing in Eastern Washington, and land use policies which support a sustainable walkable community. It is great to see the State Party investing heavily in races in this region. That investment can only lead to an emerging generation of local Democratic leaders focused on ensuring vibrant communities throughout Central Washington.”
Said Pedro Olguin, Burien City Council Member: “When I was elected to the city council along with three other progressive leaders, we represented a lot of firsts: we were the first Latinos elected to the city council, the first labor leaders, and the first people who represented the growing and changing demographics and experiences of people in our region. That race was hard — and we won with the support of the State Party and groups from all over our region. It’s tough to be a first, and this kind of support is so critical to ensuring that we build a Democratic bench that is truly representative of communities in every part of our state.”
Said Rituja Indapure, Former Candidate for Sammamish City Council: “Building a strong, representative bench of candidates at the local level is so important for our communities. A lot of important decisions affecting everything from parks to traffic get made at the local level — and it’s crucial that we have elected officials who represent our community and values in office. That’s why it’s so important for the Democratic Party to get involved in supporting local candidates — especially people who are running for the first time, like I was! Rise and Run is an excellent step in this direction — and I’m so thrilled to support this program!”
###
