In First-Ever Independent Expenditures, MomsRising Together Boosts 17 Congresswomen Who Will Make a Difference for Moms to Victory

November 7, 2018

MomsRising Together, a million-member grassroots powerhouse, made independent expenditures in support of a slate of female congressional candidates from more than two dozen states this year – and last night, voters elected 17 of them. This project also helped Jacky Rosen win the U.S. Senate seat in Nevada. The independent expenditures totaled more than $200,000 and supported 28 women challengers for the House of Representatives; seven of those races are now too close to call, and 17 of those candidates achieved victory:

  1. Angie Craig (MN-02)
  2. Sharice Davids (KS-03)
  3. Veronica Escobar (TX-16)
  4. Abby Finkenauer (IA-01)
  5. Deb Haaland (NM-01)
  6. Jahana Hayes (CT-05)
  7. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06)
  8. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26)
  9. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
  10. Ilhan Omar (MN-05)
  11. Ayanna Pressley (MA 7)
  12. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)
  13. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08)
  14. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)
  15. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
  16. Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
  17. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10)

“Moms are a rising political force and helped power the 2018 election,” Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising Together, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, “and these are historic wins. While there were some devastating losses last night, these historic wins, the continuing fight for races that are still too close to call, and Stacey Abrams continued fight for the Governor’s seat in Georgia, give us hope for the future. No matter the outcome of those races, there will be more than 100 women in Congress next year, and Congress will be more diverse than it’s ever been. Yesterday, we took a major step toward making our democracy reflective of the country.”

“MomsRising Together supported candidates who will work to protect the health care coverage our loved ones need and who support fair pay, maternal justice, affordable childcare and paid family/medical leave, criminal justice reform, gun safety, fair treatment of all immigrant children and families, and much more,” Rowe-Finkbeiner added. “Many of the candidates we supported were first-time candidates, inspired to run to make the world a better place for moms and their families. They are going to be world-changers when they get to Washington, D.C. But our work is not nearly done. This isn’t a fight for just one election, one year or one set of candidates. This is a fight for our lives and our children’s lives, and it will continue.”

There are many notable historic firsts in this slate of candidates:

  • Sharice Davids in Kansas and Deb Haaland in New Mexico became the first Native American women elected to Congress last night — and Davids is the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Kansas as well.
  • Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota became the first Muslim women in Congress last night.
  • Veronica Escobar became one of the first two Hispanic women to win a seat in Congress in Texas last night.
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress last night.
  • Ayanna Pressley became Massachusetts’ first Black Congresswoman last night.
  • Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida became the first Ecuador-born person to serve in the U.S. House last night.
  • Jacky Rosen became the first woman Nevada has ever sent to the U.S. Senate.

The independent expenditures included direct mail and texts to key infrequent voters who are moms in each district, as well as social media ads to moms who are infrequent voters, with many focused on health care, encouraging moms to use their ‘BS detectors’ when Republican candidates claimed they would protect us from the insurance companies that, in fact, bankrolled their campaigns. Other ads urged moms to vote #GreaterThanFear and send closet monsters and fear mongering politicians packing.

MomsRising Together supports candidates who mirror its membership and the country, and supports moms, women and women of color who are running for office. In selecting candidates to support in 2018, the organization also looked for places where moms could have an impact and prioritized races where emerging leaders could rise and make a significant difference. The organization takes on critical issues facing women, mothers and families by educating the public and mobilizing grassroots engagement to:

  • Bring the voices and real-world experiences of women and mothers straight to our local, state and national leaders;
  • Amplify women’s voices and policy issues in the national dialogue and in the media across all platforms (from print, to radio, to blogs, social media, and more);
  • Accelerate grassroots impact on Capitol Hill and at state capitols across the country; and
  • Hold corporations accountable for fair treatment of women and mothers and for ensuring the safety of their products.

Posted

in