Hi all -
Happy primary week!!
Run for Something has 39 candidates on the ballot tomorrow — 21 in Michigan, 8 in Washington, 7 in Missouri, 2 in Kansas and 1 in Virginia.
A few to highlight for you…
Joanna Whaley, MI HD-2
Joanna Whaley is a parent, clinical spiritual care provider in local hospitals, and transgender woman running for the Michigan House. She survived 15 years of conversion therapy in a high-control religious setting, equipping her with a deep understanding of the origins of many dehumanizing policies currently impacting our government.
Alex Hawkins, MI HD-55
Alex Hawkins is a U.S. Army veteran and Army National Guard EOD Officer (aka “The Bomb Squad”) who grew up in a union family and built his life around service. He’s worked in public safety and emergency response and knows government works best when it shows up for everyday people. Alex is running for state representative to bring next-generation, people-first leadership focused on safer communities, working families, and a government that actually listens.
Katrina Manetta, MI HD-58
Katrina Manetta (HD-58, MI) is running because she believes it shouldn’t be this hard for working families to get ahead. Born and raised in the district, she’s a community leader who’s spent years fighting for her neighbors and pushing for real solutions on affordability, public safety, and health care so government works for everyday people, not powerful insiders.
Katrina is the founder of a local Indivisible group (Macomb Defenders, which has 1,000 people in it). She currently works as a server during the day and then organizes people to come out and protest. This is one of the top red-to-blue opportunities in the state.
Abbas Alawieh, MI State Senate-2
Abbas Alawieh is a Metro Detroit political and policy strategist, community organizer, and candidate for Michigan State Senate in District 2. Alawieh formerly served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Cori Bush and senior legislative staffer to Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Andy Levin. A public health advocate by training and anti-war organizing leader, Alawieh believes in pushing coordinated strategies from inside and outside institutions of power to save and improve lives.
Daniel Rivera, Wyoming City Council, At-Large, MI
Born into the working class and raised in Wyoming, Michigan, Daniel Rivera is running for City Council At-Large to bring real community voices into local government. Shaped by his experiences in local organizing, he believes government should be accessible, transparent, and responsive to everyday people. He is committed to strengthening neighborhoods, supporting working families, expanding economic opportunity, and ensuring residents have a real voice in shaping the city’s future.
Hannah Sabio-Howell, WA State Senate, LD-43
Hannah Sabio-Howell is running for State Senate in Washington’s 43rd LD to win a future we can all afford. As the Communications Director at Working Washington, she organized alongside underpaid workers in the movement for better wages and workplaces, winning big fights against wealthy corporate interests. Prior to this, Hannah spent years as a staffer at the Washington state legislature, serving elected officials whose work spanned tax reform, environmental justice, and health care expansion.
Hannah is running against an incumbent who has been in the state leg for almost 20 years. She’s a renter in a district where about 75% of people are renters -- the highest percentage in the state (second highest is only 50%). Her opponent is the state senate leader.
Justice Horn, Jackson County Legislature (MO), 1st District At-Large
Justice Horn is running to deliver bold, progressive polDicy to Jackson County. His platform includes building a countywide public transit system, launching a guaranteed jobs program, and developing transit corridors that spur affordable housing to combat the housing crisis. If elected, Justice would be the first Gen Z resident ever elected to Jackson County Government, and the first and only openly LGBTQIA+ county elected official in the entire state of Missouri.
As a former federal contract worker laid off due to Trump budget cuts, Justice has worked with RFS extensively for press (See here).
Dustin Lloyd, MO HD-39
Dustin Lloyd is running for Missouri State Representative, District 39, to put people over politics and restore trust in leadership. A U.S. Army veteran and father, he is guided by accountability, transparency, and service. Dustin is committed to lowering costs, strengthening communities, and ensuring every voice is heard, regardless of party.
Cat Clayton, MO HD-105
Cat Clayton is a technologist and community advocate running for Missouri’s House District 105. With family roots in military service, Cat brings that same commitment to St. Charles in her efforts to lower costs for families, support unions, protect reproductive freedom, strengthen public schools, increase government transparency, and support small businesses. Also an improv comic and artist, she believes that creativity and collaboration are the keys to effective leadership.
Also on the ballot later this month: RFS alum Francesca Hong seems to be on track to win the WI gubernatorial primary. It’s worth watching her latest ad on data centers, which is a major driver behind her campaign’s momentum.
Francesca Hong For Governor@FrancescaHongWI
Opposition to AI data centers is uniting Wisconsinites across the political spectrum. I’ve been on the side of the people since day one. As governor, I’ll call a special session of the Legislature for a moratorium on new construction. We won’t get Foxconned again.
1:51 PM · Aug 2, 2026 · 78.7K Views
219 Replies · 301 Reposts · 1.8K Likes
Stay tuned to our social media accounts (and this newsletter!) for election results.
This is cool: One of our amazing donors has generously offered to match all donations to Run for Something up to $10,000! You know we don’t fake these things — this really is a match and we’d love to unlock it all.
Now is the best time to donate and DOUBLE the impact of your gift. Donate here.
Some RFS community updates:
MD Del. Ashanti Martinez traveled to Chicago to join lawmakers from other states working on how to hold ICE agents accountable across state lines.
MI Rep. Stephen Wooden sponsored the bill that just became Michigan law blocking large corporate homebuyers.
MD Councilmember Andrew Friedson wrote the zoning bill that let Montgomery County pause new data centers for 18 months — the county had to legally define what a data center even is before it could regulate one. Kristin Mink voted it through, saying the extended pause reflects what residents have been telling the council.
IL Sen. Graciela Guzman joined a multistate push to let Americans sue ICE agents, alongside senators from Colorado and Utah.
Spokane Councilmember Paul Dillon (WA) passed a renters' right to cooling ordinance.
Columbia Borough Councilman Ethan Byers (PA) introduced a motion to strip data centers from the list of permitted uses under light business zoning, and it advanced.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson (CA) launched rental subsidies for older adults on fixed incomes.
Troy Councilwoman Shikole Struber (NY) introduced a measure to limit the mayor's emergency powers, and separately pushed for guardrails on Troy police's investigative software amid the Flock controversy.
Johnson City Mayor Christina Charuk (NY) introduced a resolution that would bar her village police from initiating stops, questioning, or detentions on ICE's behalf after months of reported ICE activity around Binghamton.
Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins (VA) is pushing back on a data center planned just outside her city limits.
CA Assemblymember Sade Elhawary authored the Thrive Act, which the LA Times editorial board backed as a way to get therapy to kids affected by gun violence before the cycle repeats.
Salt Lake City Council Chair Erika Carlsen (UT) is writing rules for how automatic license plate readers can be used, framing it as both a public safety and a privacy question.
Longmont Councilmember Jake Marsing (CO), who teaches high school and has three kids under four, helped put a childcare tax on Boulder County's November ballot.
Broward School Board Chair Sarah Leonardi (FL) is moving on screen time and AI limits for pre-K through second grade, and separately got art and music back into small Broward schools.
MN Councilmember Jason Chavez pushed back on a $300K federal grant for Minneapolis police technology, warning that taking the money could obligate the city to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
CO Sen. Dylan Roberts had three agriculture bills take effect this month protecting Colorado-grown produce and saving farmers money.
IL Sen. Rachel Ventura got her bill signed requiring retailers to give actual refunds instead of forcing store credit.
MI Rep. Natalie Price and MI Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr. are going after the surveillance pipeline directly — Price on revoking MDOT's Flock camera contracts, Wilson with a bipartisan pair of bills putting guardrails on automated license plate readers. License plate readers are how a traffic camera becomes an immigration dragnet.
IA Leila Staton got the Downballot Diaries treatment: she was 21 when she filed to run, after cold-calling the state party in 2024 to ask how she could help local candidates.
Read San Antonio City Councilmember Ric Galvan’s op-ed on getting big money out of politics:
As a first-time candidate who comes from a working-class background with no familial political connections, I had to maintain a full-time job during my campaign to pay my bills. My campaign relied almost entirely on volunteers, friends, and family, and a lot of my own sweat and tears. I made (and kept) a commitment to not take a cent of corporate or real estate Political Action Committee (PAC) dollars because I believe local candidates should be free of that influence on their decision making. That meant that to afford mailing out campaign flyers, purchasing signs and door hangers, maintaining a website, and paying the folks who worked on my campaign, I had to fundraise from everyday residents — with the $500 per person donation limit. So, I did. And I focused on recruiting volunteers to knock on doors, make calls, and reach every voter possible.
And guess what? A 24-year-old candidate and volunteers knocked on over 15,000 doors, raised over $50,000, and won a local election to represent the neighborhood he grew up in. Was it tough? Absolutely. But that’s the work candidates should do to represent their communities. Enabling candidates to rake in more money from those with significant means or political connections only requires candidates to spend more time talking to donors instead of voters, and potentially binds their hands on major decisions once elected.
In related reading & watching:
I joined Stand Up! with Pete Dominick to talk about some of the races we’re excited about this week and all things RFS.
It was really fun (and only a tiny bit weird) to sit across the table from Alec Baldwin and talk about Run for Something for an hour.
This stat in last week’s CNN poll really stunned me: 80%+ of Democratic voters agree on the need for new leadership, younger candidates, and fighting Trump.
Thanks for making all this possible. Onward and upward thru the final hot sticky month of summer.
- Amanda
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