Future Hindsight - Electing New York Women: Brette McSweeney

Electing New York Women: Brette McSweeney

08/19/21 • 34 min

1 Listener

Future Hindsight

Pro-Choice Democratic Women

Eleanor’s Legacy specifically helps pro-choice Democratic candidates for several reasons. First, due to a long-standing Republican majority in the state legislature, New York State had not codified Roe v. Wade protections until 2019. Second, not all Democrats are pro-choice, and Eleanor’s Legacy only supports candidates who are pro-choice. Lastly, clearly stating your values and building your brand always helps in politics.

Importance of State and Local Office

Controlling state and local office can mean huge differences for everyday voters. When Democrats took control of the New York State legislature in 2019, they significantly expanded access to voting, immediately protected abortion rights, began to address climate change, and protected survivors of childhood sexual abuse. None of these laws would have been passed if Democrats hadn’t won in local elections.

Healthy Political Landscape

Although things are improving politically in New York, there is still work to be done to create a truly healthy political landscape. For instance, voter turnout needs to climb beyond the usual 20%. Just as important, more women need to be elected to executive roles. The gains made by women in local and state offices are promising. However, electing a woman mayor of NYC would go a long way in creating a healthier political landscape.

FIND OUT MORE:

Brette McSweeney is the president of Eleanor’s Legacy, the only statewide organization in New York focused on recruiting, training, and funding pro-choice Democratic women candidates at the state and local level. She was a member of the New York Leadership Council for Hillary for America in 2016 and the deputy New York State director for women’s outreach in 2008. Brette is a graduate of Georgetown and Columbia.

You can follow her on Twitter @blmcsweeney.

Pro-Choice Democratic Women

Importance of State and Local Office

Healthy Political Landscape

FIND OUT MORE:

You can follow her on Twitter @blmcsweeney.

Previous Episode

Black Women’s Political Power: Glynda Carr

Normalize Black Women’s Leadership

Normalizing Black women’s leadership means that it is as plausible to have a Black woman represent a majority-white district as it is to have a white man represent a majority-Black district. Supporting Black women candidates in all districts will allow more qualified, more diverse candidates everywhere.

Political Power of Black women

Black women are the building blocks of successful political coalitions on any level of government. They were instrumental in Obama’s election, the “Blue Wave” in 2018, and in 2020. They are the best return on our voting investment because they also organize their families, neighborhoods, churches, unions, and other social groups. Black women have immense political power.

Participating in Democracy

Voting is only a starting point for participating in our democracy. Organizing for a cause, proposing legislation, and holding power accountable are all ways to be governing partners for our elected officials all year long. By being active participants, we create an environment to innovate our democracy and shape public policy.

FIND OUT MORE:

Glynda C. Carr is at the center of the national movement to grow Black women’s political power from the voting booth to elected office.

In 2011, she and Kimberly Peeler-Allen co-founded Higher Heights to address the dearth of organizing resources for politically active Black women and the lack of support for prospective candidates seeking elected office. Through her leadership, the organization has developed several innovative programs and efforts that have quickly solidified its reputation as the political home and go-to resource for progressive Black women.

Carr is the co-creator of #BlackWomenLead—a powerful coalition movement that is creating an environment for Black women to run, win, and lead—and the Higher Heights-powered #BlackWomenVote, a nonpartisan voter-activism campaign that serves as an independent and trusted voice for Black women’s political concerns. Her work to date has helped to elect 11 Black women to the U.S. Congress, including one to the Senate, and increase the number of Black women holding statewide executive office, including helping to elect the first Black woman to serve as New York State attorney general.

You can follow her on Twitter @GlyndaCarr.

Next Episode

Run for Something: Amanda Litman

1 Recommendations

Helping Diverse First Time Candidates Run

Since its founding, Run for Something has helped elect 515 young, local officials across 46 states. A third of those elected officials are between 25 and 30, 10% are between the ages of 18 and 24, a third are women of color, and 11% are LGBTQ. Electing young diverse candidates compounds on itself. After transwoman Danica Roem was elected in 2017, many other trans people decided to run for office.

Local and State Races

Run for Something focuses on local and state elections because of their impact on people’s daily lives. Members of state legislatures have control over election administration, school boards have real power over what children learn, city and municipal officials have real control over police reform, and more. Winning local office is often easier to achieve than state or national leadership and has more direct impact on constituents.

Better Governance

Electing younger, more diverse candidates has resulted in better governance. Jessica Ramos of New York State has introduced groundbreaking legislation to combat wage theft; Florida State Rep Ana Eskamani helped more than 30,000 Floridians access unemployment insurance; and Texas State Rep James Talarico helped lower the price on insulin in his state.

FIND OUT MORE:

Amanda Litman is the co-founder and executive director of Run for Something, which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office. Since launching in 2017, RFS has identified more than 75,000 young people who want to run, endorsed nearly 1,500 and elected nearly 500 across 46 states, mostly women and people of color.

Politico named Run for Something (and Amanda) one of the 50 ideas driving politics in 2018. Bloomberg called her one of the people to watch in 2019. Fortune named her to their annual 40 under 40 list in 2020.

Before launching Run for Something, Amanda worked as a digital strategist — she served as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the digital director for Charlie Crist's 2014 Florida gubernatorial campaign, the deputy email director for Organizing for Action, and an email writer for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

You can follow her on Twitter @amandalitman.