Results of our work & What’s next for GetOrganizedBK PART 1
Working together, we did amazing work that produced important results. This is the first in a series of emails about the work of GetOrganizedBK on the midterm elections and what’s next. But assuming normal human curiosity, we wanted to give you a quick snapshot of the results of the some of the races we did the most work on, which are listed below.
Some quick perspective first.
- What do the losses mean? GOBK’s working groups focused on many important races where the Democratic candidate faced difficult odds and wasn’t getting much help from established groups, so our assistance was crucial. While many candidates won, others did not, though they often did better than expected. It’s important to remember that the organization, connections and experience gained in losing races can often lead to victories in the future. Also, some of the big statewide losses, Beto O’Rourke in Texas for example, energized voters and produced very important victories further down the ticket.
Our work is just beginning. We worked hard to elect people in order to bring change and advance important issues. Now we have to keep fighting for those issues to ensure that bills are passed and policies enacted. Many of our working groups organize on issues, such as racial justice, women’s health and reproductive rights, immigration, access to health care, opposing hate crimes, and protecting the social safety net. Their activities continue regardless of the election cycle. There will be an email to come about future actions, but remember you can always check our calendar.
MIDTERM RESULTS
NEW YORK SENATE
We were part of a strong progressive movement that ended the IDC by defeating 6 of the 8. And than we helped Democrats win a strong majority, possibly 39 of 63 votes.
Zellnor Myrie—Won
Andrew Gounardes—Probable Win
Kevin Thomas—Possible Win
Monica Martinez—Won
Jen Metzger-Won
Pat Strong—Lost
Kathleen Cleary-Lost
NEW YORK HOUSE
It hurt for Liuba to lose given what an excellent candidate she was and how bad her opponent is and how much work we all did. But we helped Democrats win the House.
Liuba Grechen Shirley-Lost
Antonio Delgado-Won
Max Rose-Won
Perry Gershon—Lost
Dana Balter—Lost
Anthony Brindisi—Won
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—Won
PENNSYLVANIA
The goal was to help flip the state House and in the process build support for Dems running for the U.S. House. The Republican majority in the State houses was reduced and there was success with winning seats in the U.S. House
PA STATE SENATE RACES
Katie Muth/SD-44-Won
Mark Pinsley/SD-16-Lost
PA STATE REP RACES
Lauren Lareau/HD-142-Lost
Meredith Buck/HD 144-Lost
Wendy Ullman/HD-143—Possible Won
Pam Hacker/HD-26-Lost
Danielle Friel Otten/HD-155-Won
Thomas Lee Applebach/HD- 134-Lost
Amy Cozze/HD-137-Lost
Claudette Williams HD- 176-Lost
Dana Hamp Gulick/PA HD- 97-Lost
Melissa Schusterman/HD- 157-Won
PA HOUSE
Matt Carwright—Won
Susan Wild—Won
Chrissy Houlahan—Won
Madeleine Dean—Won
Scott Wallace—Lost
Jess King—Lost
GOVERNORS
Many of us worked on high profile national races where progressives performed remarkably well in deep red and purple states. The outcome of Stacey Abrams’ race is still unknown, but the work accomplished in these races will last well beyond this election cycle and will pave the way for future victories. And, as noted, the lower level victories that these races made possible have not been well reported, but are important for the future.
Stacey Abrams, Georgia—Possible Lost
Andrew Gillum, Florida—Lost
Ben Jealous, Maryland—Lost
This is not the full list of races that GetOrganizedBK working groups had an impact on. For example, Red2Blue worked with 139 candidates and organizations across 16 states. You will be blown away and proud when you hear about the 100s of thousands of texts, 10s of thousands of postcards, thousands of hours of canvassing and calling, and professional level assistance provided with campaign videos, websites, etc. More to come soon.
The fight has only begun.
David Neustadt, Communications Chair, GetOrganizedBK Steering Committee