Our 2021 Elections Update
The full election results are in, and two things are clear: our movement has a lot to celebrate, but we also have a lot of ground to make up in the next year.
Let’s start with the good news. In Ulster County, we didn’t just meet our goal of protecting the Democratic majority in the legislature — we expanded it by 4 seats! Almost all of our endorsed candidates in Ulster won their elections. We beat out a right-wing Republican who peddles racist and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories online to elect Aaron Levine. We elected one of our very own volunteers, and a long-time community activist, Phil Erner to champion housing, economic, and racial justice in the legislature.
We also made some historic firsts in Orange County. Giselle Martinez became the youngest person ever elected to Newburgh City Council while Genesis Ramos became the first woman of color ever elected to the Orange County Legislature in its entire history.
But we had real setbacks in Dutchess County. While we were able to build a more progressive Poughkeepsie City Council by electing Sarah Salem and Megan Deichler, and elect Greg Johnston, a public defender to Beacon City Court Judge, Republicans grew their majority in the Dutchess County Legislature.
Dutchess County was just one of many communities that saw the right wing mobilize to seize this moment of despair. People are hurting — we’re not getting the healthcare we need, housing we can count on, or the support we deserve. And the backlash we saw this week will only continue to grow until we take the bold action necessary to meet people’s basic needs.
This is a movement, not a moment. We know the road can be long and rocky, and we also know the work that’s needed to win this fight.
That’s why we need to invest now in organizing deeply within our communities and building power that no one election year can break. We’re going to build on top of every victory, and learn from every setback, to completely change what’s possible in New York State.
Just in the 2021 election cycle alone, we knocked on 7,500 doors, made 100,000 calls, sent 200,000 texts, sent 27,000 pieces of direct mail, and our digital ads were shown 80,000 times. And this is just the beginning.
Thank you for being in this fight with us.
