This Fight is a Long Game

Last night we celebrated the wins of Reclaim Philadelphia’s endorsed candidates for State Representative - Elizabeth Fiedler, Joe Hohenstein, Danielle Friel-Otten, Chris Raab and James Roebuck!

In the past two months Reclaim Philadelphia members and volunteers in partnership with the Fiedler campaign and Philadelphia wards 1 and 2 canvassed more than 800+ times and knocked 50,000+ doors and had almost 10,000 conversations with our neighbors about our stake in this election.

I canvass, I organize and I’m a member of Reclaim Philadelphia because this country can make me feel powerless, alone and beaten down by constant barrages of systemic oppression and violence. My stake in this election was a personal one -  my reproductive rights, the funding of schools across the state and largely - fighting back against hateful political narratives that tell me and so many others that we are worth less. Organizing for a future that works for us all makes me feel inspired, hopeful and proud to be apart of a collective that is actively building power to act on the values and vision we share.

We all watched the results come in last night and hoped we’d see voters turn out in huge numbers across the country and massively vote to flip seats in the House and Senate. While the results weren’t all that we hoped, it’s crucial to recognize the value of organizing beyond November 6th. In Lancaster, Jess King ran an inspiring campaign that will lay the groundwork for how we run campaigns in the future. Lancaster Stands Up and the King campaign moved tens of thousands of voters to see their stake in making America work for all of us. They’ve shown there’s no urban-rural divide with this work in this historically and overwhelmingly Republican district. The momentum that was built in Lancaster will only continue to grow and offers volunteers from the King campaign a collective to build long term political power. Reclaim-endorsed candidates Mike Doyle and Kristin Seale lost competitive races against Republicans but their campaigns brought a different vision for politics to both districts. And in Florida, voters passed an amendment granting the right to vote to over 1.5 million people with criminal records, an important step in our movement to end mass incarceration.

We always knew there would be more work to do after this election. At its core, our work is to abolish systemic oppression and transform politics through issue campaigns and fighting for candidates who share our vision. It’s always been a long game. The more we organize, the more doors we knock, the more real, honest conversations we have with our neighbors, the more power we build for the future we need.

Congratulations to all the movement candidates who won yesterday and solidarity to all of you who canvassed to have an impact on this election - one voter at a time.

If you’re not already a member of Reclaim Philadelphia, Join us today to fight for our vision of a Philadelphia that works for us!