New Deep Bench Effort to Elect Progressive Candidates to Statehouses Nationwide and Move Forward Key Initiatives for Reaching Equality

New York— A new organization launched this week, Downballot Progress, will offer infrastructure support to moving progressive candidates into state legislature seats. 

The organization had an online launch party on Sunday, May 23rd, which garnered over 12,000 viewers and included national leaders like former OH State Senator Nina Turner, NY State Senator Jabari Brisport, AZ State Rep Athena Salman, and CA Assembly candidate Fatima Iqbal-Zubair. The event was broadcast over several organizations feeds like People for Bernie, Social Security Works, and ActTV. 

The new group will offer resources, volunteer capacity and endorsements for candidates who represent a progressive platform. The goal is to build a volunteer base to pass progressive legislation within state legislatures across the country while also creating the infrastructure from progressives to win at the state level for years to come. Those interested in volunteering can sign up on their website.

“There are many great initiatives making their way through state legislatures that would have tremendous impact on national progressive goals,” says Amaury Dujardin, founder of Downballot Progress. “Yet, often state level candidates do not have the volunteer and operational support they need, and our group intends to change that.”

Dujardin is an experienced political consultant with multiple cycles of electoral organizing under his belt—having held senior positions on campaigns from State Representative to President and everything in between.

“We’re making a long-term commitment to reshape American government and politics to reflect the majority of the people,” says Brianna Westbrook, a Senior Adviser to the effort and former candidate for Arizona State Senate. 

Long term of goals Downballot Progress include nullifying the Electoral College, adding a voting rights amendment to the Constitution, and ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. Candidates must be fighting for progressive ideas and values like economic justice, state level Green New Deal initiatives, and equal rights for all. 

###

ABOUT Downballot Progress: Downballot Progress is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization aimed at passing progressive legislation within state legislatures across the country while also organizing efforts to reshape our democracy to create a just and equal country. Through using national initiatives as a guide to where we get involved, we will become the go-to resource for the progressive community on down-ballot offices throughout the nation and grow through our volunteer base to make meaningful impacts in our state legislatures and country.