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YOUR CART

Teens Resist Featured Candidates

We've looked at elections across the country and made this list of some that we think are especially worth your time. Feel free to pick one or two from this list, or find one on your own!

PRESIDENTIAL

If you're interested in campaigning for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris, we're going to link you to the amazing Coalition Z, who are partnering with the GAP Project, Blue Future, and Settle For Biden to pair young people with organizers in swing states. 
You can register to volunteer for either 2 hours a week or 8-10 hours a week. All volunteering is remote and will have you texting and calling young voters in swing states. 
​REGISTER HERE.

Senate

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Sara Gideon (Maine) 
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up

Challenging a Republican incumbent
Sara Gideon is running to unseat Susan Collins in the U.S. Senate race in Maine! 
Sara has served in the Maine House of Representatives for eight years, and as Speaker of the House for four of them. As a state representative, Gideon has prioritized the economy, healthcare and clean elections, and has always put Maine families first. She sponsored important bills including Paid Medical and Family Leave, a bill to create an Automatic Voter Registration System, and a bill to ensure access to opiate addiction treatment. 

She is now running for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has been in office for 22 years. Collins made headlines during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings when she announced her vote to confirm Kavanaugh, despite the sexual assault allegations against him. While it was speculated that as a moderate Republican she may vote across party lines, Collins’ vote proved her allegiance with President Trump and the Republican Party. 
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Sara directly called Collins out for her Kavanaugh vote in a campaign ad, saying it has “put women’s control over their own healthcare decisions in extreme jeopardy.” Sara has long been an advocate of Planned Parenthood, vows to work to eliminate the Title X gag rule, and pledges to “put an end to the Senate confirming judicial nominees with dangerous anti-choice records.” If elected to Congress, Sara also plans to prioritize clean elections, work towards affordable healthcare for all and tackle the student loan debt crisis. And she has pledged not to take any money from corporate PACs. For more info: Visit her website and watch her campaign ad.

CAMPAIGN FOR SARA:
Sign up to volunteer at THIS LINK. You can either make calls or send texts (whichever makes more sense for you and your team.)

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Theresa Greenfield (Iowa)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Challenging a Republican incumbent

Theresa Greenfield is running for the Iowa Senate against Joni Ernst, who currently holds the seat. Theresa grew up on a family farm in Iowa, worked through community college, and started a small business as an urban planner. While she was pregnant with her second son, her husband tragically died on the job as an electrician. Social security helped her support her family for years, which has driven her fight for social security and equal access to healthcare. 

Theresa's passion for equitable healthcare is all over her record and platform: she worked to get the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act passed, she is committed to supporting Planned Parenthood, and she is determined to fight the Iowa opioid crisis and expand compassionate support for overcoming addictions. Theresa is also interested in investing in universal Pre-K and higher education, establishing more sustainable and clean-energy jobs for Iowans, limiting access to guns, increasing security for veterans and retirees, and fighting for more transparent elections. 

Her opponent, Ernst, opposes ObamaCare and has supported legislation to take funding away from Planned Parenthood. In her 2020 RNC speech, she said Biden and Harris are “radical environmentalists” who would “eliminate animal agriculture and gas-powered cars.” She has also echoed QAnon conspiracy theories about coronavirus, suggesting that the numbers of cases and deaths have been skewed upwards by healthcare providers who want to make more money. 

A few months ago, this election seemed locked in for Ernst. A more recent poll, though, shows this race as a lot closer (perhaps as an example for Democrats on how to appeal to more rural constituents, the Atlantic writes). Cook Political Report now rates this a toss-up. This year is an extremely important opportunity for the Senate to go blue, and this is one of the elections that might be a flipper- but Theresa needs our help. For more info: Visit her website.

CAMPAIGN FOR THERESA:
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Sign up to volunteer at THIS LINK. You can either make calls or host virtual house parties (whichever makes more sense for you and your team.)

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Cal Cunningham (North Carolina)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Running against a Republican incumbent

Cal Cunningham is running for US Senate in North Carolina against incumbent Thom Tillis. He was born and raised in North Carolina, and at 27, was elected to be one of the state’s youngest State Senators. As a State Senator, Cal was in particular a champion for public education from early childhood through college, and environmental legislation in the state. He’s an Army Veteran, and a community figure who has done pro-bono legal work, grown an environmental company, and led efforts to address the opioid crisis, school gun violence, and fund services for sexual violence survivors. In his campaign, he’s not taking any money from corporate PACs. In Congress, he’s promised to prioritize expanding Medicaid in North Carolina, strengthening and extending the Affordable Care Act, supporting rural hospitals, and supporting research around diseases like cancer and HIV/AIDS. He is also dedicated to prioritizing education, taking on climate change, protecting choice and reproductive justice, and preventing gun violence by expanding background checks, banning high-capacity magazines, and fund gun violence research, among other things. You can read more about his policies and priorities here. Check out his endorsements here.
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He’s running to unseat incumbent Thom Tillis. Tillis is, in one word, terrible. He’s one of the furthest right members of the Senate with a 33% approval rating and a fierce opponent to progressive policies (he used FDR’s New Deal as an example of a “bad Democratic policy”). He is also a fierce ally of Trump’s through any and everything: he told the Raleigh News & Observer that he would vote no on impeachment even before the Senate hearings began, and has worked (especially) tirelessly to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court picks. The Intercept calls him “an avatar for the GOP’s reactionary turn to the right.” Currently, he’s made a name for himself defending Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as DeJoy and Trump intentionally threaten the functioning of the USPS. If we want more progressive policies, it’s imperative to unseat him.
The bottom line: Cal Cunningham will be a progressive ally in Congress, will flip a (particularly) red seat, and help us flip the Senate Democrat. More info: Check out his website.

CAMPAIGN FOR CAL:
Sign up to volunteer at ​THIS LINK.

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Doug Jones (Alabama)
Cook Political Election Rating: Lean R
Incumbent Senator

In 2017, we had our first peek at the coming Blue Wave when Democrat Doug Jones was elected Senator in the staunchly red state of Alabama, and with some hard work we can defend his seat in 2020 with the coming tide.

After Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election, Trump appointed then-senator for Alabama Jeff Sessions to the post of US Attorney General. To fill the vacancy, a special election was held in December of 2017. And despite the seat having been occupied by a Republican for the previous 30 years, Doug Jones, a Democrat and former US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, took his shot. While early polling had Doug’s opponent, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, with a solid lead, a media investigation into Moore’s past pedophilia and sexual abuse, including the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year old girl, soured public opinion. Still, it was a close election, and Doug eked out a win with a mere 50.0% of the vote to Moore’s 48.3%.

Because this was a special election, Doug will have to defend his seat this November against Republican and former college football coach Tommy Tuberville, whose claim to fame is leading Auburn University to a 13-0 season. (Contrast this to Doug’s history as the prosecutor responsible for the conviction of two Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 1963 Birmingham church bombing). Nevertheless, Tuberville is leading in polls and Doug needs all the help he can get.

​The choice here is clear. If you want to help keep a red state’s blue Senator in one of the nation’s most high-profile elections, volunteer for Doug Jones’ campaign to defeat Tommy Tuberville this November. For more info, see his
website.

CAMPAIGN FOR DOUG:
You can sign up to phone bank or text Alabama voters at Jones’ website here: https://www.onealabamaaction.com/.

House

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Jackie Gordon (NY-02)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Running for an open seat (one that was formerly Republican)

New York’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers much of Long Island, has been held by Republicans for years – but in 2020, we have a chance to flip the seat blue in Jackie Gordon’s toss-up race against Republican Andrew Garbarino, because the Republican incumbent is retiring.

Gordon was born in Jamaica,  grew up in Queens, and has spent her life in public service, as an educator, a councilmember, and a soldier. Gordon has spent 3 decades in NYC public schools, and is committed to improving the quality and accessibility of K-12 and higher education nationwide. 
As a combat veteran, she understands the importance of keeping weapons of war out of the wrong hands; she supports gun control measures such as red flag laws and universal background checks. She’s also dedicated to ensuring access to health care for all Americans, including birth control and abortion, and addressing the opioid epidemic. She recognizes the imperative of preserving the environment and supports clean energy. And finally, she’s determined to end tax breaks for the wealthy and gain tax relief for the middle class. Gordon has served on the Babylon town council since 2007, and now it’s time to send her passion and experience to Washington! 

Her opponent, Andrew Garbarino is a member of the New York State Assembly and plans to take on the "liberal machine" if elected, according to his website. He's a fierce ally of the former representative of the district, Peter King, who built up a disturbing reputation as a conservative Representative. Garbarino is a proud opponent of criminal justice reform and supporter of police unions, and is also opposed to progressive healthcare policies.
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Bottom line: Jackie Gordon has spent her life in public service in a variety of roles, and will bring much needed perspective and experience to Congress. Find out more on her website.

CAMPAIGN FOR JACKIE:
You can sign up to call and text voters for Jackie Gordon at her site: https://jackiegordonforcongress.com/get-involved. 

The campaign hosts virtual phonebanks (via Zoom) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, in two-hour shifts starting at 10 and ending at 4. There are also Wednesday (6-7 pm) and Saturday (5-6 pm) textbanks.
Scroll down on the page to find a list of events; for the most complete list, use the filters to find all phonebanks and textbanks. Keep in mind that most events are weekly, even if listed for a single date; click on the link to sign up for a later week if you’d like.

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Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-06)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Running against Republican incumbent

Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician and cancer-research advocate, is running to challenge five-term incumbent Republican incumbent Rep. David Schweikert in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District. (She notes on her website that Congress recently found him guilty of 11 ethics violations, fined him $50,000, and unanimously reprimanded him.)

In April 2018, she came within 5 percentage points of winning a special election in the nearby Valley-based 8th Congressional District — a formidable showing in an area that hasn’t elected a Democrat since 1980. 

Tipirneni came to America from India with her family at the age of three. After some struggle, her father got a job in structural engineering in Ohio, and she was raised in a working-class suburb of Cleveland by him and her mother, a social worker. She eventually went to medical school and worked in multiple emergency departments. After her mother and nephew died of cancer, she oriented her passion and skill towards cancer research. Her all-around progressive platform emphasizes healthcare and education.

Tipirneni advocates for a public option in health insurance in which the government would compete with private companies. She looks to draw on her experience in the emergency room as inspiration: “In the emergency room, I saw firsthand the consequences of failed Washington leadership, parents afraid to bring in their sick child because they are worried about the bill, women who found a lump in their breast but wait too long to get it checked, seniors with worsening chronic illnesses because they rationed their prescription drugs they could not afford,” she explained in a statement. More info: Watch her campaign video here.

CAMPAIGN FOR HIRAL:

Sign up to volunteer for her here!! You can text, phonebank, “safely distribute yard signs,” host a virtual meet and greet, recruit volunteers, and more.

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Candace Valenzuela (TX-24)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Running for an open seat

Candace Valenzuela is the Democratic candidate for Texas’s 24th congressional district, an area that is becoming more Democratic. If elected, Candace would be the first Afro-Latinx person in Congress and would flip another Northern Texas Congressional seat! She is a progressive champion who is running a grassroots campaign against Republican Beth Van Duyne who Candace says is “more focused on appeasing donors and corporate PACs.” Van Duyne has also been endorsed by Donald Trump.

Candace previously served on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board in which she was instrumental in advocating for greater fiscal transparency, expanding STEM education, vocational training, coding academies in district schools, funding for school renovations and ensuring that the district is inclusive and welcoming to students of all backgrounds. Candace is the daughter of US Army Vets, has experienced houselessness, and received a scholarship to college in California. These experiences have pushed her to fight for education access, working families, and healthcare. Candace has been endorsed by a number of important Democrats: the late Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden,  Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and more. You can read more about Candace and her positions on her website here.

CAMPAIGN FOR CANDACE:

The volunteer form from her site is here, and you can directly sign up for a phone banking session here.

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Lucy McBath (GA-06)
Cook Political Election Rating: Leaning Democratic

Incumbent Representative
Lucy McBath is running for Congress as a Representative of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. Lucy currently holds the seat, running against Karen Handel, who was the incumbent in 2018 when Lucy beat her. In 2012, Lucy's son Jordan was shot and killed, which sparked her fight to end gun violence and get involved in politics. After the 2017 Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland, she decided to run for Congress. She has also survived breast cancer twice in her life, motivating her focus on improving national healthcare. We also covered Lucy when she ran for office in 2018-- see our coverage of her then at this link.

While in office since 2018, Lucy has successfully written legislation to make pharmaceuticals more affordable; supported the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act to protect small businesses; proposed and passed the HAVEN Act, which provides support to veterans; proposed five pieces of the Higher Education Act, in an effort to expand the accessibility and quality of education; and successfully requested $500 million in COVID-19 relief. 

​Cook Political Report
rates this race a lean-left, but the alternative is dire. Handel, her opponent, avidly supports extreme police involvement in schools and everyday life and praises Trump’s plans for the wall and enforcement at the border. She has supported the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which aims to take federal funding away from sanctuary cities. We need to win this race so Lucy can continue fighting for Georgians by championing progressive policies in the House.  Read more about Lucy on her website here.

CAMPAIGN FOR LUCY:
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Sign up to phonebank ​HERE.

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Joe Cunningham (SC-01)
Cook Political Election Rating: Toss-up
Incumbent Representative

Congressman Joe Cunningham is the first Democrat to represent this district in South Carolina in 38 years, filling the seat that Mark Sanford lost in the 2018 Republican primary. SC-01 runs along the South Carolina coast in the region called the Lowcountry from Charleston down to Bluffton. 

Joe has made protecting the beautiful shorelines a priority. Before joining Congress, he worked as a construction lawyer and an ocean engineer. In 2018, Joe eked out his victory in a large part due to his campaign promises to protect the environment, and since then has been working hard to turn those words into action. In the past two years, he was the lead sponsor on a House bill that banned offshore drilling, as well as the Great American Outdoors Act (recently signed into law). Trump won SC-01 by 13 points in 2016, and the district remains R+10. Yet Joe's race was one of the closest in the country in 2018, decided by 1.3%, or less than 4,000 votes -- and this year is expected to be almost as tight. More about Joe at his website. Bonus fun content: SC Rep. Joe Cunningham has a blast at committee hearings.

CAMPAIGN FOR JOE:

The campaign is focusing its efforts on virtual phone banking! You can sign up for a slot here.  If you are interested in becoming a fellow, which requires a minimum of 10 hours a week and offers a variety of professional development opportunities, please email Evan Farley, an organizer with the campaign, at farley@dccc.org, or just text him at 718-744-5220 with any questions! ​

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Xochitl Torres-Small (NM-02)
Cook Election Rating: Toss-up
Incumbent Representative

Xochitl Torres Small is running for reelection to New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her opponent, Yvette Herrell, self-identifies as a “lifelong Conservative Republican who has supported President Donald Trump from the beginning.” Does this race sound familiar? That’s because it is- Xochitl narrowly defeated Yvette in 2018, by only 1.8% (less than 4,000 votes). 

As a congresswoman, Xochitl has sponsored many bills including the Save Our Rural Healthcare Providers Act and the Defense Small Business Advancement Act. She has been a leader in supporting small businesses, worked across party lines to pass critical COVID-19 legislation and fought for accessible and affordable healthcare for everyone, all while educating on and advocating for solutions to local needs. 

​Xochitl’s district is one of 30 currently democratic-held U.S. House seats that Trump won in 2016. It has been deemed that most of these races are expected to be among the House’s
most competitive elections in 2020, and with a (repeat) very conservative opponent, Xochitl needs your help.
​More info on Xochitl: her website.

CAMPAIGN FOR XOCHITL:
Click this link to fill out a volunteer form and/or find virtual phonebank Zooms with the campaign!

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Kendra Horn (OK-05)
Cook Election Rating: Toss-up

Incumbent Representative
Kendra Horn, a Congresswoman for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, is running for reelection in the district where she beat out the Republican incumbent to win in 2018, becoming the first Democrat to hold that district’s seat in 44 years. She is the first Democratic woman elected to the House in Oklahoma.

Kendra is a fifth generation Oklahoman whose professional background includes running two nonprofits focused on developing leadership skills and encouraging women to run for public office. She’s also worked in the aerospace industry and as an attorney and mediator. Her platform involves combating partisanship and politics to help families in concrete ways.


​She has a 100% rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and the House Committee on Armed Services. According to GovTrack, she sponsors bills primarily in education, crime and law enforcement , armed forces and national security, science/technology/communications, indigenous rights, government operations and politics, and agriculture and food. More info on Kendra: her website here.

CAMPAIGN FOR KENDRA:
​Sign up to volunteer here.

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