Hi John --

Amongst national tumult, thousands of first-time candidates continue to campaign -- safely -- for state and local offices across the country. These inspirational hopefuls are working in their communities to provide support, structure and care where it is most needed.

Take a look at one of these candidates in our spotlight on Terrell McKinney, a father, community organizer, activist, and wrestling coach within the North Omaha community who's now running for the Nebraska State Legislature in District 11. Once elected, Terrell plans to focus on economic equity and opportunity, criminal justice reform, education, healthcare access, and constant community engagement.

Thanks,

Run for Something

Hi Terrell, what or who inspired you to run for something?
I was inspired to run by my community. Since 2016, I’ve worked as an organizer/activist looking to solve many issues that have come up. Over the span of that time, I got fed up with the status quo. Quite frankly, I didn’t feel like much was being done to address our issues.

How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected your campaign and your community? What have you been doing in your community as a candidate?
COVID-19 destroyed my canvassing strategy, but I’ve adjusted to doing more online engagement on social media, increased phone banking, and sending out text messages to constituents. I’ve also been assisting with handing out food with local businesses and nonprofits.

What issue is most pressing in your community right now?
That’s tough because there isn’t one issue that’s most pressing. Currently, healthcare access is the most pressing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once we come out of this it will be economic equity and opportunity. Our community already struggles economically but this pandemic will make matters worse. To address both issues, I plan to increase healthcare access and to empower community health centers. Second, I plan to establish an economic equity package to address multiple issues from an economic equity lens like education, infrastructure, resources for cultural centers, housing, small business, jobs, and healthcare.

What’s surprised you the most about being a candidate?
The response from my community. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure because this is my first time running for office. Overall, it’s been great, which has been motivating for me to keep pushing forward.

As you’ve been meeting with voters in your community, what is something new that you learned?
I’ve learned that people actually care. For years in our community, you consistently hear that people don’t care and don’t want to be involved. Yet in reality, they actually care a lot and want to be engaged as much as possible.

If you could change one thing in politics today what would it be?
The lack of resources for candidates especially candidates of color. It is an uphill battle, especially when you’re doing this for the first time. You get a lot of suggestions, but there isn’t really one central resource for a candidate to look to for resources and advice.

What is one takeaway you’d like to leave your constituents with?
Our community is at a crossroads. We can either stick with the status quo or elect someone that is going to take our community into the future bringing the community to the table. I’m also going to be unapologetic about standing and speaking up for our community no matter the issue.

Inspired? Great -- now chip in to help us find and support candidates like Terrell.