We won, Friend!

Through absentee ballots and in-person voting yesterday, Michigan’s 13th district residents came out and voted for us to make sure we could keep fighting for justice in Congress. Our 30+ point victory shows that our Squad is big and includes all who believe we must show up for each other and prioritize people over profits.

None of this would be possible without your support, Friend. Together, we reached hundreds of thousands of constituents through doorknocking, calls, and texts—not just to turn people out to vote, but to make sure people have what they need during this pandemic.

To celebrate our victory, can you like and share this post on Facebook, which includes the celebration photo above?

Last night, as we waited for election results, I shared this video thanking our supporters—which of course includes you!

I’m honored to continue to represent you and your family, and I look forward to continuing the work we started.

With every bill that I write and every vote I cast in Congress, it is in partnership with the grassroots and with a vision toward justice.

Your support has enabled us, together, to keep uplifting the people’s demands through policy, and to keep raising the bar for what people can expect from their elected representatives.

Together, we’ve accomplished so much already in just one term in Congress.

• We introduced 40 bills and amendments, passing 19 of them through the House of Representatives.
• One bill we introduced got signed into law: the Payee Fraud Prevention Act, which protects vulnerable retirees and their pensions from fraud to stop scams against seniors and retirees.
• We secured more funding than ever before to protect people’s access to clean water, including $1.5 billion to reconnect people’s water and $23 billion to replace dangerous lead drinking water pipes—finally addressing our country’s drinking water crisis with the seriousness it deserves.
• We also set precedents for constituent services: I was named one of the top 10 Congressmembers to hold the most town halls, we held two congressional hearings in the district (on housing justice and environmental racism), and we opened 4 neighborhood service centers across the district, where residents can come and get everyday issues addressed. Through the centers, we’ve returned nearly $1 million back to residents, who live in one of the poorest districts in the country.
• We created legislative workgroups comprised of residents in the district to help inform meaningful legislation we’ve put forth to address poverty, environmental racism and many other pressing issues impacting residents.
• We pushed for a people-first pandemic response in Congress and took local action. We helped save lives by doing over 100,000 wellness check-ins, prioritizing our seniors and people most vulnerable to COVID-19 and making sure that people knew where they could get tested, find food assistance, and more. Together, we were able to raise over $100,000 for local nonprofits.

And we’re just getting started.

This election wasn’t about my name on the ballot. It was about giving people a voice in government. It was about pushing for the change we deserve, not just what’s politically easy. It’s about us.

With this election, we showed the power of our progressive movement. As I said in this campaign ad: We never back down, especially from those who tell us we don’t deserve better.

We defeated Detroit developers who put profits over public health, corporate PACs, and right-wing groups that have been trying to defeat us because they’re afraid of our power. And they should be!

We aren’t going anywhere. Together, we’re going to make sure our government works for all of us.

Between now and November, we’ll work to turn people out in Michigan to vote Trump out of office, and we’ll support progressive candidates across the country who need our help. Our work isn’t over. Stay tuned for updates, including activism opportunities on the priorities we’re fighting for in the streets and in Congress.

Today, I’m reminded of legendary Detroit activist Grace Lee Boggs’s wisdom: Political change starts in the streets at the grassroots level, and filters up to Congress and the White House. You have the power. And together, we have so much power.

I’m honored to be an activist in Congress during this historic time for our country. We have so much more to achieve together—I can’t wait.

Always serving you,

Rashida

P.S. Here are some photos from yesterday in the district, connecting with people as they went out to the polls: