Today, we are thrilled to announce our 2021 and 2022 state targets! Last month, we announced Sister District’s strategy for the next two years, as we continue to fill critical gaps at every point in the political lifecycle. Our strategy involves four pillars to build progressive power in state legislatures: winning elections, supporting organizers, developing legislators and the pipeline, and educating and empowering the public and our community.

We can’t do this work without your support. If you’re already sold on the importance of building progressive power at the state level, please help us go even bigger over the next two years with a donation of $20.22 today.

The targets we’re announcing today help to implement our first pillar: winning elections. As always, our electoral strategy involves endorsing and supporting candidates in three types of state legislative chambers: blue flips, blue holds, and blue inroads. And, we prioritize races where we can build momentum at the bottom of the ticket in places that also have a high-priority Democratic opportunity at the top of the ticket. Check out our website for a deep dive on our electoral strategy, and read on for an overview.

2021

This year, we’ll be returning to Virginia for the third time, supporting candidates who will help protect and expand Democrats’ majority in the House of Delegates. This will be a banner general election year in the Commonwealth, with a competitive gubernatorial race and important progressive legislation at stake including banning assault rifles, raising the minimum wage, expanding voting rights, legalizing cannabis, and the public health response to and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ll also begin raising funds for some of our 2022 states, especially Texas and Pennsylvania. Raising money now will allow our eventual candidates in those states to hit the ground running as soon as we endorse them next year.
 

2022

Next year, 83% of the nation’s state legislative seats will be up in the general election. If history is any precedent, the GOP will come out swinging in the midterms – and we’ll need to pull out all the stops to protect our gains at the state and federal levels. That’s why we’ll prioritize states with nested competitive Senate, House, and Gubernatorial elections.

While the final selection of states will depend on a variety of factors, including the challenges and opportunities presented by new district maps drawn in the next round of redistricting, here are the states in which our endorsements are likely to fall:

Blue Flips:

• Arizona Senate and House
• Minnesota Senate
• New Hampshire Senate and House

Blue Holds:

• Colorado Senate
• Nevada Senate

Blue Inroads:

• Texas House
• Georgia Senate and House
• Wisconsin Senate and Assembly
• Pennsylvania Senate and House
• Florida Senate and House
• North Carolina Senate and House

Right now, we are continuing to build relationships and listening to partners on the ground in Virginia and each of our 2022 states, carefully watching candidate filing deadlines, and launching our endorsement process. Due to delays with the U.S. Census, we currently expect the Virginia general election to move forward on the current district maps. Therefore, we plan to announce our first wave of Virginia endorsements in early April, with a second wave of endorsements in June. We’ll also be opening our 2022 district funds in March.

We are so thankful for your tireless work over the last four years, and we are confident that the Sister District community will step up to protect and expand our hard-won gains. Here’s to the next two years!

Onward,
Gaby Goldstein
Co-Founder, Political Director