Dear John,

First, the good news: at least three Sister District candidates won their races for the Virginia House of Delegates. Our candidates ran tough races where every single vote mattered, and because of your hard work, they will proudly go to Richmond in January. And, all of our additional alumni won their bids for re-election!

There are still races that are too close to be called, but we’re heartbroken that Democrats look poised to narrowly lose their majority in the House of Delegates, along with the statewide offices. The GOP ran aggressively in the Commonwealth this year, with many hard-right candidates who were not only proudly endorsed by Trump, but even some who joined the insurrection on January 6.

Yesterday’s election has shown us that the fight against Trump’s GOP is far from over. Republicans will stop at nothing to take back Congress in 2022, and it’s up to us to stop them. Help us get started on the midterms right now with a donation of $20.22.

The Silver Linings
In 2019, we fought hard to flip the Senate in Virginia, and because of your hard work we achieved that goal. Sister District proudly supported candidates John Bell and Ghazala Hashmi in 2019, and flipping their seats led to Democrats gaining control of the Senate. Senators were not up for election this year, and the Senate remains in the hands of the Democrats.

Even with a few races still undecided, Republicans will likely take a narrow majority in the House of Delegates. But, without a clear majority, they will be forced to work across the aisle in order to pass legislation, coming to compromise with their Democratic colleagues rather than ramming through the most harmful GOP legislation. They will not be able to easily undo the momentous progressive victories you helped to achieve in the past year.

One thing is clear – the Sister District community led the way in terms of driving out of state support to Virginia. Our candidates that won did so because of your hard work:

Wendy Gooditis (HD-10): Sister District volunteers made 54.76% of the campaign’s total phonebank calls, reached out to 21,748 voters, identified 861 supporters, and gave 16% of her early donations . She won by just 626 votes.
Briana Sewell (HD-51): Our volunteers made 75% of Briana’s early phonebank calls, and gave 41% of her early donations. She’ll be the first Black person to represent HD-51 and the youngest woman to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Elizabeth Guzman (HD-31): We made 77% of Elizabeth’s total phonebank calls, and gave 10.5% of her early small dollar donations. She is the first Latina and first woman to be re-elected in HD-31, and the first Latina reelected twice to the House of Delegates.

And we are incredibly proud of what the Sister District community achieved overall. Together, we raised $558,574.31 from 13,782 donations, which is an average of $46,548 per candidate (3.15% increase over 2020). We also made 225,883 phone calls (an increase of 8.33% over 2019), and sent 106,074 postcards to voters (a 160.8% increase over 2017).

Close Races and Tiny Margins
All our races were incredibly close, and a few are still too close to call. Ballots are still being counted, and some may end up so close that they go into a recount. We will provide updates on these races as reliable information comes available:

Alex Askew (HD-85): currently down 202 votes. Sister District made 86.26% of the campaign’s total phonebank calls, and identified 1,479 supporters.
Martha Mugler (HD-91): currently down 272 votes. Sister District made 57.08% of the campaign’s total phonebank calls, and 40% of her early small dollar donations. We raised 40% of the campaign’s early small dollar donations.
Joshua Cole (HD-28): currently down 292 votes. Sister District made 77% of the campaign’s total phonebank calls and identified 1,523 supporters. We raised 22.9% of the campaign’s early small dollar donations.

John, we won’t sugar-coat it: these election results weren’t what we hoped. Although we’ve made progress in the last 5 years, the fact is that with Trump out of office, Republicans are motivated and energized. Next year, 83% of the nation’s state legislative seats will be up for grabs. After a crushing defeat in 2020, we know Republicans will be laser-focused on winning back majorities in Congress and state legislatures across the country.

That's why in 2022 Sister District will be prioritizing states with nested competitive Senate, House, and Gubernatorial elections, and states with redistricting commissions where we expect new maps to be fairer for Democrats. We’ll announce our specific targets in the coming months, but we’re closely watching states including Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Texas.

If you’re ready to start looking forward to 2022, please help us kickstart our work organizing volunteers, persuading voters, and driving Democratic turnout up and down the ticket.

Like you, Trump galvanized many of us to pick up the hard work of civic engagement and grassroots activism. But we stay in the fight because we know that our democracy will only remain intact and vibrant if we put in the work to maintain it. We’re so thankful that you’re here with us.

In solidarity,
The Sister District Team