John,

As we celebrate the holidays and get ready for the New Year, it’s nice to take a breath and reflect on what we’ve done together this year. And as you know, we’ve had a busy year fighting for — and strengthening — our democracy.

So before we charge into 2023, I want to share our impressive year in numbers:

• 1 historic legislative victory with the passage of the Electoral Count Reform Act this month.
• 6 numbers to know from Issue One’s regular analyses of how much money members of Congress raise and how much pressure they’re under to fundraise.
• 12 donors highlighted in our report about the people bankrolling election-denying secretary of state candidates who promoted disinformation about the 2020 election.
• 15 episodes of our “Swamp Stories” podcast that inform the public on political reform issues from a bipartisan lens. This year’s episodes included debriefs on the January 6th Committee’s work, explorations of the ways money impacts our politics, and a debunking of the film “2000 Mules.”
• 16 Faces of Democracy participants joined Issue One in Washington, D.C. for a fly-in to raise awareness in Congress about the need for increased funding for elections and election worker protections.
• 39 government, political, and civic leaders devoted to defending our elections’ legitimacy through leadership on the National Council on Election Integrity. Watch their recent in-person event!
• 48 members of Issue One’s newest initiative, the Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM), which promotes bipartisan solutions to reshape social media and ensure the well-being of our kids, our democracy, and our national security. See more from their launch event.
• 1,000+ staff in Congress who received raises after the House established a pay floor spurred in part by media coverage of Issue One’s “Fair Pay” report.
• Tens of millions of Americans reached with pro-democracy messaging through news articles, op-eds, TV, and radio appearances through nearly 400 (and counting!) media hits.

This is just a small snapshot of our impact. 2022 also marked Issue One’s 10th anniversary — check out all we’ve accomplished together over the last decade!

You were vital to our success in 2022 and over the last 10 years — thanks for being part of our movement and supporting a stronger democracy.

Onwards,

Nick Penniman
Founder and CEO