Dear John,
As we say goodbye to 2022 and prepare to welcome a new year, I wanted to share a few reflections about our work together.
My co-founders and I started Sister District in the wake of the 2016 election as part of a nationwide uprising not just against Trump, but also the systems and ideas that enabled his rise. From the very beginning, we have focused on state legislatures because we understand the outsized importance they have on every issue we care about, from abortion to climate to the economy to democracy itself.
Even so, we never could have imagined just how important state legislatures would become. The constitutional earthquake of Dobbs turned the question of abortion back to the states. And the January 6 insurrectionists were fueled by the fringe, far-right Independent State Legislature theory, which Trump urged should give state legislatures power to choose their own presidential electors. This theory is currently before the arch-conservative Supreme Court and, even if only endorsed in its weakest form, state legislatures would still gain much more power than they already have.
It is clear that states are ascendant. And while Democrats are catching up, Republicans are still years ahead of us. But we can turbocharge our progress with a laser focus and the resources to back it up. This means investing in candidates, lawmakers, and organizers who are deeply rooted in their communities, and providing them the support they ask for and need most; capturing voters’ imaginations with stories about our shared values that motivate action; and recommitting to the goal of long-term power, not shiny objects.
So we look to the future with confidence and clarity. At Sister District, we will continue to flip, hold, and make inroads in key states every year to put us in the best position for redistricting after the 2030 Census, and to drive downballot turnout to win up and down the ticket—including the next presidential race in 2024. And because elections are just one piece of the puzzle, we will also continue to work with our partners and grow our programs to support the candidate pipeline, frontline lawmakers, community-based organizations, research, and narrative change—all to build enduring power in the states.
Our comprehensive 2022 Impact Report will be published in January, detailing all that we have accomplished together over the past year, and our 2023-2024 Strategy will follow after that. In the meantime, I hope you are having a restful and restorative holiday season. Whether you are a volunteer, donor, candidate, staffer, or thought partner, thank you for making this work possible. I’m so grateful to have you by our side. See you in the new year!
Onward,
