Due to the large number of retirements this year, a lot of seats are opening up. Some are quitting politics for good, while others are launching campaigns for other elected office. In Michigan’s 18th District, State Representative Jason Hoskins, the incumbent, is giving up his seat to run for Michigan State Senate. Into this vacancy stepped millennial Mykale (Kelly) Garrett (she/her). Kelly is being endorsed in her race by US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic Socialist who defeated a primary challenge from Kelly in 2022. As mayor of Lathrup Village, she advanced key initiatives focused on public safety, infrastructure, and community engagement. Kelly credits her Christian faith with shaping her views on protecting women’s rights (including reproductive and voting), protecting trans individuals from violence and discrimination, and ensuring that all children have access to quality education.
Read MoreSo far, 2026 is shaping up to have a lot of Gen Z candidates! Which is what we want here at Jejune, to see young, progressive people stepping up to challenge and replace the gerontocracy that plagues all levels of government in America.
In North Carolina, Kyah Creekmore, is one of those candidates. Kyah is a democratic socialist running to challenge Virgina Foxx, who is not only one of Congress’s oldest members (and the oldest from North Carolina) but is also a right-wing representative, and an opponent of any and every policy that aims to move our country forward. Kyah grew up in poverty, moving around as his single mother worked three jobs at a time. He experienced firsthand the cruel bureaucracy that runs the American healthcare system, being underpaid working for companies where the top officers made extraordinary profits, and drinking potentially polluted water. Kyah is running on a platform of Medicare for All, climate justice, and gun reform.
Read MoreToday we are highlighting Amanda Edwards (she/her), a former member of the Houston City Council. Endorsed by EMILY’S List, Amanda is focused on rolling back Trump’s cuts to federal assistance programs, including SNAP, FEMA, Meals on Wheels, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, that affect the constituents in TX-18. Amanda is particularly passionate about supporting equitable health outcomes, having served on a steering committee to address the issue on black maternal deaths among other issues, and being an active proponent of funding measures like the Momnibus Bill to reduce the black maternal death disparities we face.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling our youngest candidate of the season, Nate Douglas (he/him). At 23 years of age, Nate is no stranger to politics, having won his first elected office at age 19 to be the supervisor of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District. This gay Gen-Z coder decided to enter politics to protect working-class families like his own from corporate greed, advocating for homeowners and renters against exploitative practices, championing bodily autonomy under a regressive state government, and fighting to protect the environment from the influence of big developers and fossil fuel industries. The top three issues he is most passionate about are climate change, economic justice, and healthcare.
Read MoreChristina Henderson (she/her) is one of four At-large members of the Council of the District of Columbia. The Council comprises a representative from each of DC’s 8 wards, as well as a chairperson and four representatives who represent the whole city, including Christina. A political independent, Christina identifies herself as a “pragmatic progressive,” championing causes such as reproductive and maternal health (she chairs the Health Committee of the Council), early childhood education, transportation equity and safety, and higher education access and student loan forgiveness.
Read MoreThis week we are profiling Erin Maye Quade (she/her/hers), a former Minnesota State Representative currently running for Minnesota State Senate. A biracial LGBTQ millennial, she and her wife Alyse are active in Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) politics. Erin focuses on a variety of important policy issues such as reproductive rights, health, and justice; gun safety (leading a 24-hour sit-in protest at the Minnesota House after the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting); and economic justice for all. At nine months pregnant, she went into labor while delivering a speech at the DFL party convention in April 2022; she later gave birth to daughter Harriet.
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