Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2025 - Adele McClure, Virginia House of Delegates District 2

The 2025 election season is now in full swing and primaries are happening now! Today we are profiling Adele McClure (she/her/hers) who recently won her primary for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates. Adele is a queer millennial of Black and Filipino descent who was the first member of her family to attend college. Although a classically trained pianist, she is a My Chemical Romance superfan who loves punk, emo, and alt rock. The issues Adele is most passionate about include mental health, housing, and gun safety.

A 5k 'Baby Bonus' Is Not the Answer

With the annual birth rate in the US near a record low, the Trump administration is looking for a new way to encourage women to have children. The current solution in discussion within the administration is a money incentive. They believe offering women a $5,000 ‘baby bonus’ after delivering will influence more women to give birth.

While offering women this small sum of money to have a child might seem like a generous idea, it cannot solve such a complex decision.

Odessa Kelly - A Force To Be Reckoned With

When most people think of Nashville, they think of country music, the Grand Ole Opry, and hot chicken. But hopefully in the near future, they will also think of Odessa Kelly. Odessa (she/her) is a working-class, openly gay Black woman and mom of 2 who devotes her time, energy, and resources to the social justice non-profit she founded and now leads, Stand Up Nashville! This former Division I women’s basketball player went into public service after graduation but soon discovered that even a full-time government job is no longer enough to make ends meet. This experience of living hand-to-mouth motivated Odessa to start her social justice work advocating for the working class, housing justice, and racial equity in her home city. Read on to learn more about the force of nature that is Odessa Kelly!

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2024 - Dani Isaacsohn, Ohio House of Representatives, District 24

Today we are profiling Dani Isaacsohn (he/him), a state representative in Ohio running for re-election. A proponent of what he calls “supply-side progressivism”, he advocates investing in the “supply” that brings America prosperity: education, childcare, and affordable housing. Dani, a millennial small business owner, is passionate about restructuring the American economy away from corporate power and more towards workers and consumers; he cites Federal Trade Commission chair Lina M. Khan and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as role models.

SWAC: Influencer, zIssue 54, zissue 54.2Andrew FAugust 7, 2024election 2024, election, #election, education, housing, economy, childcareComment

Guy Horne - People, Connection, Energy

SWAC: Influencer, zIssue 50Tejasvi PradeepAugust 16, 2023music, housing, artistComment

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2022 - Mauree Turner, Oklahoma House of Representatives District 88

This week we are profiling Mauree Turner (they/them/theirs). Mauree is the first openly non-binary U.S. State lawmaker and first Muslim member of the Oklahoma legislature, serving in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. As a Black, millennial, non-binary Muslim, Turner has described the Oklahoma legislature as unwelcoming to them, but continues to work every day for criminal justice reimaginement and rebuilding, affordable and accessible healthcare, fully-funded public education, and living wages for Oklahomans.