First Mile 2022 Press Release
FIRST MILE DONORS PROPEL PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES OF COLOR TO VICTORY ACROSS WASHINGTON STATE
WESTERN WA – In the 2022 election cycle, the First Mile Circle backed a slate of 22 progressive candidates of color, with historic wins among their 11 victories. U.S. Representative-Elect Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) won by just 2,600 votes out of nearly 320,000 ballots cast in the district, illustrating the impact of grassroots, people-powered campaigning to represent working families in Southwest Washington.
In Pierce and Snohomish Counties, First Mile demonstrated how uplifting the natural leaders in our communities creates a pipeline for future wins with a second round of funding for candidates Sharlett Mena and Brandy Donaghy. Mena, who ran for State Representative in Tacoma’s 29th Legislative District (LD) with First Mile’s support in 2020, leveraged relationships and experience from that campaign to win her election this year. In 2021, First Mile supported Donaghy in her campaign for Snohomish County Council and while she didn’t win that race, her values-driven campaign built excitement about her leadership and she secured an appointment as State Representative in the 44th LD. This year, First Mile supported her to retain this seat. First Mile is not just diversifying offices, but supporting candidates who are in deep relationships with their communities and have taken a stand on economic justice, immigrant rights, affordable housing, community safety, and more.
Central to this cycle’s victories was the coalescing of resources to build competitive campaigns for progressive candidates of color that have historically been excluded from democratic processes. For city and county level candidates, First Mile Circle donations represented an average of 29% of campaign fundraising. For state level candidates, First Mile made up an average of 13% of funds.
“First Mile day, it was a turning point in the campaign…because it is the thing that legitimized me to so many voters, because people were watching me to see if I, as a woman of color, could beat a white male candidate who had been described as a ‘career politician.’ When I surpassed my opponent, it said to the whole world: this is a legitimate candidate – she could and can and will win this race. And did, with 58% of the vote,” said Leesa Manion, 2022 First Mile candidate and King County Prosecutor-elect at a recent event. “The other thing that is intangible is that it [First Mile] was the thing that gave me hope...And as a candidate of color and someone who spoke to a lot of people of color who someday hope to run, it was also the thing that said: if you can do this, and if people stand with you, then people are going to stand with me. One of the benefits of being a First Mile candidate is I have joined the Circle, where we together are holding the door open for others.”
Manion, the first woman and first person of color to ever serve as King County Prosecutor, is deeply invested in both effective prevention and diversion strategies that will keep young people in school and on the path to success, reduce recidivism, and address underlying issues such as mental health and addiction.
Our democracy is strongest when we reduce barriers to civic leadership because all of us benefit when the leaders whose communities are most impacted by public health, economic, and community safety responses are developing policies to solve these challenges. This is why First Mile was founded – to identify bold, adept candidates of color who are the natural leaders in their communities, and break down the barrier of campaign funding so they can spend more time talking to voters and less time chasing down donations.
First Mile has galvanized over $1.2 million in financial support for progressive candidates up and down the ballot in its first four years, supporting dozens of historically under-resourced candidates to win. “We know that voter turnout is the key to winning elections, and people are more likely to vote if they can connect with a candidate’s values and lived experience,” said Dionne Foster, Executive Director of First Mile’s founding organization Progress Alliance of Washington. “First Mile is proud to be part of the movement to increase representation among elected officials at all levels of government.”
About First Mile: First Mile is a donor circle that supports progressive candidates of color in primarily down ballot races across Washington state who are bold, transformational, and accountable to the communities they represent. Donations are given directly from donors to candidate campaigns with First Mile’s community partner recommendations serving as a people of color-led, community-informed process for determining which candidates to support, which reinforces the ties between candidates and their communities. Since its founding in 2019, the cross-class, multi-racial donor circle has moved over $1.2 million to 95 progressive candidates of color across Washington state, helping 53 transformational community leaders step into public office.
To learn more about our efforts to increase Washington’s representation, visit https://www.firstmilecircle.org/.
