PoliticaCT will announce its first endorsements in the November 2018 elections on Tuesday, May 29th at 4:30 PM on the North side of the State Capitol.
PoliticaCT is an issue and values-based membership organization, working to actively recruit, mentor, and support strong women candidates in CGA races who fulfill three main requirements: 1. Fierce advocates for PoliticaCT priority issues*. 2. Running in a winnable district 3. Running in a district where an opponent does not support these issues, or there is an open seat.
Mary Abrams (13th State Senate District)
Ms. Abrams is challenging Len Suzio. Mary is a strong progressive and an advocate for education, women’s rights, worker rights and gun safety. Mary has worked for many years as a public school special education teacher and school administrator. She knows firsthand the value of education and equity in our society.
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Julie Kushner (24th State Senate District)
Ms. Kushner has spent her career advocating for workers and for women’s rights. She has organized child care workers for UAW and been a consistent voice for progressive values at the state capitol. She understands the value of hard work and good jobs and will fight for women’s rights, economic growth and fairness.
PoliticaCT Board President April Capone Quote: “Today is an important step for PoliticaCT and for the State of CT. PoliticaCT is building a membership organization, and in 6 short months, we have over 1,000 members, eager to work to elect progressive women. Candidates like Mary Abrams and Julie Kushner are exactly who we need to join the State Senate, to move our state forward. We can then pass critical policies like paid family leave, fair work schedules and protect women from sexual assault. We can grow our economy with investments in education, higher education and health care.”
Julie Kushner Quote: “PoliticaCT is poised to help woman shatter that political glass ceiling in 2018 and I am so honored to be endorsed today. This endorsement will communicate to women across Connecticut – when we elect women, priorities for women and working families, like Paid Medical and Family Leave, raising the minimum wage, protections against sexual harassment can become realities. Connecticut needs an economy that is fair for all of us.”
Mary Abrams Quote: “I am both proud and humbled to be one of the first candidates endorsed by PoliticaCT. As I challenge a State Senator who is virulently anti-women and pro-Trump’s destructive agenda, I know that we will be victorious if we harness today’s surging grassroots activism and boldly affirm our core values of equality, dignity and respect for all.”
State Senator Beth Bye: “Mary Abrams and Julie Kushner are the first of our endorsements and are ideal candidates to showcase what PoliticaCT hoped to accomplish when it was founded in the wake of the 2016 federal election. They have stepped up to run. And our members are ready to step up to help them win”
PoliticaCT was founded in December of 2017 with a mission to build a more progressive Connecticut through issue advocacy and the strategic recruitment, mentoring, and support of progressive women to run in targeted, winnable elections at the state level.
PoliticaCT Board Members include April Capone, Meghan Forgione Scanlon, Millie Torres-Ferguson, Jamie Mills, Beth Bye, Marilyn Moore, Cristin McCarthy-Vahey, Lori Pelletier, Robyn Porter, Tessa Marquis, and Nan Birdwhistell.
PoliticaCT supports progressive values
- Unconditionally pro-choice and access to full reproductive health care
- Funding for universal pre-K and funding for childcare
- LGBTQ equality
- Sensible gun safety laws
- A livable wage
- Meaningful paid family and medical leave
- Collective bargaining
- Criminal justice reforms
- High-quality public schools
- Environmental protection and equity
- Health care as a right for all people
- The right of all people to live free from violence and harassment
- The rights of immigrants including a timely path to citizenship