EMILYs List Endorses Natalie Tennant for West Virginia Secretary of State
For Immediate Release
October 2, 2020
EMILYs List Endorses Natalie Tennant for West Virginia Secretary of State
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Natalie Tennant for West Virginia secretary of state. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“Natalie Tennant is a proven leader and champion for justice in West Virginia, and EMILYs List is proud to endorse her campaign. During her previous service as secretary of state, her office returned $4 million of taxpayer money to the state’s general fund and made West Virginia the third state in the nation to pass automatic voter registration. From creating a way for deployed military members to vote online for the first time in our nation’s history, to safeguarding the integrity of West Virginia’s elections, Natalie is the bold and innovative thinker West Virginians deserve. At a time when voting rights and voters’ faith in the electoral system face unprecedented attacks, we need leaders like Natalie who will fight tooth and nail to protect the interests of Mountain State working families. EMILYs List is thrilled to stand with Natalie, and we look forward to electing her once again as West Virginia's secretary of state in November.”
Natalie Tennant is a lifelong trailblazer who served as West Virginia’s first Democratic woman secretary of state. Raised on a farm in Marion County, Natalie worked as a TV news anchor in Clarksburg and Charleston, and started a small business with her husband. During her tenure as secretary of state, Natalie modernized West Virginia’s election system by implementing automatic voter registration and an award-winning pilot project that enables deployed men and women in uniform to vote online. Natalie earned her undergraduate and master’s degree from West Virginia University.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 55,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices.
