EMILYs List on Minnesota Special Elections

For Immediate Release

February 12, 2018

EMILY's List on Minnesota Special Elections

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, released the following statement in reaction to the special elections in Minnesota Senate District 54 and Minnesota House District 23B:

“We are proud to congratulate EMILY's List candidate Karla Bigham on her victory in tonight's special election in Minnesota,” said EMILYs List President Stephanie Schriock. “By electing Karla, Minnesota voters have added a strong woman leader to the decision-making table, ensuring that the working families of Senate District 54 have an ally fighting for them in the upper chamber.

“It was also heartening that our endorsed candidate Melissa Wagner over-performed in a previously deep red House district. Working families are clearly eager for change. With an historic number of women stepping up to run for office in their communities, EMILYs List will continue to work to elect women and up and down the ballot whose leadership will impact the political landscape for generations to come.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.