• Press Release

EMILYs List Announces Nominees for 2019 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

February 11, 2019

For Immediate Release
February 11, 2019

EMILYs List Announces Nominees for 2019 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced its nominees for the 2019 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. They include: California Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy, Florida state Representative Margaret Good, Nevada Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, Madison City Councilwoman Arvina Martin, and New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou.

“Amidst a nation of inspiring women leaders, these elected officials stand out for their commitment to service and improving their communities,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List. “Public servants in state and local offices are the backbone of policies that impact our everyday lives, including access to affordable health care, improvements to public education, job creation, and more. All of these women shine as fighters for their communities. EMILYs List is proud to honor them for their accomplishments and we look forward to seeing what bright futures they have in store.”

Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018.

The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input. Online voting can be found here.

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 dollars 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 40,000 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.