EMILYs List Announces Nominees for 2020 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award
For Immediate Release
June 15, 2020
EMILYs List Announces Nominees for 2020 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 2020 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. They include: Montana state Representative Jade Bahr, North Carolina state Representative Sydney Batch, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, Florida state Representative Anna Eskamani, Texas state Representative Mary González, and Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes.
“During a time when women’s fundamental rights are under constant attack, this diverse and fearless group of women stand out for their dedication to fighting for their communities,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List. “Across the board, these women leaders have advocated for marginalized communities, increased opportunities for women, and worked to make their states more inclusive, more equitable, and more prosperous for all. Policies enacted by elected officials on the state and local level have the greatest impact on our everyday lives, and we are so grateful for the work these legislators do each day on behalf of women and working families everywhere. EMILYs List is proud to honor their work by nominating them for this year’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.”
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 former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, former Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018, and California Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo in 2019.
The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input.
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 50,000 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.
