EMILYs List Celebrates Filipino American Heritage Month and Calls for Greater Representation

For Immediate Release
October 1, 2021

EMILYs List Celebrates Filipino American Heritage Month and Calls for Greater Representation of Filipinas in Elected Office

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List recognizes the beginning of Filipino American Heritage Month. Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
 
“EMILYs List is proud to stand with the Filipino American community this month and uplifts the Filipina candidates who play an important role in protecting and expanding pro-choice majorities, such as Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler who made history as the first Filipina American and one of the first Asian American women to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Still, there is work to be done. There has yet to be a Filipina American serving in Congress or any state's governorship. As the rate of hate crimes against Asian Americans continues to rise and the status of undocumented immigrants is constantly uncertain, it is vital to ensure the government reflects the diversity of the communities it represents.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice 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 and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 158 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women 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. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.