EMILYs List Endorses Jackie Gordon for Congress

For Immediate Release
February 15, 2022 

EMILY's List Endorses Jackie Gordon for Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Jackie Gordon to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District. Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

In endorsing Jackie, “Jackie Gordon is a proven leader and a champion for Long Island families. She has dedicated her career to service as an educator, in the United States Army Reserve, and as an elected leader on the Babylon Town Council. EMILYs List knows Gordon has what it takes to mount a formidable grassroots campaign, build a strong coalition of support, and bring new leadership to the diverse Long Island communities that make up this newly redrawn district. We have an opportunity to not only pick up a seat, but also to elect an exceptional Black woman who will give Long Island families a powerful new voice in a more equitable and diverse Congress. EMILYs List is proud to be with Gordon every step of the way in this fight.” 

Jackie Gordon is a dedicated public servant running for Congress to fight for Long Island working families. Gordon was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and her family came to the United States in pursuit of the American dream when she was seven years old. Growing up in Queens, New York, Gordon attended public schools. She has education degrees from Hunter College and Queens College, and was a guidance counselor at Wilson Technological Center in Farmingdale, N.Y., where she mentored and advised Long Island high school students for nearly 22 years. A veteran, Gordon enlisted in the United States Army Reserve as a college student and went on to serve as a platoon leader in Germany during Operation Desert Storm, an operations officer at Guantanamo Bay, as a battle captain in Baghdad during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and as Commander of the 310th Military Police Battalion in Afghanistan in 2012. She retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2014. She was elected to the Babylon Town Council in 2006, becoming one of only two Black candidates elected to town board seats in Suffolk County since the early 1990s, and has worked tirelessly to serve her community. Gordon has served on the board of Girl Scouts of America Suffolk County and as a member of the Suffolk County Charter Commission.

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, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% 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.