EMILYs List Endorses Nirva LaFortune and Victoria Gu for Election in Rhode Island

For Immediate Release
August 5, 2022

EMILYs List Endorses Nirva LaFortune and Victoria Gu for Election in Rhode Island

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Nirva LaFortune for mayor of Providence  and Victoria Gu for Rhode Island state Senate. EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:

“Nirva LaFortune and Victoria Gu are excellent candidates who will fight for a better future for all Rhode Islanders. Both candidates are running to represent the places they grew up in and are committed to fighting against the inequity and obstacles faced by the communities who live there. EMILYs List is thrilled to support these two distinguished candidates, and we know that they are the right choice for Rhode Island.”  

Nirva LaFortune is an immigrant, working mom, and Providence city council member running for mayor. When she was three years old, her family fled Haiti to escape dictatorship. LaFortune grew up undocumented while her family worked hard to make ends meet, teaching her lessons on inequity and grit. She attended Providence’s public schools, going on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Temple University and master’s degree from Brown University. Over 16 years ago, she lost her partner to gun violence and has dedicated her career to public service. Throughout her time on the city council, she has advocated tirelessly for increased resources in schools, affordable housing, and a clean and environmentally conscious city. She is ready to continue addressing the challenges Providence faces as the city’s mayor.

Victoria Gu is a daughter of immigrants and the chair of Charlestown’s Climate Resiliency Commission, and she is running to represent the district where she was raised in the Rhode Island state Senate. Gu graduated from Harvard University and went on to work in the tech industry in Silicon Valley. During the pandemic, Gu realized the importance of community and moved back to her hometown in Senate District 38. She plans on addressing the rising costs of living, advocating for reproductive rights, and a healthy environment in the state Senate. 

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.