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Amanda Litman
Executive director, Run for Something
For pumping new blood into Democratic politics
Even if you haven’t heard of Amanda Litman, you might know the name Danica Roem, whom Virginians elected as the first openly transgender state legislator, or Ashley Bennett, who defeated a county official in New Jersey after he posted a meme asking whether the Women’s March would be over in time for participants to cook dinner. Those victories have a lot to do with Litman, a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer who, with her friend Ross Morales Rocketto, founded Run for Something—a PAC that encourages young, diverse Democrats to vie for local office in an effort to recruit a new generation of people, and thinking, into politics.
“My friends say, ‘We remember when you said that you were going to start some PAC—we thought that was interesting, and kind of silly.’” —Amanda Litman
Litman’s project was inspired by the group Emily’s List, which promotes pro-choice female candidates, but it is focused on replenishing the depleted, aging Democratic bench with candidates under 40, in seats ranging from school boards to state assemblies. “The Democratic Party has not paid attention to these offices for a long time,” Litman says. Run for Something was launched the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. The results so far? More than 18,000 candidates have asked for funding or support; by November, Run for Something aims to have endorsed 1,000 candidates altogether; and on the group’s first election night, in 2017, about 40 percent of the local, first-time candidates supported by Run for Something won their races.
—Katelyn Fossett
Q & A
What’s surprised me most about Donald Trump as president is… Absolutely nothing. Hillary warned us!
Is America in 2018 still “a city on a hill” for the rest of the world to look up to? Right now we’re a laughingstock for the world—but thanks to the thousands of young people running for office, especially all the women and people of color, the future is bright.
Ten years from now, what issue in American politics will we regret not paying more attention to today? More than 40 percent of Americans ages 18-29 carry student loan debt, forcing them to delay or adjust decisions like buying a home, starting a family or eventually retiring instead of working until they keel over. The cascading effects of that debt are going to completely screw us all.
If you could singlehandedly repeal one constitutional amendment, what would it be? And if you could ratify one? Repeal the Second Amendment and ratify a massive voting rights amendment that lowers the voting age to 16, mandates automatic voter registration, requires all states to do both vote-by-mail and 30 days of in-person early voting and makes voter ID laws unconstitutional—plus, let’s get rid of the Electoral College while we’re at it.
Who’s your 2020 dream presidential candidate? There are still 2018 midterms and 2019 municipal and state legislative elections to win first—so anyone talking about 2020 presidential elections right now is part of the problem—but if I must pick: Leslie Knope.
What’s your favorite Twitter account, and why? Never tweet. Unless you’re tweeting dog pics, then tweet a lot.
What’s the best book you read this year? There There, by Tommy Orange is even better than the glowing reviews say.
Photograph by Jesse Dittmar for Politico Magazine. Portrait illustration by Cristiano Siqueira.
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