PIECES OF PROGRESS

Progress Report Newsletter
November 09, 2016

On Gun Safety. Voters in California, Nevada, and Washington State all approved ballot measures yesterday for stronger gun laws that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. Yesterday’s victories are a sign of the growing momentum to enact stronger and broadly-supported guns laws on the state and local levels.

On Paid Leave. Both Washington State and Arizona approved minimum wage propositions that include paid leave mandates, which means that employers in those states will be required to offer paid sick time off. It’s a small but sure victory for working families in both states.

On minimum wage. Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington voted to raise their minimum wages. And the ballot initiative that was going to lower the minimum wage for non-tipped employees was rejected, with over 70 percent of voters opposing it.

On progressive taxation. California voted to increase taxes on the wealthy in order to invest in social goods like education and health care.

Girl Club. Though the tallest, hardest glass ceiling wasn't broken last night, women in races across the country made several significant cracks in it:

Catherine Cortez Masto: Nevadans—especially Latino communities who stuck it out in long lines—voted for progress yesterday by electing Catherine Cortez Masto to Nevada’s US Senate seat. She is the first Latina in the US Senate, ever.

Tammy Duckworth In Illinois Tammy Duckworth, daughter of a Thai immigrant and a veteran who lost her legs in Iraq, unseated GOP incumbent Mark Kirk.

Kamala Harris: Californians elected Kamala Harris to the US Senate. Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, is the first black US senator from California, second black woman to serve in the US Senate, and first Indian-American to serve in the US Senate, ever.

Lisa Blunt Rochester: Until last night, Delaware was one of only three states that had never had a woman serve in either house of Congress. Delawareans fixed that last night by electing Lisa Blunt Rochester, the First State’s first woman AND person of color in Congress.

Stephanie Murphy: Floridians elected the first Vietnamese-American woman to Congress last night. Murphy is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and also an immigrant—and now also a congresswoman!

Kate Brown: Oregon’s returning governor is the first openly LGBT governor to ever be elected.
Illhan Omar: Minneapolis voters elected Omar last night, who is the country’s first Somali-American Muslim woman in Congress. She came to the US as a refugee from the Somali civil war when she was a refugee.

Pramila Jayapal: Washington elected the House of Representatives’ first Indian-American last night when voters chose Jayapal.