“We’re not here to agonize. We’re here to organize how we go forward. We’re going to have fresh new talent for the next election,” House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi told the New York Times in her first post-election extended interview.
Speaker Pelosi’s optimism is an inspiration, particularly for a state like Georgia where well-funded and highly qualified women candidates with high hopes for FLIPping suburban seats from red to blue lost targeted races last week.
Even as WIN List celebrates the six “new” faces elected this cycle, we must also move forward to organize our resistance to many proposals Republicans have promised to introduce at the national and state level. Looking further ahead, we must plan to recruit the best possible candidates for the 2025 municipal and school board elections as well as statewide and legislative contests in 2026.
“What’s past is prologue,” William Shakespeare said in his play, The Tempest. Reflecting upon the election of 45 new Georgia WIN List endorsed women since Hillary Clinton’s devastating 2016 presidential loss provides the roadmap for boldly moving forward.For 25 years the WIN List mission has been to Change the Face of Power in Georgia. Review the complete list of the 45 women elected since 2017 and a synopsis of the 2024 election results in a blog post here.
As we have since 2000, Georgia WIN List will continue to PERSIST in our highly successful efforts to recruit, train, elect and re-elect women to the General Assembly and statewide office who will be effective advocates for the issues most important to women and families, including preservation of reproductive freedom.
On Sunday afternoon, more than 30 members of the 2024 WIN Leadership Academy class met for their final session. Class members congratulated classmates who won 2024 election bids and offered appreciation and sincere thanks to those who lost campaigns but demonstrated persistence and courage by serving as champions for Democratic values in ruby red rural Georgia districts. Some of those who lost in 2024 have already announced plans to run again in 2026.
WIN List board members will soon meet to set priorities for celebrating the organization’s 25th anniversary milestone and the 2026 election cycle which will include statewide constitutional offices. Traditionally, a statewide election year offers many opportunities for open legislative seats as ambitious legislators from both sides of the aisle seek statewide posts and with a term limited governor, 2026 will be no exception.
Please consider an end-of-year gift to Georgia WIN List to demonstrate your commitment to this “organize rather than agonize” philosophy. WIN List will continue the fight because persistent resistance has never been more important. The preservation of Democracy and a woman’s freedom to make her own medical decisions is on the line.