"Emily’s List has also faced criticism that its vetting process – which requires candidates to demonstrate that they can raise money...can disadvantage women of color, who face higher hurdles to fundraising than white women.
[Butler] said [EL] was “doubling down” on its commitment to engage, recruit & support candidates of color...“I think that there is more that... Emily’s List can do to break down some of those structural barriers so women, & in particular Black & brown women, can [win]”
Reminder that Schiff, whose rich, powerful white allies lobbied #GavinNewsom to exclude #BarbaraLee from consideration for this appointment (in spite of her unparalleled qualifications, lauded by the Congressional Black Caucus in a letter to Newsom) - claiming that a temporary appointment would give her an "unfair advantage" over him - has $32 million versus her $1m.
#EMILYsList was created to address this barrier to women.
Here's what its President, Butler, says:
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1037120336/how-does-the-new-leader-of-emilys-list-plan-to-get-democratic-women-elected
"EMILY’s List Rising Stars program highlights a group of candidates on their website, many of them women of color, who are nominees people can “vote” for by entering in their email address [to] help EMILY’s List by building out their email lists.
As a Rising Star, Flores flew around the country... taking time out of her own campaign to tell her life story to EMILY’s List donors."
At those mtgs, Flores rarely met donors & “They never did any specific fundraising for me”
https://splinternews.com/how-emily-s-list-lost-its-way-1823399658
“I don’t regret it,” said then-Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores with tears in her eyes on the state assembly floor in 2013. Flores was speaking about her choice to have an abortion at age 16. How she didn’t want to experience the hardship of her “six other sisters,” who all “became pregnant in their teens.”
"EMILY’s List was founded in 1985 by Ellen Malcolm, an heiress to a vast IBM fortune. Its story is one of the hallowed tales of the Beltway: One winter morning, Malcolm brought together a group of women and asked, “All right, what do we have to do to finally elect a Democratic woman to the Senate?” "
"According to the Washington Post, every woman there had the same answer: getting women money early in their campaigns so they could establish their viability."
"Flores lost her race, but went on to run for Nevada’s 4th congressional seat in 2016. EMILY’s List, which had endorsed Flores three times previously, decided to instead back her challenger, Susie Lee, a wealthy, white philanthropist who had never held office before."
Flores' supporters thought their refusal was retaliation for Flores' primary endorsement of Bernie Sanders.
"EMILY’s List categorically denied this accusation, & declined to comment publicly on Flores’ experience to Splinter"
"But the reason that Lucinda Guinn, EMILY’s List vice president of campaigns, gave to a Flores supporter in an email...was perhaps more telling of the group’s priorities: “Susie is clearly the strongest candidate in this race—she currently has over half a million dollars more in her campaign account than Lucy, who hasn’t built an operation capable of communicating with voters..."
The message was clear: It was about which candidate could raise more money."
Flores came in 2nd, Lee 3rd.
Erin Conroy
Jorge Caballero, MD