FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Contact: [email protected]

Run for Something and YALLvote Announce Partnership to Build Power in the South

Today, Run for Something (RFS) and YALLvote, a coalition of Southern content creators working to turn the South blue, announced a new partnership to recruit young values-aligned candidates to run for state legislative and local seats, uplift the importance of down-ballot races, and support the next generation of candidates running for office in the South. 

This multi-faceted partnership will build power across the South through recruitment, digital narrative-building, candidate support, and content creation. It speaks to the tremendous impact that local candidates and creators embedded in their communities and attuned to the issues their neighbors are navigating can have on politics and policy.

“Local power is the path to change, and every candidate we invest in moves the dial. When we find and support young people who truly understand what their community is going through and run on it, we can and do win — including in the South,” said Run for Something President and Co-Founder Amanda Litman. “We can’t leave any seat or region behind, and we’re proud to partner with YALLvote to recruit and support a new generation of Southern leaders.”

“There are thousands of local seats across the South — school boards, city councils, state houses — and most people have no idea those races are happening, let alone that THEY could run in them. The South has never been short on people who care about their communities. What we’ve been short on is the connective tissue between caring and running. Connecting our creators on the ground in Southern states with the pipeline and infrastructure Run For Something gives young candidates is how we start to bring generational change to the South,” said Amanda Nelson, co-founder of YALLvote

The partnership will kick off with a joint call on Sept 15 at 8 PM ET focused on the importance of power-building in the South, connecting potential candidates and creators with the resources and inspiration they need to take their next steps to run or get involved. Speakers will include Run for Something President Amanda Litman, YALLvote co-founder Amanda Nelson (Amanda’s Mild Takes), Georgia State Representative and RFS alum Ruwa Romman, and other special guests.

Today’s announcement comes the day after young Democrats in Florida scored primary wins. RFS candidates including Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Linsey Grove, and Kyandra Darling advanced to the general elections, helping to build the momentum needed to secure a new generation of bold, community-centered leaders in the Southern state. Florida and other states across the region are key to Run for Something’s Battle Up strategy, a multi-year effort to expand the map by recruiting, training, and electing thousands of millennial and Gen Z candidates to local offices across the South, Sun Belt, and other fast-growing regions.

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Run for Something (RFS) recruits and supports young values-aligned candidates running for state and local offices. Since its founding, RFS has helped elect over 1,600 candidates across the country, including 43 candidates in red-to-blue seats in the 2025 election cycle. Today, RFS has the largest database of any other Democratic organization, with over 90,000 people reaching out since November 2024 with interest in running for office.

YALLvote is an initiative of the Can’t Win Victory Fund that mobilizes Southern creators to build awareness and support for progressive candidates, with a particular focus on state legislative races. Launched by Amanda Nelson, Anna Ruderman and Kate Barr in response to the April 2026 Louisiana v. Callais decision, YALLvote has already grown to a network of more than 500 political and lifestyle creators and helped raise more than $200,000 for candidates running for state legislatures across the South. As population growth shifts political power southward and the stakes of who controls state legislatures and future redistricting grow, YALLvote is building the creator infrastructure needed to compete for power from the state houses up.