2026 Endorsements
If you are a pro-choice, progressive, non-incumbent Democrat running for—or considering running for—your state legislature in Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, or New Jersey and would like to receive the endorsement of The First Ask please contact info@thefirstask.org.
Georgia
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Dr. Beth Fuller is a lifelong Georgian, public health professional, and candidate for Georgia’s House of Representatives in District 53. After abruptly losing her contract with the CDC, Beth realized she could no longer stand on the sidelines. She is running for state house to bring a strong voice for science and evidence-based policy to the Capitol.
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Lindsay DeFranco grew up in North Fulton, attended Centennial, and spent almost twenty years away building a career in independent media. She and her husband Phil created a worldwide independent news organization, and she also co-founded a media literacy nonprofit. They were excited to move back home when the post-COVID world made remote work possible. Returning with her children quickly changed her perspective. She began paying attention to what was happening at the Gold Dome and realized nobody was really talking to the community about what was happening—and nobody in the seat was even trying. With Jan Jones retiring after 24 years and plans to hand the seat to an inexperienced 24-year-old, Lindsay believes the district deserves someone who understands how things actually work.
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Timoria Saba is a maternal health advocate, speaker, and policy strategist who has channeled deeply personal experience into systemic change. After a life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage in 2010, a public miscarriage in 2011, and a PTSD diagnosis, she confronted a profound lack of resources and support. This experience propelled her from a career as a professional makeup artist into a powerful force for health equity.
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Michelle Kang is a first-generation Korean American immigrant, mother of three daughters, and longtime Gwinnett resident who has called Georgia home for over thirty years. She has launched and managed small businesses across Georgia—including retail stores and a restaurant in Gwinnett—and built a career serving the community as a civic leader and advocate. She is currently running for Georgia House District 99, bringing experience from serving on local boards and committees, supporting immigrant families through the Asian American Resource Center, and organizing across Gwinnett to expand opportunity, safety, and belonging for everyone.
Kentucky
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Joi McAtee is a mother, advocate, educator, and innovator committed to making a real, tangible difference in her community. She represents a new generation of leadership focused on making government work for people, not corporations. Her professional and lived experience have equipped her with the skill, expertise, and vision to deliver results: lowering costs, expanding access to quality healthcare and housing, strengthening public education, and building systems of care that keep people safe and help them thrive. She is ready to lead with urgency, accountability, and a clear commitment to the people she serves.
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Cassie Lyles is a lifelong educator and union advocate who believes it’s time to roll up sleeves and get to work. She’s ready to strengthen public schools, protect workers’ rights, and make sure every family in District 30 has the opportunity to thrive.
Michigan
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Eboni Taylor has dedicated her career to celebrating women and mothers both in Michigan and across the country. In these terrifying times, it has become clear to her that without leaders in state government who understand the intricacies of raising children and organizing people to find strength in community in a city like Detroit, the state will only move backwards. Her community is putting her forward, and with this responsibility, she refuses to forget where she came from or take any neighbor for granted.
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Jonna Whaley is an LGBTQ rights activist turned politician. She has a master's degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary, where she studied Liberation Theology. She is fighting to advocate for her community, which has been ignored in Lansing for too long.
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Amanda Treppa is not a career politician—she’s a mother, a worker, an advocate, and a product of the very systems she seeks to improve. Born into homelessness and the foster care system, Amanda’s early years were marked by instability and uncertainty. Amanda's career has been dedicated to breaking barriers and building power for marginalized communities. In her various leadership roles, she has championed workplace equity and fought for fair treatment of employees. She believes that when we stand together, we can build a Michigan where everyone has a fair shot.
North Carolina
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Evonne Hopkins is a mother, business owner, and proud North Carolinian. Watching her parents achieve the American dream taught her early that perseverance and integrity matter. She believes that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible. Today, Evonne is a Board Certified Family Law Specialist with a JD/MBA and the owner and operator of the Raleigh Law Center. She and her husband, Joe, live in North Raleigh with their two children.
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Patricia Smith is a resident of Williamston, NC. She is a mother, minister, accountant, and small business owner. She is running to give the people loyal, accountable, and transparent representation.
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Amy Taylor North is the daughter of a union welder and veteran, the mom of two young men, a small business owner, and a longtime advocate for public education and equity. She serves on the PTA and Chamber of Commerce and spent more than a decade as senior managing editor of a national healthcare magazine. After years working to elect women candidates, she ran for the NC House in 2024 and built one of the most competitive races the district has seen in decades, earning nearly half the vote in a historically Republican seat. In 2025, she founded The Pink Directory, a resource connecting and supporting local women-owned microbusinesses. She also loves historic homes, scuba diving, and her rescue dog, Sunshine.
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Veleria M Levy is a healthcare advocate, nonprofit leader, and health equity consultant with over 20 years of experience advancing access to care, Medicaid, and HIV care and prevention across North and South Carolina. She is the founder of HerHealth Consulting LLC, focused on health equity and closing healthcare gaps for Black and Brown women. She is running for NC House District 99 to bring people-centered, accountable leadership that prioritizes affordability, dignity, and community well-being over corporate interests.
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Lynne Russo is a Western North Carolina small-business owner and community advocate focused on Hurricane Helene recovery, resilience, and affordability. She’s running for the NC House in District 117 to ensure mountain and rural communities have a strong, practical voice in Raleigh.
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Jessica Bichler is a small business owner and mom. She has an undergrad degree in communications and a master’s in anthropology. New Hanover County has been Jessica’s home for the last 15 years.
Pennsylvania
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Hadley Beck Haas is a parent and community advocate with 20+ years of marketing and communications experience. Her young adult sons were both born deaf, and her advocacy began by working for other families of children with hearing loss. Her time as a leader with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America led her to politics and the realization that across many issues, her district deserves better leadership in Harrisburg.
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Jen Mazzocco has been an English teacher at Allderdice High School in the city of Pittsburgh for 15 years, a leader in her union, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, and has been elected to three terms as a council member in the Borough of Dormont. She is also a board member of the Dormont Community Development Corporation, where she served as a key organizer for Dormont Pride in the Park and Co-Chair of the Dormont Free Pantry.
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Eileen Hartnett Albillar volunteered for Planned Parenthood Arizona in the 2000s, where she became involved in public policy, political, and advocacy work. Through that organization, she became familiar with Emerge Arizona and completed its election training program in 2007. She managed a school board campaign in Arizona and volunteered with the local Democratic Committee in Tempe. In Pennsylvania, she has volunteered for numerous Democratic elected officials, and in 2015 joined the newly formed Board of Directors for Emerge Pennsylvania. As a social worker in Arizona and Pennsylvania, she was proud to work in Community Action, addressing the local causes of poverty. At the Bucks County Opportunity Council, she worked directly with families, volunteers, and donors, helping families struggling with poverty build better lives for themselves.
Texas
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Montserrat Garibay is a former bilingual pre-K teacher, labor leader, DREAMer, and fighter with a 25-year history of standing up for Austin’s values. She came from Mexico as a little girl with her mother and sister, undocumented but full of hope. Her mother worked three jobs and taught her that education was the one thing no one could ever take away. She graduated from Anderson High School, completed her basics at Austin Community College, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Texas at Austin. As a pre-K teacher in Austin ISD, she saw firsthand how policy shapes children’s lives. She organized through her union when the Legislature cut funding for full-day pre-K, helping secure replacement funding from the Austin ISD School Board. She later became Vice President of Education Austin, organizing for smaller class sizes, better pay, and respect for educators, and went on to become the first Latina elected as Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, she served at the U.S. Department of Education, working to expand opportunities for millions of students and secure student loan forgiveness for one million public servants. She has spent her life fighting as a teacher, union leader, and public servant and is ready to take that fight to the Texas Capitol.
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Staci Childs is a Houston-based attorney, former Teacher of the Year, and an elected member of the Texas State Board of Education. She leads with policy precision and cultural fluency and has a proven record of delivering results, including securing millions in targeted funding for students and protecting inclusive, honest history in Texas classrooms. Grounded in community and guided by faith, she brings a rare blend of legislative impact, legal expertise, and creative leadership to the work of governing. She loves her husband, Isaiah, and her fur-son Boseman, very much as they give her the best hugs and the best advice!
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Pooja Sethi is a mom, immigration attorney, and longtime public servant who has served as chief of staff for this district and as a past Texas Democratic Party chair. She has seen firsthand how policy decisions affect families, and she is running to deliver practical, people-first solutions starting day one.
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Stefanie Bord is a regular person who wants to see Texas change for the better in the future. She was a high school science teacher and attended public schools, but has been homeschooling her two children since 2020. She has been a Type 1 diabetic since childhood and has witnessed the cost of chronic, pre-existing conditions. She has worked in environmental consulting and has a scientific background. She has volunteered as a precinct chair and talked to local voters about what they think is important. She has been a member of Moms Demand Action since the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde and has worked to make Texas safer from gun violence since then. She has also volunteered as editor for her local neighborhood magazine and has deep experience being part of her community.
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Brittany Black is a senior software engineer with nearly 20 years of experience building large-scale systems for every industry, including state and federal government for the Department of Defense, NASA, and the State Department. She holds a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction with an AI specialization and owns two small businesses. A McKinney homeowner, she is running for Texas House District 61 because the people of Collin County deserve a representative who brings real accountability, practical solutions, and zero conflicts of interest to Austin.
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Amy Martinez Salas is a mother, leader, and fighter. She is running to bring her frontline healthcare grit to Austin, ensuring the government finally prioritizes the water, schools, and dignity of working families over special interests.
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Katie O'Brien Duzan is a tenacious business leader, mom, and community advocate. She grew up in Arlington, attended public schools there from K-12, and is now raising her children in public schools.
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Kristian Kelly Renee Carranza is a 35-year-old native of San Antonio’s Southside. She began a career in community organizing almost 15 years ago as a way to uplift the voices of working people after leaving Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to help support her mom through healthcare challenges. Since then, she has registered 10,000 voters in Texas, helped neighbors sign up for discounted insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, managed staff and multi-million dollar budgets, and made it from McCollum High School to Washington, DC and the White House. She is completing her bachelor’s degree this summer through a program designed for older, returning students because she believes it’s never too late to go back to school. She is running for the State House in the community that raised her because she wants to create opportunities to get ahead and financial relief for working and middle-class families. If elected, she will be the first woman to represent State House District 118.