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One of the biggest and most overlooked election stories may have come out of the countrys smallest state.

Rhode Island, only 1,200 square miles and home to a little more than 1 million people, is rarely the subject of national political interest. With a majority-Democratic legislature, Democratic governor, and an all-Democratic congressional delegation, the states politics might seem sleepy to outsiders. Hiding beneath the surface is a much deeper story.

Much of Rhode Islands Democratic leadership is, put simply, quite conservative. The long-standing (and now outgoing) Democratic Speaker of the House, one of the states most powerful elected officials, voted down abortion rights legislation, and has an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Democrats in the state House voted in 2010 to cut taxes for the rich, and in 2011, a majority of Democrats voted for repressive voter I.D. laws. The Rhode Island Democratic State Committee stripped the Womens Caucus of privileges after the group lobbied for a reproductive rights bill. As a Republican official once told NPR, [Rhode Island has] a lot of Democrats who we know are Republican but run as a Democrat basically so they can win.

In this years elections, progressive Democrats mounted their most organized challenge to date, and earned victories that could transform the states politics.

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Over the past year, progressives across Rhode Island mobilized to lay the groundwork for this crucial moment. Activist movements and progressive campaign veterans built an infrastructure to back insurgent candidates ready to challenge more conservative incumbents. Their preparation paid off in a huge way.

These wins were made possible thanks to the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, an initiative launched in 2019 to recruit, train, and financially support progressive candidates. All candidates endorsed a shared progressive slate of policy positions, creating a unified front of candidates fighting for a Green New Deal, single-payer health care, and a $15 minimum wage. Joined by additional candidates backed by Providence Democratic Socialists of America (ProvDSA), Reclaim I (a group of former volunteers for Senator Bernie Sanderss presidential campaign), and the Rhode Island Working Families Party, almost two dozen progressives mounted challenges from the left for state House and Senate seats. In partnership with movements like Sunrise Rhode Island, a youth-led climate justice group, candidates had full-time organizers dedicated to mobilizing voters. More than half of the progressive challengers won their races.

The first-time candidates that emerged victorious included Tiara Mack, a 26-year-old Black, queer reproductive justice advocate who challenged an anti-abortion Democratic incumbent who had held his seat for 35 years. Mack beat him in the primary and won her seat resoundingly, with nearly 90% of the vote. David Morales, a 22-year-old activist who will become one of the youngest Latino candidates elected to any state legislature, also defied expectations when he won. When the local Democratic committee endorsed his opponent, Morales found support and a volunteer army through partnerships with local progressive groups like ProvDSA. Mack and Morales were joined by 13 other progressive challengers who ousted more conservative Democrats or Republican incumbents.

Pundits like The Hills Krystal Ball argued this state-wide progressive takeover in Rhode Island could offer lessons to the rest of the country. A little-noticed local movement of left activists appears to have just successfully executed a massive overhaul of the Rhode Island legislature, in a model that could easily be replicated in states all across the country, said Ball. To understand how this statewide progressive strategy came to be and what it can teach us, Teen Vogue caught up with a few of Rhode Islands young leaders including two new elected officials and two movement leaders who mobilized to create real change in their state.

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Rhode Island Progressives Won Big in 2020 With Help From Youth Activists - Teen Vogue