Lehigh Valley Stands Up is building  grassroots power by electing candidates at all levels who will push hard to make Pennsylvania a place where all of us can thrive

Allentown, PA —On Tuesday, everyday working people in Lehigh and Northampton Counties stepped up to vote for a new kind of representative for our communities.  Candidates like Hillary Kwiatek and Taiba Sultana are committed to pursuing the policies our communities need to make justice real — and that’s why they won.  From the school board to city council, Lehigh Valley Stands Up (LVSU) is building Pennsylvania where all of us can thrive.

“In an election where other candidates said they would take over school boards with ’20 strong men,’ we took those seats with community votes,” said Ashleigh Strange, organizer with Lehigh Valley Stands Up.

LVSU endorsed candidates like Tara Zrinski, Zachary Cole-Borghi, and LaTarsha Brown are champions for working people in our communities. All of the candidates ran on platforms that center voting rights, transparent local budgets, and true community care. While results continue to come in, results show as of 11:00pm that all three of these candidates are in the lead.

“We know it’s up to us to make real change for working class families of all races in Pennsylvania. We’re tired of constantly voting for people who forget about us right after election day and our members finally have candidates that we’re proud of. It will be an honor to hold our endorsed candidates accountable in their new elected positions,” said Jessica Ortiz, member of Lehigh Valley Stands Up.

As a chapter of Pennsylvania Stands Up (PASU), LVSU joined other chapters across eastern PA in endorsing candidates for school boards, city councils, county commissions, and courts. As LVSU and PASU look to next year’s midterm election, they hope to build on the organization’s work in 2020, when they had conversations with more than 400,000 voters and moved 53,324 votes for Joe Biden.

“As we take on the forces of greed and exclusion to win a PA for all of us, we know it won’t all happen in one election cycle. That’s why we’re in it for the long haul,” said Carrie Santoro, the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Stands Up. “We’re ready for next year’s midterm elections, and our members are excited to back candidates who will represent our values from [county] to Harrisburg and Washington. After more than a year of a brutal pandemic, global uprisings, and economic collapse, we’ve had enough of the same. We need leaders who will fight for what working class families deserve, and we’re ready to make that happen in 2022.”

Lehigh Valley Stands Up (LVSU) is a grassroots 501c4 building a multi-racial working class force for transformative political change in the Lehigh Valley, making a difference on issues and in elections. LVSU is one of nine chapter organizations of PA Stands Up. On social media at @LVStandsUp

Pennsylvania Stands Up is an independent political organization by and for the many, with 2,000 dues-paying members dedicated to winning a Pennsylvania that works for all of us. We are Black, brown, and white working people living across Pennsylvania’s cities, towns and rural areas. Our 9 local chapters build grassroots leadership, fight for policies that work for working people, and elect candidates who represent our values. Together, we are building a governing majority capable of enacting bold, redistributive measures for the common good.

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Ashleigh Strange
Regional Organizer
Lehigh Valley Stands Up
https://lvstandsup.org/