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PENNSYLVANIA—Make the Road Action Pennsylvania (MRA-PA) celebrated the victories of Governor-elect Josh Shapiro, US Senator-elect John Fetterman, and Democratic candidates for Congress and the Pennsylvania state legislature today, uplifting the role Latinx, Black, and immigrant voters played as the margin of victory in pushing Make the Road Action-endorsed candidates over the finish line and on track to flip the state house to Democrats for the first time in over a decade. The wins of Manny Guzman and Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz mean that for the first time ever, majority-Latino Reading will be represented by two Latinos in the state house. Cepeda-Freytiz is the Latina ever elected from PA District 129.
Maegan Llerena, Director of Make the Road Action Pennsylvania released the following statement:
“Pennsylvania voters who are working class, Latinx, Black, and immigrants were crucial to the margin of victory that re-elected Congresswoman Susan Wild in one of the closest Congressional races this year and won the state legislative races that are on track to flip the state house blue for the first time in over a decade. These results show that responding to the needs and priorities of working-class people of color is a winning campaign strategy. Latinx voters are smart, we are critical thinkers, and were persuaded by Democrats who focused on solving people’s very real problems. Up and down the ballot, Republicans’ campaigns based on fear, criminalizing abortion, and overturning voters’ choices failed. Big time.”
Make the Road Action PA Victories
Statewide
Josh Shapiro, for Governor
John Fetterman, for US Senate
Lehigh County
Susan Wild, for Congress
Pete Schweyer, for state representative
Joshua Siegel, for state representative
Nick Miller, for state senate
Berks County
Chrissy Houlahan, for Congress
Manny Guzman, for state representative
Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz, for state representative
Over the course of the midterm elections, MRA-PA ran a voter mobilization program contacting working-class Latinx, Black, and immigrant communities that:
- Knocked on over 300,000 doors across Pennsylvania’s Latinx and immigrant communities
- Completed over 200,000 phone calls
- Sent over 70,000 text messages
- Ran a six-figure digital and radio ad campaign to reach voters across the state and boost Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman
- Ran a Tik Tok and Instagram influencer campaign to reach young voters of color
The voter engagement program prioritized contact with communities of color, focusing on high-quality conversations with voters, in English and in Spanish, about the issues they’re facing daily—including rising costs, stagnant wages, and real solutions to the affordability crisis—coupled with a six-figure investment in digital and radio ads. Black and Latino voters are the largest non-white voting bloc in the US, and were key to Joe Biden’s victory. As Republicans invested millions to court voters of color with misinformation and manipulation, the program focused on deploying trusted community messengers to correct the record.
This year’s program built on the success of Make the Road Action’s 2020 program, which was found to be among the most impactful voter engagement programs in the country, helping turn out 70% of Latino voters and 90% of Black voters in PA for Democrats, turn the state blue, and put Joe Biden in the White House. In 2020, Make the Road Action PA completed approximately 4 million direct voter contact attempts to Black, Latinx, and young voters and ran a robust digital ad effort.
Make the Road Action PA builds political power rooted in immigrant and working-class communities, promotes progressive policy solutions, and strengthens the movement for justice through electoral and grassroots organizing. On Twitter: @MakeRoadActPA
Information provided to TVL by:
Melissa McCleery
