As we begin to take stock of the 2024 election and its impact on our movement for political power for communities of color and a strong multiracial democracy, the weeks ahead will be marked by continued organizing, analysis, community care, strategic planning, and ensuring all votes are counted.
While the noise around this election is as loud as ever, our north star of informing, protecting, and empowering our communities remains. This election was always about more than the two candidates running for president. It was about drawing power from the organizing infrastructure that’s taken years to build and support our communities to push for the future we deserve, regardless of the electoral outcome. It’s about demonstrating that a better future and a multiracial democracy is worth fighting for— that we are worth fighting for.
What we know is that voters of color continue to fight to save our democracy, even in the face of rampant voter suppression, racism, misogyny, and hate. That we show up collectively, time and time again, demonstrates our movement’s resilience.
Our movement isn’t just about what we’re fighting against — oppression, bigotry, and domination. It’s about what we’re fighting for — freedom, liberation, and a world where we can all live in our full dignity. More victories for the people, and more resilient movements, will emerge because we will keep fighting, strategizing, and organizing to build power. Because we will keep believing that freedom and a multiracial democracy is possible, and that we all deserve it. State Voices will double down on our deep, community-led organizing alongside communities of color. We’re in it for the long haul.
Read on to learn more about our network’s impact this year, including:
- Our Impact By the Numbers
- Leveraging Direct Democracy and Legislative Advocacy
- Vote For Something: State Voices’ First National Narrative Campaign
- Overcoming Voting Obstacles and Expanding Representation
- Getting out the Vote and Building Community with Early Vote Rallies
- Educating Voters and Fighting Disinformation
- Responding to Catastrophic Weather Events
- Moving Money to the Ground
- Building Power Going Forward
Building Power One Victory at a Time: Our Impact By the Numbers
During the 2024 election season, and with support from the Voter Participation Center, our network made over 177.5 million voter contacts and counting across the United States and reached over 66 million individuals (29 million of those being unique voter contacts) using a wide variety of outreach methods, including phone, email, text messaging, and door-knocking. Our network made more than 23 million contacts in Georgia; more than 12 million in Michigan and; more than 9 million in North Carolina. We registered over 840,000 voters in 2024 and saw several states in our network win on critical ballot measures on issues from reproductive justice to education, the economy, and workers’ rights. Our network achieved these milestones despite experiencing divestment from philanthropy, seeing more than a 60 percent drop in funding compared to 2020.
Working with our partners in the Election Protection coalition, we answered nearly 60,000 calls and texts from voters into the Election Protection hotline, including more than 16,000 calls on Election Day alone.
Moving Money to the Ground
State Voices knows that to be effective, our Tables and their partners must have access to the resources they need to run robust and ambitious programs. To support their work, we regranted more than $7 million in 2024 and coordinated nearly $1 million additional in direct contributions, boosting general operating support as well as voter registration, ballot measure advocacy, and election protection efforts.
Leveraging Direct Democracy and Legislative Advocacy
Across our network, State Voices Tables and their partners leveraged the tools of organizing to win big on ballot measures and deliver for their communities through legislative advocacy. Outlined below is a brief summary of critical victories and achievements in 2024 on issues ranging from economic and reproductive justice to voting rights, redistricting, and protecting the rights of trans people.
Advancing reproductive justice
Following critical victories for reproductive justice across our network in recent years, State Tables in Florida, Missouri, Montana Nebraska, Nevada, and New York worked on ballot measures to successfully protect and restore reproductive rights. The tables and their partners gathered signatures to place measures on the ballot; educated voters about the measures through in-person canvassing and phone and text campaigns; and supported advertising and earned media outreach by helping advocates of abortion access share their stories. Their efforts resulted in more crucial protections for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, including victories in Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.
Increasing wages and access to sick leave
In Missouri, voters approved a new measure to guarantee paid sick leave for Missouri workers while raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. The changes represent a critical step towards economic justice and improving the daily lives of hard-working families across the state and will impact more than half a million Missouri workers. State Voices’ Missouri-based State Table, Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative (MOVE), worked alongside partners to promote the ballot measure and educate voters across the state about the importance of advancing workers’ rights.
In Nebraska, voters approved a measure to usher in a minimum requirement for paid sick leave for workers across the state, allowing Nebraskans to earn and use sick time without retaliation and ensuring no workers are forced to choose between their paycheck and their health or the health of their family. As part of the campaign, the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table gathered signatures for the measure, educated voters about its importance, and connected the fight for paid sick leave to broader efforts for economic justice across the state.
In Massachusetts, voters approved a ballot measure supported by Massachusetts Voter Table and its partners to allow rideshare drivers the option to unionize to build worker power. The new measure helps ensure that all workers earn fair wages and are treated with dignity and respect.
Protecting funding for public schools
In Nebraska and Kentucky, voters supported measures to protect funding for public education and pushed back on privatizing public education by shifting taxpayer money to pay for vouchers for private schools. For communities of color, low-income communities, and rural communities, protecting funding for public education is particularly important. The Nebraska Civic Engagement Table and Kentucky Civic Engagement Table worked alongside partners across their respective states to mobilize and educate voters, ultimately preventing an attack on our public education systems that would have undermined the backbone of our communities.
Fighting for trans justice
In Minnesota, as a response to an influx of anti-trans legislation across the country, Minnesota Voice worked with partners to advocate for a new law to protect the privacy of patients and clinicians when it comes to gender-affirming care. The law protects trans people and their families by ensuring they can access the care they need and is already serving as a refuge and beacon of hope for trans people nationwide. In New Mexico, the New Mexico Civic Engagement Table worked with partners to pass similar laws to protect access to gender-affirming care, while several of New Mexico’s bordering states have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Combating voter suppression
In Georgia, ProGeorgia and partners pushed back fiercely against cumbersome new rules to make voting more difficult, including decreasing ballot drop boxes, shortening application deadlines, and allowing anyone to challenge a voter’s eligibility. Despite the obstacles, voters in Georgia turned out in record numbers, including more than 300,000 votes on the first day of early voting alone.
In Nebraska, the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table worked in partnership with Nebraska’s Voting Rights Restoration Coalition to encourage the state legislature to approve a new law allowing state residents who have completed a felony sentence to register to vote immediately after completion of their sentence rather than waiting an extra two years to have their voting rights restored. The change reinstates voting rights for roughly 7,000 Nebraskans and builds on recent momentum expanding voting rights for people impacted by the criminal legal system across the country. In less than 30 years, 26 states and the District of Columbia have expanded voting rights to people with felony convictions and allowed more than two million U.S. residents access to the ballot.
Vote For Something: State Voices’ First National Narrative Campaign
For the first time in the history of our network, we launched a coordinated narrative and messaging campaign called Vote for Something to mobilize our communities, encourage civic participation, and share a positive vision for the future of political power in communities of color. We reminded voters across our network that regardless of where you live, what you care about, or who you love – there was something for you to vote for in 2024.
Through Vote for Something, we emphasized that many low-propensity voters are most moved by issues that impact their day to day lives — like livable wages and lower costs, public education, reproductive freedom, and body autonomy. The campaign helped drive media coverage, resulting in nearly 300 original and syndicated stories featuring for the State Voices network, and included a virtual rally launch which was covered by the Associated Press. The campaign also featured tools, messages, and branding assets for partners across our network; and dedicated training for State Tables to outline how to incorporate the Vote for Something framework into their daily work. The campaign was crucial for our network’s ability to tell a unified story and present a bold, positive vision for the future of political power for communities of color. Utilization of Vote for Something toolkit materials by our network increased by three times compared to the resources we provided in 2023.
Overcoming Voting Obstacles and Expanding Representation
Since the 2022 election, almost a third of the states have made it harder to vote – targeting voter registration, requiring photo IDs; limiting early and mail voting; and banning ballot drop boxes. But ultimately, even those considerable obstacles were outmatched by the will of the people to make their voices heard. While votes are still being counted, early indications show 2024 election turnout around 65 percent, nearing the record-breaking figures of 2020.
This election also led to important expansions in political representation, such as in Tennessee, which now has two Black representatives in Congress at the same time for the first time. Michigan elected the first Black woman to the Supreme Court in the state’s history. Voters elected the first transgender person in the House of Representatives, and the first Korean-American was elected to the Senate. These advances in representation are due to years of relentless organizing among people of color and LGBTQ+ communities who are making sure our leaders represent all of us – not a select few. With each election moving forward, new historic firsts will emerge. And our country will be better for it.
Getting out the Vote and Building Community with Early Vote Rallies
The State Voices Network contributed to historic voter turnout through a coordinated canvassing operation that included outreach by mail, phone, text messaging, and in-person. Not only did State Voices successfully encourage our communities to vote; we did so by spreading hope and joy – including nearly 30 early vote rallies across the country to celebrate civic participation with music, food, and community building. The rallies, in partnership with When We All Vote, Civic Nation, Movement Voter Project, and Early Vote Day Coalition took place in Arizona; Georgia; Michigan; Minnesota; Nevada; North Carolina; Ohio; Pennsylvania; New Mexico; and Wisconsin.
Responding to Catastrophic Weather Events
In states hit hardest by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, organizers provided mutual aid to their communities, advocated for extensions to voter registration deadlines, and pushed for expanding early voting and polling locations so every voter could participate in this critical election. Tables across our network like ProGeorgia, State Voices Florida, Civic Tennessee, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice in Louisiana, Blueprint North Carolina, and Virginia Civic Engagement Table support organizers year-round in building communities that are resourced and safe while ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate fully in our democracy. Still, the massive storms served as a humbling reminder of the urgent need to pass policies that build climate resilience and support voter accessibility as the climate crisis accelerates.
Educating Voters and Fighting Disinformation
As part of our critical work with the Election Protection Coalition to educate voters and defend their rights, we boosted awareness of the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline and received nearly 60,000 phone calls and text messages from voters; and leveraged the power of thousands of Election Protection volunteers. We provided more than 300 local, state, and national partners with core messages to support and educate them about important changes in the voting landscape in their states. And in several states with particularly impactful changes in the voting landscape such as Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, we supported an online advertising campaign that totaled more than 13 million impressions to drive awareness for the Election Protection hotline.
To push back against disinformation campaigns designed to suppress voters, we provided training, messaging resources, and connected advocates to ongoing disinformation monitoring efforts to respond strategically to disinformation campaigns about voting and elections in real-time. Working in partnership with our partners in the Election Protection Coalition, we provided updates to State Tables and their partners about the most prominent and pernicious disinformation campaigns – such as hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric – throughout the early voting period and into Election Day.
Building Power Going Forward
Building power through year-round organizing and integrated civic engagement encompasses more than voting: instead, it includes the myriad ways we can show up for our communities’ needs. From expanding voting access to pushing for legislation that supports those with less resources; to protests and direct actions; to investing in community care to ensure our people have food, water, and access to aid. Our Network is deepening our commitment to a holistic view of building power and longer-term movement building to chart a new path to power for our communities in 2025 and beyond.
Now, more than ever, we know that states hold the mantle of a fragile democracy on their shoulders. 2025 is likely to be a year focused on triage to ensure our people are safe and resourced in the face of immediate obstacles to their well-being, along with deep strategizing, legislative strategy, and getting out the vote for local elections. Beyond that, we will begin preparation for congressional elections in 2026, a presidential election in 2028, and a 2030 census that will form the basis of our electoral maps for years to come. Throughout this, we will approach the fight for freedom expansively. Voting is one tool in the broader toolbox for change, and we must use all our tools to get free.
Authoritarianism relies on isolation and fear; to combat it, we must prioritize community, safety, and strategy. We believe that we can make significant progress in deepening community networks, resourcing underserved communities, and developing innovative strategies to lift our collective voices and vision for a better world. We envision a world where we can all thrive and live in our full dignity; a world where every vote is counted, every voice is heard, and every need is met. As long as we humbly look out for each other and seek deeper understanding, we will persevere.