10 Trailblazing Women Candidates You Should Know About

Running for North Dakota State House, District 27

Ruth has devoted her education and career to improving the health and lives of North Dakotans.

Ruth Buffalo is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. She is a public health advocate and mom who has worked to fight a problem that most lawmakers still choose not to give the proper attention to: the trafficking of, and violence against, Indigenous women and girls. She is a member of Fargo’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Human Trafficking task force. Buffalo names affordable health care as one of her top priorities for North Dakota, as well as public safety and education equity for all communities. She is running to grab a currently Republican-controlled seat.

Running for Nebraska State Legislature, District 8

Mina Davis would be an unapologetic progressive voice for all, especially women of color and the working class, in the Nebraska legislature.

A young, small business owner and organizer, Mina Davis is a champion for the working class—the majority of which is made up of women. She is running on a platform that promotes affordable housing, a living wage, student loan reform, criminal justice reform, health care for all, and reproductive health access. By far, Davis is the more progressive candidate in a race between two Democrats and, if she wins, as a Black Filipina she would be the only woman of color in the Nebraska legislature.

Running for South Carolina State House, District 85

Sam Edwards is ready to bring progressive change to the conservative-held South Carolina legislature.

Sam Edwards is running to unseat an NRA-backed, anti-choice assemblyman who has held South Carolina's 85th State District since 1998. As an LGBTQ woman, Sam would be joining a male-heavy legislature that, as recently as February, tried to pass a bill that would define gay marriage as "parody marriage." She is running on defending and expanding health care as a human right, protecting the environment from corporate polluters, and equitable funding for public schools.

Running for Colorado State House, District 24

Monica Duran is a community organizer and a true representative of communities neglected by typical policymakers.

Monica Duran is a community leader who successfully helped lead a grassroots effort to protect her home of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, from destructive corporate development. A Latina, survivor of domestic violence, and a previously homeless single mom, she claims her experience as the reason she fights for marginalized communities. Not only is she a champion for reproductive freedom, she names health care access for all, environmental protection, policies to secure justice for abuse survivors, and protecting public schools from privatization as some of her top issues. Duran is hoping to keep CO-24 a Democratic district in November.

Running for Tennessee State Senate, District 29

Raumesh Akbari has a long and proven record of leadership in racial justice and criminal justice as a Tennessee lawmaker.

Raumesh Akbari is currently a progressive State Assembly member with a long record of leading criminal justice reform—crucial, especially for the protection of Black women and girls—in deep- red Tennessee. A skillful legislator who has successfully passed bills in criminal justice, education reform, economic development, and more, Akbari also introduced legislation this year to protect the rights of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors to take time off from work to speak with law enforcement and seek housing and counseling. If she wins, Akbari would be the sixth woman in the Tennessee State Senate.

Running for Maine State Senate, District 13

Laura Fortman has a decades-long record of fighting for progressive change in Maine.

Laura Fortman boasts 30 years of advocating for women and families in Maine. A survivor of sexual assault, she has advocated for protection from sexual harassment in the workplace in her capacity as the Maine Commissioner of Labor and member of the Maine Women's Lobby. Fortman champions a comprehensive slate of progressive policies for women, families, and the elderly, including paid sick and family medical leave, access to flexible, high-quality child and elder care, expanding access to healthcare, affordable housing, public transportation, and access to reproductive care options. She is looking to unseat a Republican incumbent in the Maine State Senate, where Republicans hold a one-seat majority.

Running for Texas State House, District 84

Samantha Carrillo is a longtime organizer pushing for genuine economic justice in Texas.

Samantha Carrillo Fields is a Latina mother and longtime organizer running against "legislation that divides people" in Texas, such as the failed transphobic bathroom bill, the racist law banning sanctuary cities, and voter suppression and redistricting in the state. She helped organize a "Families Belong Together" rally in her hometown of Lubbock in response to the Trump administration's separation and detention of immigrants and their children. Carrillo Fields wants to "end the cycle of poverty" in Texas, where nearly 16% of women (compared to 11.5% of men) live in poverty, through a living wage, Medicaid expansion, and high quality education. She is looking to unseat a longtime Republican incumbent from a 181-member legislature—144 of whom are men.

Running for Texas State House, District 102

Ana-Maria Ramos is ready to reverse unjust policies that hurt Texas families.

Ana-Maria Ramos is a teacher, an attorney, and a first-generation American who believes health care is a human right and swears to fight for working class Texans. Living in a state that is leading the effort to undermine women's health care, Ramos wants to fight for affordable, accessible quality health care for all and reproductive rights. Ramos also wants to lead in property tax relief by reversing the state's divestment in crucial public programs that impact low-income women and families the most.

Running for South Dakota State Senate, District 27

Red Dawn Foster has already gained national attention for her work in her community.

Red Dawn Foster is a citizen of the Oglala Nation. She is a community leader whose work for social, economic, and environmental justice on the Pine Ridge Reservation has received both national and local recognition in her district in South Dakota. She is running on a platform that not only includes expanding access to affordable healthcare, but also equity in education, economic and environmental justice, and justice for veterans.

Running for Colorado State House, District 27

Brianna Titone is a community leader pushing for economic and environmental justice, and more, on behalf of Coloradans.

A transgender woman and community leader, Brianna Titone is an advocate for the vulnerable, championing a progressive platform that includes affordable housing, a living wage, health care for all, environmental protection, and family leave as part of the fight for reproductive rights. Titone is hoping to take District 27 from the Republican incumbent.