Exciting news, Jason!
Leaders We Deserve is proud to announce we’re officially endorsing:
⭐ Matt Little for Minnesota CD-2
⭐ Aber Kawas for New York SD-12
⭐ Evan Menist for New York SD-39
This is our biggest endorsement cycle yet, and our momentum is undeniable. All of these candidates represent the future of the Democratic Party — a healthcare and disability advocate from Lakeville, a Palestinian community organizer from Queens, and a tenant rights fighter from Poughkeepsie. These are leaders that give our generation reasons to hope (and vote!) and prove that fighting for working class communities is the way to win.
Matt Little was born and raised in Lakeville, and the youngest person ever elected to mayor of the city. He served as a Lakeville City Councilor and state senator, where he led the charge to make sure diabetics could afford insulin, worked to lower prescription drug costs, and expanded Metro Mobility so seniors and people with disabilities had access to public transportation. He currently runs a law firm dedicated to advocating for seniors and people with disabilities who have been neglected or abused, a fight that’s close to home. He knows exactly what it looks like when greedy insurance companies and predatory systems fail the people who need care the most, because he’s watched it happen to the people he loves. And since ICE’s brutality has taken over the streets of Minnesota, he’s been out in the community documenting their actions and tactics so his neighbors know that someone has their back and is paying attention.
In Congress, Matt will fight to lower prescription drug costs and protect Medicaid and Medicare from Trump’s devastating cuts. He’ll invest in infrastructure and clean energy, expand access to mental health services, and take on the corporate greed that has been gutting working families in CD-2 for decades.
Matt is facing a competitive primary, up against two well-funded candidates. His primary is August 11, but building a strong pathway to win starts early, and right now is exactly when grassroots support matters most.
Aber Kawas is a community organizer and the daughter of Palestinian refugees who grew up in a working class family in Brooklyn. As a child, she watched her father face deportation — so she knows what ICE’s cruelty looks like firsthand and what happens when they tear families apart. Those experiences molded her into the leader she is today. One that is rooted in an unshakeable resolve for justice and dignity for all people. As a community organizer, she’s been on the frontlines of fights for working class New Yorkers. She helped develop and launch Not On Our Dime alongside Mayor Mamdani, legislation that would stop New York tax dollars from funding Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians. With just two weeks left until her primary, her campaign has already knocked over 11,000 doors across the district.
In the state legislature, Aber will focus on bringing the working class voices of Queens to Albany. She’ll work towards passing the New York Health Act, which would establish single payer healthcare for every New Yorker and cut out the insurance industry’s ability to deny care and price people out of coverage. She’ll push for free and reliable transit, expand affordable housing, and protect immigrant communities from this administration’s vicious attacks.
On the other hand, her opponent in the Democratic primary opposes increased penalties for hate crimes and supports AIPAC. Right now, District 12 has an opportunity to elect a fearless fighter to the state senate who can build on the electric, people-powered momentum Mayor Mamdani has brought to New York. This race is Aber’s to win, she just needs the resources to make sure every voter in her district has a chance to connect with her message before her June 23 primary.
Evan Menist grew up in a working class union family in New Jersey. He worked his way through college as an IT tech, bartender, and security guard, so he knows firsthand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. He has extensive experience, having been a policy researcher and urban planner working with municipalities and organizations across the region. He has also worked in Albany as a staffer for a state senator, giving him key insight into the legislative process. That experience will help him be a strong voice on housing, economic development, and public safety in the state legislature. He’s now in his 4th term on the Poughkeepsie Common Council, where he’s passed Good Cause Eviction legislation to protect tenants from predatory rent increases and unfair evictions and helped secure $8 million for New York’s first Green Social Housing pilot, where housing will be capped at 25% of income.
In Albany, he’ll work to pass statewide rent stabilization through the REST act, build public and social housing, invest in public utilities, universal healthcare and childcare, and fund all of it by making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.
Evan faces a competitive primary on June 23, and this is a purple seat to flip. But with deep community ties, a strong track record, and the most progressive vision for what District 39 can become, Evan is built to win it.
Matt, Aber, and Evan don’t take a dime from corporate PACs or special interests. Not a single check from anyone trying to buy their vote. They have something the establishment can’t buy: real roots in the communities they’re fighting for, and the kind of conviction and moral clarity that doesn’t waver when things get hard.
That’s exactly what makes them the kind of candidates Leaders We Deserve are proud to back. But to take them all the way, they need grassroots support to carry them to victory in their primaries.
Thank you,
David Hogg
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