There are no off years for Rural Democracy Initiative (RDI). Joined by our funders and supporters, RDI hosted a Kickoff Webinar to start the year. We welcomed two guest speakers from our grantee network, Davis Hammet from Loud Light and Valerie Rawls from EcoWomanist, as well as new RDI programs Rural Youth Voter Fund and Resource Rural. In an inspiring and lively conversation, we shared recent successes and highlighted our priorities for the year.

In less than a month, voters in Wisconsin will elect the next Supreme Court Justice, which will be critical to protecting the integrity and fairness of voting, reproductive freedoms, and representative maps, among other issues impacting Wisconsin communities. The Democracy Strategy Group, cohosted by Rural Democracy Initiative (RDI) and the Democracy Alliance, organized a webinar to mobilize support.

Rural voters are swing voters, and these swings decide elections. We’re sharing a new tool to view and analyze these voting patterns. 

The RDI Election Results Dashboard provides easy access to county-level data. The Dashboard shows trends across county types, including large and small metro, suburban, and rural. In addition, you can compare 2022 election results to past elections. There are numerous ways to filter the data and visualize it on an interactive map.

This year, our network of over 100 groups and leaders engaged hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas, small towns, and small cities. We changed electoral outcomes and built political power that will endure past the election. The 2022 Midterm Election had many hopeful and bright spots, along with surprises, many incredible learning opportunities, and of course some tough disappointments.

With the Midterm Elections just one month away, RDI held a briefing for our funding partners. The event featured three grantees: Siembra NC, RuralOrganizing.org in Ohio, and We the People Michigan. They shared what they’re hearing at the doors and vividly described how winning or losing in November will impact people’s everyday lives in their states.

To create policies that give people the tools to improve their lives and their communities, we need to be able to unite majorities and build coalitions that share common cause. And majorities cannot be achieved without a strong, resilient working-class base that builds power across rural, urban, and suburban communities.

RDI grantee Faith in Indiana has replicated its co-governance model in Gary, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Indianapolis. Co-Governance starts with a simple idea; it’s up to us to take responsibility to create the conditions required to win, implement, defend, enforce, and sustain progressive policies and programs.