FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2023
Contact: Christina Coleman, [email protected], Sheri Shannon, [email protected]
First Endorsements: Lashrecse Aird and Elizabeth Guzman for State Senate
Richmond, Va. – Today, Care in Action, the national policy and advocacy home for 2.5 million domestic workers, announced a $1 million investment to elect a pro-care majority to Virginia’s legislature, starting with their endorsements of former Del. Lashrecse Aird and Del. Elizabeth Guzman for State Senate.
“We know what’s at stake in this election and are committed to electing leaders who are pro-worker and pro-care,” said Hillary Holley, Executive Director of Care in Action. “Lashrecse Aird and Del. Elizabeth Guzman have proven to be care champions in the House of Delegates and have a record of passing legislation that supports women of color. That’s what we need, especially right now.”
“There are 60,000 house cleaners, nannies and home care workers in Virginia who are counting on a government that will deliver results for working people, especially for women of color,” added Yanet Limon-Amado, Virginia State Director for Care in Action. “Our organizing power led to Virginia signing into law a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, sweeping legislation that extends labor protections and human rights to the women who care for the first time in state history, and throughout the South.”
Domestic workers, most of whom are Black, Latinx, and immigrant women, are part of the country’s fastest-growing workforce. As part of its mission, Care in Action works to elect candidates that center domestic workers and people of color in their policy decisions. Black women are also a reliable voter bloc and women of color are a growing part of the electorate.
Care in Action’s electoral program will target Richmond, Henrico, Petersburg, and Prince William County – key competitive districts for Aird and Guzman in the primary election. In the 2021 cycle in Virginia, voters elected 11 of Care in Action’s 14 endorsed candidates for House of Delegates in the general election. That year, Care in Action’s voter contact program made nearly half a million voter contact attempts via a combination of door-to-door canvassing and phone banking. In 2022, Care in Action made over 10 million voter contact attempts in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia combined.
“Building worker power for women of color is how our communities will thrive,” said Limon-Amado. “For us, that means fighting for a care infrastructure that supports higher wages, universal paid family and sick leave, access to affordable child care and health care, and protections for undocumented workers so families have economic security and mobility.”
Paid for by Care in Action, Inc. Authorized by Lashrecse Aird and Elizabeth Guzman, candidates for State Senate.
Care in Action is the policy and advocacy home for women who care, working on behalf of more than two million domestic workers and care workers across America. Among the fastest-growing sectors in our economy, domestic workers are also among the most vulnerable and undervalued. As a mostly women and majority women of color workforce, this growing constituency consistently and overwhelmingly supports progressive values in American political life. Learn more at www.careinaction.us.