OFF TO THE RACES

Run for Something's Amanda Litman is minting candidates at scale.

- TALIB VISRAM

SOON AFTER ZOHRAN MAMDANI secured the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, Amanda Litman posted a video selfie on Instagram. “The dinosaurs of the past, the boomers, the hostile managers, the assholes—they are behind us,” she preached to the camera. If viewers felt inspired to “run to take on the status quo,” they should head to her organization’s website and register.

Though Mamdani is not affiliated with Litman’s eight-year-old nonprofit, Run for Something, his generational fight aligns with its purpose: to encourage young and underrepresented people to run for political office, including “hyperlocal” positions like city council and school boards. Litman says that Mamdani’s win sparked the organization’s biggest-ever candidate recruitment surge, with 5,000 sign-ups in five days. That follows the previous record: 10,000 sign-ups within two weeks of Trump’s (second) election. A total of nearly 250,000 people have reached out to express interest in running for local races. About 10% of them have pursued office in 50 states and D.C. Litman believes that Run for Something has the largest candidate pipeline on either side of the political aisle.

If Litman’s nonprofit were a business, it would be booming. But when you depend entirely on donations, and you operate in the fickle realm of politics, income is always precarious. There are ebbs and flows.

In 2022, Run for Something raised $17 million; in 2023, after successful midterms, the figure dropped to $8 million; in 2024, it reached $12 million. This year, it is tracking slightly downward again. “Democratic donors are capricious,” Litman says. “Year over year you’re hoping that they haven’t changed their minds about everything they believe.”