No Rest for the NJ Women Who Took Down the Republicans

Some of the women who led a grassroots movement to give Democrats control of the U.S. House of Representatives took a victory lap on Thursday. 

“An amazing thing happened in New Jersey,” said Margaret Illis, leader and co-founder of NJ 7 Forward, one of the grassroots groups that helped Democrat Congressman-elect Tom Malinowski defeat Republican Rep. Leonard Lance.  “Ordinary people said we can be the change. Women said we don’t have to settle. We said we deserved better, and we reached for it. So we flipped the House!"

Illis was joined in front of the Statehouse in Trenton by leaders of New Jersey Citizen Action, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey, and NJ 11th for Change. 

But then Saily Avelenda, the executive director of NJ 11th For Change, hopped in her car and headed to Morristown, where the group protested the firing of the Attorney General. It wants Congress and the outgoing Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to protect the Mueller investigation.

"Today is really about raising our voices again and ensuring that we show that we are against all of the ways this president is dismantling our democracy," Avelenda said. 

Avelenda says she already has a list of what she wants to accomplish in 2019 and 2020, including organizing around state Assembly races and resisting the re-election of Donald Trump.