📬 LP Network Download | Ensuring free and democratic elections | October 2026

💗 LP at the Othering and Belonging Conference 

Southern communities are facing some of the most abusive state preemption in the country, localities in the South often are the testing grounds for how far abusive state preemption can go. Fighting for home rule is ALL of our fight because when local power is challenged by the state, democracy gets weaker for everyone. Earlier this month, Local Progress hosted two sessions at the Othering and Belonging Conference in Louisville, KY. LP staff, alongside members Spring Lake Mayor Kia Anthony, Kingston Alderwoman Michele Hirsch, and Nashville Councilmember Delishia Porterfield led sessions on legal, narrative, and co-governance strategies to fight preemption right in your backyard.

🍎 Equipping and Empowering School Board Members in Washington

LP and our partner One America hosted a second Collaborative Governance Lab in Washington focused on school board leaders from across the state. From April through September, Washington school board members from districts large and small, rural and urban, gathered in-person and virtually to dig into together on how to lead their school districts in a way that prioritizes supporting the whole student and reflects the needs of their communities. “It’s the missing manual of how to be an effective school board member in Washington state,” said Joe Greenheron in the South Whidbey District. See photos from the CGL and learn about the Collaborative Governance Academy here.

✊ LP Women’s Caucus Stands with Jane Doe 

The Local Progress Women’s Caucus released a statement on behalf of the Local Progress Network in response to the recently re-opened investigation of sexual assault at Cornell University. “As local elected officials fighting for racial, economic, and gender justice, we stand in solidarity with every single survivor who has had to be strong when they should have been safe. We hold up every single survivor who has had to face their abusers in a system that regularly fails to hold those abusers accountable. And we will fight for every single survivor by taking action to transform those failed systems so all of us can be safe from sexual violence at school, work, and home.” Read the full statement.

🧊 Lessons Learned from Federal Deployments

When the federal government announced operation “Midway Blitz” last year, Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden jumped into action. Daily ICE raids and assaults on local officials brought chaos to Chicago, but local leaders knew how to fight back. From well-organized alert networks to using office resources to support immigrant justice, local leaders have a major role to play if ICE shows up to take our neighbors. Watch Alderwoman Hadden’s interview – part of a series of videos from our May gathering on federal deployments. These are real stories from local leaders who have seen what federal authoritarianism looks like in the modern era, and the lessons learned that can help protect other communities just like theirs.