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Sac Kids First coalition meeting
The All-America City of Sacramento, California: Youth Forward and Sac Kids First
Jul 29, 2026
A quality that’s often missing from community youth services is coordination among programs. This is where Sacramento, California, excels, working as a region to coordinate youth-serving organizations regarding both advocacy and services.
Sac Kids First is a coalition 36 youth-serving organizations that was formed in 2017, with the original impetus coming from a group of young Hmong leaders active in the East Bay Asian Youth Center. These leaders surveyed youth to identify their concerns and needs and to build a coalition with the goal of establishing a dedicated funding source for children and youth.
Sac Kids First worked during the COVID-19 epidemic to persuade the City Council to invest federal stimulus funding in youth services, with a focus on serving youth and families impacted by the pandemic. As a result, the City Council dedicated over $8 million to youth services from the federal allocation.
Youth Forward serves as the coordinating entity of Sac Kids First, with a goal of increasing the wellbeing of children and youth in the Sacramento region, particularly children and youth most affected by poverty, violence and trauma. Youth Forward also works on youth leadership and mental health programs, including work during the pandemic to produce a series of virtual training sessions in youth mental health for youth development workers.
In 2022, Youth Forward and Sac Kids First led a campaign to create a children’s fund in the city budget, which was placed on the ballot that July and adopted November 8th with support from 62% of the voters. Under this measure, the city spends the equivalent of 40% of the tax revenues from cannabis sales on child and youth services (about $9 million annually, in addition to what the city currently spends on youth services).
The fund, which is overseen by an advisory commission funds services in the following areas:
- To prevent and reduce child and youth homelessness
- To support the mental and emotional health of children and youth
- To prevent youth violence
- To prevent and reduce youth substance abuse
- To support the healthy development of children ages 0 to 5
Sac Kids First, is also working at the state level to generate revenue for kids’ programs.
In other work by Youth Forward, youth leaders, won a commitment from the City Board of Education during the 2022-2023 school year to ensure that all middle schools and high schools in the district will have safe spaces on campus for LGTBQ students. During the 2024-2025 school year, Youth Forward organizers led the development of Schools as Centers of Wellness, which included placement of mental health clinicians at schools in Sacramento County.
In its presentation to the jury as part of winning designation as an All-America City in 2022, Sacramento also highlighted youth programs related to literacy, helping kids in housing developments, and support for post-secondary education.
Sacramento’s Literacy Coalition brings together local and statewide organizations, non-profits, education administrators, government officials, funders and like-minded individuals in monthly meetings to advance literacy by raising awareness, increasing out-of-school time literacy programming, including tutoring, summer reading, book giveaways, and advocating for the Science of Reading in all classrooms.
Another community effort is the city’s Promise Zone, which was the highlight of the city’s application for this year’s All-America City award. As one of the hundreds of cities working with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, Sacramento has focused much of its attention on assisting youths in public housing and has served more than 14,000 kids in all through partnerships with the library and other organizations.
The city also began a new effort to serve young people at the other end of the spectrum—teenagers, mostly—through a project sponsored by the National League of Cities called Youth Excel. This program will help youths with access to quality postsecondary education and career pathway opportunities that lead to higher wage jobs. Each of the six cities involved in the program formed a cross-sector team and is connecting with city cohort peers to share and refine promising approaches to overcoming barriers to accessing quality jobs in STEM fields.
Literacy and other services to improve youth well-being are a way of life for city leaders in Sacramento. As former mayor Darrell Steinberg said about literacy efforts during his presentation at City Hall of the All-America City award, “We haven’t solved this problem, but at least we’re making progress.”
The National Civic League (NCL) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing inclusive civic engagement and strengthening democracy by helping communities build more equitable, participatory, and effective local governance.
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Painting by John Trumbull made in 1818 depicting the Committee of Five (Adams, Livingston, Sherman, Jefferson, and Franklin) presenting their draft of the Declaration of Independence.
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Defending Democracy Through the Founders’ Principles
Jul 29, 2026
As we have been celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country's founding, America is faced with its biggest challenge probably ever, save the Civil War. While there is much to celebrate in the 250 years of our existence, this moment is fraught with danger—not just for our democracy but for our founding principles of equality and the people's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately, most people don't understand the critical role that our country's structure, democracy, and the rule of law play in their efforts to live their lives and pursue happiness. People think, "So what, these issues don’t impact my life."
But the balance of power created by the Founding Fathers and the rule of law are in fact essential. Our founders were very aware of the vanity and desire for power that reside in many people, and they were aware of how those qualities in a government or politician can destroy a government's foundational purpose to protect the people and their rights. And so they created a system that depended on the concept of the balance of power. This system was designed to prevent any branch of government from creating such a power center or displaying such vanity that the government would cease focusing on its role of protecting the people and instead turn its focus to protecting themselves or the rich and powerful.
Lawyers have a duty to fulfill their oath to uphold the Constitution by not just bringing cases against unconstitutional government actions, but by educating the public about the meaning of our founding principles as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Lawyers also have a duty to educate the public about the people's role in upholding the Constitution by holding politicians accountable when they act in ways that diminish our founding principles—the equality of all and our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
"We the people" is not just a good-sounding phrase; it is the essence of American democracy. It is all about the people and supporting their right to pursue their lives as they wish, to follow their dreams. The government's purpose as stated in the Declaration is to secure people's rights. Promoting industry and the economy, our defense, protecting the environment and clean water and air—all are appropriate government actions, but only if the purpose is to secure people's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or promote equality for all.
As Lincoln stated, America's government was created to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Our mission must be to continue to secure that aspiration.
For example, anything the government does that promotes or increases inequality is contrary to the government's purpose. Anything the government does that promotes or increases the power of persons or corporations or government over the people is contrary to the government's purpose. Anything that the government or a politician does that is self-serving is contrary to the government's purpose.
Join LDAD's initiative, Meeting the Moment, and share the uplifting spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the role we all must play in protecting the people and their rights.
This series from Lawyers Defending American Democracy connects the words of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to current events that threaten democracy and the justice system. Each piece highlights the unique responsibility lawyers carry—through their oath, professional obligations, and roles in their communities—to help the public understand what’s at risk and to speak out when democratic principles are under threat. LDAD’s call to action is straightforward: as the Founders once did, we must recognize threats to constitutional values, demand accountability, and act to defend them.
Ronald L. Hirsch is the author of We Still Hold These Truths - An American Manifesto, a volunteer with Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and the author of the blog www.PreservingAmericanValues.com
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U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him.
Jul 29, 2026
Independent voters now represent the largest share of the American electorate, and yet they remain almost entirely unrepresented in Congress. Both major parties have spent decades optimizing for their bases, leaving the near majority of Americans who identify as independent with the choice of either voting for a party candidate they don't fully support or staying home.
A handful of high-profile independent candidates are trying to change that in 2026. They are often covered as fringe candidates whose stories are told through the lens of how they'll impact the outcome between a Republican and a Democrat, rather than on their own terms. This series exists because independent voters deserve better than that.
In California's 6th Congressional District, Rep. Kevin Kiley serves as the only independent currently serving in the House of Representatives, and he’s running for reelection in a district gerrymandered to end that service.
The Candidate
Kevin Kiley is a Rocklin native who spent his entire political career as a Republican before this year. He represented the 6th District in the California State Assembly from 2016 to 2022 before getting elected to Congress in 2022 in California's 3rd District, winning reelection in 2024.
This March, Kiley filed for reelection with no party affiliation and days later asked the clerk of the House to reflect his independent status on the official roster, effective immediately. He became the 10th member of Congress to change party affiliation since 2000 and the only sitting independent in the chamber.
Asked whether the decision was difficult, Kiley described it as the culmination of a series of events that showed how partisan and broken Washington has become and said it felt like the right thing to do "when the whole gerrymandering circus got out of control."
The circus in question was a nationwide drive to mid-decade redistricting. Normally, the redistricting process follows the decennial census. Required by the Constitution, this census sees changes to populations across the US and leads to potential reapportionment of representatives and redrawing of districts. This year, however, many states decided to engage in a redistricting war, including California.
California passed independent redistricting over a decade ago, which meant that redistricting mid-cycle would require a public vote. Proposition 50, the November 2025 ballot measure that allowed California to bypass its independent redistricting commission and pass a new Democratic-friendly House map before the 2026 midterms passed by nearly 30 points. The new map dismantled Kiley's 3rd District. Rather than challenge fellow Republican Rep. Tom McClintock in the safer 5th District, Kiley chose the much bluer 6th—the one that includes his hometown.
The Race
The redrawn 6th District covers portions of Yolo, Sacramento, and Placer counties, including West Sacramento, Natomas, parts of northern Sacramento, and sections of Roseville, Rocklin, and Citrus Heights. It was engineered to elect a Democrat: while Kiley's original district went for Donald Trump by four points in 2024, the new 6th favored Kamala Harris by nine points.
The June 2 top-two primary tested whether an independent incumbent could survive on that terrain.
He did.
Kiley led the seven-candidate field with 46,921 votes (24.3%), followed by former Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan with 44,805 (23.2%) and Republican Michael Stansfield with 38,823 (20.1%). Pan edged out Stansfield for the second runoff spot, narrowly avoiding a rare California race that would have boxed out a Democrat entirely.
The primary math cuts both ways. Kiley finished first without a party. But Democratic candidates combined for approximately 55.7% of the primary vote, meaning Pan's path in November runs through consolidating a coalition that already exists on paper, while Kiley must hold Republicans who just voted for Stansfield and win over unaffiliated and crossover voters.
On fundraising, Kiley currently leads Pan. Through their 6/30 FEC filings, Kiley has raised just shy of $3 million, while Pan is just under $1.1 million. Kiley is also sitting on $2.1 million cash on hand, having spent only a third of his total receipts during the primary. That’s compared to Pan’s $360,000.
Governing as the Only Independent
Kiley's answer to how independence has changed his approach in Washington is that it hasn't—it formalized it. "I always approach my role as being a representative of all constituents," he said in our interview. "Being an independent is a reflection of that."
He has a recent data point to cite. In June, Kiley's office received a 2026 Democracy Award from the Congressional Management Foundation for Best of Constituent Service — a competitive program that drew more than 150 applications from over 80 offices across both chambers, with 18 recipients selected across seven categories. In accepting the award, Kiley said his office has closed more than 6,000 individual cases, returning over $21 million directly to constituents and helped the district receive over $315 million in federal grants. Among the grants he points to is a $22.5 million award, secured working with both the Biden and Trump administrations, to address traffic congestion around Highway 65 and I-80.
The Reform Agenda: Redistricting First
Immediately bucking party leadership, one of Kiley’s first moves as an independent was to introduce a bill to combat the redistricting war that led to his defection from the Republican Party. His bill would prohibit states from redrawing congressional maps more than once every 10 years, after the census, unless a federal court orders it—a ban that would apply to red-state and blue-state gerrymanders alike. When House leadership declined to move it, Kiley introduced a discharge petition in May to force a floor vote, one of the few tools rank-and-file lawmakers have to bypass leadership.
The bill has drawn fire from both party establishments — which, for a candidate running against the two-party duopoly, is not the worst place to be. A spokesperson for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dismissed it as "unserious legislation", while Kiley has also publicly criticized Speaker Mike Johnson for failing to advance legislation curbing partisan redistricting.
Beyond the mid-decade ban, Kiley told IVN he wants independent redistricting commissions in every state, open primaries and other reforms "so that you don't have the two parties controlling everything and a system that breeds people on the extremes rather than people who want to solve problems," and a voter ID requirement, which he notes most voters support. He also wants structural change inside the House itself: more avenues for getting bills to the floor beyond leadership discretion or the rare discharge petition, including giving bills a right to a vote based on cosponsor count, and a cultural shift away from party-line procedural votes. He notes that the party-line norm lets "a handful of people hold the whole institution hostage based on unrelated demands."
The Anti-Corruption Agenda
Corruption consistently ranks near the top of the issues independent voters care about, and Kiley's second major post-party legislative push targets it directly. In late June, he joined Democratic Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet, Greg Landsman, and Eugene Vindman to introduce the No Profiting from Public Service Act, which would ban politicians, Supreme Court justices, and other federal officials (including executive appointees) from trading stocks and using prediction markets to wager on government and politics. The bill goes further than most prior stock-trading bans: it would also bar spouses and dependents from owning and trading stocks, and extend coverage to candidates for Congress.
"There are many ways to make government more transparent and accountable," Kiley told IVN, describing the principle behind the bill as ensuring officials "can't make money on public service."
The Caucus Question
Like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who caucus with Democrats, Kiley has said he will caucus with Republicans through the end of the 119th Congress. What happens after that is genuinely open. Current House rules effectively require members to caucus with a party to receive committee assignments — a structural penalty on independence that Kiley wants eliminated. He told IVN he would ask the Speaker to change the rule so independents can serve on committees without joining either conference, and that in a new term he would decide his affiliation based on "what's best for constituents and what would restore the House to truly being the People's House."
That answer will not satisfy critics on either side. Pan's campaign argues the independent label is cosmetic, citing vote analyses showing Kiley has voted with Trump-backed positions in the overwhelming majority of votes where the president's position was publicly known. Kiley's counter is his record since the switch — including providing what he called the decisive signature on the discharge petition that forced a vote on the Ukraine Support Act, and voting against legislation to dismantle the Department of Education from his position chairing an Education and Workforce subcommittee.
Turning Out the Independent Vote
Kiley is candid about the disillusionment among unaffiliated voters, some of whom polling suggests plan to sit out November entirely. "I understand where a lot of folks are coming from," he said, pointing to primaries in many states that shut out independents and to his own singular status: "I'm the only independent member of the House even though half the country" identifies outside the parties. Independents, he argues, are "vastly underrepresented," and the only remedy is showing up, "making their voice heard and making their presence felt" by supporting candidates with a demonstrated willingness to work across the aisle and reform the system so collaboration becomes structurally easier, not just personally admirable.
The Debate Standoff
The clearest current flashpoint in the race is Kiley's challenge to Pan for five debates across the district, which he argues would prevent the race from being decided by campaign ads, party organization, and outside spending. Pan has yet to commit to a single date, venue, or format, though his campaign says he looks forward to having a conversation to help voters decide. IVN covered the standoff in detail.
Asked what he would tell voters on a debate stage, Kiley said he would start with his record—constituent services, federal grants delivered—and draw a contrast with Pan's twelve years in a state Legislature he characterizes as the most extreme in the country, presiding over the nation's highest cost of living. His sharpest charge: that Pan "always does what he's told by party leaders" and that his refusal to commit to debates reflects a campaign strategy of "reading talking points handed to him by Washington, D.C."
Assessment
CA-6 is the purest test case of the 2026 cycle for a question that matters well beyond Sacramento: whether a candidate can survive a map drawn specifically to end his career by refusing to play the game the map assumes. The newly drawn district's fundamentals favor Pan, with Harris winning the district by nine points. However, the incumbent advantage is real, and voters have demonstrated a willingness to vote for people who are willing to buck their party leadership to fight for popular reforms. His constituent services record suggests a candidate who has made many inroads in improving the lives for his constituents, but many of them are no longer voters in the district he hopes to represent because of the redistricting effort.
As districts become more gerrymandered, margins necessarily get closer. And as independent voters make up a larger and larger share of the vote, those smaller margins are going to result in unexpected outcomes. If Kiley wins in the newly-drawn CA-6, a district drawn to create a safely Democratic seat, the only independent in the House will have proven that the label can beat the gerrymander that created it.
Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him is republished as part of The Fulcrum’s partnership with IVN and the Latino News Network to expand voter‑first journalism and strengthen public‑centered coverage of democracy.
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A record number of veterans, especially women veterans, are running for Congress in 2026, bringing military leadership and public service to the campaign trail.
KairosDee/Getty Images
In Lady Veterans We Trust
Jul 28, 2026
Many people who have served, or are still serving in the military, are not thrilled with the state of our country. There are plenty of active duty members who wish they could quit–and many of them are in my DMs asking for my advice–which might be why the number of military personnel inquiring about conscientious objection has risen by 1,000% since the start of the Iran war. Whether they joined to patriotically serve their country or simply for the promise of stability and upward mobility, a draft dodger who “finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible” is now holding them hostage in an indefinite war against Iran.
Veterans feel an obligation to speak up against the betrayal. 752 of them are running for Congress in 2026. A record number of them are women.
Trump has never cared about veterans, and it might be his downfall. The President, who has called fallen Americans ‘losers’ and ‘suckers,’ talked about how there will likely be more deaths, and just put words in the mouths of our most recently slain, has practically admitted he is extending the war simply to enrich himself and defense companies. Veterans are pissed, and they are answering the call once again to step up and protect their country. And though Trump and Hegseth are actively seeking to stifle them, veteran voices are proving more critical than ever in pushing back against these warmongers. It seems, as I’ve discovered myself, that a veteran who speaks up about the military-industrial complex is harder to wave off than someone who's never worn the uniform. That credibility is worth something; Americans trust people with military experience more than people without it. Their voices are reaching an audience.
Female veterans, especially, are breaking through, and Trump and Hegseth may have helped activate them. For years, women serving in the military have been more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by the enemy; it has since come out that women are more likely to be killed by a fellow soldier than by the enemy. Yet Trump, a sex offender, appointed Hegseth, an accused sex offender, to lead the organization. While the misogyny of these male leaders may be enough to make things miserable for women while they’re in, on the outside, they have something to say about it. Nancy Lacore, a retired vice admiral, was removed from her position by Secretary Hegseth in 2025. Now she’s running for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st. In fact, of the 47% increase in vets running for Congress since 2024, the most impressive growth is among female veterans. 95 ran or are running for federal office this year compared to only 40 in 2024. That’s a 137% increase, and also the highest number ever tracked.
The Trump regime has wanted to push women out of the military, but no one seems to have thought about what these women might do next. Women were leaving the military at a rate 28% higher than men even before Hegseth. But now, after Hegseth pulled three women–including Rear Adm. Bauernschmidt, the first female to captain a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier–off the promotion list, the Navy will promote zero women to the rank of admiral for the first time in more than a decade. As Commander Mariner, the Navy's first female Commanding Officer of an aviation squadron, once said, "If the institution says you're not good enough to fight or doesn't want you to, it's natural for people to think you're inferior." As frustrating as that can be, it also means women have been seriously underestimated. The joke may be on those doing the underestimating. I got out of the military in 2025 as a Lieutenant Commander after ten years as a Navy helicopter pilot, where I worked alongside some of the most impressive women I’ve ever met. Now, many of those bonafide badasses are about to get elected to Congress.
Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, is running to unseat Thomas Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Her campaign, which prioritizes affordability, health care, and national security, raised more than $3 million, outpacing the entire field. Former Marine Corps captain Maura Sullivan, who served in Iraq and Southeast Asia as well as in senior roles at the VA and Pentagon, is running a campaign based on lowering costs and fighting corruption in one of the swingiest districts in the country: New Hampshire’s 1st. Cait Conley, who did six overseas deployments including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is taking on Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th. JoAnna Mendoza, a veteran running for Congress in Arizona’s 6th, did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Marialana Kinter, Navy veteran and former nuclear reactor plant supervisor, is running in Florida’s 7th. And Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs, an Army veteran and former tank commander, is running in Virginia’s 1st. These are just a handful of the female veterans whose races I’ve been following. Many are mothers, many hold advanced degrees, and all of them are incredibly impressive people and candidates.
Perhaps because they are veterans or because they are women or because of this special combination, they have approached their races with a deeply collaborative spirit. Many are even pushing to reclaim patriotism as a bipartisan issue; Nancy Lacore, the vice admiral Hegseth wanted gone, said, "I think that's kind of silly to think that patriotism belongs to one particular party.” Leela Gray, a retired Army brigadier general running for Congress in Florida’s 13th, said: “I served in uniform for 30 years. I had no idea if people were an independent or a Republican or a Democrat. It didn't matter. What mattered was, could you trust the person next to you?” The military teaches you to work with all kinds of people toward a shared mission; you share meals, you train together, you have each other’s backs. When such a broad coalition is a necessity, the community building practically happens by accident. These women are translating that now to the campaign trail. Several of them even belong to a strategy-sharing moral support group called the Hell Cats, an homage to the first women Marines who served during World War I. Mendoza says she checks in with the Hell Cats almost every day.
With primaries still coming up in multiple states, and midterms just around the corner, I obviously hope you vote. But in addition, I hope that you tune in. Some of the most intelligent, hardworking, and competent women in America are continuing their legacies of service and fighting to defend our country, making cogent arguments against a government that has tried to erase them. It is really something to behold. Whether or not they win, they are running thoughtful and important campaigns. If you want to be inspired, then just watch.
Julie Roland was a Naval Officer for ten years, deploying to both the South China Sea and the Persian Gulf as a helicopter pilot before separating in June 2025 as a Lieutenant Commander. She has a law degree from the University of San Diego, a Master of Laws from Columbia University, and is a member of the Truman National Security Project.
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