Our Candidates
Running to fight for progressive issues in 2026
Heather Matson (IA Senate District 21)
- Public policy advocate, community leader, state legislator, and development professional with 25 years of experience
- Currently serving in her second term in the Iowa House, with committee work in Education, Health & Human Services, State Government, Appropriations, and Administration & Rules
- Ranking Member of the Economic Development Budget Subcommittee
- Serves on the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board and the Council on Health & Human Services
- Prioritizes constituent services, including weekly office hours during legislative sessions and listening posts throughout the year
- Background in government affairs, politics, nonprofit advocacy, and campaigns, including work for John Kerry, Leonard Boswell, and Tom Vilsack
- Volunteer leader with the Ankeny Service Center, Ankeny Kiwanis Foundation, and ACSD Innovative Hub Design Team
- Lives in Ankeny with her husband, Chris, their twins, Emma and Henry, and their dog, Steve
Darrin Camilleri (MI State Senate District 4)
- Helped flip the State Senate in 2022, securing a Democratic trifecta
- Made history in 2016 as Michigan’s youngest Latino and first-ever Maltese-American legislator
- First-gen college graduate
- In the State Senate, championed investments in public education, defended workers’ rights, and fought to protect clean air and water
- Repeatedly and successfully campaigned to keep industrial waste dumps out of his district
Ryan Spaude (WI Assembly District 89)
- Fifth-generation Wisconsinite raised in Little Suamico by a welder and a dental hygienist
- Public school graduate and first career prosecutor in the Brown County District Attorney’s Office, focused on prosecuting drunk driving
- Ran for State Assembly after fairer district maps were enacted, stepping up to represent his community
- Focused on affordability: raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid, lowering housing costs, and cutting taxes for middle-class families
- Advocates for fully funding public education and affordable childcare (Child Care Counts program)
- Introduced legislation to strengthen drunk driving laws and improve community safety
How We Get Our Candidates
States Win's national organization identifies states where the state legislative chambers can be flipped blue or have fragile blue majorities. States Win then offers support to those Democratic candidates who can realistically win a potentially close election for their state legislative seats (see more). States Win is particularly proud to support women, candidates of color, and other candidates from diverse communities and backgrounds so that we can help build a democracy that reflects the full chorus of American voices. Candidates endorsed by States Win are then assigned to States Win chapters across the USA. Chapter volunteers phonebank, fundraise, postcard, and textbank for their candidates.
Since our founding in 2017, States Win South Bay has supported numerous compelling leaders, such as our 2025 candidates for Virginia House of Delegates: Lily Franklin, Josh Thomas, and Leslie Mehta. Our past candidates have included Darrin Camilleri (MI), Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz (PA), Joshua Cole (VA), Mitzi Epstein (AZ), Debra Gardner (VA), Karen Gresham (AZ), Nancy Guenst (PA), Elizabeth Guzman (VA), Jodi Habush Sinykin (WI), Pam Iovino (PA), Ann Johnson (TX), Shadia Martini (MI), Brittney Miller (NV), Josh Miller (VA), Debra Rodman (VA), Sara Rodriguez (WI), Lorenzo Sanchez (TX), Tammy Savoie (LA), Ann Johnson Stewart (MN), Tammy Story (CO), Schuyler VanValkenburg (VA), Amanda White Eagle (WI), and Faith Winter (CO).
Join us to support such candidates and our mission to bring progressive power to the states!