Progressive Advocacy Group Mobilizes Renters to Run for Office

Facing a generation locked out of homeownership and crushed by soaring rents, Run for Something is mobilizing renters to fight back — not with protests, but by running for local office to rewrite the housing rules themselves.

RFS aims to bring at least 10,000 renters into its pipeline in 2026. It is working to empower a group that has been historically underrepresented in government but increasingly defines today’s generation. 

Elected 1,500 young progressives

Run for Something recruits and supports young progressive candidates for down-ballot offices. RFS has helped elect nearly 1,500 candidates across the country, including 18 candidates in red-to-blue seats in the 2024 election cycle.

According to a 2022 study, renters make up more than 30% of the U.S. population but hold only 2% to 7% of elected positions across all levels of government nationwide. This gap is because renters are far less likely to run in the first place.

Run for Something is working to change that, and its endorsed candidates this year include five candidates and elected officials who are working to ensure their communities have safe, equitable, and affordable housing.

Some of those candidates in Tucson include:

• Miranda Schubert, Tucson City Council, Ward 6, AZ, endorsed in 2025.
• Adam Ragan, Tucson Governing Board Unified School District, AZ, endorsed in 2020.
• Leila Counts, Tucson Unified School Board, AZ, endorsed in 2018.
• Ravi Grivois-Shah, Tucson Unified School District Governing Board, AZ, endorsed in 2020.
• Adam Ragan, Tucson Unified School District Governing Board, AZ, endorsed in 2018.

“Search for a candidate who inspires you and get involved with their campaign. These folks are the present & future leaders of the Democratic Party and the country. Get to know them before everyone else,” Litman said.

Today, RFS has the largest database of any other Democratic organization, with nearly 70,000 people reaching out since November with interest in running for office. 

“If you are a young person today, the way that you think about and interact with the housing market is completely different than someone who bought their home in the 1980s and is now sitting on wealth,” said Amanda Litman, president and co-founder of Run for Something.

“The only way to move the dial on this issue is to ensure that young renters, who bear the brunt of this crisis, have a seat at the table to help solve it. Our candidates and alumni are already paving the path forward, and we’re here to empower more leaders like them to show up and lead.”