Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy Nominated for EMILY’s List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

From EMILY’s List:

Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy Nominated for EMILY’s List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy is a nominee for the sixth annual Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.

“Jennifer Carroll Foy is a steadfast champion for Virginia women and families,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List. “Since taking office, she has been a part of the effort to expand Medicaid for 400,000 Virginians and is a vocal supporter of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. A mother of two, she advocated for legislation that makes it easier for foster parents to adopt children. She has sought solutions to the school-to-prison pipeline and has used her experience as a public defender to propose criminal justice reform. With impressive accomplishments already under her belt and a bright future ahead of her, Jennifer is a strong candidate for EMILY’s List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award and we are proud she is a nominee.”

Jennifer Carroll Foy proudly serves as the representative for District 2 in the Virginia House of Delegates. Born and raised in Virginia, Jennifer attended the historically all-men Virginia Military Institute, enrolling in only the third class of women cadets. Jennifer is also a new mom, former foster parent, and a public defender. During her time in office, she has been a constant advocate for youth and has supported legislation on education, Medicaid expansion, and improved transportation. EMILY’s List endorsed Jennifer in her last campaign.

Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018.

The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input.

 Jennifer Carroll Foy is nominated alongside:

Wendy Carrillo, California Assemblywoman
Margaret Good, Florida state Representative
Sandra Jauregui, Nevada Assemblywoman
Arvina Martin, Madison (Wisconsin) City Councilwoman
Yuh-Line Niou, New York Assemblywoman
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EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY’s List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILY’s List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILY’s List raised a record-breaking $110 million dollars and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 40,000 women have reached out to EMILY’s List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.