Bridging NY, PA, and the future

Outrun is seeking local candidates to challenge the unopposed

By Paolo Cremidis

As the presidential election cycle developed over the last two months, I decided to come home to Elmira NY, to visit my parents.

Elmira and Chemung County are located a mile from the PA border. In fact, the entire southern tier of New York borders the northern tier of Pennsylvania. This region is one of the most Republican parts of Pennsylvania and one of most ignored by the Democratic party. So in August, when I attended my home county Democratic party’s committee meeting, I was shocked.

This meeting was full of people excited to volunteer for Harris/Walz. Well over half the room described this as their first county committee meeting. The meeting also hosted a lot of folks who have moved from NYC, and are setting down roots to raise families. 

Which is why we at Outrun are working with county Democratic parties on both the New York and Pennsylvania sides of the border.

Outrun is an organization composed of 523 local Democratic elected officials, all under 40, who have won elections in rural America. Active in 17 states, we teach rural Democratic parties and progressive organizations how to use diversity as a candidate recruitment tool. Our goal is to make sure there are no uncontested local elections. 

This fall, Outrun is also mobilizing New York volunteers to go into Pennsylvania and knock on doors for the Harris/Walz ticket. And moving beyond Elmira, I have seen the same excitement in Corning (Steuben County, NY), Towanda (Bradford County, PA), and Mansfield (Tioga County, NY). In fact, at the last day of action the Tioga Dems hosted, I recruited a village trustee candidate for March’s village elections. 

You see, this isn’t just about winning this November. The renewed excitement for Democratic politics is helping us identify excellent candidates for town, borough, and village office in 2025. Some of these towns haven't had contested elections in decades. Outrun’s Border County Project is helping us recruit new faces to run next year, giving local Democrats a voice and some hope. 

Clearly, the momentum and excitement that people have across rural America for Harris/Walz is something we don’t want to go away in 2025. We believe that by making sure there are contested elections, with candidates recruited from our volunteer base, we can win seats in Northern PA and the Southern tier of New York.

We do this so that, when Republicans in Congress try to legislate hate, we have local voices in opposition. And because so many resources already go to big level PACs and organizations, local Democratic reps can make sure rural America gets the resources or recognition it deserves. 

Outrun’s Border County Fund ensures a sustainable future in organizing rural communities in Pennsylvania and New York. We are often told we can’t win in rural areas. Through Outrun, which has now contested over 700 local elections across 17 states, and helped elect 523 local Democratic, we know that yes, we can. We win when we run as ourselves, when we contest elections, and when we don’t take “no” for an answer. 

Please contribute to our grassroots effort to win Rural PA for Harris/Walz and win the future by contesting our local elections in 2025. 

Paolo Cremidis is the Executive Director of The Outrun Coalition