This slate of candidates for this year’s midterm elections is more diverse than we’ve seen before.
At least that’s how it appears to an executive from one political action organization that advocates for getting women into office.
“What has been really interesting has been to be in this room and see the energy and see the commitment of women that we’re seeing,” said Vanessa Cardenas, Strategic Communications Director of Emily’s List. “We want to be at the table when these decisions are being made about our bodies, about our children, about our schools.”
Emily’s List, which focuses on pro-choice, Democratic women, teaches its members the steps to running for office and holds events where community members can support said candidates.
Cardenas says 26,000 women signed up for its programs after the 2016 presidential election, and there’s already been an impact. She points to victories by female candidates in Virginia last November and the voter turnout in Alabama that swayed last month’s special election for the U.S. Senate as examples. And there’s more diversity on the ballot for the midterms.
“In Chicago, for example, we have Sol Flores, who is a community activist that built-up a non profit from the ground up, advocating for the homeless community there. She’s a first-time candidate,” Cardenas said. “In El Paso, Texas we had the opportunity to elect the first Latina elected for Congress and she’s a judge, and she has an amazing background.”
Cardenas’ comments come before this weekend’s second annual Women’s March. Last year’s event, held in cities across the globe, drew 6 million people and became the largest organized march in U.S. history.
But while the movement was criticized by some for ignoring issues affecting women of color and trans women, Cardenas says that “younger, more diverse women” are now committed to march to a different beat.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-to-expect-from-the-second-annual-womens-march).
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
The Super Bowl is just 48 hours away and things are definitely heating up in the social media space, especially on Twitter. Fans across the country are quickly engaging in color commentary as they call it, and actively sharing their views on who's expected to take the big win, which players they are looking forward to seeing. Senior Sports Partner Manager at Twitter, David Herman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. The filmmaker was the mastermind behind some of America's favorite films such as "Ghostbusters". Reitman’s family released a statement explaining how they are comforted by the lives he has touched through his films.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
Jeff Softley, direct to consumer president at Experian, joins Cheddar News to discuss what it means to be credit invisible, how big of an issue this is in the U.S., and what resources are out there to bridge this gap.
