Our Mission

Eleanor’s Legacy recruits, trains, and supports pro-choice Democratic women to run for state and local office throughout New York.

What We Do

We’ve worked to build a robust bench of pro-choice Democratic women in New York state by teaching first-time candidates the ropes and filling in the gaps for all our endorsed candidates through training, funding, endorsing and providing pro-bono campaign services.  

  • We show candidates everything they’ll need to run a winning campaign, including how to build a team, fundraise, handle media, develop and deliver their pitch, seek and earn endorsements, partner with labor, organize their field efforts, craft an effective digital strategy, and more. Where there is a knowledge gap, we fill it!

  • Since 2001, Eleanor’s Legacy has given out nearly two million dollars in direct funding to campaigns. Most of that funding has gone to candidates and races that are often overlooked by institutional donors, including hundreds of local races where even $250 can make a meaningful difference.

  • Our endorsement is a highly coveted stamp of approval for Democratic women running for state and local office throughout New York, from village justice to town board to state legislature to governor.

  • We provide pro-bono consulting and campaign services from top-grade political strategists for targeted races. These services include campaign photography, robo calls, text messaging, and digital ads. By consolidating services for multiple campaigns, we are able to make the most of our funding through economies of scale.

Our Story

In 2000, Judith Hope, the first woman to lead the New York State Democratic Party, was crisscrossing the state with a woman running for New York’s open US Senate seat. At the time, New York had not yet elected a woman to statewide office. Come November, Senator Hillary Clinton would break that barrier. 

In the months leading up to Clinton’s historic election, Hope noticed that women were attending Clinton’s events in droves—and leaving inspired to do more than just vote. For years, women had comprised the majority of behind-the-scenes volunteers on political campaigns; yet, few had made the leap to run for office themselves. Clinton’s candidacy would change that.

One attendee told Hope, “Just being in a room with hundreds of other politically active women is an empowering experience.” It was then that Hope decided the time was right to create an organization that would bring New York’s pro-choice Democratic women together, whether they were running for office themselves or to help other women win elected office.

Hope named the organization Eleanor’s Legacy in honor of New York State’s groundbreaking First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, whose work with the Women’s Division of the NYS Democratic Committee brought women’s issues to the forefront of the political conversation and galvanized a generation of women to organize and lobby. At Eleanor’s Legacy’s inaugural luncheon. In 2001, more than 500 women from across the state attended. Since then, Eleanor’s Legacy has raised nearly two million dollars to help little-known candidates like Kathy Hochul and Andrea Stewart-Cousins win their pivotal, first elections. And, in 2018, Eleanor’s Legacy’s Baker Project helped elect four women challengers to the State Senate and win a lasting Democratic majority for the first time in New York history.

In 2023, Eleanor’s Legacy endorsed nearly 300 pro-choice Democratic women running for county and local office, including more than 120 first-time candidates; more than 160 won their races. 

Today, more women are running for office than ever; but many of the same challenges remain–and new ones have arisen. In a post-Dobbs landscape, with so many of our freedoms still under attack, Eleanor’s Legacy works every day to elect pro-choice Democratic women across New York, because when women run, we all win.

Since our founding in 2001, Eleanor’s Legacy has helped to more than double the number of pro-choice Democratic women in the NYS Senate and Assembly and to elect thousands of others at the local level, building a bench of strong, pro-choice Democratic women across the state. We’ve made this impact through:

Trainings

Training nearly 5,000 pro-choice Democratic women and their staff around the state on how to run and win campaigns.

Funding

Providing nearly $2 million dollars in funding to candidates and races often overlooked by institutional donors, including hundreds of local races where even $250 can make a meaningful difference.

Endorsements

Endorsing more than 2,500 candidates who stand out as current or future pro-choice Democratic leaders. Our endorsements are a highly coveted stamp of approval for Democratic women running for state and local office throughout New York.

Direct Services

Providing 100+ hours of pro-bono consulting services from top-grade political strategists each year and connecting campaigns to passionate volunteers and campaign staff.

“For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt