And She Could Be Next

At the same time galvanizing and reassuring, perhaps this docu's most potent message is the encouraging idea that there are still politicians who actually care about constituents. While the female candidates spotlighted in And She Could Be Next are a diverse lot, what they have in common is the immense passion for issues and people that propelled them into campaigning in the first place. As we watch these women knocking on doors, making phone calls, and speechifying to voters, what's immediately clear is the huge and unified effort it all takes, particularly in the face of hateful opposition. In one shocking moment, we focus in on Stacey Abrams' (ultimately unsuccessful) gubernatorial campaign in Georgia, a state where the Republican front-runner Brian Kemp ran a commercial noting that he drives an extra-big truck "just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take 'em home myself." And that's far from the worst indignity endured by Abrams and the other candidates in And She Could Be Next.

And yet, many of And She Could Be Next's subjects ultimately won their battles: Lucy McBath, Veronica Escobar, and Rashida Tlaib are now members of Congress; though Abrams lost her fight in Georgia, her state's notorious voter suppression actions in the 2018 election led her to found voter-empowerment nonprofit Fair Fight. These women are now uniquely positioned to inspire other non-traditional candidates to enter politics, a fact made powerfully clear in a story by Tlaib, who often recalls a young Muslim fan who accepted Tlaib's encouragement to run for office someday with a confident admission that she planned to be President. "Seeing someone who looks like yourself in a position of influence and power, that inspires people," says Bushra Amiwala, the young Muslim woman who made headlines when she was elected to the school board of Skokie, Illinois at just 22, making clear not just the power of representation, but the hope it engenders.