Three activist groups are changing the political landscape of a large swath of New Jersey suburbs that have elected Republicans to local and national office for at least 40 years. It's the most successful grassroots movement the state has seen in a very long time, and the women who started these groups share a very similar story.
They woke up the morning after the Trump election in shock.
"I was devastated by the outcome, expecting that we'd have a first woman president like everybody else," said Amy Higer of Maplewood, one of the founders of SOMA Action. She read an essay that recommended connecting with others who felt the same way. "So I emailed everybody I knew in my community and invited them to my house just to talk and then my house was fuller than it's ever been."
In Berkeley Heights, Margaret Illis sought out others online. "We wanted to do something but nobody knew what to do," Illis said. "So these meetings sort of popped up."
Illis lives in the 7th Congressional district, and within a month she had formed NJ 7 Forward, which began advocating for Rep. Leonard Lance to oppose what they saw as extreme policies suggested by Donald Trump. At exactly the same moment, Saily Avelenda was joining online groups in her congressional district, the 11th, held by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.
That would lead to the formation of NJ 11th for Change, which played a significant role in convincing Frelinghuysen not to run for re-election. Avelenda was targeted by Frelinghuysen and left her job, and now she's the paid director of the group.
While many men were upset about the Trump election, women joined in much larger numbers. Avelenda says that’s because women were more angry that Hillary Clinton — with all her experience — was defeated by a man who they saw as unqualified and offensive.
"We see a woman who sort of looks like you, has done everything right," Avelenda said. "I went to law school in the '90s and I was told, 'You pay your dues, you know, you wait your turn. Don't be too pushy. But if you do the right things, you'll get rewarded.' In the end, we weren’t rewarded. She didn't become president, right? He became president."
These women are channeling their anger into the midterm elections.
The groups have held postcard-writing parties and training sessions for canvassing. They've set up phone banks and forums on democracy. By the second week of October, NJ 11th for Change had knocked on 12,000 doors, sent 26,000 handwritten postcards and distributed 24,000 vote-by-mail applications.
These activist groups are representative of what is going on in suburban swing districts across the country. A Pew Research Center poll taken in September found 58 percent of women nationwide prefer the Democratic candidate for Congress. Lara Putnam, an historian at the University of Pittsburgh, has been following many of these suburban movements. She says the groups are remarkably similar — mostly white, middle-aged and middle-class women who have flexible work schedules.
"So that they could look at the list of to do items on the refrigerator — which already had a project at work, kid's science project, volunteer at the high school — and they added onto that, 'save democracy,'" Putnam said.
Avelenda says there's no doubt this suburban movement is fueled by affluent women. She points to the protests they held at Frelinghuysen's office on Fridays at 1 p.m each week. The challenge, as she sees it, is to create a sustainable movement that includes working women and communities of color.
"We just need to get to the core of what this really means and see if we can build a community that still engages with those people that don't have the privilege of being free in the middle of the day," she said.
Avelenda is a white Cuban who grew up in a Spanish-speaking immigrant household.
"Most communities of color and immigrant communities have been fighting in these arenas for a very long time, and it's suddenly the white women that woke up and said wow we have to do something about it," Avelenda said.
It’s not so surprising that the Trump resistance in these two congressional districts are predominantly white. After all, New Jersey’s 7th is 79 percent white and the 11th is 89 percent. South Orange and Maplewood, where SOMA Action is based, is much more diverse, but SOMA isn’t. Sarah and Geneva Paul are among the few people of color who are involved.
"I lived during the civil rights era so I know that people can bring about change," said Sarah Paul, 70, who is retired from the Newark Public Schools. "For a number of years, I think we've been sleeping."
Or they had other things on their minds. Her 36-year-old daughter Geneva, who moved back home and is working and going to school for a master’s degree, is involved too. But she says most of her friends are too busy juggling work and parenting.
"On my committee, most people do work but it seems like they have more flexibility," Geneva said. "I know when I'm at work, I maybe glance at my phone but I really don't have time to organize something."
Like all the women interviewed from these activist groups, Geneva and Sarah say they enjoy being part of SOMA Action. The political work is gratifying because it’s channeling their frustration and anger, and also because it’s social. Neither mother nor daughter is troubled by the lack of people of color involved, but they’re not surprised either, because to them, Trump isn’t that different from a lot of white men.
"I think for some white people this is more of their wake-up call," Geneva said.
She says another barrier to participation is that it's hard for many people to see how they can have an impact.
"You feel you know the issue but it's not cleanly laid out — like how do you get there, what are the actions to try to work towards this?" Geneva said. "That's just a deterrent because it's like, how do you attack something that just seems so big or so distant, right? Do my actions even matter?"
Yet this suburban movement has already made a difference. They forced one powerful Republican into retirement. Five congressional seats held by New Jersey Republicans are facing tough Democratic candidates, backed by an unprecedented level of grassroots activism.
The activists know they may not win every seat, and they may not flip Congress. But whatever the outcome on November 6th, Saily Avelenda says she doesn't want to walk away on November 7th.
"We need to sustain this so that we can make sure that we make all the change we want, but also that women continue to be part of this discussion," Avelenda said.
"And not something like, 'Oh remember what happened in 2018? That was so great!' — and then it goes back to normal, and the complacency sets in. I don't think we can go back there."