Galentine’s Day, as defined by its original creator Parks and Recreation’s Leslie Knope, is a day for ladies celebrating ladies. While February 14th is typically reserved for your romantic partner, Galentine’s Day is for the people you really love the most: your girlfriends.
Months before this year’s fictional holiday, on Nov. 6th, the country watched as waves of women were elected to political seats, from U.S. Congress to state delegations. And what emerged was a clear theme: So many of them were friends. Whether they knew each other before their campaigns or not, women came together to support one another, raise up each other’s platforms, and celebrate their collective victories.
So this year, in honor of Galentine’s Day 2019, ELLE.com asked a few women in politics to write their own love notes to each other. Read all they had to say:
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The self-proclaimed “Fab Four” made history in November when they became the largest group of women to ever join Pennsylvania’s U.S. House delegation. Previously, Pennsylvania was the largest state with an all-male delegation, and no more than two women had ever been part of it at the same time. As they settle into their new seats in Congress, Representatives Scanlon, Dean, and Wild wrote these love notes to each other:
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These freshman Congresswomen both served the country before they entered politics: Rep. Sherrill as a Navy helicopter pilot and Rep. Spanberger as a CIA officer. They met on the campaign trail at a Serve America event and now have offices down the hall from one another in Washington. Here, their Galentine’s messages:
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State representatives Elizabeth Fiedler, Sara Innamorato, and Summer Lee also didn’t know each other prior to their 2018 campaigns. But the first-time progressive candidates quickly became friends, acting as each other’s cheerleaders and even, in some cases, sharing volunteers and interns. Now the three are working together at the state’s capitol in Harrisburg—but still had time to craft some letters:
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In 1998, Shamieka Rhinehart, Teresa Robinson-Freeman, Keisha Wright-Hill, and Camille Banks-Prince were all living in the same dorm at North Carolina Central University School of Law. The four students became fast friends, creating their own Golden Girls-themed sisterhood. And now, over 10 years after that fateful meeting, they’ve all secured their own judgeships. Below, their Galentine’s Day notes to each other:
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