National Endorsement—Local Mission.
Run for Something just endorsed our campaign. Here's what that means — and what it doesn't.
When I first heard that Run for Something was endorsing our campaign, my first instinct wasn't to celebrate. It was to think about how to explain it — clearly, honestly — to the people of Sioux Falls.
Because here's the thing: this campaign has always been about one city. One community. The one my parents chose in 1993 when they came here with nothing. The one I grew up in behind the counter of a restaurant on West 12th Street. The one I'm raising my future in right now.
So when a national organization takes notice, I think you deserve to know exactly what it means.
What Run for Something Is
Run for Something is a national organization founded in 2017 with one core purpose: recruit and support the next generation of progressive leaders running for down-ballot office across the country.
They don't focus on presidential campaigns or Senate races. They highlight the local level — school boards, city councils, county commissions. The races most people don't pay attention to, but that shape your daily life more directly than almost any other office.
Their theory is simple. Change happens from the ground up. And for that to work, you need new voices stepping forward at every level.
What This Endorsement Actually Means
I want to get ahead of any questions here, because I think transparency matters.
This endorsement does not come with funding. Run for Something is not writing checks to our campaign. There is no financial relationship.
This endorsement does not come with a policy agenda. No one from Run for Something has asked me to support any platform, position, or priority that isn't already mine. They haven't asked me to represent anyone other than the people of Sioux Falls.
What they did was look at this campaign — at what we've built, what we stand for, who we are — and say: this is the kind of leadership we want to see more of.
That's it. That's what an endorsement from Run for Something means.
I remain exactly what I've always been: a candidate accountable to one city, one community, one set of neighbors. Local. Grounded. Focused on Sioux Falls.
Why I Stepped Up
I'm not a career politician. I didn't grow up thinking I'd run for office.
I grew up watching my parents build something from scratch. They came here as Vietnamese refugees, opened the first Vietnamese restaurant in Sioux Falls, and spent thirty years proving that this city gives you a real shot if you're willing to work for it. They taught me that you don't just live in a place — you take care of it.
For years, I did that through community work. Helping small businesses find their footing. Hosting conversations at 1 Million Cups. Getting involved with Downtown Sioux Falls, the arts community, the Vietnamese American community. Showing up.
But at some point, showing up from the outside isn't enough.
I saw too many decisions being made without enough voices at the table. Too many families — families that look like mine, and families that don't — feeling like City Hall was happening to them rather than with them. Too many moments where the community didn't get a real say until after the ink was dry.
I stepped up because I believe the next generation of leadership in this city has to look different. Not because the people serving now are bad people — many of them are doing their best. But because we need leaders who have lived in the rooms that City Hall decisions affect most. Leaders who understand what it means to wonder if your small business survives a road project. Leaders who know what it feels like to navigate systems that weren't designed with you in mind.
That's why I'm running. That's always been why.
What This Means for Sioux Falls
Here's what I keep coming back to.
Run for Something endorsed our campaign because they believe Sioux Falls is ready for a different kind of leadership. And I think they're right — not because of anything they told me, but because of what I've seen and heard all across this city for the past year.
At listening sessions. At community forums. At kitchen tables and coffee shops and front porches. People are ready. They want a council member who shows up whether the cameras are on or not. Who asks the hard questions before the crisis meeting, not during it. Who treats neighbors as partners, not obstacles.
They want leadership that puts people first.
That's the city I'm fighting for. Not because a national organization sees potential here — but because I see it. I've always seen it. The families building something new. The small businesses holding neighborhoods together. The kids growing up right now who deserve a city that has room for them.
Sioux Falls doesn't need to import its future from somewhere else. We've always had everything we need — right here.
It's always been our city, and now is our moment. Let's rise together. ☀️
— Vince Danh
Candidate, Sioux Falls City Council At-Large | June 2nd, 2026