Hell hath no furry like hactivists against Steve Bannon

Lots of abortion rights, exciting labor updates, big election news, state legislature updates, housing innovation with old malls, and more!

Welcome to a Wednesday night edition of Progress Report.

The excitement around the labor movement is truly percolating right now.

• Volkswagen workers are now voting on whether to join the UAW and become the first unionized southern auto plant.

• The Disney World costume character actors are now seeking union representation.

• The writers of Sesame Street may go on strike after years of miserable pay.

• I spent over an hour tonight talking with a bank branch banker, lawyers, and union organizers about an ongoing campaign that could change a whole lot of lives and create a radical shift in American work culture.

• I also spent a lot of time today talking to union leaders at Starbucks Workers United, which is about to head into negotiations with the company after a grueling two-and-a-half year fight. They’re cautiously optimistic about what’s to come — I’ll keep you all in the loop as things develop.

Less exciting? Dick Durbin is yet again reverting to squeamishness and fear of using his power. This is going to take a lot of work. Now let’s get to the news!

If you’ve enjoyed Progress Report — or at least learned something! — please consider a subscribing and/or donating to support the newsletter’s survival. Far-right extremists are financed by billionaires and corporations, who invest in conservative outlets, think tanks, and law firms to advance their interests. We rely on forward-thinking readers like you.

---

---

Back on top: Democrats reclaimed their Michigan trifecta on Tuesday after coasting to victory in two special legislative elections.

Both HD-13, which encompasses part of Detroit and its suburbs, and HD-25, right near Ann Arbor, were considered safe blue seats, so the fact that Democrats won those districts is less noteworthy than the ease with which they won them.

Whereas special elections often see the party in power struggle to maintain their coalition, both candidates in Michigan actually eclipsed Joe Biden’s comfortable margins of victory in 2020.

Macomb County Commissioner Mai Xiong won 65% of the vote in HD-13, which Biden took with 64%, while Westland City Councilman Peter Herzberg won with 59.6% in HD-25, a twinge more than Biden’s 59% mark.

That said, I wouldn’t view those numbers as a sign of any deep well of enthusiasm for the president in a critical swing state; it’s far more likely that they reflect the smoldering disaster that is the Michigan GOP as well as solid public approval for what Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Democratic legislature were able to accomplish together last year.

The party’s sizable list of accomplishments could grow longer now that it has regained its majority. The state budget is likely to include an assortment of policies aimed at creating universal pre-K, a state voting rights bill, and, I hope, the creation of a prescription drug affordability board.

The state Senate passed a bill authorizing its creation last fall, but the House didn’t get around to voting on it before Democrats lost their majority. While reporting on the drive to get it passed in October, sources told me that certain members of the House were somewhat lukewarm on the idea of a board with the power to set price limits on outrageously overpriced prescription drugs, but they may decide otherwise as we get closer to the election.

Shooting their shot: It’s hard to imagine anybody being considered too extreme in the state with by far the highest neo-Nazi per capita, but it seems as if Idaho Republicans’ special brand of white nationalist-Christofascism has become so unpalatable that the long-dormant state Democratic party is starting to show signs of life.

For the first time in 30 years, Democrats this November will have a candidate running in every legislative district. Many of them will be long shots, but according to Politico, they see a path forward in a state where the Republican Party is in turmoil because some members are not satisfied with having passed the most stringent abortion ban in the nation, legalized employment discrimination against trans people, attempted to throw librarians in jail.

One thing worth noting: While the story is an interesting look at how far-right extremism is compelling people with normal brains to join the political process, it does not contain a single mention of Reclaim Idaho, the wildly successful progressive grassroots group that has spearheaded successful ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage and expand Medicaid in the state.

The folks at Reclaim Idaho deserve immense credit for proving that these policies were possible in Idaho and building a movement and infrastructure where literally none existed — and if nothing else, I’ve featured their work a number of times here at Progress Report.

Local natives: Donald Trump may be bleeding RNC dry, but there’s at least one official GOP campaign arm that is outpacing Democrats in fundraising.

• After being caught off-guard and coughing up several state legislative majorities in 2022, Republicans are raising record sums of money for what they see as a do-or-die election cycle. The Republican State Leadership Committee and its PAC affiliate raised $12 million this quarter, bringing their total combined score to $47 million this cycle.

• By comparison, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and its 501(c)(4) allies have raked in $29 million, which represents both a record for that wing of the party’s election infrastructure and a number that needs to grow exponentially this quarter.

• The stakes are huge for both parties. Republicans can’t ban abortion, bully trans kids, or subject workers to gruesome heat deaths without the power to gerrymander districts and disenfranchise voters. Democrats, on the other hand, not only want to reverse those policies, but also face existential threats from psychotic GOP legislatures that would do whatever possible to overturn a Biden in their state.

• One wildcard: Democrats have become far better at raising money online for individual down ballot candidates since 2017, when grassroots groups and your favorite newsletter jumped in to compensate for the national party’s abandonment of state and local operations.

Hell hath no furry: This story has it all — righteous cyberwarfare, a Steve Bannon-led cabal getting some sweet comeuppance, scrambling neo-Nazis, and what is one of the funniest things I’ve seen this year.