So how do we handle the PA problem?
Some great news, some frustrating news
Welcome to the big midweek edition of Progressives Everywhere!
Between big legal decisions impacting voting rights in some of the most crucial swing states and diving deep into perhaps the most crucial of them all, we’ve got a lot to discuss. So let’s jump right in!
And now for some gratitude: Thank you to donors Matthew, Blaine, and Alan!
Big Wins, Big Opportunities in Pennsylvania
The State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania provided voting rights advocates three big wins on Thursday. First, the court ruled that the state must count all absentee ballots postmarked by November 3rd so long as they arrive by that Friday. Second, it authorized the placement of ballot drop boxes around the state to make it easier to vote. Third, the court kicked the Green Party off the ballot, which means ballots can be sent to voters.
These big victories come at a crucial time. Joe Biden has a significant lead in national polls, but the popular vote is as good as a participation trophy right now. In the states that he has to win, the former veep has a much smaller lead, and in some, he’s got smaller leads than what Hillary Clinton had in September 2016.
Pennsylvania is one of the states where some polls show Biden scuffling. The native son of Scranton should be a shoo-in for the state, but nothing makes sense anymore. So, what can we do? We can’t control Trump’s onslaught of outright lies, but we can make a big difference.
By helping down-ballot candidates, we’ll be powering the GOTV efforts for Biden, as well. Plus, Democrats are just nine seats away from flipping the State House, and given how many close races there were in 2018, turning it blue this year is very, very doable. If we do that, we end gerrymandering in the state, pass progressive policies, and expand voting rights permanently.
Here’s a breakdown of the five most contested State House races this November — if you want to help, you can donate to 10 Pennsylvania Democratic candidates via the button below!
State House District 49: While Democrats lost this district by just 11 votes in 2018, the party somehow managed to let a cranky Facebook racist take the nomination unopposed. They denounced the cranky Facebook racist (his name is Randy Barli) in July and now Dems are leaving District 49 as a painfully missed opportunity. I thought I’d highlight this just to show how much work we have to do in state and local parties.
State House District 168: After getting smoked by 13 points in 2016 and not even running a candidate here in 2014, Democrats fell just 450 votes short of flipping this seat in 2018. This year, after a spirited primary, Dems nominated Deb Ciamacca. She is a teacher who was initially inspired to run by one of her own former students, Del. Chris Hurst, who ran for the Virginia House of Delegates after his girlfriend, a reporter, was killed on live TV.
State House District 105: This is one of my favorite races of the year because it truly crystallizes the difference between the two parties. GOP Rep. Andrew Lewis is a very corrupt, self-dealing, union-busting construction company owner who showed up to the Capitol building in Harrisburg while he was infected with COVID-19. Even worse, he didn’t tell Democrats or Capitol employees for days, putting lives at risk.
Lewis won by just over 500 votes last year and now faces a very formative opponent. Brittney Rodas is a smart and passionate 25-year-old legislative staffer and mother of two who is running for office after her father was more or less killed by the state’s healthcare laws. I interviewed her earlier this year — check it out here!
State House District 178: Another race that was decided by just over 500 votes in 2018. This year, Democrats are running an attorney named Ann Marie Mitchell in this Bucks County district. She clearly has a good ground game going — she earned over 1000 votes more in the primary than incumbent Rep. Wendi Thomas. This is a county that’s turning blue very quickly, though they lost a COVID-marred special election in the area in March.
State House District 144: Republican Rep. Valerie Gaydos won this Pittsburgh-area seat by less than 2% in 2018 and she seems determined to thin out the eligible voting population with her response to COVID-19. She, along with a couple dozen other Republicans, urged local district attorneys not to enforce Gov. Tom Wolf’s business shutdown orders when the virus began ravaging the state. Just last week, she railed against the legislature for not voting to override Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency disaster measure. Gaydos is facing a rematch against Democrat Michele Knoll, a teacher and school board director.
State House District 160: Here’s another race featuring a Progressives Everywhere endorsee. Anton Andrew is really a dream candidate, an incredibly passionate public defender and educator who has worked for environmental and educational non-profits for decades. He lost by just over 800 votes in 2018 and has been organizing ever since, ready to finish the job of flipping this long-time Republican seat. You can read my interview with Andrew here!
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Progressives, Not Just Democrats
While we’re now focused on getting Democrats elected in November, Progressives Everywhere has worked hard to help good Democrats win primaries throughout this campaign cycle.
Consultants get paid a lot of money to help timid, corporate Democrats. On the flip side, we’re here to help make peoples’ lives better. With that in mind, I wanted to go through some of the big victories won by progressives this year now that the final primaries have been completed. Below, you’ll find a list of big wins; in an upcoming issue, I’ll go in-depth on many of the legislative wins.
Congressional
IL-3: Returning candidate Marie Newman finally beat anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ legacy Democrat Dan Lipinski.
NY-16: Middle school principal Jamaal Bowman led a strong campaign in the changing district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester. He beat disinterested, disengaged, war-happy long-time Rep. Eliot Engel in a blowout.
NY-17: Former Obama Justice Department official and bold, outspoken progressive Mondaire Jones won a crowded open primary in retiring Rep. Nina Lowey’s district. Jones spoke with Progressives Everywhere before the primary.
MO-01: Another returning challenger, Cori Bush, a nurse and community activist in the St. Louis area, unseated another legacy Democrat, the self-dealing and uninterested Rep. Lacy Clay.
MI-13: After winning a tight primary in 2018, Rashida Tlaib became one of the most prominent freshmen in Congress. The Detroit establishment came hard after her, but she won by 66%, a huge victory that stamps her control of the district.
MN-5: The knives came out even more for Rep. Ilhan Omar, who faced millions and millions of dollars in dark money from right-wing special interests. And yet, she won 57% of the vote, a resounding win give the circumstances.
Legislature
There were some very big wins in state legislatures, with grassroots progressive candidates taking on very stale, conservative power-brokers who have been blocking progress in mostly blue states. Below are stories about legislative primaries — again, we’ll dive into these more in an upcoming issue.
Elections and Voting Rights
North Carolina: Voters began sending in their general election ballots on September 4th, and as of today, over 81,000 votes have already been sent in and accepted.
Democrats have a massive lead in overall votes — they’re up 55-14% on Republicans, with 29% of ballots coming from unaffiliated voters.
So far, 73% of the votes returned and accepted come from white voters while 16% were sent by Black voters. Overall, Black voters make up 21% of registered voters in the state.
What’s extra disconcerting is that a higher percentage of ballots from Black voters have been rejected relative to the overall number of ballots rejected. North Carolina has to give voters a chance to correct whatever is wrong or missing from their ballots, so let’s hope everyone’s able to do so.
Send in those ballots early!
Pennsylvania: While the polls aren’t as good as we’d like, there are some positive numbers in the state.
Like in North Carolina, Democrats are dominating absentee ballot requests:
Democrats also make up 45% of newly registered voters in Pennsylvania, while the GOP accounts for 21%.
Ohio: On Monday, a judge ruled that Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s specious argument that the law only permits him to allow one ballot drop box per county is a bunch of hooey.
OK, the judge actually said it was “arbitrary and unreasonable,” but I like my language better.
The judge didn’t go as far as to order LaRose to allow more drop boxes, though he could do so. He held off because LaRose said he really wanted to add drop boxes, but felt like the law didn’t allow him to do it.
Instead, LaRose today appealed the decision. He doesn’t want to permit drop boxes and make voting easy, plain and simple. He’d rather over 1 million voters in Cuyahoga County have to use just one drop box, because that’ll hurt Democrats.
Real Quick…
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