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What Is Our Plan to Win Back State Legislatures? [1]

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Date: 2022-07-05

Uprise is gone but that strategy is needed more than ever

Maybe you’ve heard about the case headed to the Supreme Court this fall, Moore v. Harper, that could completely destroy democracy forever.

Except that’s not really the case. What it would do is make it possible for democratically elected legislators to completely control federal elections in their states without in put from governors or state supreme courts. Yes, that’s a terrible idea. Yes, it means legislators could make it much harder on the party out of power in those legislatures to win in federal elections. It might even let legislatures submit their own slates of electors in presidential elections. All of those things are bad. But they don’t mean the end of democracy. They simply shift the balance of power to state legislative branches.

But what about gerrymandering!?!?! Yes, it sucks. Yes, it is real. I live in Pennsylvania. It’s a purple state that has had more votes for Dems than Republicans in four of the last five elections and yet Republicans have remained in power in the state legislature in all that time. But where in all that time has the state party come up with a strategy for winning back the legislature? I’ve never seen one. Not even a bad one. Not even a failed one. The response of state Dems has basically been to say let’s just focus on the governor’s mansion and state Supreme Court and just give up on the legislature forever because we can never, ever, ever win it again. What the hell kind of response is that?

It would be like if the NBA got rid of the 3-pointer one year and the teams that have relied heavily on 3-pt shooting just threw up their hands and said “Well I guess we’ll just never win a game again! Oh, well, it’s not fair. Let’s lobby real hard for them to change the rule back!” Would it suck to get rid of three pointers? Maybe. Would it suck even more if your favorite team relied on them? Hell yeah! But I doubt you would settle for the head coach and owner just saying “hey fans spend more money on tickets and concessions next year so we can bring in some more high priced three point shooters!” But that has basically been the Democratic strategy. And what does that strategy mean for the nation?

It means we are one bad gubernatorial candidate or one bad election cycle away from the end of abortion rights in Pennsylvania. It’s been more than a decade since those gerrymandered districts were put in place. We have not even TRIED to flip the legislature in any substantive way. Not even in the blue wave of 2018. I get that it’s hard. I get that it seems impossible. But what other choice do we have? Win every governor’s election in a purple state until the end of time? That seems MORE unlikely to me. Doesn’t it seem more unlikely to you?

The same is true in nearly every other state in the Rust Belt and in a lot of other places as well. So what is our strategy for winning those legislatures again? Who is busy formulating one? Who is busy enacting one? Do you have any idea how many races are completely uncontested in these states? Who is out there recruiting good candidates who would have a chance in these places and getting them to run for smaller local offices they CAN win and start to build name recognition and a record? Who is building the party in small towns and rural areas that we have to win to win in these districts?

I’m not saying we shouldn’t fight against gerrymandering in every way we can. I’m not saying give up on pressuring Congress to do something about expanding the court. But you and I cannot do a damn thing about this court right here and now. They’ve put a ton of power back in the hands of state legislatures and may put even more power there soon. That means we have to organize and fight where the power to actually make change will lie. In the states. All fifty of them. Because it’s not enough to give women and workers and people of color and everyone else who cares about their rights a few blue island havens amid a sea of red across much of this country.

It’s time to stop whining and come up with a strategy for winning.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/5/2108613/-What-Is-Our-Plan-to-Win-Back-State-Legislatures

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