RFS feel-good update (9/26): "This threat to democracy is hiding in plain sight"
You're already helping fight it. Promise.
Hi all -
This week, let’s talk about the state of democracy.
First: The NYT Editorial Board has a powerful piece on how a major threat to democracy is hiding in plain sight — for long-time RFS supporters, none of this will surprise you… an excerpt:
[Trump’s allies]’ mission is to take over America’s election infrastructure, or at least key parts of it, from the ground up by filling key positions of influence with Trump sympathizers. Rather than threatening election officials, they will be the election officials — the poll workers and county commissioners and secretaries of state responsible for overseeing the casting, counting and certifying of votes. … Their drive to take over election machinery county by county, state by state, is a reminder that democracy is fragile. The threats to it are not only violent ruptures like the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol but also quieter efforts to corrupt it. …
All those who value democracy have a role to play in strengthening and supporting the electoral system that powers it, whatever their party. This involves, first, taking the threat posed by election deniers seriously and talking to friends and neighbors about it. It means paying attention to local elections — not just national ones — and supporting candidates who reject conspiracy theories and unfounded claims of fraud. …
The task of safeguarding democracy does not end with one election. Mr. Trump and others looking to pervert the electoral process are full of intensity and are playing a long game. Only an equally strong and committed countervailing force will meet that challenge.
This is quite literally why Clerk Work exists: A sustained multi-year effort to recruit and support pro-democracy leaders who can run for local election administration offices and take on Trump, Bannon, and their allies in as many states as we need to.
It’s already working. Check out this cover story of Time Magazine about the Defenders, including a number of local election admin candidates RFS is working with. (We’ll be rolling out our public list of these folks — coincidentally also called the Democracy Defenders! — in the very near future. Stay tuned.)
That’s good!! But as Chris Geidner explains in this morning’s NYT, election deniers running for office are dangerous for democracy — no matter what state they’re in or the outcome for their race.
Three parallel stories to alarm you:
The DLCC have now identified more than 1,000 state legislators and state leg candidates who participated in or were complicit in Trump’s attempted coup.
Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why: Perpetuating the Big Lie is good for growing social media accounts — 77 influencers used the message to increase their combined reach by more than 25 million people across Facebook and Twitter.
Meanwhile, stuff like this is popping up across QAnon forums…
All of this is to say: Clerk Work matters.
We’ll have more to say about the local election admin 2022 races in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, we’re already running recruitment efforts for 2023, when critical states like Pennsylvania & Wisconsin elect their election administrators. I want to flag for you now: In Wisconsin, the filing deadline for many of their local races is in the first week of January.
Two ways you can help:
Make a donation. (Better yet, make it recurring.) Funds right now help support both our end-of-election work with local election admin candidates and build up recruitment campaigns for 2023.
Sign up to run for office. You can look up what offices are on the ballot near you over the next two years. It’s rarely too late and never too early to get started.
In more positive RFS community updates:
Over the weekend, a court ruled that Arizona’s abortion ban from 1864 can now take effect. Julie Gunnigle, candidate for Maricopa County DA, has promised she will not enforce it. Her opponent will. Watch Julie’s statement.
This abortion ban isn’t justice. This abortion ban will kill Arizonans. I’m calling on @Rachel1Mitchell to reverse her stance on enforcing it. #NotNowNotEverAllison Miller’s race for Pasco & Pinellas County State Attorney in FL has taken on a new level of urgency as DeSantis suspends another county prosecutor over abortion access. Learn more about the state of her race and why she’s the best and only person for the job right now.
CA Assemblyman Alex Lee successfully won reimbursement funds for jurors who take public transportation, expanding from the previous law which only made it available for those driving cars.
PA legislators Lindsey Williams and Emily Kinkead are working to create a permanent program to provide free breakfast and lunch to all PA K-12 students. (This is a bit of an RFS trend - NC Sen. Mutjaba Mohammed is fighting for the same outcomes in his state, too.)
If John Frederickson wins his race for Nebraska state senate, he’ll be the first openly gay man (and only the second LGBTQ+ person, after fellow RFS alum Sen. Megan Hunt!) in the chamber. I love that he names Megan and fellow RFS’er Malcolm Kenyatta and some of his inspirations!
PA Sen. Katie Muth is introducing legislation to get retired school teachers and public sector employees their first cost-of-living adjustment pay in more than two decades. Sen. Muth is also fighting to take PA off the list of the 12 states without a system for tracking evidence from rapes.
NYC Councilmember Shahana Hanif makes a powerful argument for investing in water infrastructure, especially as climate change forces the need for more resiliency.
GA state leg candidate Ruwa Romman took over RFS’s Snapchat over the weekend - check out a few of her highlights, including an excellent looking dog.
Detroit City Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero is fighting for meaningful solutions to gun violence instead of more wasteful surveillance technology.
NE State Sen. Eliot Bostar is staying on top of his continued efforts to make Election Day a state holiday and to automatically register everyone to vote at DMVs.
One of the many good things about electing young people who are fully comfortable with themselves is they can do press that reaches folks who might not otherwise engage with politics. A great example: NYC Councilman Chi Osse’s conversation with Interview Magazine, showing off his spots around Brooklyn.
In some excellent alumni news: Jevin Hodge’s race for Congress in Arizona has been officially rated as a toss-up!
Durham County Commissioner and former congressional candidate Nida Allam joined other young candidates to talk with Insider about the structural barriers that stand in the way of young people running for office — the same barriers that RFS exists to try and break down.
In RFS events:
Last week was busy for our team.
We had two events in PA — on Tuesday, we partnered with York County Democrats to bring folks together to talk about running for school board.
We also had folks in Atlanta gathering for Unapologetically Progressive: GA.
This week, we close out the month with two final events:
Tomorrow, September 27th, our team is partnering with GLPA-Lead in Lansing for a convo on what it’s like running in Michigan right now.
On Thursday, 9/29, we’ll be with the Maricopa County Democrats in Phoenix for a convo led by congressional candidate Jevin Hodge.
Thank you thank you thank you for being part of this team. We’re lucky to do it alongside you.
(And for those celebrating Rosh Hashana today, happy 5783 and shana tova! May it be a good, sweet new year for us all.)
- Amanda