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Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 09:59 PM Nov 2018

Democrats were once invisible in state politics. Those days are over


Democrats were once invisible in state politics. Those days are over

Nancy MacLean

The long-term future of the United States will not be decided in the nation’s capital. It will be decided in the states – and that’s where the biggest story of the 2018 election is.

For years, Democratic Party leaders and funders focused on the federal level as the place to win major reform, and all but ignored state legislatures. Where the left was not paying attention, the extreme right stepped into the breach.

During President Obama’s time in office, his party lost over 900 state legislative seats. Over eight years, the Republican party won control over two-thirds of the nation’s state legislative chambers. From there, the political right attempted a slow-motion revolution to rig the rules of the political process so that a minority party, cowed by its largest donors, could hold on to power.

The components of that quiet yet epochal donor-driven power grab based in the states included gerrymandering with what one judge called “almost surgical precision”’; measures to destroy unions and suppress voting; organizing attorneys general to litigate against federal reforms from the Affordable Care Act to climate change protections; and more.

[...]

This election day, intense state-level organizing by Democrats secured stunning wins. Collectively, these wins constitute a promissory note toward long-term success. True, Democrats only won back about 40% of what they lost in the Tea Party waves of 2010 and 2012; there’s plenty more ground to make up. But last Tuesday staunched and reversed the bleeding.

[...]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/12/democrats-state-politics-midterms



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We need blue waves crashing into GOP strongholds for several more elections to fix this mess and make government work for all. Thanks to hard work by so many, they don't have to be tsunami level waves to keep advancing.

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Democrats were once invisible in state politics. Those days are over (Original Post) Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 OP
Like it changed over night! Only Cha Nov 2018 #1
secretaries of state Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #2
Yes, it's such a great feeling to Cha Nov 2018 #3
2019: KY, MS, LA governors Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #5
Sorry about Kentucky.. Cha Nov 2018 #6
we don't do well under GOP Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #7
Sigh.. Hopefully Cha Nov 2018 #9
you nailed it! Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #11
Bury the Kochs pecosbob Nov 2018 #4
they were behind "Redmap" Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #8
not all wins were by "state-level organizing" Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #10
lol.. that was rveting to read.. Mahalo! Cha Nov 2018 #12
i love it! Hermit-The-Prog Nov 2018 #13
Yay for Will Haskell! I love hearing about Cha Nov 2018 #14

Cha

(295,926 posts)
1. Like it changed over night! Only
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 10:08 PM
Nov 2018

it took a long time of preparation for the campaigns of 2018. And, Yes.. Thank Everybody for all their exceptional determination and focus for Winning Campaigns for Democracy!

And, of course the Imposter didn't help his doormats by shooting his Hate-Filled Lies off 24/7.

Thanks for your OP, Hermit!

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
2. secretaries of state
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 10:19 PM
Nov 2018

It feels like an overnight change -- like a weight suddenly lifted, or a seige ended.

What encourages me for future elections is ...


Democrats gain hundreds of legislative seats and secure majority of state attorneys general

By Tim Craig

After years of trying, Democrats expanded their influence in state capitols on Tuesday, flipping more than 300 state legislative seats while also claiming a majority of the nation’s attorney general offices.

[...]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/democrats-gain-hundreds-of-legislative-seats-and-secure-majority-of-state-attorneys-general/2018/11/07/cef1ebd6-e2aa-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html


While it would be nice to have a majority of state-level Secretaries of State, at least AGs will be in place to put a check on illegal shenanigans by GOP and Kochs.

Cha

(295,926 posts)
3. Yes, it's such a great feeling to
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 10:44 PM
Nov 2018

to know This!


After years of trying, Democrats expanded their influence in state capitols on Tuesday, flipping more than 300 state legislative seats while also claiming a majority of the nation’s attorney general offices.

Wow!

Next Blue Wave coming for SOSs

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
5. 2019: KY, MS, LA governors
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:15 PM
Nov 2018

Oh, how I hope for another wave in 2019! We can't get rid of Bevins as governor of Kentucky until then. He was behind a KY teachers' pension bill that got rushed through without public input, riding on a sewage bill. That's being challenged in court right now. GOPers are sneaky, yet my state keeps voting them in. The blue wave missed us this time --


After all the campaigning, unofficial results showed Democrats only gained two seat in the 100-member House, keeping Republicans in firm control with a majority of 61-39. However, four of those races were decided by fewer than 10 votes, which leaves open the possibility that possible recanvasses and recounts could change the outcome in those races. Democrats won three of those races and Republicans won one.

In the Senate, Republicans picked up another seat to have a majority of 28-10. Democrat Ray Jones of Pikeville ran for another office, which means his seat will be open after the first of the year.

https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article221292575.html



It's a vicious cycle. Less education means more GOPers elected which yields worse education.

Cha

(295,926 posts)
6. Sorry about Kentucky..
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:22 PM
Nov 2018

that the majority keep electing those who are not helping its people.

Guess they have no nostalgia for when Steve Beshear was Gov and his advocating for More Affordable Health Care?

To the Dems of Kentucky

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
7. we don't do well under GOP
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:31 PM
Nov 2018

Kentucky has experienced the same regression - progression cycle as the nation. I get nostalgic about Martha Layne Collins (education and record economic growth) but the mention of her name gets my neighbors mad.

Bevins has pretty much led the war against health care and education in KY. You may remember that his plan for adding work requirements for Medicaid gained him some notice by Trump.

Cha

(295,926 posts)
9. Sigh.. Hopefully
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:39 PM
Nov 2018

a Dem will challenge Bevin's dereliction in 2020.

Could it be your neighbors are awash in fox"news"?

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
11. you nailed it!
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:48 PM
Nov 2018

They are in the Fox cult bubble!

We will break through, though. We, as a state, are generally a couple of years behind the rest of the country.

Hey, check the news about Kevin Thomas. Just found and added that to the thread. Gotta be lots of good news stories like that all across the country.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
10. not all wins were by "state-level organizing"
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 11:42 PM
Nov 2018

Anatomy of an upset: LI's Thomas scores biggest state Election Day surprise

By Yancey Roy

On a night of election surprises in New York, none was bigger than Kevin Thomas.

The 34-year-old Levittown Democrat had little name recognition and little staff. He had no financial help from the state party aside from free office space. His campaign-finance reports detailed no TV or radio ads but instead were filled with receipts for texting services, and Uber and Long Island Rail Road rides.

But he knocked on thousands of doors in Nassau County, strategically wooed minority voters in a demographically changing district and rode a surge in Democratic turnout to oust State Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), a 29-year incumbent.

It was the under-the-radar upset of the night, a number of Democrats, Republicans and analysts agreed.

“It was the surprise of the night because no one was even talking about Hannon,” said Michael Dawidziak, a Long Island political consultant who works mostly for Republicans.

Election-night totals showed Thomas captured 51,635 (50.6 percent) votes to Hannon’s 50,327 (49.3). He will become New York’s first Indian-American state senator.

[...]

https://www.newsday.com/amp/news/region-state/thomas-hannon-senate-1.23181627
(Site sends a lot of cookies)


Cha

(295,926 posts)
12. lol.. that was rveting to read.. Mahalo!
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:04 AM
Nov 2018
“I can assure this: He will have substantial financial support in two years,” Gianaris said with a laugh. “He’s not sneaking up on anybody again.”

Wow the first Indian-American to be elected in the state of New York! Good on Kevin Thomas!

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,041 posts)
13. i love it!
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:37 AM
Nov 2018

He stepped up, talked to actual voters, and was ready when voter turnout was boosted by the blue wave.

This diversity thing really works!

When people vote, they change things:


In one of Tuesday’s biggest local upsets, 22-year-old Democrat Will Haskell defeated longtime Republican lawmaker Toni Boucher in the race for Connecticut’s 26th Senate District.

Haskell pointed to voter turnout.

“I attribute our victory primarily to people who don’t normally vote every two years who decided to vote this year,” Haskell said. “I think we tried to convey just how much was at stake on November sixth — environmental quality, voting rights, women's reproductive health and freedom, all of which will be decided by the state legislature. Those non-typical voters showed up and had their voices heard.”

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Norwalk-area-Democrats-assess-victories-13372753.php


Cha

(295,926 posts)
14. Yay for Will Haskell! I love hearing about
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:55 AM
Nov 2018

Dems beating "longtime" repubs, or any time, in our year of the Blue Wave!


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