Democrats flipped the Pennsylvania House this week -- here's why that matters

[marmar]

(Salon) The post-midterm momentum that Democrats continued with important victories in three Pennsylvania special elections last week is significant both for Pennsylvanians and for the country. Democrats won three state legislative seats, giving them a one-seat majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the first time in a decade.

This is much more than a partisan victory in one middle-sized state. Here are five reasons it matters.

Protecting the 2024 presidential election

These results have circumvented a potential hazard for 2024 in a key battleground state. Currently pending in the United States Supreme Court is Moore v. Harper, a case whose most dangerous potential outcome would empower state legislatures to steal elections from a rival party's presidential winner by ignoring the people's vote. If that worst-case scenario occurs, the danger will exist in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, where Republicans control both houses. But that's no longer the case in Pennsylvania.

.....(snip)......

Protecting voting rights

Just last month, Pennsylvania Senate Republicans introduced SB 1, a typical voter ID law. As a University of California, San Diego, study has shown, such laws disparately affect citizens of color and "skew democracy in favor of whites and those on the political right."

Tuesday's elections means that SB1 has no prospect of adoption.

Keep in mind that in an October 2022 case, the Supreme Court vacated an appeals court decision upholding a claim that the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbade strict enforcement of Pennsylvania election law that could negate a citizens' right to vote. It's much better if such laws never make it out of the legislature. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/02/11/democrats-flipped-the-pennsylvania-this-week--heres-why-that-matters/

[blm]

1. Crucial

[paleotn]

2. Lets hope our party never discounts state politics ever again.

One simply can't do national politics effectively without a focus on state governors and legislatures. The beating heart of our everyday democracy.