Speaker Pelosi announces she is running for reelection

[BumRushDaShow]

40. I think there is often too much focus on the "national" (federal) elections

and very little on the state and local ones.

Focusing too much on Congress ignores what needs to happen during OFF YEAR elections at the state level when turnout basically drops to 30% or less (unless there is some gubernatorial election that year). So much work needs to be done to get people into the habit of voting EVERY year. Not every 2 years or every 4 years.

But on a positive note, there are many many progressive voices who have slowly been elected as mayors and commissioners and in city/town/County councils, as well as a growing number in some state legislatures. I know here in Philly, we elected the first "Working Families Party" at-large Council member and just re-elected the progressive DA Larry Krasner (who gets endless crap from the "hanging judges" of the old older prosecutors). My State Rep. is also a progressive and is new.

Progressives seek to expand political footprint in Philly through Pa. House and Senate races


by Chris Brennan and Sean Collins Walsh
Updated Nov 7, 2021

Local progressives are hoping to make major inroads into the city’s delegation to Harrisburg by challenging Democratic incumbents in the May primary election. Many of the activists-turned-candidates have worked with groups like the Working Families Party, Reclaim Philly, and the Democratic Socialists of America. Their targets are at least five Democrats in the state House, as well as Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a Democrat who represents West Philadelphia.

That sets the stage for 2022 as another cycle of Philadelphia progressives tussling with the Democratic establishment for power in races that once drew little interest or competition. “There’s a half-dozen people that are running. I’m really excited that there’s going to be a major effort,” said Aileen Callaghan, a founding member of Reclaim running against his former boss, Rep. Joe Hohenstein. “We’re going to build power.”

Some of the potential challengers are waiting to see which districts they end up in after redistricting by the state leads to new legislative district boundaries. “Lots of people have ideas about running until they see a map,” said Rep. Joanna McClinton, the House Democratic leader, whose district includes West Philadelphia and parts of Delaware County. “Things change.”

The upstarts will try to follow in the steps of State Sen. Nikil Saval and State Reps. Elizabeth Fiedler, Rick Krajewski, and Chris Rabb — all progressive Philly Democrats who beat more moderate incumbents or establishment-backed candidates. Still, while the progressive trend appears to be growing in the city, what is looming for the 2022 cycle does not appear to be a cohesive action organized across the left but rather individuals seeking to build from past successes.

(snip)

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-2022-legislative-races-progressives-democrats-20211107.html

So THAT is where the focus needs to be. When you have individuals with fresh ideas taking a bull and running with it, then they will hopefully have more personal sustainability because it is something they want... not necessarily what someone else pushes for them.

The U.S. Constitution fixed the size of the U.S. Senate to 2 Senators per state but the U.S. House of Representatives has no Constitutional size-requirement and the current size of 435 was set by law with passage of the "The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929" which today, with over 330 million citizens, is ridiculous. Not counting the smallest population states that still have "at-large" seats, the average Congressional district is now up to trying to cover almost 3/4 million constituents each and it is near impossible. IMHO this needs to change but whether Congress would be wiling to spend time debating increasing their size is another matter altogether.

In the meantime, the average person would essentially ignore Congress (or be ignored by their designated Congress member just due to the sheer size of each district) and would have most of their direct contact with their state and local officials and that is where the efforts need to occur. Many of the current crop of those being called "establishment" cut their teeth in their state legislatures and that taught them the whole process of something as mundane but critical as "Robert's Rules of Order" so they can carry out the legislative process, and this experience provides a good jumping-off point for seeking higher office.