Sometimes when we win elections, it’s easy to think—maybe a bit naively, but largely because we’re a pretty optimistic crew—that everything’s going to quickly get better. But as we so often come to realize, the path toward calm, toward equity, toward justice, is winding to say the least.
There’s no denying that in the brief but critical two years Democrats held a federal trifecta after 2020, and in the months since voters turned out to thwart the ‘red wave’ and secure state-level wins in 2022, the Democrats this community helped elect have accomplished a heck of a lot:
- Michigan Dems have leveraged their historic statewide trifecta to implement new policies to address gun violence, repeal the state’s abortion ban, expand protections for the LGBTQ+ community, and become the first state in 60 years to repeal a right-to-work law.
- Minnesota Dems have used their new trifecta to prevent gun violence, further protect abortion rights, legalize recreational marijuana, and protect access to gender-affirming care for young people.
- In the absence of trifectas, Democratic governors in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are following through on their pledges to use their veto power to protect abortion access, voting rights, and more.
- The Senate Democratic majority continues to confirm President Biden’s judicial nominees—including a historic number of women, people of color, and former public defenders.
- The unemployment rate has dropped steadily, now sitting at 3.4%, the lowest on record since 1969.
- President Biden’s leadership, especially in passing the American Rescue Plan, has helped spur more than 12.6 million jobs since he took office.
- Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first piece of federal legislation to address the gun violence epidemic in 30 years.
But these brief majorities and recent legislative victories can’t immediately upend or reverse decades of conservative efforts to reshape our government, our courts, our schools, or our democracy.
The crises we face as a country remain significant: the gun violence epidemic; the threat of white nationalism; MAGA extremists at the state level stripping away as many individual freedoms as possible; an incompetent GOP House majority dragging us toward economic peril; and the mind-boggling normalization of Donald Trump and his minions, their lies, their mistreatment of women, and their reverence toward January 6 insurrectionists and the cult of election denialism.
There is still so much work to do to create a stronger, more inclusive democracy. But we have hope—because of this community, and our collective, enduring drive to show up every day to mobilize, organize, talk to voters, and make sure our voices are heard at the ballot box.
That’s exactly why we’re getting a jump start on the work to win back the House in 2024. This community is ready for this moment, and it’s going to take early, sustained grassroots effort to elect a Democratic majority and re-secure a federal Democratic trifecta next year.
You can support the work to secure a Democratic trifecta with a recurring monthly contribution to Swing Left.
