John --

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Together,

Country First Team

PS: Did you know Country First volunteers put together our weekly Movement Memo? Check it out below.

Each week, Country First and the Communications Working Group will highlight a key volunteer who has demonstrated placing Country over Party. If you would like to submit someone who has made a positive impact on your experience with Country First, please email [email protected]. 

MEET DAVE KITZINGER

Where are you from?

Suburban Pittsburgh, PA.

What has been your focus at Country First?

Voter Outreach and Civic Education.

What was your motivation for joining Country First, and how did you hear about us?

I have seen so many recent challenges to our democracy coming from Trump and Trump voters that I had to do something, My first contact with Country First was when I heard Adam Kinzinger speak at the Principles 1st Convention in DC, and met him afterward. As a 40+ year Republican I liked what I heard. 

What are your hopes for America in the coming years and generations?

I sincerely hope that we can return to an environment where decent people can disagree agreeably and when consensus, not conflict, is the goal. I want to see Country, not Party, first.

Do you think we can right the ship?

Our country has encountered many struggles in its history, and fixing our broken politics will take an enormous effort, but I have faith in our people, faith in our laws and faith in our young people following in the footsteps of our the Founders to make things right.

Thank you, Dave, for all of your hard work and dedication to promoting and preserving democracy! 

RANKED CHOICE VOTING

ABC News: Ranked choice voting bill moves to hearing in front of Wisconsin Senate committee

A bipartisan bill that would dramatically change how Wisconsin residents choose congressional candidates by asking them to rank their top choices instead of voting for one of two candidates had its first public hearing in the state Legislature on Tuesday.

The hearing comes just a week after opponents circulated a proposed constitutional amendment to ban ranked choice voting. It’s unclear whether either measure has enough support to pass, but the movement shows the idea is gaining attention in the battleground state.

GERRYMANDERING

New York Times: Top Court Clears Path for Democrats to Redraw House Map in New York

The decision could have far-reaching implications in reshaping the House battlefield in a key state. New York Democrats are widely expected to use the opening to try to shift two to six Republican-held swing districts that President Biden won, from Long Island to Syracuse. The State Constitution still prohibits partisan gerrymandering. 

NBC News: Supreme Court allows Texas county to use a map judges deemed a racial gerrymander

The Texas Supreme Court allowed a Galveston County to use a map in the next election that judges had ruled was racially gerrymandered. The map, the plaintiffs said, discriminates against both Black and Latino voters.

ELECTION SECURITY

Colorado Newsline: Experts urge investigation of ‘coordinated plan’ to compromise election software

A new letter from election security experts calls on federal officials to investigate the connection between voting system breaches in Georgia to breaches in other states, including Colorado, and warns of similar threats to 2024 election security.

Wisconsin Examiner: Wisconsin Secretary of State calls for removal of election commissioner who served as fake elector

Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski is calling for the removal of a state elections commissioner who served as a fake elector following the 2020 presidential election, casting a false Electoral College vote for former President Donald Trump despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Godlewski said Wisconsinites can’t trust Spindell to have a say in how the state’s elections are run.