Republican Senator Rick Brattin, a leader of the extremist Republican Chaos Caucus, said the quiet part out loud earlier this year about the GOP’s plan to strip away Missourians' right to be heard through ballot propositions: “I think it’s ridiculous…to allow direct democracy to occur.”

Think about that: the people pushing these radical changes to the citizen-led initiative petition process think letting democracy occur is “ridiculous.”

That is the motivation behind this underhanded maneuver to trick Missouri voters into giving away some of their power to both set statewide policy and place a check on the legislature. According to an analysis by the Missouri Independent, if the proposed plan to water down the initiative petition process were approved, as few as 1 in 5 voters—around 20% of the voting population—would be able to thwart the will of the majority.

This is not right. And it isn’t what Missourians want. For decades, voters have weighed in on important policies that have defined who we are as a state, including rejecting multiple attempts to impose so-called “Right to Work” and approving campaign finance reform. And now, it is likely that an amendment to restore abortion rights will be on the November ballot.

We can’t let up. This is a fight worth waging, and if I were in the Missouri Senate, I would be standing with my Democratic colleagues as long as it took to stop this cynical power grab by a handful of extremists.

That’s why it is so crucial that we flip State Senate District 15 and send a leader to the Senate who will listen to the people and stand up for everyone. But I need your support to flip and win this seat so we can do the work to make Missouri a better place to live and work: