Indivisibles,

You might remember when the House passed a historic bill supporting D.C. statehood and giving full congressional representation to the District of Columbia’s 700,000+ residents (Was that this month? Week? Wait, what day is it again?). Before the bill died in the Senate, Republicans following Trump’s lead made it clear that making D.C. a state would be off the table because it threatens their grip on power. Naturally, we haven’t stopped talking about it -- not just because Mitch McConnell wants us to stop, but because making D.C. the 51st state in the union is a matter of racial justice and a crucial first step in our plans for democracy reform after we win in November. 

After the vote, we shared an online survey to cut through the partisan noise and hear your thoughts on the issue of D.C. statehood. The results are in: an overwhelming majority of you (and...ahem...Joe Biden) agree that D.C. should be a state. Here’s the breakdown of the survey results:

• 96% of you say that D.C. should become the 51st state. 
• 85% think a democracy reform package would be incomplete without D.C. statehood. 
• 77% believe that D.C. statehood should be a top priority in a Biden administration.

This data is important because it tells us you’re paying attention and you know how critical D.C. statehood is to a more equitable, post-Trump democracy. The last few months of protests have shone a spotlight on how our country privileges the lives of the white and wealthy. As a historically Black city, granting D.C. statehood would undermine historical efforts to keep Black Americans living in the District powerless. If we believe in ensuring that every American is equally represented in our government, D.C. statehood is a no-brainer. 

And with that, we leave you with your weekly to-dos:

 Your 5 weekly to-dos 

1. Volunteer for our Windivisible campaign to defeat Trump, take back the Senate and keep the House. By signing up to phonebank, textbank, and write letters, you can reach voters directly and drive turnout in November. After 4 years of fighting the Trump agenda, this is our moment to win big -- our democracy depends on it!
2. LAST CALL: Register for Windivisible Bootcamp! Join us on August 8 for a day-long virtual conference where we’ll teach you everything you need to know to be part of our plan to Windivisible! We have events happening all weekend long, so make sure to check out the agenda for all the details.
3. Call your Senators to demand they pass the Heroes Act with $3.6 billion in election funding. We are running out of time to implement safe, secure elections this fall. That’s why we’re asking everyone to call your Senators on Thursday and demand they pass the Heroes Act with $3.6 billion in election funding. Our democracy depends on it. For more information on the Heroes Act, check out our explainer where we break down the package and how it will support vulnerable families during these times.
4. Keep up to date with our work ahead of November 3 by checking out the latest episode of our YouTube Series, Indivisible Weekly. This episode, Pablo will catch you up on our plan to win the White House, flip the Senate, and save our Democracy this November with Windivisible (plus an example of why Mitch McConnell is one of our prime Payback targets).
5. Record or upload a video about why you’re in this fight and what you’re doing to help us win on election day. Your story might be one of the ones we include in a series of videos that feature how critical your work is to our victory in November!
6. Join our Indivisible August National Activist Call on August 6 at 8pm EST! We have a ton to talk about, so make sure to join us for the monthly Indivisible National Activist Call! All group leaders, group members and other Indivisible activists are welcome.

 2020 Update 

• Despite what he may choose to believe, Trump can’t delay the election (and Republicans know it). Trump is willing to pull the country apart and drag us into a constitutional crisis by planting seeds of doubt in mail-in voting (probably because he knows the numbers aren’t in his favor). We have a plan to make sure Trump’s twitter tantrums never come to fruition. If you’re with us, pledge your support to Protect the Results if Trump refuses to accept the outcome in November.
• As Indivisibles, working to elect progressive candidates who reflect their communities is more than a priority -- it’s central to our mission. Now that the Minnesota Primary is just a week away, we asked Minnesotans to tell us if we should support Representative Ilhan Omar for her re-election bid on August 11. The results are in, and we’re excited to endorse Representative Omar for another two years of setting the bar for a new generation of progressive leaders who will redefine the Democratic party.
• Several states are holding Congressional primaries this week: Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, and Tennessee. Keep an eye on our incredible endorsed candidate Keeda Haynes taking on Rep. Jim Cooper in TN-05. There’s a closely watched primary in MO-01, where BLM activist Cori Bush is challenging longtime incumbent Rep. Lacy Clay, and a competitive Democratic primary in AZ-06 to see who will take on Republican David Schweikert, who has no less than 11 ethics violations under his belt.

 How to Get Ready for 2020 

Our first Week of Action was a huge success! Thankfully, there are plenty more opportunities to get involved with Windivisible, including our next Week of Action around the Democratic National Convention.

 Trump is staging a coup right before our eyes 

In the last three weeks, Trump has floated the idea of postponing the election (he can’t), falsely claimed absentee ballots will result in voter fraud (they won’t), and refused to say whether or not he will accept the legitimate results of the election (he must). 

That’s what the Protect the Results program is all about -- ensuring a peaceful transition of power. We’re running a full-page newspaper ad this week  to recruit volunteers to mobilize in the event of a post-election crisis. But it doesn’t come cheap -- it could be as much as $70,000  -- and we need your help: can you donate $10 to fund our newspaper ad and all the other work we’re doing the rest of this year?

 John Lewis' Legacy Lives On 

Last week, Rep. John Lewis was laid to rest, even delivering his own obituary which -- we’ll admit it -- brought many tears to our eyes. There he beautifully stated: 

“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.”

Not to mention that while delivering the eulogy for the late Rep. John Lewis, President Obama challenged the American electorate to imagine that we may truly honor the civil rights champion. Obama recounted Lewis’s radical, lifelong commitment to changing the country to more closely align with our highest ideals, asking us all “to summon a measure of John’s moral courage to question what’s right and what’s wrong.”

To honor Lewis and make our country reflect the kind of vision of a real, “big hearted,” representative democracy that Lewis and others have been fighting for for decades, President Obama gifted us all with a list of actions to take and commitments to make: revitalize the Voting Rights Act, end the filibuster, and secure DC statehood -- all key aspects of the democracy reform we’ve been pushing.

As we continue to push this work, united as Indivisibles from now through November and into 2021, we’ll carry the words of the late Rep. John Lewis and what he knew we would continue to fight for and ultimately achieve in his absence. 

In solidarity, 
Indivisible Team