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John -- I know many of you have been volunteering on local campaigns or have been following different races around the country, and that this week’s elections offered something of a mixed bag of results. I think we have a lot to celebrate, and I'd like to highlight a few things.
In Virginia, Democrats took control of the state legislature for the first time in over 20 years. One of them was Lee Carter, an unabashed Democratic Socialist who won re-election in Manassas, VA, the heart of the military-industrial complex where the median income is $100K.
Also winning re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates was Danica Roem, the first openly transgender woman elected to any state legislature. In 2017, Danica defeated a conservative Republican self-described “chief homophobe” who had held the seat for 13 terms.
Kentucky voted out Matt Bevin, the Tea Party governor who gutted school funding and teachers' healthcare, leading to an uprising of teachers across the Bluegrass State. Bevin was defeated by Andy Beshear, the son of the former Democratic governor and champion of voting rights. Beshear’s victory could spell trouble for Mitch McConnell in 2020.
The progressive wave swept many of our major cities as well. New York City voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to adopt ranked choice voting. In Philadelphia, the Working Families Party won a city council seat for the first time in history. And in Seattle, the $1.45M Amazon dumped into the city council race wasn’t enough to stop the momentum behind Tammy Morales.
Just as small dollars make a big difference, small victories are still victories.
Back in 2018, after AOC won her primary, she joined Bernie Sanders to endorse James Thompson and Brent Welder running in Kansas. James would go on to win his primary, though Brent lost by a hair after groups like Emily’s list dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars on false and misleading ads to cut him down and prop up the more pliable Democrat.
Although she had been a national political figure for all of five minutes, the press seized on Alexandria’s endorsement and Brent's loss and proof that progressive values don't work outside of “liberal New York City.” AOC responded (and I'm paraphrasing), "We organized and activated thousands of volunteers across this country, and you cannot un-organize them."
The work being done in this movement on campaigns will continue to pay off for years. Every time a volunteer steps up to work on a campaign or a ballot initiative, they build experience and expertise. Every time a candidate mounts a campaign we learn new lessons about organizing.
No one can take that away from you.
The tide has turned. Working people are done letting billionaires play with our lives while millions go hungry; while tens of thousands die because they can’t afford basic medical care; while skyrocketing rents push families into homelessness.
We are taking a stand today and telling the rich and powerful they can’t have it all. We are fighting for a life of dignity for all people.
Every inch we move the conversation is a victory. Every new voter won is a victory. We will keep working, and we will keep winning. We are going to dismantle the oligarchy brick by brick and together we will build a society where working people will thrive.
In solidarity,
Cory Archibald
Board Chair
Brand New Congress
Want to join the fight with us? There are many ways you can help.
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