Dear John,

Donald Trump failed to overturn the 2020 election in large part because a few election officials — secretaries of state in particular — rightfully certified the results, despite heavy pressure from Trump to "find" the extra votes he needed to win.

But now, nearly two dozen Republicans who still claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump are running for these key election oversight positions. If they win, they could have the power to declare Trump the winner in 2024, regardless of the election results.

We must defeat these Trump stooges and prevent them from taking over our elections, but there's a big problem. Most people have no idea who their secretary of state is. Millions of Americans who turn out and vote for president don't even bother voting in these elections, which will often determine whether their vote for president is counted.

We're using our massive social media following on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more to sound the alarm and especially to make sure that young people, who tend to skip voting in midterm elections, know how important it is to show up and vote for public servants who put democracy first.

Will you make a donation to Inequality Media Civic Action and help defeat the pro-Trump candidates running for secretary of state and trying to take over our elections?

Though the media has barely mentioned it, this is the most direct and dangerous threat to our democracy that we're facing right now.

In 37 states, the secretary of state is the chief elections officer. That means they oversee elections and voter registration. In 2020, they held the United States' rickety democracy together by certifying Joe Biden's win.

But what happens if secretaries of state won't protect democracy?

In most states, secretaries of state are elected. And it's precisely those elections that Trump and his cronies are targeting.

Trump's choice in Georgia is Jody Hice, who voted against certifying the 2020 election in the Georgia House. His choice in Michigan is Kristina Karamo, who falsely claimed to have witnessed election fraud first-hand. In Arizona, Trump has endorsed Mark Finchem, a QAnon-supporting member of the Oath Keepers militia who participated in the January 6 insurrection.

At least 20 other candidates now running for secretary of state do not believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election. And if even one of these Trump cronies wins, they could have the power to overturn a close election.

We can't allow our democracy to be overtaken like this. These positions, especially secretaries of state, are the last lines of defense in a democracy.

We're pulling out all the stops to alert voters about these vitally important elections — especially young people. Our creative team is producing eye-catching, super shareable viral videos to spread the word to the millions of people following us across social media, and then getting those folks to share those videos with their friends, and their friends, and so on.

With so much at stake and the midterms now just over six months away, we need to raise enough money to go big starting right now, and we rely on donations from everyday people like you to fund all our work.

Will you make a donation to Inequality Media Civic Action and help save our democracy, including by defeating the Big Lie Trump cronies running to take over our elections?

Thank you for helping defend our democracy,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action