Dear MoveOn member,
Last Tuesday night, Donald Trump took a huge step toward being able to
steal the 2024 presidential election and regain the White House.
January 6 insurrectionist and radical Trump loyalist Doug Mastriano won
the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania.^1
We cannot overstate how dangerous this situation is. Mastriano has openly
signaled that if he's elected governor, he will use his office to award
Pennsylvania's electoral votes to the Republicans, no matter who actually
wins the state.^2
In fact, as a state senator in 2020, Mastriano attempted to engineer a
coup for Trump by awarding Pennsylvania's electoral votes to him, despite
the fact that Trump lost the state by 81,660 votes.^3 As governor,
Mastriano would have the power to appoint Pennsylvania's secretary of
state, the person who oversees elections and the counting of votes. And as
governor, he will personally be responsible for certifying the results.
Bottom line: If Mastriano wins the general election, there is almost no
chance that he will certify any Democratic presidential candidate as the
winner, no matter the results.
MoveOn has launched a $30 million campaign to defeat Doug Mastriano and
the other Trump-backed candidates running to control our elections in
2024. Can you chip in $5 a month to help support this effort
and stop Trump's attempt to hijack our democracy?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Pennsylvania is just one of several battleground states where Trump and
his allies are working to install loyalists in the key positions that
oversee our elections, like governor, secretary of state, and attorney
general.
According to an analysis by The Washington Post, at least 163 Republicans
who have embraced Trump's Big Lie of a stolen election are running for
positions that would give them authority over the administration of
elections, from governor to secretary of state.^4
That includes candidates in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, New
Mexico, and more.^5
Their plan is simple: secure the power to throw out votes, certify the
election results they want, and finish what Trump started in 2020 by
installing him to another term—no matter the results of the vote.
In Pennsylvania, the secretary of state isn't elected but rather appointed
by the governor. And Doug Mastriano, if elected in November, would give
Trump and his coup planners control over the fourth-largest state in the
country and a critical election battleground.
Mastriano believes that, rather than voters deciding elections, "the state
legislature has the sole authority to direct the manner of selecting
delegates to the Electoral College," and that the mere allegation of
election fraud is sufficient to throw out the votes and appoint new
electors. If there were any doubt about his intention, a video went viral
of Mastriano and one of his allies bragging on Tuesday night about how
they will steal the state's 20 electoral votes in 2024.^6
To stop Mastriano and his cronies, we are developing new and innovative
voter engagement and turnout strategies building on the hugely successful
work we did in 2020. Our focus will be to ensure that young voters, voters
of color, and those who voted for the first time in 2018 and 2020 turn out
again. But if we don't have the funds, we won't be able to deploy those
new strategies widely.
This is how Donald Trump's failed coup in 2020 could succeed in 2024. And
it's how American democracy could end.
Will you start a $5 monthly donation to help save our
imperiled democracy?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Chris, David, Jaira, Jayne, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Republican Panic Grows After Mastriano Wins," The New York Times, May
18, 2022
[link removed]
2. "An openly pro-coup Trumpist could become Pennsylvania’s next
governor," The Washington Post, May 12, 2022
[link removed]
3. Tweet by Doug Mastriano, November 28, 2020
[link removed]
4. "How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan.
6," The Washington Post, January 5, 2022
[link removed]
5. "Replacing the Refs," States United Democracy Center, May 4, 2022
[link removed]
6. Tweet by Ron Filipkowski, May 17, 2022
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Not authorized by any candidate, candidate's agent, or committee. Paid for
with regulated funds by MoveOn.org Political Action, PO Box 96142,
Washington, DC 20090.
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump's preparations for being able
to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to
replace top election officials in battleground states with his own
loyalists. Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our
23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to
defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect
individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections.
Will you chip in monthly to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect
our elections in 2022?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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