State of the States: The DLCC Expands the Map to Win in 2024

We made it to the end of the week! Now say it with us, T.G.I.S.O.T.S. Thank God It’s State of the States! The DLCC is here to help you catch up on the state legislative stories you might have missed. It’s March 31st; ease into the weekend with a roundup of state stories from across the country.

For questions and suggestions, e-mail us.

ICYMI

• The DLCC announced its list of priority states for the 2023-24 election cycle. Speaking exclusively with POLITICO, interim DLCC President Heather Williams outlines the latest updates to the DLCC’s Path to The Majority strategy, a bold plan to win back America’s state legislatures after a historic midterm cycle.
  
• Democrats are still energized months into the new year. Democratic Del. Lamont Bagby won his special election on Tuesday with a staggering ~90% of the vote, outperforming Democratic margins from the presidential race in 2020.

• A report was released this week highlighting multiple instances of Chinese Communist Party leaders secretly working to influence Utah’s Republican leadership. The CCP is using Republicans to push their interests and impact legislation at the state level – a threat to the United States’ foreign policy interests. All of this from the party that is always quick to claim that Democrats are “communists” while it seems, in Utah, they’ve developed a close relationship with a communist regime.

GOP Fail 

• Texas GOP Representative Rep. Tony Tinderholt voted against a resolution celebrating Ramadan. This representative also has a top aide who is a Christian nationalist and has called for drag show attendees to be executed. The Republican lawmakers in Texas have a considerable amount of power working in the majority, and repressive acts like this show how rampant GOP extremism is down ballot. 

• Republican-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly said last week that he had no problem with an insurrectionist campaigning for him, and praised conservative activist Scott Presler and thanked him for his work. Presler previously planned several Stop the Steal rallies and was on the Capitol grounds the day of the insurrection. Kelly said he was “not really familiar with his background” but thought Presler’s work in Wisconsin was “invaluable.”
  
• Let’s take a trip to Ohio for the latest proof that the Republican Party will stop at nothing to restrict reproductive rights. Ohio Senate President Republican Matt Huffman is spearheading a new proposal making it harder to pass constitutional amendments – all just to stop Ohio voters from using amendments to protect abortion rights. There’s no telling what the GOP won’t do to trample our reproductive freedoms. 

• In Kentucky, Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto on dangerous anti-trans legislation that bans access to gender-affirming health care for trans children and more. When Republicans gain a supermajority, they use it to pass hateful legislation to advance their MAGA agenda instead of addressing the needs of their constituents.

Democratic Leadership

• Following two horrific shootings at Denver’s East High School, Colorado Democrats are taking action on gun safety reform. Over the weekend and into this week, both Democratic-led chambers passed a package to curb gun violence – including common sense bills that will increase the minimum age to purchase these weapons and establish a three-day waiting period for firearm sales. State Democrats are, once again, staying true to their campaign promises and leading the charge to keep their communities safe.
  
• In Nebraska, as Republicans continue to try to pass a law banning gender affirming care, Democrats are fighting to defend the trans community. Sen. Megan Hunt, who has a trans son, took up the filibuster mantle, going viral when she said, “No one in the world cares less about being petty than me. I don’t care. I don’t like you.”

• The Nevada Independent interviewed DLCC Board Member and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager this week, spotlighting his incredible career defending Nevada families and uplifting underrepresented communities. Read more about him here!