State of the States: It’s the Final Countdown

This will be our last edition of State of the States for the year. We hope you’ve enjoyed these roundups of what you need to know in the states, the utter depravity of the GOP, and stories of Democrats getting things done in office.

Starting on Election Day, the DLCC will send out daily reports with the most up-to-date information on state legislative races. To be the first to know about state legislature results, watch out for our report or reach out to our national press secretary Christina Polizzi at [email protected].

It’s October 28th and here is the state of the states.

• The DLCC and affiliated organizations announced a record-shattering $50 million raised for this cycle, which is five times the amount raised in the entirety of the last redistricting cycle. With this milestone, the DLCC reached the goal of its $50 million “Flip Everything” and is the most ever raised to support Democratic legislative candidates.
• Democrats in state legislative races are up against virtually every strategic obstacle this cycle: gerrymandered maps, deep-pocketed Republicans, and voter suppression efforts. But the GOP is on defense on its own maps — which shows just how much the DLCC has changed the dynamics of legislative races across the country. We have an opportunity to run up our seat count in every target state on our list and take back key chambers. Read the DLCC’s final outlook memo here.
• As part of its “Flip Everything” campaign, the DLCC has made millions of dollars of investments to flip chambers in North Carolina, Iowa, and Pennsylvania.
• Republicans have (once again) resorted to cheating to try to win elections. In Minnesota, the GOP Senate majority leader tried to recruit Republicans to run as third party candidates by offering them rewards in order to siphon off votes from Democrats. That’s a pretty sleazeball scheme.
• Kansas GOP Representative J.R. Claeys moonlights as a regional field director for Donald Trump, and a few days ago he urged people to attend Trump’s Omaha rally — the same rally that left hundreds outside in the freezing cold and sent seven people to the hospital.

 

• We thought Arizona GOP Representative Walt Blackman couldn’t sink any lower, but he continues to prove us wrong. Near the end of this video, Blackman said that a vote for Democrats is equivalent to allowing “someone to come in your house and kill your whole family.”
• Representative Blackman also called it an honor to be endorsed by “Cowboys For Trump.” A reminder that their founder and leader Cuoy Griffin said, “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,” and told Black Lives Matter supporters to “go back to Africa.” These aren’t even his worst quotes! But, by this time next week Representative Blackman could be voted out by Arizonans — here’s hoping! 
• Former Ohio Republican House Speaker Larry Householder used almost a million dollars in campaign money to pay his own legal fees. The GOP’s summer of crimes continues into the fall!
• Iowa Republicans passed a new law permitting people to bring guns into polling places where they had been previously banned by local laws, causing election auditors to fear possible voter intimidation. Because as we know, in order to vote, you need a form of ID and…a firearm.
• Minnesota state Senator Roger Chamberlain liked a tweet that called for respected national reporter Lesley Stahl to be sent to “Gitmo” and said local media was just as “ignorant, mediocre & biased.” 
• Minnesota state Senator Justin Eichorn was a union-busting business owner whose company was chastised by a judge for having a “general disregard for its employees’ fundamental rights.” Among other despicable practices, Senator Eichorn discriminated against union employees and threatened their holiday pay. We think standing up for workers should be a no-brainer.
• Georgia House candidate Betty Price shared a fear-mongering op-ed and stated that she hopes the new residents “of all races” in her district “don’t bring bad voting habits with [them]” from the places they “escaped.” We hear your racist dog whistle loud and clear, Betty.
• Another Georgia GOP-er, state Representative Ricky Williams, shared a Wile E. Coyote cartoon with a book titled “How to Carry Kids Across the Border…” We find nothing funny about the 545 children whose parents cannot be found after the administration’s heartless separation policy.
• Arizona GOP state Representative Brett Roberts said “min[imum] wage jobs are not meant to be careers. They’re for 2nd jobs.” We could not think of a more out of touch and bad take. 

 

• Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones uses her position to promote race and gender equality, most recently by supporting the end of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. We applaud Speaker Jones’ historic leadership and her commitment to standing up for all Marylanders.
• Virginia Democratic lawmakers have passed legislation that would allow for more than 14,000 inmates who meet certain qualifications to be released early. Democrats fight for criminal justice reform.
• California’s Democratic-led assembly passed a lawexpediting the process for job certification for qualified refugees and asylum seekers.

 

• Election Day is on Tuesday — but don’t expect all of the results for our level of the ballot to be in. Even when we aren’t in a global pandemic where historic numbers of Americans are voting, state legislative elections are often decided by a handful of votes, which means it takes a while to know who the winners are. Be patient and keep in touch with us for the most up to date information. 

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