Let me begin by acknowledging the partisan nature of this essay. I regret that. We live in a badly divided country in a perilous time. With every fiber of my being, I’d wish to be bridging if not healing the divide, cooling the rhetoric, calming the political waters. Sadly, while the Democratic Party has, in many ways, lost its way, the Republican Party has become the party of Trump, a deeply disturbed and disturbing narcissist and dangerous authoritarian who spells “leadership” d-o-m-i-n-a-t-i-o-n. That leaves me in the “anyone but Trump” camp, and until honorable Republicans rise up and reclaim their party, defeating Trumpkins and MAGA enablers is imperative if the nearly 250-year-old American experiment with democracy is to be sustained.
I spent nearly a third of my years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Being elected to serve was the privilege of a lifetime. I served with many honest, smart, and decent Republicans. I met many civic-minded Republicans from other states while serving on the board of the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). But those good Republicans were and are a small and powerless minority within their party. I am sorry that my disappointment with - and anger at - what their party has become catches them in my crossfire. But so be it. The stakes are too high to be silent, to ignore our national crisis. This essay is both partisan and a call to action.
For the past two generations, the Republican party has systematically targeted state legislative races in an effort to elect Republican majorities. As a direct result, the number of state House and Senate chambers with Republican majorities has grown dramatically.
For 24 years in the Massachusetts House (with a safe Democratic majority) and for the past five and a half as a recovering legislator, I have watched in horror as the Republican party – now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Donald Trump - worked to elect more and more state legislators across the nation who, in turn, adopted abhorrent policies.
State legislatures are where critical decisions about environmental, social justice, healthcare, education, reproductive rights, public transit, housing, taxation, and public safety policies are shaped. This is where redistricting is decided, determining who gets elected to the legislature and to Congress for the next decade. The party with a majority of seats gets to set the agenda and advance its values. With the focus on electing Republican Representatives and Senators at the state level, polices have lurched rightward. Conservative and often reactionary values have dominated the headlines.
The Democrats? Asleep, inattentive, inactive.
I have watched and fretted as Democrats have surrendered without a fight.
Until now. Enter The States Project and what I regard as the first really good news in a very long time.
Founded in 2017, The States Project studies the makeup of state legislatures to identify those where, by flipping just a few seats from R to D, Democrats can control the chamber. The staff then further targets which seats, with a bit of money and campaign activity, are most likely to produce a Democratic win. Careful analysis and targeting are key. The States Project played an outsized role in the Democrats win in Virginia last fall, adding to earlier successes in Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. This year, The States Project is focusing on Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania again, as well as Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. All these states can see new Democratic majorities or 2022’s hard-fought victories protected.
Across the country, people like you and me are joining Giving Circles to raise the money needed to win winnable races. I’m part of the Greater Boston Giving Circle team and we’re focusing our efforts and money on races in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out the gerrymandered district map passed by the Republican legislature. The new map holds the promise of some important Democratic gains and Wisconsin is one of the most promising battlegrounds for this November’s election. A Democratic majority and a Democratic Speaker in the Wisconsin Assembly are certainly within reach.
I know Robin Vos, the current Republican Speaker of the Assembly. I got to know him when we served together on the NCSL board. He is personable and smart, but, as it turns out, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. While talking in bipartisan terms in pursuit of the NCSL presidency, he was busy in Wisconsin as a Trumpkin shepherding right-wing legislation and the brazenly partisan (and ultimately overturned) redistricting plan through the Wisconsin legislature. He is in a safe Republican district, but his Speakership is not safe, and I want nothing more than to help elect enough Democrats to the Assembly to shift to a Democratic majority, sending Robin to the back benches where he can do less damage.
If you want to understand who keeps Robin in the Speaker’s office and why it’s important to remove him, consider this. Heather Cox Richardson recently quoted Representative Glenn Grothman, one of Robin’s Republican enablers. Quoting Richardson, “Grothman said if Trump wins reelection, the U.S. should work its way back to 1960, before ‘the angry feminist movement…took the purpose out of the man’s life.’” She continues, “Grothman said that President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s War on Poverty was actually a ‘war on marriage.’”
Ready to join me in the very important and, with our help, doable campaign to flip the Wisconsin Assembly from Republican to Democratic? I’ve made the largest campaign contribution I’ve ever made, and I invite you to join me.
It’s simple and begins by lending your name and some of your treasure to the Greater Boston Giving Circle. Use this link to support the effort now while your donation will be matched by a generous donor. Greater Boston Giving Circle page
On August 20, The States Project is hosting an in-depth look at the Wisconsin race. You can RSVP for that Zoom event here. RSVP here
I’ve stopped fretting, inspired and energized by The States Project’s light in the darkness. I’m all in and would welcome your company.
I’ve forwarded this to some members of the HDTC and I will make a contribution