"It is about protecting a merit-based system from political corruption and unlawful retaliation," Sen. Tammy Duckworth said.
Hello, and happy early Independence Day to all who observe!
(And, of course, as an erudite consumer of this missive, I know you’ll observe in a responsible, socially-distanced way. Because Lockdown 2: The New Batch is going to suck enough as it is.)
As a lot of states whose Republican governors reopened businesses prematurely in the middle of a damn pandemic begin to grapple with the obvious and avoidable fallout, a lot of state-level action right now is extremely coronavirus-related.
… but not all of it.
Body Double: … but some of it!
Campaign ActionI dunno, getting a deadly disease seems like a pretty severe hardship
Double or Nothing: In Kansas, where I’m sure the GOP-controlled legislature is contemplating a measured and reasonable response to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s new mandatory face mask order, one Republican lawmaker is super worried about losing his primary election in August.
Okay, this has all been interesting, but I did promise you non-coronavirus related content.
And, well, tomorrow is an important day.
No, not because it’s Independence Day Eve.
And not because it’s my half-birthday.
(Which it is.)
Election Day is four short months from July 3.
And this is a year that ends in zero.
Which makes this Election Day the final chance for Democrats to flip legislative chambers and put themselves in position in states across the country to prevent another decade of GOP gerrymandering.
Thousands of seats are on the ballot this fall.
And yes, all state legislative elections in each and every state are important.
But because redistricting is at stake, some are a bit more important than others this fall.
Democrats taking a birds-eye view of these elections (c’est moi) have to weigh a number of factors when it comes to prioritizing states, chambers, and seats this year.
These are the chief factors I’ve weighed in determining my state legislative chamber priority target list for 2020.
Topmost among those targets are (in alphabetical order, nothing to read into here):
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be going in to detail on each of these chambers—challenges, opportunities, available paths to victory, targeted districts, and the like. And I’ll be adding target chambers as the electoral landscape shifts and solidifies as we approach November.
Welp, that’s a wrap for this week. Thanks for checking in before checking out for the holiday!
Whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope you enjoy the heck out of it.
You deserve it.
You’re worth it.
Hang in there.
And wear a mask.
Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Thursday that she would put a hold on the confirmation of over 1,000 military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper provided assurances on the promotion of a former White House aide who testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who provided some of the most damaging testimony during an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives into Trump's dealings with Ukraine, is up for a promotion to colonel.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Democrat, said Thursday that she intends to block the Senate confirmations of more than 1,100 senior military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms the promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who played a key role in Mr. Trump's impeachment inquiry, will go through.
Mr. Trump ...