Category: Politics

Publicly Arresting Formerly Incarcerated Voters Is Voter Intimidation—Not ‘Election Integrity’

Under the direction of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in August arrested 20 people with felony records for breaking Florida’s elections laws during the 2020 election—even after several officials had explicitly told them that they could legally cast ballots. Some fear these public arrests will have a chilling effect on voter turnout in future elections. Already, the 2022 midterms were the first election in Florida’s history in which registered Republicans outpaced Democrats at the voting booth.

“It’s jarring to think about a grandfather getting pulled from his house by SWAT team for voting in our state,” said Neil Volz, deputy director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

Dismantling the ‘Latino Republican Voter’ Myth—With Voto Latino’s María Teresa Kumar

In the last several years, a popular narrative has emerged: The rise of right-wing extremism has been fueled by a surge in Latino support. María Teresa Kumar, head of Voto Latino, says this is simply untrue. 

Ms. spoke to Kumar to try to understand the proliferation of the ‘Latino Republican voter’ myth. As the head of an organization focusing almost exclusively on engaging young Latino youth in the U.S. political process, she helped me make sense of the election aftermath, the messages she thinks Latino voters sent through the way they voted, and why it’s time for progressives to double-down on Texas.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Fearless Feminist Legacy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be remembered for many things: securing passage of the Affordable Care Act; recruiting more women and diverse candidates to run for office (“organize, don’t agonize” was her mantra!); and guiding the nation through the nightmare of the Trump years.

Quite simply, though, she’ll be remembered as the Best. Speaker. Ever.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Colorado Elects Majority-Women Legislature; Karen Bass, LA’s First Woman Mayor

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: 2022 midterms will be a status quo election for women in Congress; federal candidates and political committees are projected to spend $8.9 billion this election cycle; Ruwa Romman, 29, makes history as the first Muslim woman elected to the Georgia House; Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S., has elected Representative Karen Bass to be its first-ever woman mayor; and more.

Keeping Score: Democrats Maintain Senate Control in Midterms; Florida Bans Care for Transgender Youth

This week: state officials condemn election misinformation and voter intimidation; Massachusetts and N.Y. elect women governors; Maxwell Alejandro Frost will be the first Gen Z congress member; abortions permitted to resume in Arizona; Florida bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors; University of California workers go on largest academic strike; and more.

Now Is the Time to Protect and Expand Birth Control Access

Concern about future access to contraceptives has spiked since Roe was overturned. Concerns about access are understandable, given state legislators have strategically perpetuated misinformation as part of efforts targeting access to contraception.

In response, we must call on elected officials to support urgently-needed legislation, such as the Right to Contraception Act, which seeks to protect the right of individuals to use birth control and the right of physicians and other healthcare professionals to provide this basic essential care.

What to Expect When Expecting (and Running)

Running for office while pregnant or parenting can be a major challenge.

I discovered I was pregnant the week the Dobbs decision was announced. I briefly considered suspending my campaign because I knew how hard it was going to be for my family and me. But at the end of the day, the reason I ran for public office hadn’t changed or become less significant to me, and so I decided to stand up for what I believe in.

Abortion Was Front of Mind for Midterm Voters

Across the board, Democratic candidates and progressive ballot measures far outperformed expectations set by the pundits, who had all but declared that abortion no longer was the driving factor in voters’ decisions.

“It was abortion that made a huge difference in race after race,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners. “In well over half the races, it was the issue of abortion that increased turnout of Democrats and younger voters.”