By this time next week, we’ll have a new president! (… hopefully)
But with Donald Trump’s second impeachment (who says Congress can’t act with state legislature-like speed when it wants to?) because of his responsibility for last week’s violence in the U.S. Capitol, we’re very much not yet done with the old one.
Worse, we’re far from done with his effects on politics—from federal elected officials all the way to state capitols.
In fact, the number of state legislators so affected by Trump that they traveled to DC last week for the terrorist attack on the Capitol is actually much larger than it was when I wrote about it in this space last week.
Campaign Action
Here’s a list of the people who make laws in states who participated in this domestic terrorism (13 strong to date):
- Alaska Rep. David Eastman
- Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem
- Illinois Rep. Chris Miller
- Maryland Del. Dan Cox
- Michigan Rep. Matt Maddock
- Missouri Rep. Justin Hill
- Nevada Assemblywoman Annie Black
- Pennsylvania Sen. Doug Mastriano
- Rhode Island Rep. Justin Price
- Tennessee Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver
- Virginia Del. Dave LaRock
- Virginia Sen. (and gubernatorial candidate) Amanda Chase
- West Virginia Del. Derrick Evans*
- West Virginia Sen. Mike Azinger
*Derrick Evans faces criminal charges and has since resigned from the West Virginia House.
… plus various former state legislators, which is bad, but at least they don’t make laws any more.
by the by armed insurrection by private citizens is also bad
So yeah, that’s Republicans from 12 states (and counting) that physically, actively participated in a violent, seditious attack on the very core of our government.
And if you think these lawmakers left those anti-democratic impulses in DC, I’ve got some bad news for you.
Loyalty to Trump and distrust of the 2020 presidential election results has become a mainstream position in many (GOP-governed) parts of the country.
- Earlier this week, Wisconsin Senate Republicans shut down Democrats’ attempt to pass a resolution condemning the violence in the U.S. Capitol and acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
- The Pennsylvania state House advanced a measure this week that would give the GOP-controlled legislature the power to gerrymander the state Supreme Court (also the two other state appellate courts).
- Currently, these justices are elected statewide.
- But Democrats keep winning statewide elections in Pennsylvania, including for the Supreme Court (they currently have a 5-2 majority).
- … which mightily pissed off Republicans a couple of years ago when they overturned the state’s gerrymandered congressional districts.
- GOP lawmakers have been looking for ways to reshape the court to their liking ever since.
- And no, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf can’t veto this proposal.
- If it passes both the (GOP-controlled) state House and Senate by Feb. 18, it’ll go before voters for the off-off-year primaries on May 18.
aka the lowest-turnout contest in the state
Thankfully, some lawmakers who fomented Trump’s dangerous, anti-democratic lies about the fairness of the presidential election are actually facing consequences.
- In Georgia, the Republican lieutenant governor stripped three GOP senators who backed Trump’s attempts to undermine the state’s election results of their committee chairmanships.
- In Virginia, three Republican delegates (Ronnie Campbell, Mark Cole, Dave LaRock) signed a letter casting doubt on the validity of the election outcome and asking Vice President Mike Pence to effectively disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters.
- In Oregon, where Rep. Mike Nearman opened a locked door to admit protesters to the state capitol (closed to the public because of the pandemic) as lawmakers gathered inside for a special session in December, Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek has removed the Republican from all committees and called on him to resign.
And we’re not done: Early this week, the FBI issued a warning that armed far-right extremist groups are planning marches on state capitols across the country this weekend.
- To return to another piece of business from last week’s edition, the GOP-controlled Pennsylvania state Senate finally swore in and seated Democratic Sen. Jim Brewster.
- On Tuesday, a federal court tossed a last-ditch lawsuit brought by Republican Nicole Ziccarelli, and Senate Republicans decided to accept the Democrat’s 69-vote victory (nice).
- Remember, this shitty move by the Pennsylvania GOP had nothing to do with their control over the chamber.
- Even after seating Brewster, Senate Republicans have a 29-21 majority. (Technically one member is independent, but he caucuses with the GOP.)
And now, a rerun of a totally different sort.
- In the eons-ago time of Before Trump, it was something of a fad among GOP-controlled legislatures to attempt to gerrymander the Electoral College.
- That is, Republican lawmakers in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, who were still sore about Obama winning their (mostly) historically blue states, wanted to figure out a way to give some of their electoral votes to the Republican presidential candidate for a change.
- How? By allocating them by (conveniently GOP-gerrymandered) congressional districts.
Then 2016 happened and they weirdly forgot all about it.
(That is, Trump won all of those states but Virginia, which was about to go fully indigo at every level of government.)
- But (via Dave Weigel, who writes one of the few newsletters I actually read [and you should, too] and has been on this incredibly esoteric beat for as long as I have, somehow) Republicans in some states are suddenly reconsidering this scheme.
- In Michigan and Wisconsin, specifically, proposals to effectively disenfranchise voters who live in densely populated areas are already being floated.
Thankfully, both of these states have Democratic governors who aren’t shy about using their veto pens.
And on top of that, Michigan is about to get its first redistricting via an independent commission.
- Still, as yet another anti-democratic proposal from the GOP, it should very much generate concern.
Speaking of independent redistricting commissions …
… Arizona’s is about to get hijacked by Republicans.
- As an erudite consumer of this missive, you are no doubt aware that Arizona (somewhat surprisingly) went for Joe Biden in the presidential election and now is represented by two Democratic U.S. senators.
- Add this blue-ward statewide trend to the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC), and you have a recipe for Democratic gains all the way down the ballot.
Except this decade’s IRC is shaping up to be … somewhat less than independent.
- The Arizona IRC is made up of five members: two Democrats and two Republicans selected by the majority and minority leaders of the legislature, who then ostensibly select the fifth, their chair, from among five independent candidates vetted and presented by a body called the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments (yes, CACA).
- If the four members of the IRC deadlock, as is likely, the selection of that fifth member reverts to CACA.
Cool and fair, right?
Not when the GOP governor has spent the past several years stacking CACA with fellow Republicans.
- So, those five “independent” candidates for commission chair selected by CACA?
- Robert Wilson hosted multiple pro-Trump events at his gun store and was an election observer for his county Republican committee.
- Thomas Loquvam is a lobbyist for one of Arizona’s major utilities and helped direct a seven-figure dark money campaign against Democratic candidates for the state’s public utilities regulatory commission.
- Erika Neuberg has been a significant donor to the GOP governor and conservative super PACs, though she’s given to Democrats, as well. She’s a national board member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
- Gregory Teesdale is a venture capitalist.
- And finally, Megan Carollo is the owner of a high-end floral boutique, but her partner reportedly advises the Arizona Mexico Commission, a trade association chaired by the Republican governor, and is president of a firm that has received lucrative contracts via the governor’s budget.
So much for independent redistricting in Arizona.
And finally, Illinois!
- I don’t talk much about the Illinois legislature in this space—mostly because it’s so Democratic-dominated that it’s either A. not very interesting or B. consumed by intra-party squabbles that don’t really impact most residents.
Democratic Rep. Mike Madigan was originally elected to the legislature in 1970.
- He became House speaker in 1983, where, apart from the two years the GOP had the majority in the mid-1990s, he’s been ever since.
- Over the years, Madigan established what’s known as “The Program,” a vast fundraising and volunteer network, and this helped him retain the loyalty of Democrats who feared for their electoral fortunes without his machine’s assistance.
- Finally, this week Democratic Rep. Chris Welch won the race for speaker, becoming the first Black leader of the chamber and ending the Madigan era.
Welp! That’s quite enough for the week. Long weekend coming up, hm? And then there’s that presidential inauguration thing. So, a lot on everyone’s plate all around.
Better call it a week, knock off early.
Just print this out and show it to your boss, I’m sure she won’t mind.