We have a new president!
But Republicans still run the show in most statehouses, and they’re not going to be shy about using their power to stymie the Biden agenda at every opportunity.
And then there’s the next round of redistricting, where GOP gerrymandering is likely to return the U.S. House to an artificial GOP majority after 2022.
Sorry, sunshine was for Inauguration Day. The business of governing continues this week in 33 states, and in capitols where Republicans run the show, it’s dark business, indeed.
It was somehow barely more than two weeks ago that Donald Trump incited a domestic terror attack on the U.S. Capitol, and even though the joint is under (mostly) new management, those who participated both in the violence and in the larger attempt to undermine our democracy by overturning the presidential election results must be held accountable.
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The list of Republicans who make laws who were on-site for the attack on the Capitol has expanded from 13 to 14 (including the one guy who somehow had enough shame to resign):
- Alaska Rep. David Eastman
- Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem
- Colorado Rep. Ron Hanks
- 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.
Also, the good folks at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee have pulled together a list of Republican lawmakers who signed on to letters and resolutions calling for the results of the presidential election to be overturned.
These people actively sought to disenfranchise millions of voters and undermine the foundation of our democracy.
More than 430 lawmakers across 15 states put their names on these documents.
But some are facing consequences!
- In Virginia, the three Republican delegates (Ronnie Campbell, Mark Cole, Dave LaRock) who signed a letter asking Mike Pence to effectively disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters by rejecting the state’s electors were booted from one committee each.
- Democratic Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn is ignoring the two Republicans as they persist in failing to comprehend that actions have consequences.
- The two whiners—Campbell and LaRock—say that they’re considering legal action, which, well, good luck with that.
Fun fact! None of these three Republicans has a law degree but apparently one at least Googled “freedom of speech.”
- Over in Virginia’s state Senate, Capitol riot attendee and cheerleader Amanda Chase’s colleagues have stripped her of all of her committee assignments and are considering formally censuring her for repeatedly spreading misinformation about the presidential election results.
Remember, Chase—who describes herself as “Trump in heels”—is running for governor this year.
Most of the other Republican lawmakers on that list of hundreds are in legislatures controlled by the GOP, so don’t hold your breath for more consequences on that front.
- Oh, and while we’re talking about armed insurrection, it’s certainly worth bringing up that Michigan Senate Republican Leader Mike Shirkey is apparently EXTREMELY cozy with some of the state’s militias.
- In fact, just a month before 13 men were arrested because they were allegedly plotting to kidnap and execute Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Shirkey invited the leaders of three militias into his office in the capitol to discuss “their purpose, what they are trying to accomplish and how the could improve their message.”
- He lamented that “they feel like they are not being heard.”
- Never mind that Shirkey, the leader of state Senate, clearly heard them just fine when he attended a local rally in May at which at least two of the alleged plotters of violence against Whitmer were present, as were other members of Michigan’s various militias.
- At the rally, he told the 350 or so attendees to “be ready to test and challenge government.”
- Shirkey maintains that militias get a “bad rap.”
So yeah, not only does this extremist militia sympathizer make laws, he runs an entire chamber of the legislature.
Christ.
Anyway!
Last week in this space, we journeyed together down memory lane to create some context for the current push from Republicans in some states to start divvying their electoral votes up by congressional district—a move that, because congressional districts in those state are so skewed in favor of the GOP, would effectively gerrymander the Electoral College.
- Back in the mid-2010s, this was something of a fad among some GOP-controlled legislatures.
- 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.
- And now, Republicans in some states are reconsidering this scheme to effectively disenfranchise voters who live in densely populated areas.
And while Wisconsin and Michigan both currently have Democratic governors who aren’t shy about using their veto pens, both of these govs are up for reelection in 2022.
- If a Republican wins either race, these proposals have an actual chance to become law before the 2024 presidential election.
Meanwhile, an ostensibly-nonpartisan-but-actually-Republican state senator in Nebraska has introduced a bill that would move Nebraska in the opposite direction by abolishing the allocation of electoral votes by congressional district.
These proposals obviously have nothing to do with any good-faith concerns about the fairness of the Electoral College; rather, they’re extremely obviously motivated by Republican partisan interests.
- One thing to keep in mind, however, is that these schemes may actually backfire on Republicans in the longer term, especially if Wisconsin and Michigan one day turn reliably red.
- Still, though, the only thing more undemocratic than the Electoral College is a gerrymandered Electoral College.
Speaking of little things like democracy, Donald Trump’s obvious continued influence on the Republican Party is making itself known in state legislatures across the country as they begin to consider a host of new voting legislation.
- In Virginia, where Democrats have majorities in both the state House and Senate, Dems are looking askance at election-related bills being introduced by their Republican colleagues, even openly stating that Trump’s attempts to undermine the electoral process make them suspicious of such proposals from the GOP.
- While openly tying these Republican bills to Trump has caused some in the party to take offense, there’s no denying that GOP lawmakers across the country are seeking to capitalize on those baseless claims of voter fraud to make casting a ballot more difficult.
- Virginia Republicans are trying to bring back the photo ID requirement and create an onerous signature-matching process for absentee ballots.
- In Kentucky, Republicans are trying to strip Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of his power to issue emergency executive orders that impact election procedures.
- In 2020, Beshear and the Republican secretary of state worked together to make voting easier and safer during the pandemic.
- They broadened absentee qualifications, and Kentucky began allowing in-person voting on Oct. 13, including on some Saturdays.
- Fast forward to this week, when Beshear vetoed a bill that would take that authority away from the governor and secretary of state and give it to the (GOP-controlled) legislature.
- Unfortunately, lawmakers can override vetoes in Kentucky with a simple majority vote, so don’t expect it to stick.
By the by, neither the secretary of state nor the Republican attorney general have found any evidence of fraud in last year’s elections.
- In Arizona, where Republicans are still awfully sore about Democrats Joe Biden and Mark Kelly winning the state in November, GOP lawmakers are trying to make the state’s permanent early voting list not-so-permanent.
- Arizona’s permanent early voting list was created in 2007 and allows residents to sign up to automatically receive a mail-in ballot in each election.
- About 3.2 million Arizonans are currently on this list, and they quite fairly expect to remain so.
- A Republican bill currently making its way through the state Senate would boot any voter from that list who fails to vote by mail in two consecutive primary and general elections.
- Other restrictive voting measures Republicans have proposed include eliminating the permanent early voting list altogether and requiring anyone voting by mail to have their envelopes freaking notarized.
And finally, an update from Alaska, where the legislature hasn’t been able to get anything done because they haven’t been able to decide who’s in charge.
- This week, the 13 Republicans in the Alaska state Senate ended their two month long leadership dispute and confirmed majority control of the chamber.
- Meanwhile, the 40 members of the state House remain at a 20-20 split and can’t get anything done until that gets sorted out.
Welp! That’s a wrap for this edition.
You should call it a week, maybe get a jump on some extended inaugural celebrations.
Because sure, party now, but at every level of government, the work ahead is … daunting, to say the least.
So yeah, give yourself a break. You’ll need to be fortified for the work ahead.
Just print this out and show it to your boss; believe me, she knows.
