First, please share this diary.
For this to work more people have to see it and use it and tell their friends!
Second, take a deep breath, enjoy the fact that our voters are VOTING and smile. We are in a great position to do amazing things with this election, but it’s not over, so we all need to “smile and get back to work!”
So, let’s go!
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Instead of recommending a specific local candidate with this diary, which is part of my series focusing on State Legislative Candidates, I’m going to highly recommend that you use a website called What’s On the Ballot that will allow you to research the most crucial election issues located in your state and states near you.
Specifically, I’m going to teach you how to best use What’s on the Ballot both for yourself and to help others.
What’s on the Ballot attempts to be a one stop shop for the general public to identify noteworthy political races and ballot measures around the country, including a significant focus on the legal system and criminal justice reform.
What’s on the Ballot is the work of journalist, and U of Chicago Phd., Daniel Nichanian, or @Taniel on Twitter, founder and editorial director of The Appeal political report.
Now, the information presented is a bit of a smorgasbord that is set up for the curious reader more than the activist. I’ve got an easy way for you to get around that and leverage Nichanian’s hard work to make a difference in this election for yourself and your friends and relatives.
Here goes!
- First, click on What’s on the Ballot.com. You’ll see, if you haven’t clicked already, a ton of great political information.
- Second, you’re going to want to hit “Control + F” (Or Command + F if your computer favors that). That should create a search dialog box in the top right of your browser screen.
- Next you’ll want to enter the two letter postal abbreviation of the state you’d like to research. (ex. PA, MN, FL)
- This should now display a numbered quantity of the those letters appear. (For most states, this will be straightforward, but for a few states with frequently occurring letters you will generate additional results that you will have to skip through.)
- Now you can simply hit the up or the down carrot in the dialog box to scroll through ALL the information about your selected state contained on the What’s On the Ballot page. When you hit the down carrot, the page should scroll to the next instance of your search.
- Ex. when I do this for Tennessee, I come up with two relevant items. Including:
Nashville, TN: Koch-funded initiative to roll back property tax hike. May be on Dec. 15 ballot.
TN | House (under “Noteworthy Legislative Races”)
Rep. Deberry (I, was D) backed law criminalizing protests. Faces Torrey Harris (D)
Do you see why this is so CRUCIAL?
As we close out the election season knowing that a surge in votes and voters on our side is positioning us to win critical races and decisions, it’s vital that all of us arm ourselves (and people we know) with the kind of local information that makes an impact.
So, if you have relatives or friends in TN, let them know about Torrey Harris and about what’s going on in Nashville with the Koch-funded initiative!
Let’s try it one more time, this time with Nevada, where we find five relevant items:
NV: Make the parole process a bit easier
NV: Increases renewable energy standard to 50% by 2030 (#6)
NV: Repeal state ban on same-sex marriage
NV | Senate Dems can gain the Super Majority Dems aim for supermajority, with implications for taxes. They’d need to flip one (SD15 or SD18) if they defend their seats (esp. SD 5 or SD6).
NV-03 is a Congressional seat held by a Dem where Trump won the district in 2016. Cook rates it as “Lean Democratic” but if you’re in the state or nearby, you can focus on helping Susie Lee win reelection!
This website is the perfect answer for anyone with a friend or relative who is asking, “yeah, but can my vote/activism make a difference?” Well, there’s a TON of items on the ballot in 2020 that are extremely relevant from a $15 minimum wage in Portland Oregon, to the Ohio Supreme Court, to prop #21 expanding Rent Control in California.
Take a moment, get informed and share this information with all your late voting friends and relatives around the country.
It’s called Whatsonthe Ballot.com and I urge you to try using it. It will make a difference.
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About this series:
I’m a longtime local election activist and Dailykos blogger dating back to 2003. I was part of helping local blogs and the netroots drive Democrats to take back the House in 2006 and helped build some of the biggest and most successful grassroots and online groups supporting Barack Obama.
The 2020 Democratic State Legislative candidates are heroes, and deserve our support. (If you are on Twitter please click on that link!) They are our best chance of changing US politics including GOP voter suppression and gerrymandering for decades to come and many of them will run campaigns that help us win electoral college votes and key US Senate and House votes:
Pennsylvania:
Michigan:
Wisconsin:
North Carolina:
Arizona:
Texas:
Georgia and Florida:
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You can also visit and donate at my State Level Impact 2020 ActBlue Page
This is an unaffiliated fundraising page that I created to provide a data-private, email opt out default option for those looking to contribute to many candidates at one time without signing up for emails or sharing your info with a group.
You are able to donate to 25 worthy local candidates flipping Red seats Blue, but with the email setting to default opt-out (you have to opt-in at the end if you want to be subscribed.) Not only does this send last minute money to crucial local campaigns (who can spend on digital GOTV right up until the last second!) but it also lets you save yourself the hassle of unsubscribing from multiple lists. Even small donations split multiple ways make an impact. 98 of us have donated a grand total $7,600 so far, and every donation is definitely appreciated by the candidates.
I know we can grow that total even more, as the election closes.
Trust me, this will help us win.
Please consider donating today.
(Prefer to donate via a group or organizational portal? This DLCC page focused on flipping state houses and the official DKos anti-Gerrymander page are great options!)
