While MAGA, election-denying Republicans are over-represented in federal and statewide races this November, they’re really proliferating in state legislative races.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) launched its Threats to Democracy project last month, identifying state-by-state the legislative candidates who’ve embraced election denial and extremist MAGA stances. The DLCC has identified more than 700 Republican state legislators and candidates “who pose an existential threat to our democracy.” It just added another several dozen, including three who were in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. DLCC has identified 21 insurrectionist candidates who were at the Capitol that day.
“The evidence is clear—MAGA candidates and election deniers are working to seize power in state legislatures all across the country,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “These candidates no longer represent the fringe of the Republican Party, but instead represent the GOP’s future. In key swing states like Arizona and Michigan, MAGA militants are moving the insurrection from our nation’s capital to state capitals. While the GOP threat grows, state Democrats and the DLCC are working to stop the MAGA movement in its tracks and ensure that democracy is protected by electing Democrats to state legislatures all across the map this fall.”
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Eighteen of the new MAGA candidates they’ve identified are from Michigan, “meaning over 30% or nearly one-third of Michigan’s Republican candidates for state legislature pose an active threat to our democracy and future elections.”
The DLCC has named Michigan “ground zero for the GOP’s continued threat against our democracy.” They’ve identified 47 incumbents or candidates who “attended the insurrection, took active steps to overturn the presidential election results, or spread conspiracy theories undermining confidence in our election system.”
Pennsylvania is “a breeding ground for some of the most anti-democratic MAGA Republicans in this country,” the DLCC says, with “GOP legislative candidates [who] worked to overturn the 2020 presidential election, spread election conspiracies, and laid the groundwork to threaten future elections.”
That’s why Daily Kos has jumped into these state house races with a slate of candidates in each that could help make those flips happen. These are two of the most critical states to provide a backstop against Trump—or his MAGA clone—in 2024. It’s also critical to flip the legislatures of these states to keep abortion legal there.
David Nir explained what’s at stake: “Republicans failed to steal the last election, but 2020 was only a dry run. They’ve been refining their approach and they will steal the next one if we don’t stop them. Winning the state houses in Michigan and Pennsylvania would provide our democracy with a key bulwark against that terrifying prospect.”
He also pointed out that these are among the best races for grassroots donors and volunteers to make the biggest difference—the campaign budgets are a fraction of what is being spent on statewide races, and covering a legislative district with volunteers on the ground is a lot easier. You’ll get the most bang for your buck, and your time, in these races.
Please donate $10—or even $100, if you can—to help these Daily Kos-endorsed Democrats turn the state houses in Pennsylvania and Michigan blue!
Donald Trump and his allies showed how close they were at overturning the last election, and now Republicans have put more voter suppression in place. For this election, we need you to volunteer with Election Protection—a nonpartisan effort to help voters exercise their constitutional right.
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