Been thinking a lot since election night and have a bunch of random thoughts, so here we go:
None of the victories in 2019 happened overnight. They happened because of sustained work, investment, and partnership over many years.
The thing that I’ve seen almost NO talk about in VA is that Dems now control the redistricting, which will mean a FAIR process. When the process is fair, it means underrepresented folks have a voice. That could lead to an additional 1-2 D Congressional seats.
Additional Congressional seats for Dems will make it less likely that we have a repeat of 2010 where we lost the House for almost a decade.
A lot of folks are paying attention to the Senate, which is great. AND, downballot races in places like FL, GA, MN, NC, OH, PA, TX, NH, and WI are going to decide the fate of the House for the next TEN YEARS! If we don’t flip chambers/win seats in those places, .Republicans are going to control redistricting, which will make it EXTREMELY difficult to hold the gains we’ve made. Ultimately, it means we’ll lose the House eventually and it will require a Trump-like event to get it back. We can’t count on that!
Due to the nature of the Senate, holding it for long stretches of time is difficult.
WE CANNOT RELY ON THE PRESIDENCY ANYMORE. While beating Trump is so important, we need to walk and chew gum at the same time. We can adequately support and fund the nominee, Senate candidate, Congressional candidates, AND downballot candidates. If we don’t, we will lose.
If we fail down the ballot and take the House and Senate our base still loses. The GOP will still be able to operate a police state, Medicaid expansion will be curtailed, bathroom bills and abortion bans will pass, and Republicans will continue their assault on voting!
To wrap-up, ignoring downballot races will completely erase any gains we make in the Senate or the presidency. We will eventually lose both houses of Congress, the GOP will continue their assault on working people, and we’ll be structurally be locked out of power for a decade.
That is why we NEED the same kind of urgency for downballot races that we see with the Senate and Presidency. There is no other option!
Originally posted on Twitter. Re-posted with permission.
