A Stellar Week for Democrats
Wow! What a week!
Tuesday turned out to be a stellar day. Starting in our county, our party’s “One Year to Win” Gala was an extraordinary success. Vice Chair of our Party and Fundraising Chair Bob Tatterson led his committee to present the best-ever event. The planning and work behind the scenes started last spring and ended as our guests walked through the door. Thank you, Bob and your committee.
It was an honor that Bob was able to solicit a true patriot, Dr. Alex Vindman (retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel), as our keynote speaker. We also heard from our esteemed elected officials. Rep. Deb Andraca, Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin, and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez shared their current legislative experiences as well as urging us to work to turn the State Senate and Assembly blue. Dana Glasstein will be running to unseat Paul Melotik in Assembly District 22, so that gets us closer to a flip in the Assembly. Our lieutenant governor reminded us that we have to elect a Democrat to replace Governor Evers. If not, there will be no daylight between Wisconsin and Donald Trump.
The community of good people that attended the Gala and who continually show up at our meetings, the protests and issue forums reflect who we are. We are the party that cares if people have quality health care and don’t go broke because of illness. We are the party that believes everyone should have a fair shot at good jobs, and when times are tough, we make certain others have food and shelter. The Republicans do not care. They do not care about anyone but the billionaires.
What we witnessed on Tuesday, nationwide, is that the country, from California to New York, is tired and angry at the really weird politicians on the right and their anti-democracy, anti-middle class policies. Trump and his oligarch-loving party tried to blame the government shutdown on Democrats, even though he is the president and his party controls both the U.S. Senate and House. There was plenty of money to give tax breaks to his tech billionaire cronies, but no money to extend the tax subsidies for working folks buying health insurance. So the results came in, and like the Tea Party to Obama, the Republicans were shellacked.
We know about the big victories in the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia, but let us also look at some very impactful down-ballot races.
According to the Mississippi Free Press: “After six years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Voters elected Democrats to two seats previously held by Republicans, reducing the number of Republican senators in the upper chamber from 36 to 34—one fewer than necessary to constitute a supermajority. …
“The Mississippi Democratic Party called the victory ‘a historic rebuke of extremism.’ … ‘Last night’s victory proves that Mississippi is no longer a foregone conclusion—we are a battleground state.’ … In a press release on Wednesday, the ACLU of Mississippi credited the Voting Rights Act with the results.”
According to the Huffington Post: “In Kansas, Dems flip Wichita School Board from a 4-3 GOP majority to a 5-2 Democratic majority. Democratic candidates Amy Warren and Amy Jensen defeated Republican incumbents Hazel Stabler and Kathy Bond.”
And look what happened in the Republican stronghold of Buck’s County PA.
“Two of Tuesday’s school board elections were in Bucks County, Pa., which was considered “ground zero” for right-wing groups’ takeover of school boards in 2021. A few years ago, conservatives on these boards in Pennbridge and Central Bucks districts were using their roles to pass policies targeting LGBTQ+ students and banning books.
“Democrats flipped control of both boards in 2023, and on Tuesday, they ousted every Republican from both of these boards, except for one. The Pennbridge school board is now 8-1, with Democratic members in control. The Central Bucks school board is 9-0.”
From Heather Cox Richardson regarding the NYC mayoral race: “Mamdani pushed back not just against the smears thrown his way during the campaign, but also against the deliberate division of the country that has been a staple of Republican rhetoric since 1972, when President Richard Nixon’s vice president Spiro Agnew embraced his role as the key purveyor of ‘positive polarization.’ In its place, he called for community and solidarity.
“’In this new age we make for ourselves,’ Mamdani said, ‘we will refuse to allow those who traffic in division and hate to pit us against one another. … Here, we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.’”
See the specific data in this link.
Again a specific reminder from Heather Cox Richardson: “What the Senate Democrats are insisting on before agreeing to a continuing resolution is the extension of the premium tax credits that support the Affordable Care Act healthcare insurance marketplace. The Republicans neglected to extend those credits in their July budget reconciliation bill—the one they call the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’—although they extended tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Without the credits, millions of people will be unable to afford healthcare insurance and will go uncovered, and coverage costs will skyrocket for millions more.
“Seventy-eight percent of Americans want those tax credits extended. That includes 59% of Republicans. Only 22% don’t want them extended. So Trump is refusing to even negotiate with Democrats to end the shutdown when almost 80% of Americans want what the Democrats are demanding.”
That is why they lost. Our county party values and strategies align with the successes of Tuesday’s elections. Local elections matter. Solid policies matter. We have to keep running for office, volunteering to help candidates and simply show up.
Please join us on Nov. 29 to walk in the Grafton Christmas Parade. Note the new location for the “Cedarburg” peaceful protest and join us in Port Washington for the protest there. See you at our Nov. 19 monthly meeting.
I am so very proud of all of you. Thank you for reading.
P.S. We'll share Gala photos in next week's newsletter.