You want to talk about a wild election night? Check out New Hampshire. Even though Republicans had rammed through hand-crafted gerrymanders of the state legislature earlier in the year, Democrats flipped a huge number of seats in November and squeezed the GOP down to its smallest majority in state history. In fact, it’s pretty much the smallest majority possible: In the 400-member chamber, Republicans now hold just 201 seats.

Democrats, meanwhile, expanded their caucus to 198 seats—but it gets wilder yet. That final race for that 400th seat ended in a tie after all votes were counted, a jump-ball scenario that New Hampshire has traditionally resolved with a special election. So what did Republicans do? They tried to outright steal the race by holding a vote to simply seat the GOP candidate as the winner.

Only it blew up in their faces when several Republicans voted against their own party’s scheme. A special election will take place on Feb. 21, and that’s why Daily Kos is proudly endorsing state Rep. Chuck Grassie for re-election.

The stakes are extremely high. Every seat we can whittle away from the GOP makes it harder for Republicans to advance their far-right agenda, as proven by the fact that a handful of their own members opposed their attempt to blow up the special election. But they still have all sorts of horrid bills in the works, like a near-total ban on abortion and a measure prohibiting teachers from calling students by their preferred names or pronouns—on pain of losing their teaching license.

And that’s why it’s so important we help Chuck Grassie. Few have walked the progressive walk like he has. Grassie has served multiple stints in the legislature dating back to the 1970s, when, way ahead of his time, he first sponsored a bill to decriminalize marijuana. In his long and remarkable career, he’s been a fierce advocate for reproductive rights, helped pass legislation to cap the cost of insulin, and has served as head of the House Progressive Caucus. His Republican opponent, meanwhile, has been endorsed by one of New Hampshire's top anti-abortion groups—'nuff said.

Republicans once again showed they have zero respect for democracy when they tried to cancel this election. Let’s show them what we think of that.

Please donate $5 or $10 to help Democrats keep a key seat in the New Hampshire House blue!

Donate now to win the special election Republicans tried to cancel!

Donate now to win the special election Republicans tried to cancel!