This list is President Barack Obama's endorsements for 2020 state-level races. These are key candidates to flip the state legislatures from red to blue. They were identified by Eric Holder's National Democratic Redistricting Committee as pivotal for the redistricting (aka prevent gerrymandering) that will take place next year.
Why local races?
- If Democrats only come out for the presidential race, they lose overall (and sometimes, the actual presidential race too). Republicans understand this very well, they fight for every single race, down to school boards. Koch brothers gave most of their money for local races. State Congresses and Assemblies determine the redistricting/gerrymandering. State Supreme Courts and Secretaries of State determine how the elections are run (including presidential ones!); and as Stalin said, who counts the votes is the one who determines the winner. Local candidates are the ones who go on to run for state government and then onto US Congress & Senate. They build up their connections, credibility, donors, and so on locally first, and then bring that power to bear on their next race. Lisa Murkowski won the Senate seat not because she was Republican, but because she was tenacious and respected in Alaska.
- These days most people are voting straight party ticket. What does that mean? If people come out to vote for the President, they may only put their voice down for the President. But if people come out to vote for their local state Representative or state Supreme Court Justice, they are more likely to vote Democrat for that person AND for their US Senator AND for the President. People generally can be relied more to vote up ballot rather than down.
- In general, people need to be convinced to come out to vote a lot more than they need to be convinced to vote for a particular person, especially in these polarized times. If all Democrats came out to vote, we'd completely rout Republicans. And branding advertising works. The more something is mentioned, the more likely it is to stick in person's mind. Every time we reach out to a voter (one time to get them to register, another time to vote in primary, another - to vote for a special election, another - to register to vote by mail, another - to vote for their state rep, another - for US Congress, etc), every single contact increases the presence of "you must vote" idea in their mind. Every contact is a potential tipping point to make that person come out to vote.
- Local races are more likely to build lasting Dem infrastructure. Top-level races are often run by consultants or staff that helicopter into the state for a few months and then helicopter out. The local races are run by people who really care about that community. The lack of persistent Democratic party presence in every single locality has led to Democrats losing the legislatures around the country. We should want to reverse it. People who volunteer and vote locally are more likely to get involved and show Dem party is there for the people.
What else can I do? Do more at http://itsblueturn.com.