Running Everywhere...in Idaho!

And My Interview on How Many Ways Democracy is on the Ballot in2024

Idaho is in the house!

Because far more Democrats are running for the Idaho House…and Senate. We’re talking double the number of candidates versus 2022!

While election nights get all the attention, as I emphasize in both “Laboratories of Autocracy” and “Saving Democracy,” the hard, steady work we do between those elections matters even more in protecting democracy long term.

And committing ourselves to the principle that we run everywhere is one of the most important decisions we can all make in our long battle for democracy. Leaving extremism unchallenged in too many places for too long has cost us dearly.

Which is why I’ve been thrilled to see, over the past year, organizations and party leaders 1) declaring that we can no longer allow uncontested democracy across huge swaths of America, and 2) doing the hard work of recruiting folks to step and run in districts far and wide. From Texas to Arkansas, from Ohio to North Carolina, folks are stepping up. And it’s resulting in far fewer uncontested races at the statehouse level in state after state.

Kudos to all those making this happen—and to all the heroic candidates stepping up to run. As North Carolina Chair Anderson Clayton says, you are champions of democracy, on the front lines!

Today, I’m excited to announce that another state has taken up the “run everywhere” mission with gusto.

On Monday, the Idaho Democratic Party announced the great news that:

• while in 2022, only 32 Democratic candidates ran for 70 Idaho House seats, 60 candidates will do so this year.

• while in 2022, only 13 Democratic candidates ran for 35 Idaho Senate seats, 28 candidates will do so this year.

• Idaho’s legislature has 35 districts (with one Senator and two House members representing each district). Amid all these new candidates, Idaho Democrats achieved their goal that not a single district of the 35 would be without a Democratic candidate.

Needless to say, those are phenomenal improvements in just one cycle—and a great start to a new direction.

Party Chair Lauren Necochea framed the importance of the achievement perfectly:

“As the Republican supermajority descends into extremism, infighting, and chaos, Idaho Democrats from every corner of the state are stepping up to offer voters a choice and hope for the future. These Democratic candidates are running because they cannot accept the loss of our reproductive freedoms and the exodus of doctors from our state, they cannot accept relentless attacks on our libraries, and they will not accept the selling out of our public schools to costly voucher schemes.”

As for the candidates stepping up all over Idaho: “They are parents, teachers, nurses, and small business owners who represent the fabric of our communities, united by a shared vision for a stronger, fairer Idaho where every family can thrive.”

Congrats to Chair Necochea, all these wonderful candidates (whose public service has already begun, simply by running), and all those involved in bringing this team of champions together.

More to come as activists in other states do the same.

Interview: Democracy is On the Ballot:

Beyond the Ohio Senate race that got so much attention Tuesday, democracy is on the ballot in Ohio and elsewhere in so many ways.

I enjoyed talking with Anna Staver of All Sides (WOSU) about the threats to democracy in Ohio and other states, and how often overlooked elections can play key roles in protecting democracy this year and beyond.

Take a listen:

Along those lines, thank you to all the Ohio activists currently gathering signatures to put the #citizensnotpoliticians reform on the ballot. I know how hard that work can be (shooed off properties, explaining the basics of gerrymandering over and over, countless refusals to sign, etc.), but nothing matters more in protecting Ohio’s democracy than ending gerrymandering, and what you are doing.

Keep going!