*Al Gore voice* "Drop Box"
*Al Gore voice* "Drop Box"
The legal battles that could decide the election
Welcome to the big midweek edition of Progressives Everywhere!
Lots of big political news broke today, so let’s get right to it!
Elections and Voting Rights
As states continue to assess and adjust their vote by mail systems to accommodate (or kneecap) what is already an unprecedented demand for absentee ballots, the Trump administration is doing everything it can to suppress that most viable route for democracy.
The new Postmaster General, major Trump donor and UPS investor Louis DeJoy, has made it clear that his goal is to destroy the US Postal Service he swore to protect. Already, he’s slowed down mail delivery to a terrible crawl, and just this week, word came out that he’s considering jacking up the cost of sending a ballot. Meanwhile, Trump himself today said that he would not sign any stimulus bill that includes desperately needed funding for the USPS.
With the most non-partisan and reliable public service in United States history now under political attack, states are increasingly looking to drop boxes that allow voters to submit their absentee ballot in person. While both Democratic and Republican state lawmakers seem to be troubled by the attack on the postal service — rural voters need the mail more than anyone — we’re seeing something of a partisan divide on drop boxes.
Kinda reminds me of this:
In Pennsylvania, as I noted last week, blue counties are creating satellite election offices where people can request and submit early mail ballots right then and there. Michigan, which has a great Democratic Secretary of State, went big on drop boxes during last week’s primary and figures to do so again for the general election. Connecticut and Georgia (to some degree) did the same. In Florida, the implementation of drop boxes was part of legal settlements over voter suppression.
The Trump campaign is spending $20 million on suing these states and counties, including in Pennsylvania. Republican lawmakers are doing their best to help out, too — Tennessee isn’t allowing drop boxes at all. On Tuesday, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that Ohio will permit drop boxes… but only one per county. That means the entire city of Cleveland will have the same number of drop boxes as small rural counties.
It’s a preposterous and enraging story. The state legislature passed a law allowing for drop boxes for the primary, and counties were investigating adding even more drop boxes for the general election, but LaRose put a pause on them last month while he “looked into” the legality around keeping them for November. Now that fellow Republican Attorney General Dave Yost has failed to give LaRose an opinion on the matter (oops!), La Rose says it’s too late (three months before the election) and counties can’t add any more boxes.
Democrats, as expected, are apoplectic about it. Here’s part of their statement:
“Ohioans have used secure drop boxes to return their absentee ballots for years — and it was never a problem until Frank LaRose decided to make it one… LaRose’s claims that he needs statutory authority are baseless and should be viewed for what they plainly are — an excuse to rein in boards of elections that are trying to make it more convenient for voters to cast their ballots safely and securely during a global pandemic."
One party official told me that counties are technically required to follow the directives, but they are exploring their legal options. This is voter suppression, plain and simple, especially during a pandemic; no one’s going to be lining up to drop off their ballot if thousands of other people are there, too.
Democrats continue to dominate absentee ballot requests in North Carolina (and yes, the state will have drop boxes). This graph, via Old North State Politics, says it all:
Breaking news: Rep. Jamie Grant, the unbelievably dislikable Florida Republican who sponsored the Jim Crow poll tax that disenfranchised one million voters in Florida, announced today that he is no longer running for re-election. Grant had been facing a very spirited challenge in House District 64 by Progressives Everywhere-endorsee Jessica Harrington, an elementary school teacher who has been vocal about both voting rights and the risks of going back to school during COVID-19. Harrington held him to within seven points in 2018 after Grant hadn’t been challenged in years.
The state legislative primary takes place next Tuesday, which gives the Florida GOP a short window to decide who will replace Grant on the ballot. I’m told Grant, who no longer lives in the district he represents, was appointed to a “dream job,” though I’m still awaiting further details. One important note: it turns out that Grant wasn’t even living in Florida when he sponsored the poll tax. Remarkable.
Republicans will likely pour in tons of money to try to keep this seat without Grant’s family money — you can donate to Jessica Harrington here!
In Massachusetts, Sen. Ed Markey is wiping the floor with Rep. Joe Kennedy III in the latest poll of their hotly contested primary. Markey surged into first as people began to look past Kennedy’s name to realize he had no real justification for his run — despite the age difference, Markey is more progressive — and now the incumbent has a 15-point lead.
Earlier this week, unflattering allegations about Holyoke Mayor and Massachusetts congressional candidate Alex Morse surfaced via the College Democrats of UMass Amherst. I interviewed and endorsed Morse a few months ago, so I took them seriously. Still, because they were vague, I decided to wait to learn more before commenting on them. Now, a new report suggests that they are at least largely the product of conniving students taking advantage of lingering public homophobia.
Morse is challenging Rep. Richard Neal, the powerful Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. Neal is the number one recipient of Wall Street cash in Congress. Expect this race to get even nastier before the September 1st primary election.
Now that Stacey Abrams is officially not Joe Biden’s running mate, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests that she’s likely to run for governor of Georgia once again in 2022. She got cheated out of the governorship in 2018 and Republican Brian Kemp has been nothing but flagrantly awful in his first year and a half in office, especially when it comes to COVID-19.
I look forward to raising money for Abrams whenever she decides to run for office next… though I’m pretty sure she won’t really need my help.
There has been a lot of discussion about Sen. Kamala Harris’s political convictions, which are in some ways unclear despite the fact that she’s spent two decades in public service. This is an interesting and useful look at her record, no matter what side of the “is Kamala Harris a progressive?” debate you fall on.
Oh, one thing before we continue: Every weeknight, I fill a newsletter with headlines, analysis, and races that get overlooked most everywhere else. If you want the daily newsletter delivered right to your inbox, just sign up for the premium edition of Progressives Everywhere. On Wednesday, I send it out for free!
COVID-19 and Related Drama
I’ve been in touch with a number of teachers in a variety of states and to say they are worried and frustrated would be an understatement. One Florida teacher who emailed me today wrote the following:
“The school board voted to do the first 4 weeks online but the education commissioner and governor are insisting on an in-person option. I wish I didn’t feel like returning to work and doing what I love means the best choice is to isolate myself from my family. I cannot imagine my life at school without hugs and I suppose I must do without them when I get home, too.”
It’s hard not to feel awful for all teachers right now. They were treated as heroes in the spring and now are being forced to risk their own lives — and the lives of their students — in many states. It’s remarkable to see just how little GOP-controlled states and municipalities seem to care about what happens to these kids.
This would be funny if it weren’t so infuriating:
In Texas, a ghastly 324 more people died of COVID-19 today.
Meanwhile, in Florida, where a record number of people died from COVID-19 on Tuesday, one sheriff ordered his officers to not wear masks. In fact, even visitors to his police department are barred from wearing masks. Seriously:
“We can debate and argue all day of why and why not. The fact is, the amount of professionals that give the reason why we should, I can find the exact same amount of professionals that say why we shouldn’t. Since the beginning of this pandemic the operation of this office has not changed and no wearing of masks has been put in place,” he said.
One reason he cited? The “hatred” felt for police officers right now. I can’t imagine why people aren’t jazzed with law enforcement at the moment.
The Big 10 canceled its college football season today, a devastating blow to tens of millions of people that cannot possibly be blamed on Democrats. It could legitimately swing Ohio this November.
Quibis
Uber is now threatening to just shut down in California if it’s forced to follow a judge’s order to — gasp — pay their full-time employees like full-time employees. Here’s what Gig Workers Rising, the organization made up of and working on behalf of ride-share drivers and other gig workers, emailed me in response:
"We are unsurprised by the continued use of vile corporate tactics employed by Uber in response to the recent judge's ruling which simply reiterates what the state supreme court and state legislature have long decided: Uber drivers are legally owed employee status and benefits. Uber has had nearly a year to comply with state law and instead has committed millions of dollars and extensive resources to continuing to break the law—leaving drivers without lifesaving benefits like paid sick leave and access to unemployment insurance during the COVID pandemic. The idea that Uber would shut down its app within one of its most lucrative markets is ridiculous, and just another empty threat in their attempt to avoid accountability. We celebrate the ruling and the countless drivers who have publicly called out the company for their mistreatment of drivers. The law is with drivers, and soon voters will also stand with workers by voting no on Prop 22.
Prop 22 is a ballot proposition that Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and other app job companies are pushing to exempt themselves from fairly compensating workers. It’d be a true disaster for millions of workers if passed.
This applies to me:
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