#2024 Missouri Elections

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Anna Spoerre at Missouri Independent:

A campaign to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution said Friday that it collected more than 380,000 signatures in just three months, more than twice the likely total needed to qualify for this year’s statewide ballot.  The coalition, called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, is hoping to put on the November ballot a measure that would legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability. Since June 2022, nearly every abortion has been illegal in the state with the exception of medical emergencies. 

In order to put a citizen-led constitutional amendment before voters, the campaign had to collect signatures from 8% of voters in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. That total equates to more than 171,000 signatures.  The campaign on Friday morning announced they officially turned in 380,159 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. A breakdown of how many signatures came from each district, which will ultimately determine if they met the threshold needed to qualify, was not provided. But the coalition said they collected signatures from each of Missouri’s counties and congressional districts. “Hundreds of thousands of Missourians are now having conversations about abortion and reproductive freedom; some are sharing their own abortion stories for the very first time; and all are ready to do whatever it takes to win at the ballot box this year,” Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri and spokesperson for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement. “Together, we are going to end Missouri’s abortion ban.”  

The effort kicked off 90 days ago, requiring a massive undertaking to reach the May 5 signature deadline. The coalition is led by Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood affiliates in Kansas City and St. Louis. [...] Around the same time the abortion campaign was announced, a separate coalition organized to oppose them. That group, called Missouri Stands with Women, spent the past few months leading a “decline to sign” campaign, urging people not to sign the initiative petition. So far, they’ve been vastly out-fundraised by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. “Out-of-state Big Abortion supporters think the fight is over,” Stephanie Bell, with Missouri Stands With Women, said in a statement Friday. “They could not be more wrong when it comes to standing up for life in Missouri.”

With more than 380,000 signatures across the state of Missouri submitted, despite harassment from anti-abortion extremists with their "decline to sign" intimidation campaign, the pro-abortion rights Missourians for Constitutional Freedom group is highly confident that their ballot measure will qualify for the November ballot.

[scarletcarmensmith]

😹😹😹🤡🤡🤡

[tomorrowusa]

Cheers to Olivia Rodrigo! 🍻👍🏼

Pop singer Olivia Rodrigo teamed up with the Missouri Abortion Fund to give out free emergency birth control pills and condoms to concertgoers at her St. Louis show. Rodrigo visited St. Louis on Tuesday evening as part of her GUTS world tour. X user @cowboylikekin posted a viral photo of the condoms and Julie contraceptive pills that were distributed at the concert. The image has been liked more than 30,000 times. Volunteers with the Missouri Abortion Fund handed out the pills, condoms and stickers at Tuesday’s concert. The nonprofit aims to provide assistance to Missouri residents who cannot afford the cost of abortion care.

Missouri has been taken over by far right MAGA extremists. Fortunately there is a ballot measure being proposed to restore reproductive freedom in the state.

Abortion rights advocates with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom are pushing for a ballot measure through Missouri’s initiative petition process, looking to amend Missouri’s constitution with a law that would make abortion legal until viability. To place the issue on this November’s ballot, the campaign must collect around 180,000 signatures in support of the petition and turn the signatures in to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office by May 5.

If you're in Missouri, consider lending a hand with the ballot measure.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom

And whichever state you live in, get more involved in state politics and particularly the state legislature. Most of the far right anti-freedom badness originates in legislatures in red states. Start by discovering who represents your legislative district(s).

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

Only one party is dedicated to restoring reproductive freedom nationally.

[kindatrocities]

🚨IMPORTANT ABORTION ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

Missouri ballot workers have gained over DOUBLE the amount of signatures required to put abortion on the ballot in November. This might be our one and only shot to enshrine abortion into the Missouri constitution and therefore we need to get ahead of the game and start spreading the word NOW. If you know someone from Missouri tell them to go out and vote this November. Even if they leave every other line blank, it doesn't matter if they vote for this resolution.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has nothing on Don Draper.

Hawley’s Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce mocked the Republican’s fixation on “manliness” in a new ad featuring actor Jon Hamm, a Missouri native.

In the ad released Monday, the “Mad Men” lead questions Hawley’s convictions while negative headlines about the politician flash by.

“Manhood. You’d hope that means courage. Courage isn’t something you can give speeches or write a book about,” Hamm says, alluding to Hawley’s new book “Manhood.”

“It’s not sitting on the sidelines while others sacrifice, or denying help to those who did,” the actor says. “It isn’t putting people down or trying to control them or using your own power for profit or ambition.”

The ad also points to Hawley’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when he egged on pro-Trump rioters but ran when they invaded the Capitol.

“In Missouri, you can’t fake courage,” Hamm says. “We’re the Show Me state. Courage is something you have to show us.”

Hamm finishes with one more dig at the conservative author, saying, “If you want to be told about manhood, some guy wrote a book about it. But if you want someone to show you courage, send Lucas Kunce to the Senate.”

Hawley has made defending masculinity part of his mission since getting elected in 2018.

While promoting his book on Fox News last week, he told Mark Levin, “We need [men] to go out there and work. We need them to start a family. We need them to provide. If you want to change America for the better, get men to be strong again, to take on their responsibilities and to be leaders.”

Kunce, a Marine veteran who lost in a previous Democratic Senate primary, told HuffPost earlier this year that he thinks Hawley can be defeated in part because of his fixation on gender roles.

“He’s just done creepy things, like write books telling everybody how to be a man, and if you don’t do what he says then you’re not a man. So we’re going to hold him to task for all of that,” Kunce said. “He’s obsessed with what everybody else is doing in their bedroom, at work, on the internet, in the doctor’s office.”

[sab-cat]

Voting for presidential candidates will be harder this year in Missouri because the General Assembly didn't reinstate a state run presidential preference open primary.

We will not be going to our usual polling place and asking for a party ballot. We are not even voting on the same day.

The Missouri Republican Party will be holding caucuses on March 2, 2024 (Saturday) at 10:00 am. Since it's a caucus, you have to be there in person. There should be at least one location in every county.

Democratic primary/caucus will be March 23, 2024 (Saturday) from 8-12 pm with (hopefully) at least one polling place in every county - more in St. Louis and Kansas City. Mail in ballots have to be requested by March 12. You cannot participate if you are a registered Republican.

I don't know dates for third parties. Parties have to run the presidential candidate (delegate) selection process, including funding, so third parties are at an even bigger disadvantage this time around.

This only applies to the Presidential primary. August 6 Primary will be the same as far as I'm aware.

[drwilfredwaterson]

The Bitter (and Stinky) Self-Destructed Rotten End of The Simpering Senile Snake of marred-a-LAME0; The Drained and Dithered Dullard, Liddle donnie j. trump: Part 6/18: Spotlight On The Ottumwa, Iowa, St. Joseph, Missouri, and Galveston, Texas Vermin Infestations of The American Rape and Breeding Enslavement Agenda of 81% of the Republican Party/GOP/MAGA Cult.

Ottumwa, Iowa 19.3% Rate of Rapes Per 10K residents (1,930/10,000) Demographics: White alone: 82.1% Iowa's 2nd congressional district

2016: President: donald trump 49% – Hillary Clinton 44% (only 37% of Ottumwa, Iowa rapes are actually being reported, and it's possible that 44% of non-trump voters are the rape victims who are willing to stand up for themselves and other rape victims)

2020: President: donald trump 51% – Joe Biden 47%

Ottumwa has a 2023 population of 25,379. (4,899 reported rapes = at 37% reporting = the actual number is 13,241/25,379 likely rapes with a potential 13,241 rape babies per year)

Female: 12,528

Male: 12,851 - 13,241 likely rapes = 103% of male residents in Ottumwa, Iowa are potential rapists.

Females living in, or visiting, Ottumwa, Iowa have a 106% risk of being raped by a resident male in this majority white, donald trump infested town. That doesn't make America great.

Ashley Elizabeth Hinson (born June 27, 1983) is an American politician and journalist serving as the U.S. representative for Iowa's 2nd congressional district. She has served in the House since 2021, representing a northeastern district including Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Dubuque. A member of the Republican Party, Hinson was the Iowa State Representative for the 67th district from 2017 to 2021, the first woman to represent the district. She won a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 2020 election, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Abby Finkenauer. Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are the first Republican women to represent Iowa in the House. Hinson, along with all other Senate and House Republicans, voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. On July 19, 2022, Hinson and 46 other Republican Representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. In 2022, Hinson was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior. In 2021, Hinson voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In 2020, Hilson said she was "open" to raising the retirement age for Social Security. Hinson is a resident of Marion, Iowa. She is married with two children. Hinson is a Protestant.

St. Joseph, Missouri 19.1% Rate of Rapes Per 10K residents (1,910/10,000) Demographics: White alone: 83.1% Missouri's 6th congressional district

2016: President: donald trump 63% – Hillary Clinton 32% (only 37% of St. Joseph, Missouri rapes are actually being reported, and it's possible that 32% of non-trump voters are a percentage of the rape victims who are willing to stand up for themselves and other rape victims)

2020: President: donald trump 63% – Joe Biden 35%

St. Joseph has a 2023 population of 73,138. (13,970 reported rapes = at 37% reporting = the actual number is 37,757/73,138 likely rapes with a potential 37,757 rape babies per year)

Female: 36,169

Male: 36,969 - 37,757 likely rapes = 102% of male residents in St. Joseph, Missouri are potential rapists.

Females living in, or visiting, St. Joseph, Missouri have a 105% risk of being raped by a resident male in this majority white, donald trump infested town. That doesn't make America great.

Samuel Bruce Graves Jr. (born November 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the United States representative for Missouri's 6th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches across most of the northern third of the state, from the Kansas border to the Illinois border. The bulk of its population lives in the northern part of the Kansas City area, including the northern fourth of Kansas City. Graves is the dean of Missouri's congressional delegation.

Galveston, Texas 18.3% Rate of Rapes Per 10K residents (1,830/10,000) Demographics: White alone: 68.6% Texas's 14th congressional district

2016: President: donald trump 58% – Hillary Clinton 38% (only 37% of Galveston, Texas rapes are actually being reported, and it's possible that 38% of non-trump voters are the rape victims who are willing to stand up for themselves and other rape victims)

2020: President: donald trump 59% – Joe Biden 40%

Galveston has a 2023 population of 53,092. (9,716 reported rapes = at 37% reporting = the actual number is 26,260/53,092 likely rapes with a potential 26,260 rape babies per year)

Female: 26,243

Male: 26,849 - 26,260 likely rapes = 589 males who might not be raping anyone…yet..

Females living in, or visiting, Galveston, Texas have a 100% risk of being raped by a resident male in this majority white, donald trump infested town. That doesn't make America great.

Randall Keith Weber (born July 2, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013. He was previously a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 29th district. He is a member of the Republican Party.

In January 2014, during President Obama's State of the Union address, Weber in a tweet called Obama "Kommandant-In-Chef" [sic] and "the Socialist dictator."

After the White House apologized for failing to send a higher-profile leader to a demonstration in Paris after the January 2015 terrorist attacks in that city, Weber tweeted, "Even Adolph [sic] Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris."

Weber then wrote that he needed to "apologize to all those offended by my tweet". He did not delete his tweet made during the State of the Union address. Weber during the 114th United States Congress (2015)

In 2015, Weber cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Weber also cosponsored a resolution disagreeing with the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.

In April 2015, Weber met with Aleksandr Torshin, the alleged handler for Russian spy Maria Butina, according to internal documents from Center for the National Interest.

The American Conservative Union gave him a 92% evaluation, Americans for Prosperity gave him a 94% evaluation, Campaign for Working Families, Concerned Women for America, and Faith and Freedom Coalition each gave him 100% evaluations, Conservative Review gave him a 73% evaluation, Eagle Forum gave him an 80% evaluation, National Journal gave him an 89% evaluation, and the John Birch Society gave him a 67% evaluation.

In December 2020, Weber was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." She also reprimanded Weber and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions." Weber is a supporter of efforts to impeach President Biden.

In September 2021, Weber submitted a resolution to impeach Biden "for perpetuating a perception that Afghan security forces were winning the war against the Taliban." That same month, he also co-sponsored a resolution by Bob Gibbs to impeach Biden.

In August 2021, Weber co-sponsored a resolution to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden's Secretary of Homeland Security.

Weber was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House. Weber has been married to Brenda Weber, a Pearland schoolteacher, for over 30 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren. He lives in Alvin, Texas. Weber is a Baptist.

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Pages 32, 33, and 34: Genesis 19:1 The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot wsa sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to greet them and, bowing low with his face to the ground, Genesis 19:2 he said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant's house to spend the night, and bathe your feet; then you may be on your way early." But they said, "No, we will sepnd the night in the square." Genesis 19:3 But he urged them strongly, so they turned his way and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them anhd baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Genesis 19:4 They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old--all the people to the last man--gathered about the house. Genesis 19:5 And they shouted to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them." Genesis 19:6 So Lot went out to them to the entrance, shut the door behind him, Genesis 19:7 and said, "I beg you, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you please; but do not do anything to these men, since they have come under the shelter of my roof." Genesis 19:9 But they said, "Stand back! The fellow," they said, "came here as an alien, and already he acts the ruler! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." And they pressed hard against the person of Lot, and moved forward to break the door. Genesis 19:10 But the men stretched out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. Genesis 19:11 And the people who were at the entrance of the house, young and old, they struck with blinding light, so that they were helpless to find the entrance. Genesis 19:12 Then the men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? Sons-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else that you have in the city--bring them out of the place. Genesis 19:13 For we are about to destroy this place; because the outcry against them before the Lord has become so great that the Lord has sent us to destroy it." Genesis 19:14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law as one who jests. Genesis 19:15 As dawn broke,the angels urged Lot on, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two remaining daughters, lest you be swept away because of the iniquity of the city." Genesis 19:16 Still he delayed. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters--in the Lord's mercy on him--and brought him out and left him outside the city. Genesis 19:17 When they had brought them outside, one said, "Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away." Genesis 19:18 But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my lord! Genesis 19:19 You have been so gracious to your servant, and have already shown me so much kindness in order to save my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Genesis 19:20 Look, that town there is near enough to flee to; it is such a little place! Let me flee there--it is such a little place--and let my life be saved." Genesis 19:21 He replied, "Very well, I will grant you this favor too, and I will not annihilate the town of which you have spoken. Genesis 19:22 Hurry, flee there, for I cannot do anything untikl you arrive there." Hence the town came to be called Zoar. Genesis 19:23 As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Zoar, Genesis 19:24 the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the Lord out of heaven. Genesis 19:25 He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. Genesis 19:26 Lot's wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jess Piper at The View from Rural Missouri:

Missouri was the first state to ban abortion after Roe fell. We are on our way to overturning that ban. I can’t believe I just wrote those words… Missouri currently has one of the most egregious and cruel bans in the country. We have an 8-week ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. There were only 170 abortions obtained in the entire state in 2020, the year after the initial ban passed. There is estimated to have been around 6,000 pregnancies in Missouri due to rape since Roe fell, though. A disturbing trend is becoming clear, state-mandated pregnancies are happening, but there is good news to share. Friday, May 17th, was the last day of the 2024 legislative session, and the Missouri Democratic minority blocked the #1 priority of the GOP supermajority, Initiative Petition Reform.

The GOP planned to strip us of one person, one vote this session. They planned to “reform” the Initiative Petition process and dispossess our votes and dilute our voices. The GOP needed to pass reform to keep abortion from winning on the November ballot. The initiative petition, or IP, process allows citizens to collect signatures to place a new statute or constitutional amendment on the ballot to be voted on by constituents. In Missouri, we have used the IP process to beat back Right to Work, to allow for medical and recreational marijuana, and to expand Medicaid. We have been very effective in voting in progressive policies through the IP process, which is exactly why the GOP wanted to change the rules — they know abortion is almost certain to pass if it makes it onto the November ballot.

The Democratic minority stood up to the bullies in the GOP and won. Democratic Senators filibustered for about 50 hours on the last few days of the session. They were very loud about what the GOP was planning to do — they effectively posted about the filibuster and the proposed trickery on social media. The Dems told their constituents about how the GOP planned to trick voters into giving away their votes. The Democrats never stopped pushing back. This is a victory for every Missourian. But, it is also a message to every GOP-dominated state in the union. A legislative minority can beat a supermajority.

Jess Piper reports in her Substack blog that Missouri's voters are likely to repeal their draconian abortion ban this fall, thanks to the efforts of the Show-Me State's Senate Democrats filibustering to stop SJR74 that would have ended one person, one vote.

[scarletcarmensmith]

🌟 Dear Patriots, let's unite in a circle of happiness and solidarity! 🌟

Join Donald Trump's humanitarian state initiative today. With every scratch card you purchase and every potential win, 10% of the proceeds will go directly to support those fighting serious diseases and the most vulnerable in need of vitamins and supplements.

Let's show our humanity by supporting each other and those in need. Together, we can make a difference! 🤝

Good luck to all, and may kindness guide our way. 🍀

https://cutt.ly/Lw3xlCfy

[tomorrowusa]

Billboards supporting women seeking abortions are popping up along I-55 heading north

"People make mistakes," says Queen, a Memphis hairstylist whose clients often confide those mistakes in her. [ ... ] Today, Queen says distance has become the biggest hurdle to getting the procedure in the southern United States. Hundreds of miles and multiple state lines can separate women from providers, which is why she's an enthusiastic proponent of a new abortion-rights billboard campaign along one stretch of rural Interstate 55 running across eastern Arkansas from Memphis, Tenn., to Southern Illinois. "Yes!" she shouts when she sees the first billboard, which reads "GOD'S PLAN INCLUDES ABORTION." [ ... ] The new billboard is one of six paid for by Seattle-based Shout Your Abortion. Its founder Amelia Bonow says this route in particular — leading to the only legal providers within hundreds of miles — needed a counterpoint to the billboards opposing abortion. "I-55 is just covered with these hateful, judgmental, shaming, intentionally traumatizing anti-abortion billboards," says Bonow of why the group focused on this segment of highway. Some anti-abortion rights billboards invoke the Bible. Others, like those placed by Minnesota-based Pro-Life Across America, have pictures of smiling babies and a phone number. [ ... ] "That's what these laws do," contends Bonow. "They don't actually stop people from having abortions, but they make people struggle in order to have abortions." Other Shout Your Abortion billboards say "Abortion is okay," and "Abortion is normal, you are loved." Some former abortion providers now offer what are called "navigational services." Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, says for some young clients living in poverty it's their first time ever traveling beyond the city limits. "We're handing out gas cards," she says. "We're making hotel arrangements. We're buying plane tickets, train tickets, bus tickets, whatever works best for the individual. We're meeting them where they are."

In the days of slavery Illinois was a North Star of freedom and featured many stops along the Underground Railroad. Since the Dobbs decision it has assumed a somewhat similar role for reproductive freedom.

Interstate 55 runs from New Orleans to Chicago. Illinois is the only state along I-55 which offers reproductive freedom.

Of course it's not necessary to go all the way up to Chicago for healthcare. If you are driving north on I-55, get on I-57 at Sikeston, Missouri and then exit I-57 at Illinois Route 13 westbound to Carbondale. Carbondale is the largest town in the southern tip of Illinois. It has several women's health clinics and a fully staffed hospital. It's also home to Southern Illinois University.

[reasonsforhope]

"For the first time in almost 60 years, a state has formally overturned a so-called “right to work” law, clearing the way for workers to organize new union locals, collectively bargain, and make their voices heard at election time.

This week, Michigan finalized the process of eliminating a decade-old “right to work” law, which began with the shift in control of the state legislature from anti-union Republicans to pro-union Democrats following the 2022 election. “This moment has been decades in the making,” declared Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber. “By standing up and taking their power back, at the ballot box and in the workplace, workers have made it clear Michigan is and always will be the beating heart of the modern American labor movement.”

[Note: The article doesn't actually explain it, so anyway, "right to work" laws are powerful and deceptively named pieces of anti-union legislation. What right to work laws do is ban "union shops," or companies where every worker that benefits from a union is required to pay dues to the union. Right-to-work laws really undermine the leverage and especially the funding of unions, by letting non-union members receive most of the benefits of a union without helping sustain them. Sources: x, x, x, x]

In addition to formally scrapping the anti-labor law on Tuesday [February 13, 2024], Michigan also restored prevailing-wage protections for construction workers, expanded collective bargaining rights for public school employees, and restored organizing rights for graduate student research assistants at the state’s public colleges and universities. But even amid all of these wins for labor, it was the overturning of the “right to work” law that caught the attention of unions nationwide...

Now, the tide has begun to turn—beginning in a state with a rich labor history. And that’s got the attention of union activists and working-class people nationwide...

At a time when the labor movement is showing renewed vigor—and notching a string of high-profile victories, including last year’s successful strike by the United Auto Workers union against the Big Three carmakers, the historic UPS contract victory by the Teamsters, the SAG-AFTRA strike win in a struggle over abuses of AI technology in particular and the future of work in general, and the explosion of grassroots union organizing at workplaces across the country—the overturning of Michigan’s “right to work” law and the implementation of a sweeping pro-union agenda provides tangible evidence of how much has changed in recent years for workers and their unions...

By the mid-2010s, 27 states had “right to work” laws on the books.

But then, as a new generation of workers embraced “Fight for 15” organizing to raise wages, and campaigns to sign up workers at Starbucks and Amazon began to take off, the corporate-sponsored crusade to enact “right to work” measures stalled. New Hampshire’s legislature blocked a proposed “right to work” law in 2017 (and again in 2021), despite the fact that the measure was promoted by Republican Governor Chris Sununu. And in 2018, Missouri voters rejected a “right to work” referendum by a 67-33 margin.

Preventing anti-union legislation from being enacted and implemented is one thing, however. Actually overturning an existing law is something else altogether.

But that’s what happened in Michigan after 2022 voting saw the reelection of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a labor ally, and—thanks to the overturning of gerrymandered legislative district maps that had favored the GOP—the election of Democratic majorities in the state House and state Senate. For the first time in four decades, the Democrats controlled all the major levers of power in Michigan, and they used them to implement a sweeping pro-labor agenda. That was a significant shift for Michigan, to be sure. But it was also an indication of what could be done in other states across the Great Lakes region, and nationwide.

“Michigan Democrats took full control of the state government for the first time in 40 years. They used that power to repeal the state’s ‘right to work’ law,” explained a delighted former US secretary of labor Robert Reich, who added, “This is why we have to show up for our state and local elections.”"

-via The Nation, February 16, 2024

[knarsisus]

I voted for Lucas in the primary, and will gladly do it again!

[vote-democrat-president-congress]

Washington Post: "What Trump did in advance of the attack on the Capitol and on Jan. 6, 2021, legally disqualifies him from the presidency."

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The section disqualifies from office those who took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged “in insurrection or rebellion against the same” or gave “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

When a narrowly divided Colorado Supreme Court threw Trump off the state’s primary ballot in December on the basis of Section 3’s plain language, my initial reaction was, well, political — and skeptical.

Though I agreed that Trump had, indeed, engaged in insurrection, I thought it would be best for the country to have him go down to defeat again in a free and fair election. Keeping him on the ballot so voters could decide was the path to long-term institutional stability and might finally force a reckoning in the Republican Party.

Many people I respect continue to hold versions of this view. But the more I read and listened, the clearer it became that Section 3 was directed against precisely the conduct Trump engaged in. Its purpose is to protect the republic from those who would shred the Constitution and destroy our system of self-government. What Trump did in advance of the attack on the Capitol and on Jan. 6, 2021, legally disqualifies him from the presidency.

The record is clear that the legislators who wrote and enacted the amendment in the wake of the Civil War were not just thinking of the Confederacy’s leaders but also of “the leaders of any rebellion hereafter to come.”

Those are the words of John B. Henderson, a Republican senator from Missouri, when he cast his vote for the amendment in 1866. They are recorded in a powerful amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court by a distinguished group of historians of the era: Jill Lepore, David Blight, Drew Gilpin Faust and John Fabian Witt.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/04/trump-ballot-disqualified-14th-amendment/