US Politics

This will give members about three and a half hours to hash things out. McCarthy could try to make deals with Republican holdouts – or bow out. In three rounds of voting today, the results have been exactly the same: Hakeem Jeffries 212, Kevin McCarthy 201, Byron Donalds 20, present 1.Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the West Coast.After Kevin McCarthy failed to get support after a sixth round of voting, CNN’s Manu Raju reports that Republicans are looking to regroup:What’s happening now: McCarthy foes and emissaries are in discussions about setting up talks for tonight to break the speaker standoff, per source.They are trying to nail down exactly which members will negotiate tonight. The expectation is there could be one more vote today— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2023
The roll call continues with 13 votes for Donalds. Here’s a quote from Republican representative Steve Womack on what the House speaker election is like: What. A. Quote.“This is like OJ and the white Bronco. Everybody’s watching…waiting for something to happen at 40 mph,” GOP Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) tells me.— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 4, 2023
It is expected that House members will be adjourning after the sixth round of voting if they are unable to elect a House speaker. From CNN’s Manu Raju:McCarthy now going to lose his sixth ballot for speaker. The expectation is after this vote, the House will try to adjourn to allow Republicans to negotiate. Eight votes for Donalds and counting. McCarthy can only lose four Rs— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2023
Once again, it appears that McCarthy has lost the sixth round of votes for House speaker. 7 representatives have voted for Donalds as roll count continues. Perry has called for Republicans to nominate “the first Black Republican speaker of the House,” receiving some applause from McCarthy opposers.Perry: “we are making history today and we are showing the American people this process works. … we are showing that we are not going to take any more of Washington being broken. We can also make history by electing the first Black Republican speaker of the House”— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 4, 2023
Frustration was growing in the chamber given Perry’s longer speech, with California representative Anna Eshoo shouting at one point, “Who are you nominating?” during Perry’s remarks.Anna Eshoo just yelled out “WHO ARE YOU NOMINATING” Perry’s next line was about nominating Donalds to be the first Black speaker of the House (groans) — only the rebels applauded. Then Perry got to Frederick Douglass and there was an “oh lord” from below on the Dem side.— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) January 4, 2023
Jeffries received another nomination in a short speech from California representative Pete Aguilar. Aguilar noted that Jeffries has received the most votes in the five rounds of voting that have happened so far, with other Democrats applauding him. Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania has nominated Donalds, giving a speech about Washington being “broken”. “I think the person that has done the most to make this fabulous…Republican majority is Speaker Pelosi,” said Perry during his speech. The House broke into jeers and cross talk after Cammack claimed that Democrats have been enjoying the dysfunction amid Republicans, accusing Democrats of having “popcorn, blankets, and alcohol” during the proceedings. The clerk had to gavel several times to reestablish decorum. From Daily Beast reporter Ursula Perano:Cammack getting some BIG negative reactions after suggesting Dems have been enjoying “popcorn and blankets and alcohol over there” during the speaker votes.I’ve spotted popcorn and coats as blankets. But clearly, Dems offended by the alcohol remark— Ursula Perano (@UrsulaPerano) January 4, 2023
The official roll call is in: Kevin McCarthy has officially lost his fifth round of voting.Another nomination has come through to nominate McCarthy for the position from Florida representative Kat Cammack.Fifth round of voting for speaker: Hakeem Jeffries 212, Kevin McCarthy 201, Byron Donalds 20, present 1. Kat Cammack of Florida nominates McCarthy in sixth round and says: “Well, it’s Groundhog Day, again.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) January 4, 2023
We’re still waiting on the official count of votes for House Speaker, but it appears that McCarthy has lost a fifth round of voting. There’s mixed messaging from Republicans on if McCarthy should withdraw from the House speaker process and allow someone else to be the nominee.While McCarthy opponents like Boebert have called for McCarthy to step down, Donalds told reporters that Republicans aren’t “at that point”, adding that GOP members want to have a serious discussion about the next House speaker. From ABC News’ Rachel Scott:I asked @ByronDonalds if he believes Kevin McCarthy should step aside?“I don’t think we’re there at this point. I think there’s a lot of members in the chamber who want to have serious conversations about how we can bring this all you know, to a to a close and elect a speaker”— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) January 4, 2023
Vote tally for House speaker appears to be unchanged as official votes are being recounted now. Spartz voted present again. More

House paralyzed as Kevin McCarthy fails to win speakership on fifth vote Republican leader’s prospects dim as he continues to fall short on the second day of voting The House was paralyzed further on Wednesday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed again to win the speakership on a fifth ballot that saw his opposition deepen and left no clear path forward to end the stalemate.“It looks messy”, said Congressman Mike Gallagher, a Republican of Wisconsin, in a speech nominating McCarthy for speaker on Wednesday, “but democracy is messy.”On the second day of the 118th Congress, the Republican leader again fell far short of the 218 votes typically needed to win the gavel, marking the first time in a century that the House failed to choose a speaker on the first ballot. McCarthy earned just 201 votes, and all 212 Democrats voting for the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Twenty conservatives opposed to McCarthy’s bid rallied behind Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida, while Congresswoman Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who had supported the Republican leader in previous rounds of balloting, voted “present”.Explaining her vote, Spartz said Republicans should “stop wasting everyone’s time” and reconvene only when they have enough votes to elect a speaker.House of Representatives: why is it taking so long to elect a speaker?Read moreDespite rounds of negotiations and a plea for unity from Donald Trump, McCarthy’s prospects appeared dimmer as he again braced for another defeat on the sixth ballot. In remarks nominating Donalds for speaker on the fifth vote, far-right conservative congresswoman Lauren Boebert suggested that Trump reverse course and tell McCarthy: “It’s time to withdraw.”With no resolution in sight, Republicans held animated discussions on the chamber floor as Democrats looked on. All House business, including the swearing-in of new members, has come to a halt until the speakership is determined. Joe Biden expressed dismay over the Republican standoff, telling reporters that the gridlock could damage America’s international reputation.“I just think it’s a little embarrassing it’s taking so long,” Biden said before leaving for a trip to Kentucky the same day. “It’s not a good look, it’s not a good thing. This is the United States of America, and I hope they get their act together.”Despite the significant hurdles he faces, McCarthy has voiced confidence that he will ultimately win the 218 votes needed to capture the gavel.“I think we’ll find our way to get there,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday night. “This is a healthy debate. It might not happen on the day we want it, but it’s going to happen.”In his floor speech, Gallagher acknowledged the chaos that has consumed the election so far and lamented the party’s narrow majority. Trying to put a positive spin on the situation, he celebrated the intraparty tension as the result of vigorous debate.“The American people gave us an opportunity,” he said. “They’re asking us to do a job, and nobody has laid out a plan – a proactive policy agenda for the direction we want to take this country – in more detail than Kevin McCarthy.”Before the chamber convened on Wednesday, Trump offered McCarthy his full-throated endorsement..“VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY,” Trump said in a post on the social media platform Truth Social, warning that a failure to do so would result in a “GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT”. But his declaration did little to change the minds of the conservatives dug in against McCarthy, some of whom are the former president’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill.Other prominent Trump loyalists, including the Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ohio congressman Jim Jordan among them, have joined the former president and rallied around McCarthy and called on their conservative colleagues to join them. The continued chaos came after the first three votes held on Tuesday failed to produce a winner. Across those three ballots, the ranks of McCarthy’s Republican detractors only grew, reaching a total of 20 by the time the chamber adjourned on Tuesday evening. After demanding a number of changes to chamber rules, one anti-McCarthy lawmaker suggested the leader’s handling of policy was to blame for his poor standing among certain conference members. Scott Perry, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, specifically cited the passage of the omnibus government funding bill last month, even though McCarthy fiercely opposed the legislation.McCarthy “is falsely selling the media he’s conceded to us in the Rules – not ONE bit will do ANYTHING to stop what just happened in the massive $1.7tn, 4,000-page Taxpayer theft bill from 12 days ago”, Perry said on Twitter. “We’ll continue to seek a candidate who’ll put an end to this horrible practice.”Underscoring the acrimony between the rival Republican camps, Gaetz sent a letter to the building caretakers on Tuesday night suggesting that McCarthy was improperly occupying the speaker’s lobby.“What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to occupy the Speaker of the House Office?” Gaetz wrote. “How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?”One strategy under consideration is an attempt to win the speaker’s gavel with fewer than 218 votes, by persuading some holdout Republicans to vote present, thereby lowering the threshold to win a majority.“You get 213 votes, and the others don’t say another name. That’s how you can win,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday night.As the Republican conference devolved into chaos, House Democrats rallied around their new leader. Jeffries, who on Tuesday became the first Black American to helm either major party’s House caucus, said Republicans’ failure to elect a speaker was a “sad day” for the institution and democracy.“This is a crisis of the Congress and it’s a crisis at the hands of the Republican dysfunction,” California congressman Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said at a Wednesday morning press conference. Aguilar said Democrats were united behind Jeffries, whom party members emphatically nominated as their choice for speaker.Due to the conservative defections, Jeffries won the most votes overall on each of the first five ballots, but he fell short of the 218 needed to be elected speaker.Yet many House Democrats reveled in the dysfunction. Several Democratic members tweeted out photos of themselves enjoying popcorn as the floor fight unfolded on Tuesday. Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat from California who brought his four-month-old to the Capitol for a swearing-in ceremony that has still not happened, tweeted a photo of his son: “Two bottle feeds and multiple diaper changes on the Democratic cloakroom floor. This speaker vote is taking forever!”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansUS politicsUS CongressDonald TrumpDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

The House speaker fiasco shows that Republicans are unable to governAndrew GawthorpeThese games will not end well for the country. The stakes are huge After a new session begins, the first order of business for the House of Representatives is to pick a speaker. For a century this has been a mere formality, with the party in power having enough organization and respect for the country to move swiftly on to other matters. But on Tuesday the Republican party broke this streak of basic competence, failing in three separate ballots to come up with the votes to install Kevin McCarthy, the presumed frontrunner, as speaker.With the group of hard-right irreconcilables opposing McCarthy getting larger rather than smaller as the day went on, it quickly became clear that the wannabe speaker had no plan for breaking the deadlock. If he hoped that his opponents would eventually tire of symbolism and bow down to practical reality, he was mistaken – for a large group of Republican lawmakers, particularly those in the far-right Freedom Caucus, symbolism is the entire purpose of holding office. They came to Washington not to construct but to destruct, and taking down McCarthy is just the beginning.The spectacle of a party unable to even decide who should lead it is illuminating to voters, and Democrats should certainly celebrate these Republican misfortunes. It was the Democrats’ surprisingly strong performance in the fall’s midterms which put Republicans in this position to begin with. Having only a thin majority in the House means that McCarthy can easily be held hostage by his party’s most far-right members – not a good look for a party already suffering from the perception that it is extreme and out of touch.But Republican irresponsibility doesn’t just endanger the party’s own electoral prospects – it also endangers the country. America needs a functioning House of Representatives with a responsible speaker in order to discharge basic functions like funding the government and increasing the debt limit. The stakes are huge, and gridlock is not an option. The last shutdown cost the economy $11bn, and a failure to increase the debt limit could be even worse, leading to the US defaulting on its debt and shattering the global economy.Yet it’s precisely these basic functions that Republicans want to either sabotage or weaponize, a process which could ultimately lead to the same result. Even the “moderate” Republican position represented by McCarthy is to refuse to raise the debt limit without spending cuts, and in any negotiation over the issue he would quickly become hostage to the Freedom Caucus. Some of its members have pledged to oppose any debt ceiling increase at all, while others demand unpopular cuts to programs like social security and Medicare in return. A government funding vote would come with similar demands. In both cases, the result is likely to be paralysis as the party struggles to achieve unity.Another hazardous moment will be passage of the Farm Bill, which is due to be renegotiated in 2023. This bill, passed every five years, provides both subsidies to farmers and welfare programs for hungry families, and Republicans are looking to enact deep cuts in the latter. Nearly 40 million Americans use food stamps every year, and Republicans want to dramatically cut that number by scaling back the program or imposing work requirements. Once again, the result will be a game of legislative chicken.These games will not end well for the country. In all of these cases there is a huge risk that a party that can’t even agree on who should be speaker will struggle to pass anything at all. The Republican majority is so thin, and their extremist members so nihilistic, that they are likely to prove incapable of fulfilling the country’s most basic needs. Whoever eventually becomes speaker will be on borrowed time, subject to being booted from office unless they go along with the Freedom Caucus’s demands. Because more moderate Republicans are unlikely to agree to what the right wants, the result will be paralysis – and economic chaos.In lieu of governing, House Republicans will have other priorities – namely pursuing a series of ludicrous investigations into Hunter Biden, the treatment of insurrectionists after the January 6 riot, and “the weaponization of the federal government”, a catch-all phrase for what the right alleges is the politicization of the justice department and FBI. McCarthy has already agreed to give committee spots back to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, both of whom were previously stripped of their assignments for engaging in violent rhetoric.All of this goes to show that the Republican party’s problems with extremism extend far beyond the person of Donald Trump. Even if Trump were to step down from politics tomorrow, House Republicans would still spend the next two years mired in intractable ideological battles and shrill partisan investigations, with the most hardline and ludicrous members soaking up the media spotlight.The Republican party will head into 2024 with its reputation for extremism and incompetence magnified. Americans can only hope that it doesn’t do too much damage to the country in the meantime.
Andrew Gawthorpe is a historian of the United States and the host of the podcast America Explained
TopicsUS politicsOpinionRepublicansUS CongresscommentReuse this content More

Teacher wins free speech case after wearing Trump-themed hat to school Eric Dodge wore Make America Great Again baseball cap twice but judge found no ‘tangible disruption’ to Washington school A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a former teacher in Vancouver, Washington, concluding that his wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump to school was protected speech under the first amendment.Documents from the ninth circuit court of appeals show that Eric Dodge, a science teacher, brought the Make America Great Again baseball cap to an Evergreen Public Schools building twice before the 2019-2020 school year.According to the Columbian newspaper, the first occasion was a staff-only cultural sensitivity and racial bias training.The principal of Wy’east middle school, Caroline Garret, allegedly told Dodge to use better judgment.Dodge said he was “verbally attacked” by Garret and other school employees after bringing the hat again, and that retaliation amounted to a violation of his first amendment rights.In a ruling on 29 December, the appeals panel concluded that the district failed to show evidence of a “tangible disruption” to school operations necessary to outweigh the teacher’s first amendment rights.“That some may not like the political message being conveyed is par for the course and cannot itself be a basis for finding disruption of a kind that outweighs the speaker’s first amendment rights,” wrote the judge, Danielle J Forrest, a Trump appointee.Under the US constitution, freedom of expression does have significant exceptions.“There is hate speech, there is threatening speech,” Stephen Kanter, a first amendment expert and dean emeritus at the Lewis & Clark Law School, told the Oregonian/OregonLive. “But a Maga hat falls far short of that.”The appeals panel also found that Evergreen Public Schools and the district’s chief human resources officer, Janae Gomes, did not take improper administrative action against Dodge, who resigned in 2020.Neither Dodge nor Garrett could be reached for comment. Michael McFarland, a lawyer representing the school district and Gomes, said his clients were happy with the ruling.TopicsWashington stateUS politicsUS educationnewsReuse this content More

ExplainerHouse of Representatives: why is it taking so long to elect a speaker?Three rounds of voting failed to elect a speaker as Kevin McCarthy faces opposition from hardline Republicans What was supposed to be a day of triumph for Republicans coming into the US House majority turned into chaos on Tuesday as fighting over who should lead them ended with no speaker elected.McCarthy faces long battle for House speaker after he falls short on third vote Read moreKevin McCarthy has led House Republicans since 2019 but he could not overcome opposition from the right following an hours-long series of votes. The opposition from 20 lawmakers stopped the House starting work and delayed the swearing-in of returning members and freshmen.On Wednesday, Republicans will try again – despite uncertainty over how McCarthy can rebound after becoming the first nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel with his party in the majority.Why is there no speaker?Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy received 203 in the first two votes, less than the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries. McCarthy dropped to 202 in round three.Detractors had warned for months that McCarthy did not have the votes to be speaker, second in line to the presidency. McCarthy negotiated with members prominently including Andy Biggs, Scott Perry and Matt Gaetz until Monday night, when the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus presented its final offer, including demands for committee assignments. McCarthy refused.“For the last two months, we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members but we’re not empowering certain members over others,” McCarthy told reporters.As a result, those members and others opposed him.What does this mean for the chamber?Without a speaker, the House cannot fully form since that person is the presiding officer and administrative head. Swearing in members, naming committee chairs, engaging in floor proceedings and launching oversight investigations will all be delayed until a speaker is elected.“The spotlight needs to be put on these 19 – now 20 – that are stopping the business of Congress that we got elected to do,” said Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican. “It’s on them.”Bacon was also heard to refer to McCarthy’s opponents as the “Taliban 20”, a reference to the Islamic extremists who for 20 years fought – and outlasted – US troops in Afghanistan. Gaetz tweeted: “As hurtful and false as that is, I too am prepared for an extended battle that I will ultimately win.”How will this be resolved?It remains unclear if McCarthy can pass the threshold to become the next speaker, or when. The number of Republicans who have pledged support to other candidates is at 20, with some suspecting that list will grow.The House is scheduled to begin voting again at noon on Wednesday. Once the House is in a quorum, meaning the minimum number of members are present to proceed, nominees will be read aloud before a roll-call vote.Could someone else be speaker?On Tuesday, Republicans nominated candidates including Biggs, Jim Jordan of Ohio and even Lee Zeldin of New York, who left the House last year to run for governor in his state. The speaker does not have to be a House member. Some Republicans have toyed with the outlandish idea of nominating Donald Trump. McCarthy says the former president still backs him – and Trump says he backs McCarthy.Early on Wednesday, Trump urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy, writing on his Truth Social platform: “Close the deal, take the victory. Republicans, do not turn a great triumph into a giant and embarrassing defeat.”Many of the rightwingers opposing McCarthy are close Trump allies. Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Gaetz nominated Jordan, a rightwinger currently loyal to McCarthy.“I rise to nominate the most talented, hardest-working member of the Republican conference, who just gave a speech with more vision than we have ever heard from the alternative,” Gaetz said.McCarthy told reporters he would not drop out. But Bob Good of Virginia, one of the rebels, said: “Kevin McCarthy is not going to be a speaker.” Many observers think McCarthy’s righthand man in Republican leadership, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, could emerge as an alternative candidate acceptable to the far right. Staying loyal, Scalise formally nominated McCarthy on Tuesday.A speaker needs a majority of the votes from House members present and voting. Every lawmaker voting “present” lowers the overall tally needed to reach a majority. But with the chamber split 222-213 between Republicans and Democrats, McCarthy cannot afford to lose more than a handful of votes.Should he come up short again on Wednesday, the clerk will repeat the roll call vote until McCarthy is able to garner a majority or a motion to adjourn is approved.Has this happened before?The last time the House did not elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923, when the election stretched for nine votes.Republicans had the majority despite losing a staggering 77 seats, shrinking their margin over Democrats from 171 to 18. The majority party named Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts to the position but several other candidates, including a Democrat, received votes during the roll call.This resulted in a series of ballots over three days before the majority leader, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, held an emergency meeting with those opposing. Their concern, similarly to those issued against McCarthy, was over rules changes they believed deserved a fair hearing. Longworth obliged. The next day, Gillett got the 215 votes he needed.There is also the example of 1855-56, in the years of division over slavery that preceded the civil war. Then, with the Republican party newly emerged as an anti-slavery force, it took 133 ballots over nearly two months to elect a speaker.TopicsHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsRepublicansexplainersReuse this content More

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reveals why she was talking to far-right RepublicansNew York Democrat was seen speaking with rightwingers, one of whom once tweeted an anime-style video depicting him killing her During a succession of votes for House speaker on Tuesday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was seen talking on the House floor with the far-right Republicans Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar, the latter who once tweeted video depicting him slashing her in the neck with a sword.McCarthy faces long battle for House speaker after he falls short on third vote Read moreThe New York Democrat, a progressive star, told MSNBC: “In chaos, anything is possible, especially in this era.”The chaos in Congress on Tuesday concerned the California representative Kevin McCarthy’s attempt to become House speaker, against opposition from the right of his party.Gosar, from Arizona, was censured in November 2021 for tweeting an anime-style video of violence done to Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden.On Tuesday, he was among 20 Republicans opposing McCarthy by the third ballot. So was Gaetz of Florida, a ringleader who nominated Jim Jordan of Ohio, a rightwinger loyal to McCarthy, to give the rebels someone to vote for.Ocasio-Cortez, popularly known as AOC, was seen talking to Gosar and Gaetz. She told the Intercept her conversation with Gaetz was a “factcheck”.“McCarthy was suggesting he could get Dems to walk away to lower his threshold,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I factchecked and said absolutely not.”00:28To be speaker, any candidate must reach a majority of representatives present. At one point on Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez was absent when her name was called. She voted, for Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, when those absent were called on again.Votes for speaker go on until they are resolved. The last multi-ballot process, in 1923, lasted three days. In 1855-56, it took months to resolve the issue.Ocasio-Cortez said she discussed adjournment strategy with Gosar.“Some of us in the House of Representatives are independent in certain ways from our party,” she told MSNBC. “And … these machinations are happening on the floor.“And sometimes the leadership of your party, in this case, the Republican party, will be making claims in order to try to twist arms and get people in line. And a lot of times, information and truth is currency.“So sometimes to be able to factcheck some of the claims that McCarthy is making, whether Democrats are going to defect or not, etc, is important in order to keep him honest and to keep people honest in general.”On Tuesday, the House adjourned after three ballots. It was scheduled to reconvene at noon on Wednesday.“I was honestly surprised,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I did not think that Kevin McCarthy was going to have the votes in the first round, but I didn’t think that it was going to be as catastrophic for him as it actually was …“For him to have several months since the November elections and still not be able to clinch it, I think, is very much a testament to a lack of leadership.”McCarthy, she said, “failed as a coalition-builder, not once, not twice, but three times … And I’m not quite sure what he could or would do that would change the calculus between today and tomorrow.”TopicsAlexandria Ocasio-CortezHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressDemocratsRepublicansThe far rightUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

‘It’s not about winning an election’: Stacey Abrams’ legacy in Georgia Abrams did not win the vote, but she created the conditions for increased voter turnout among key parts of Georgia’s electorateAfter a critical runoff election that helped Democrats cement their majority in the US Senate, Georgia’s status as a political battleground with national influence has become more apparent. Georgia now boasts a highly engaged electorate that continues to turn out in record numbers election after election.While various factors contribute to this, many in Georgia point to the state’s grassroots coalition, built over the last decade, that sought to register, engage and educate voters like never before. At the helm of this coalition sits former state House minority leader and two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.Star Trek makes Stacey Abrams president of United Earth – and stokes conservative angerRead moreThroughout the south, Black women have a long history of organizing their communities to redefine and exercise political power. Abrams is one of the latest in a long line of Black women, which includes civil rights activists Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker, who are building upon this legacy and joining in the marathon of the fight for democracy.Despite two losses in her race for governor, Abrams’ impact has continued to shape Georgia’s political sphere. Abrams, the founder of two of Georgia’s largest voting rights organizations, Fair Fight and New Georgia Project, embarked on a mission nearly a decade ago to expand and engage the state’s electorate by courting voters whose voices had long been ignored.“The state [Democrats] were at a crossroads,” said Kendra Cotton, the CEO of New Georgia Project. “We were either going to continue down that path of pursuing the white moderate, or we were going to move and be all in on the path of expanding the electorate and really trying to educate and intentionally engage Black folks, Brown folks and young folks, into participating in the electoral process at a higher level.”Through a multi-racial, cross-movement, grassroots campaign, Abrams and her allies developed a political infrastructure that increased turnout among Black, Asian, Latinx, low-income and youth voters, who tend to vote for more progressive candidates. Organizations like Black Voters Matter, Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and New Georgia Project, all led by Black women, served as pillars within a growing coalition, reaching communities across the state to register and engage record numbers of voters.At the close of the 2022 runoff election, Georgia had over seven million active voters, according to the secretary of state’s office. Of that seven million, 18 to 24-year-olds represent the largest voting population.While it is clear that Abrams is not the only force behind Georgia’s growing electorate and a renewed focus on voting rights throughout the nation, Cotton said she serves as a “flashpoint” in the history of American politics that many were able to galvanize around.“We weren’t buying into Abrams as a candidate, but into the vision that the future of the elections really does lie within its young folks and Black and Brown people who have been the backbone of this nation for generations, but didn’t fully know how to assert the power that they had.”Santiago Mayer, founder and executive director of the youth-led voting organization Voters of Tomorrow, says that Abrams served as an inspiration for his organization and his work as a youth organizer working to support and amplify the voice of young voters.“The work of getting people to vote and make their voices heard is simply one of the most important jobs anyone can do because it guides our future,” said Mayer. “Stacey Abrams showed us how to carry that legacy and build upon it, and what we can accomplish when you help those whose voices have been neglected so long really make an impact and generate real action.”Young Black voters in Georgia reached a new record during the 2020 election, with 500,000 Black voters aged 18 to 29 turning out. This greatly contributed to the overall growth of Georgia’s Black voters. In total, the number of Black voters in the state increased 25% from 2016 to 2020, as Asian and Latinx voters experienced a 12% and 18% increase, respectively.Still, as Georgia’s electorate expanded, so grew opposition. After the 2020 election, Georgia took the national stage as Donald Trump refused to accept the results of the election. Abrams was a focus of GOP ire, receiving attacks from Trump and his allies and Governor Brian Kemp and his allies.Following unfounded claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election by Trump and his allies, Kemp and Georgia’s GOP seemingly developed a solution to a problem that never existed. The result was a comprehensive and strict new voter law that impacted everything from who’s allowed to help voters register to where resources can be distributed to voters waiting in Georgia’s notoriously long precinct lines.Kemp and other GOP officials also worked to mark Abrams as an election denier because of her claims of voter suppression throughout the state in 2020.Nonetheless, Abrams was one of the key players in expanding Georgia’s electorate in 2022, delivering a key democratic victory during the presidential election to the chagrin of Trump.Because of the state’s highly engaged voting rights coalition and clear voting rights infrastructure helmed by Abrams, voters and activists alike were equipped to navigate a system that placed new barriers on the path to casting a ballot. They moved in step with uniform messaging, spreading out across the state and guiding voters through the ever-changing electoral landscape of Georgia.And the results were clear. With concerted efforts to encourage voters to vote early to mitigate potential issues this election season, nearly 3 million people cast early votes, a record for the state. The turnout, experts say, illustrates the gradual progress critical to enacting the lasting change necessary for strong political shifts.Stacey Abrams on Republican voter suppression: ‘They are doing what the insurrectionists sought’Read more“Party building on a state and a national level takes time and resources to build an apparatus to harness those shifts into real political change, and we can’t forget that,” said Dr Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University. “[Abrams] was able to help galvanize Georgia democrats, build a bridge between various groups of constituents and really energize the electorate.”While Abrams did not necessarily bear the fruit of this energized electorate during her two gubernatorial campaigns, many Democrats, both on a statewide and national level, did. Most notably, Georgia voters played a significant role in the 2020 election of Joe Biden, the first democratic candidate to win Georgia’s electoral votes in two decades.“Any time you see [senators] Ossoff and Warnock and President Biden in Washington, you are looking at the work of Stacey Abrams,” said the Rev Al Sharpton.Whether because of policy, party, gender or race, Abrams did not find success in her bids to be the next governor of Georgia. However, her ability to mobilize voters, expand political power and develop a political infrastructure actively redefining the South will not soon be forgotten. As Cotton explains, “The gains that we have now cannot be divorced from the vision that she had then.”In her only post-election interview earlier this month, Abrams revealed that while she may run again, she will maintain her role in the fight to redefine voter outreach, expand the electorate and amplify the voices of voters long ignored.“The work that I do and the work that I am so committed to is about engaging voters year-round because it’s not just about somebody winning an election,” Abrams said. “It’s about your life getting better and that should be our mission.”TopicsStacey AbramsThe fight for democracyGeorgiaUS politicsDemocratsfeaturesReuse this content More

The right thrives on bullying ‘snowflakes’. But who will vote for it when they grow old? Owen JonesYoung people deprived of prosperity may represent the first generation that doesn’t grow more conservative with age Spite. When you dig down to the essence of modern rightwing politics, you’re left with little else. This wasn’t always the case. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan offered clear, coherent visions of society, even if their worship of free markets delivered economic insecurity and stagnating living standards. While today’s Tories and Trumpified Republicans remain committed to defending privileged interests, their driving ambition now seems to be deliberately provoking fury among the progressively minded, much to the delight of their supporters. It’s this tendency that led Donald Trump to denounce Mexicans as criminals and attempt to ban Muslims from entering the US; it’s the same tendency that drove the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to declare that her “dream” and “obsession” was to see a flight transporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. Cruelty is precisely the point.But this spite has found a particular target in younger British and American people, many of whom increasingly embrace progressive social values such as anti-racism and LGBTQ+ rights (granted, this relies on a generous definition of youth as millennials – while the oldest members of Generation Z are only in their mid-20s, the most senior millennials have now reached their early 40s). These generations have become a common enemy for the right. The feeling is mutual. According to new research and survey data, millennials are defying a supposed iron law of politics, that we shift to the right as we age. No other generation in recorded political history has retained such an entrenched rejection of rightwing politics as they’ve grown older.The right has become its own gravedigger for two reasons. First, by building an economic model that promised individual freedom but delivered mass insecurity; and second, by intentionally and repeatedly insulting the social values of the young. British culture fetishes home ownership even while its economic policies make this an increasingly distant dream for younger citizens. Young people have also borne the brunt of austerity, being saddled with university debt and suffering the closure of youth and Sure Start centres. Yet a generation that is more educated than ever but simultaneously deprived of prospects is treated with unadulterated contempt by the right. It is, after all, labelled the “snowflake generation”, which the Collins English Dictionary has defined as “the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations”.On both sides of the Atlantic, the right fears a younger generation of economically insecure and socially progressive citizens. Commentators and politicians treat younger people as woke barbarians at the gates threatening to tear down everything conservatives hold dear. The moral panic over so-called “cancel culture” is a striking example of this: what it really boils down to is an attempt by millennials and zoomers to assert their progressive social values and reject the bigotries found among some older Britons and Americans. “Millennials are the silencing generation,” complains the rightwing Wall Street Journal, denouncing them as “perpetually offended” (what this perhaps really means is that younger people are less keen on demonising migrants or obsessing over the existence of trans people). “Millennials were woke enough … but the next generation is much worse,” cries the Telegraph, denouncing university students as “Stalinist foot-soldiers”. Younger people are more likely to defend the rights of the minorities bullied and harassed by rightwing politicians, and conservatives hate them for it.And so the British and US right have apparently condemned themselves to a political doom loop: savaging the progressive values of younger generations, and in doing so driving them further into the arms of the left. This bile may serve a short-term political purpose in rallying the core vote of the Tories and Republicans, but it seems that conservatives have thought little about what will happen as younger generations come of age politically and culturally. Perhaps rightwingers believed that the historic precedent of voters shifting rightwards with age would automatically assert itself, however much the young remained locked out of the prosperity their parents had enjoyed. What’s intriguing is how rightwing politicians and commentators alike have doubled down on poisonous invectives that alienate young people. Perhaps this is evidence of a fatalism: they know their fate is sealed, so nothing is to be gained from restraint.As a case in point, last week a British rightwing shock jock announced that she’d choose the life of professional misogynist Andrew Tate “over the life of a half-educated, autistic, doom-mongering eco-cultist” Greta Thunberg. Her use of autistic as an insult was indicative of an increasingly vicious rightwing culture, but the unapologetic loathing towards Thunberg – whose offence is to seek to prevent humanity from destroying itself – was revealing. Thunberg has become emblematic of progressive younger generations: the bile frequently directed at her speaks to a hatred and fear of those whom she is seen to represent.In building and benefiting from an economic model that has left younger people bereft of a secure future, and repelling them with a “culture war” against progressive values, British and US conservatism seems to be authoring its own demise. Young people voted for Margaret Thatcher’s Tories in the 1980s, but little over a fifth of voted for the party in 2019. While young Americans flocked to support Reagan in the 1980s, today their political icons are Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The political right has treated the young as the enemy within. It may soon realise what bitter harvest it has reaped as oblivion awaits.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
TopicsPoliticsOpinionUS politicsConservativesRepublicansGreta ThunbergcommentReuse this content More