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- [00:00]
A
Foreign hello and welcome to the Politics Girl Podcast. I'm your host, Leigh McGowan. Let's get into it so it has been an incredibly weird week after a bizarre month. On Wednesday, September 10, right wing commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered. We still haven't heard the motivation from the shooter in custody, but we do know he was part of a chronically online group of men on the far right, often referred to as the Groipers, who along with their leader, Nick Fuentes, were in an ongoing war with Charlie Kirk and the Turning Point USA Right wingers for not being Right wing enough this information, however, has not stopped everyone from the president to the right wing media networks and commentators from blaming the left for the violence without evidence or logic. Elon Musk has called the Democrats the party of murder. Donald Trump blames the radical left for both the killing and for standing in the way of the healing, and has said that the left wing groups will be under major investigation moving forward. Stephen Miller has said the left is a vast domestic terrorist movement and has promised the Trump administration will use every resource at the government's disposal to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy them in Charlie's name. And as a result, pretty much everyone I know in the left wing, progressive Democratic space, myself included, has received multiple death threats and online attacks since the shooting. People are being fired in real time for not being sufficiently upset about Kirk's death. And the whole thing just feels like an organized strategy to use yet another violent American death at the hands of a shooter to divide the country and demonize the administration's political opposition at a time when the President's popularity was waning. The the party that laughed and mocked the kidnapping efforts of the Democratic governor of Michigan, the near beating death of Democratic speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul, the arson at the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania's house. The violent murder of a Democratic lawmaker at the hands of a right wing activist in Minnesota this summer. And of course, the party that instigated the January 6th violent attack on the US Capitol is dominating the media landscape with the idea that the radical left is is responsible for the terrorism we see in this country today. It should feel ludicrous to blame one half of the country for a single person's actions. Not only that, but to demonize the political party who has done everything they can for decades to limit gun violence. The party who begged people to care about their fellow Americans as they were slaughtered in movie theaters and churches and concerts and schools, but were met with nothing but thoughts and prayers and Republican AR15 lapel pins. If I'm being honest, I feel like I'm living in the upside down. Because how is it possible that the party of common sense, gun legislation and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention could be the party being blamed for someone getting shot? I'm starting to think it's because it was always part of the plan to demonize the left if you can't defend the right. Which is why in the wake of these endless right wing attacks, it is so frustrating that the left keeps attacking itself. I filmed today's conversation with Heather Williams, the President of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, right before Charlie was shot, but after I'd spent weeks dealing with the fallout of a weird hit piece written in Wired where I and many others were accused of taking dark money to work as ops for the dnc. Which was just patently false. Yes, I am part of a group called Chorus, which is a cohort of like minded, good hearted content creators on the left who are standing up for democracy. Joining Chorus was a way for a bunch of us to finally get it together to coordinate our efforts to tackle social media against the far right, much more powerful media machine. In fact, it was Chorus who, during this hellish week of violent threats that were out here getting us help as we were being doxxed and physically threatened. I am proud to be part of that group and I have no idea why anyone would turn something positive into something negative for clicks and views. I understand people are disappointed with the Democratic Party, but to attack the people actually out here fighting back often against the party itself, was very discouraging. So let us be clear. I've done this work for 10 years and my work is my own. No one tells me what to say, who I can criticize, or what I can and cannot talk about. If you follow me, you know that. But if you're just mentioning my name in a poorly researched article riddled with errors and then putting a target on my back during this Charlie Kirk blowback, then you have done the entire pro democracy movement a disservice. The DNC and national leadership might make me furious, but the Democratic Party is still the alternative to the Republican Party in our broken two party system. So if you are pro democracy, pro rule of law, pro constitution, and you are watching the country fall apart right now, then you can't just pretend it doesn't matter how the Democrats are doing. We have to support the Democrats that are doing good work and challenge the Democrats who aren't. We need to pressure leadership, particularly Congressional leadership, to get it together and realize that we are fighting for our lives here because we need Democrats to be a strong opposition party so we don't lose everything. And since we aren't really getting that at the federal level right now, we have to look to the states because the Democrats in the states are working so hard to fight back. Which is why, like I said, we are joined today by Heather Williams, the president of the dlcc, the part of the Democratic Party responsible for getting Democrats elected to state legislatures. Like many things in our government, the Republicans got the memo about the importance of state legislatures for far earlier than the Democrats. And we see the results of those efforts every day as Republican state houses make some of the most outrageous anti Democratic laws in the country. Most recently, Republican state legislatures choosing to redistrict their congressional maps five years early to give Republicans more seats in Congress without any concern or weigh in from the voters. So it was about time Democrats got off the stick and started fighting fire with fire. I would listen to this conversation. It was filmed prior to the shooting. But everything Heather says is exactly what we need to be focusing on right now. Change can be made in this country and if we want to stop this violent rise of authoritarianism, that change is going to start in our states. So without further ado, please welcome my guest, president of the dlcc, Heather Williams. Welcome, Heather.
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B
Thank you. It's so great to be here. And congratulations on your 200 episodes. That's incredible.
- [06:28]
A
I know we just had it a couple of weeks ago and I was so excited about it. I was like, oh my goodness, how do we do this? Like, it's really amazing. You start a project and then you're like, hey, this has really taken off. I'm really, really happy about it. And like, we have the best audience in the world. They're so engaged. I'm just thrilled. So thank you so much.
- [06:44]
B
Of course.
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A
I was just saying in the introduction that the Democrats are finally cluing into something that I'm sure you've known for a long time, which is the importance of state houses. So in a system built on federalism, the states actually have a lot of power. And we can see that in real time as the states are the ones who are holding the line right now. When the Democrats at the federal level can't seem to figure out the best way to fight back. How do you feel about that?
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B
It's such an important point and I think I would take it even maybe one step further and say, democracy happens in our backyard. Right. The candidates running for these offices are Your neighbor. They're someone who is deeply engaged in your community. They are someone who is often raising their hand to run for office for the first time, trying to solve a problem, not trying to gain their own personal power or like fandom. This is a real solutions oriented ballot level and it's really great because we have democrats in all 50 states who are running for these local offices and they give real people opportunities to both get involved, but also to really have an impact. They'll listen. That is their job. They still live in their communities. They are not of DC and their approach is very, very different.
- [07:58]
A
Yeah, I can totally see that. Now listen, before we go on and get too deep into how we counter this MAGA takeover and the importance of winning these state houses across the country, I really just wanna take a minute to honor Melissa Hortman. Along with being the former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa was also a DLCC board member who was murdered in her home on June 14th along with her husband Mark and their dog Gilbert. And I feel like right now, with all the chaos in our political system in our country, we've moved on too f from what was clearly a political assassination by a man who had 70 other names on his list and shot two other people that night. So I just don't want to allow the violent targeting of political enemies to become normalized in our society. And I really want to draw attention to the loss of Melissa and Mark, who were clearly wonderful people who believed in fighting for other people. So I'm very, very sorry for your loss.
- [08:54]
B
Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, I think that Speaker Hortman embodies still right. Like what this ballot level and what public service is all about. You know, she is so instrumental in the progress in Minnesota and in the fabric of those communities. But truly, I think her legacy was as much in the moments that she probably would have thought were, you know, nothing more than like a nice conversation with someone and the way that she led, the way that she cared about people, that is the legacy that I hope we're able to to carry on. And I don't know if you saw that, like the note that her kids shared after heartbreaking, but it has to celebrate her life by planting a tree or using a park or really taking advantage of those things that are community building, that are the things that connect us on a very personal level and the things that government do really well. And I think about that every day. I think about our impact. And your point is so important that like we cannot allow this to be something that discourages our impact and our progress. And I think we've been fortunate to see in the wake of that horrific situation, people still raise their hand to run for office and want to do it, despite the visceral hate that comes to them.
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A
Despite.
- [10:05]
B
Right. The fears of what could happen. Because it's so important.
- [10:09]
A
Yeah. We don't want to discourage people from doing the right thing or trying to speak up for their community because of these situations. And I think sometimes it is this kind of violence that discourages people from raising their hand. And like you're saying, you're still seeing people who want to step into the ring and want to take a shot and want to take care of their neighbors. And I think that that only speaks to Melissa's legacy. So I'm very, very glad to. All right, so let us move on to what we can do to fight back against extremism, both in our home, obviously, and our country. You're the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which is called the dlcc. So tell us what that is and what you see as your responsibility as the president of that organization right now.
- [10:49]
B
Yes. So our job at DLCC is to look across all 50 states and find ways that we can increase Democratic power in the states. Essentially, we are the campaign arm of state legislators. Again, those are the folks that are running in your backyard. They are the folks that are representing your community in your state capitol. And, you know, we know that when Democrats lead, really important good things happen. Right. People get good access to healthcare. We've got great communities with good parks and good school systems. People are able to have a roof over their head and a job that pays them enough. Right. To have a little bit of extra, hopefully, to go out to dinner or. Right. Like to care for their kids in the way that they'd always dreamed of. And I think that is the sort of impact that our ballot level has and the work that we do. I mentioned a little bit earlier, we have candidates and elected officials. Right. In all 50 states. So in some cases, it is the state legislator, the minority leader in the state house, or the minority leader in the state Senate that is the highest ranking Democrat in a red state. So when we think about the build back, when we think about, you know, who moves on to become federal candidates or gubernatorial candidates, it is state legislators. So we touch all of these things, and I think we have a lot of fun while doing it. We tell a lot of really great stories. And, you know, if folks want to learn more about what's happening in Their backyard, sort of who's running for office. They can check out our spotlight page@dlcc.org, it shares a lot more of that detailed information.
- [12:16]
A
Yeah, well, as I was saying to you before we started this show, the Democratic brand is really struggling right now. Like national leadership cannot seem to figure out what to do. But it's your responsibility to win state legislative majorities, which helps drive the national strategy ultimately because national leadership isn't doing the Democratic brand any favors. So are you finding that state Democrats are able to rebuild that voter trust in say, voting blue?
- [12:43]
B
Yeah, I love this question and you know, I think I can sincerely say that the answer to that is yes. Right. So I'm going to break this down in two different ways. One, one of the fundamentals of our campaigns at this ballot level is face to face communication. Right door, knocking over the threshold of the door, having real dialogue with members of the community about the things that they care most about. Right face, face. That is so important because, you know, the narratives that we hear nationally, the stuff that folks get in the mailbox or on TV during campaign season, it tells one part of the story, but it is a single, single way communication. This dialogue back and forth allows Democrats to become three dimensional. It allows the things that we care about, our values to be told in honest ways to real people from real voices. So that is one thing that very much separates the campaign tactics used at our ballot level from everyone else. Because these elected officials and these candidates cannot write their whole districts. They can talk to everyone. And when they're getting gas or going to the grocery store, they are with either voters or constituents. So they are inescapable in that sense and they remain part of their community. The other thing that I will say, which I think, I think folks will find really interesting, is we have elections basically every Tuesday. This ballot level is huge. There's thousands of elected officials that make up our state houses across the the country. And so we like to say at our office if it's a Tuesday and it's election day. But what that means is that we've got very real data about how voters are responding when there's an actual election. So thus far, so between January and today, in red states, blue states, purple states, red states or red communities, blue communities, purple communities, Democrats have been overperforming by more than 10%. So across all of these and all those types of communities, we have already protected five legislative majorities. We have flipped three Trump seats, double digit Trump seats, and we broke the super majority. The Republican Supermajority in Iowa, which means Democrats now have more voice in matters related to things like appointments and who's going to sit on the Supreme Court. So we've made real progress. And it links back to what I was saying about how we do our work and, and that ability to cut through national narratives, whether it's questioning whether or not Democrats have a vision or it's talking about, you know, federal legislation like the big beautiful bill, in non specific terms.
- [15:08]
A
Yeah, and I think it is. Those are both really important things, especially if the Democrats still have a vision. I think especially if you're doing that sort of door to door dialogue, you can see that the Democrats are actually for something and not just against something. And I think we can really see the importance of state majorities right now when we look at how much power the states have to strip people, people of their rights. Right. Like everywhere in red states post Roe, we saw women being stripped of their rights. We're seeing the changing of the education system in places like Florida, or adding religion to every aspect of American life in places like Oklahoma. Obviously what's going on with redistricting in Texas. So winning state majorities right now to me is absolutely non negotiable. Now, under your leadership, I believe you've gained 10 new majorities, nine new trifectas and hundreds of legislative seats. You have been with the organization for 14 years, first as the director of financial services, as the chief operating officer, and now as president. Tell us in this moment why the states are such a critical firewall between the Trump Project 2025 agenda and the people. Well, I know that coffee is a go to for most people, me included. For some, it can cause crazy jitters or a massive crash. Which is why I'm so pleased to tell you about mud water. Mud water is different than coffee. It's a mix of cacao, chai, turmeric and adaptogenic mushrooms to help you feel focused and balanced, not wired. It's smooth and steady and honestly, according to my husband, it gives you tons of energy. Plus it's ridiculously easy to make. It takes about two minutes with hot water or milk and you're ready to get back to your day. Each ingredient in mud was water serves a purpose. Their OG blend contains cacao and chai for a hint of caffeine and a hot chocolate flavor. Lion's mane for focus, quadriceps to promote natural energy and chaga and reishi to support a healthy immune system. Maybe you want to try a starter kit. They have a Matcha starter kit a Turmeric starter kit, a rest starter kit which will help you unwind and sleep better at the end of the day. Ready to make the switch to cleaner Energy? Head to mudwater.com and grab your starter kit today. Right now, our listeners get an exclusive deal up to 43% off your entire order, plus free shipping and a free rechargeable frother when you use the code politicsgirl. That's right. Up to 43% off with the code politicsgirl@m u d w t r dot com and after you purchase, they'll ask you how you found them. Please show support for our show and let them know we sent you. Keep your energy natural and refreshing all year long with mud Water because life is too short for anything less than clean, delicious energy. Right now the headlines are packed with data breaches and regulatory rollbacks and phishing expeditions that make us all vulnerable. But you can do something about it. DeleteMe is here to make it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online. The fact of the matter is we are all at risk. How many times have you gotten a text or an email or a letter saying that your data has been breached? It's very upsetting, but the good news is Delete Me can help. Deleteme does all the hard work of wiping you and your family's personal information from data broker websites. Sign up and provide Deleteme with exactly what information you want deleted and their experts will take it from there. DeleteMe will then send you regular personalized privacy reports showing what they found, where they found it, and what they removed. DeleteMe is constantly working for you, monitoring and removing your personal information that you don't want to have on the Internet. As someone with a very active online presence, privacy is obviously incredibly important to me. You hear these stories about hackers obtaining your names and addresses and phone numbers and Social Security numbers, plus family members names. So I'm just very grateful that there are groups like DeleteMe available to help remove our information from these sites and keep it from falling into the wrong hands. There's a reason that the New York Times Wirecutter has named Deleteme their top pick for data removal services. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for DeleteMe now with a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com politicsgirl and use the promo code Politics Girl at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com politicsgirl and enter the code politicsgirl at checkout that is JoinDeleteMe.com politicsgirl with the code politicsgirl tell us in this moment why the states are such a critical firewall between the Trump Project 2025 agenda and the people.
- [19:29]
B
Yeah, it's such a great question. You know, I think you started off a little bit with this is like states have a lot of power, right? They have a lot of power. And when we have majorities and control the agenda and what they do, we're able to, you know, look across the structum and protect rights. So whether that those rights are through, you know, the ability to participate in our elections safely, securely and with confidence, whether it is ensuring that we have access to the reproductive health care that we deserve and that those conversations remain with us and our doctors and that the government is not intervening in them, that we've got schools that support all kids, regardless of income, regardless of perceived skill or ability, like that we are there for all of our kids and that we've got good communities, right, that are fun and safe and provide parks and places for people to gather. And so when you think about all of these things, you think about this moment and this administration and Republicans ripping away access, ripping away rights. The states can come in and secure them. They can ensure that not only the people in their states have them. And Democrats currently govern at least one legislative chamber, over half of the country, population wise. So this is a lot of people. But interestingly, you mentioned the Dobbs decision and sort of the fall of Roe. What we saw in that moment, to put a finer point on this, is not only were Democrats in states where they had power ensuring access to reproductive health care for those that lived in their state, they were also considering their neighbors that were going to lose access. So if we have folks coming in from a neighboring state that is Republican led and we know they're going to lose their access, how do we make sure that we have clinics that are supported in a way that can take an influx of people, how can we make sure that those that are not going to get it, how can we use our system, right, to ensure that we're reaching beyond our borders to think about others? And that was such a meaningful moment to me. And I think about how that carries on now. You know, you could talk about it through the spectrum of literally any issue, but that approach to feeling like, you know, these are rights that are deserved by everyone, not just the powerful few is, I think the broad approach that we see happening and how they're standing up and taking a. I think it's.
- [21:46]
A
Very interesting that it's the states that are looking out for all Americans. They're like, if there's an American on my border that's not from my state, we should still be looking out for their rights rather than the federal government looking out for all Americans rights, which is really the way it should be. The states are the ones picking up the slack at a time where the federal government is abandoning a lot of people if they're not falling in line. I just think that it's. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I. State legislatures, they have the power to enforce or refuse to enforce and cooperate with federal directives, right? To prohibit state and local officials from enforcing federal directives if they dream them unconstitutional. I was originally watching a Massachusetts governor talking about how they're gonna have their own healthcare system to protect children even if the federal directives have changed, even if the federal directives are telling them differently. If everyone at the CDC quits, they're like, we're gonna have doctors here telling you what to do. That the states really have the ability to protect their people in a way that I don't think people have thought of much, but I think they need to. And we go into state elections for state legislatures and that kind of thing. Even if you have been a Republican your whole life, but you don't like what's happening at the national level, you might want to start thinking about electing people in your state that might protect your rights, even if that's not necessarily the party you would have necessarily voted for in the past.
- [23:03]
B
That is so true and exactly right. And I think, you know, when we think again about those folks that are running for office, they are community based, right? They're community focused, they're of that community. And so there is an ability to sort of brush past party lines and defined right. Like a common space because they're looking out for their neighbors. And you know, even I think in this really divided time, like that still does exist when you get down into your neighborhood and your school district. Like people still really care about each other. And I think that is what we are trying to build upon. Because you're of part point is very true that the states do have a lot of power and they are, they are looking at ways to even better understand that in the time that we are in because the need is so great. And I mentioned the breaking of the supermajority in Iowa, you know, as we at DLCC approach how we think about our goals and like winning power for Democrats. We think about those moments. How do we make sure that a Democratic governor can veto legislation in a state where the legislature is Republican held? We made sure this could happen last year in North Carolina. And it's those power moments in the state. And recognizing the interplay between the executive officers and the legislature is also critically important.
- [24:24]
A
Yeah. Because I don't think people understand how much power the state legislatures have to stop a lot of things. I mean, you can see it working against us in places like Texas, where even when Joe Biden was president, the Texas governor was like, we're just going to patrol our own border. And Joe Biden was like, no, that's a federal job. And they were like, well then sue us. You know what I mean? Like, the states have a lot of power to stand up against the federal government. Often the federal government backs down because states rights really are a thing in this country. And we have to remember that when we go to vote for the people that are going to represent us at the state level, because it's those legislators, whether they are whatever party, that are your neighbors, that are your friends, that are in your neighborhood, that know what you're actually dealing with. And maybe don't want to have the military in your streets or don't want to have terrible information for medical, or don't want to be having people lose their health care. And if you can't do it at the federal level, then you can absolutely date at the state level. So what is your take then on this ongoing redistricting fight that we're seeing? Because people are blaming Democrats when Republicans are far bigger users of gerrymandering to lock in congressional seats at the federal level. Texas obviously started this recent mid decade redistricting to give Trump the five extra seats at his request. And the administration knows their policies, the Trump administration knows that cutting FEMA and healthcare and all the horrors of the big beautiful bill are not gonna be popular. So what they've done is they know they're gonna lose the house at the federal level if they keep this going. So they've asked the Republicans in the state legislature of Texas to gerrymander the congressional seats between the two census when we were supposed to actually do it. But now we've got Governor Newsom here in California legislature voting to bring redistricting to the voters this November to see if our voters want to counter those five gerrymandered seats in Texas and redistrict ourselves. And I can tell you this Californian will be voting yes on Prop 50. But walk me through what's happening here, because it's the state legislatures that are actually the ones that make this decision. If you're going to redistrict and what you think is going to happen moving forward. Forward with redistricting.
- [26:25]
B
Yeah. This is such a important topic. And I think part of it weaves into a number of things that we've been talking about. Right. You use this example of Texas under the Biden administration. Right. Like using force at the border because they felt like it was states rights. Right. That is Republicans pushing hard on the rules and testing them, challenging. Right. The federal government, the courts, to tell them no, apply the same strategy. Right. To this process. This is what Republicans have been doing for decades. So I'm going to, I'm going to go back a second to 2010. Republicans launched this effort called Project Red Map. It was a national initiative spearheaded by Karl Rove and the RNC and national Republicans to come in very late into state legislative elections with tens of millions of dollars to flip legislatures from Democratic to Republican. At the time, Democrats had enormous power. We had nearly enough for a Constitutional convention. So they came in to do this. They flipped more than 20 legislative chambers and they did it for this exact purpose. They didn't care about the immediate power. They cared about the future and changing the rules so that Republican would never be challenged in those places and that when they needed to call upon it for Congress, they could. And we are in that moment. So that is the background of how we got here. And now what you see happening is Republicans are calling into that power. They are forcing a check on their own process. This is going to go to the court in Texas. Right. It's going to be challenged there. It's already in progress. Democrats, and I think Governor Newsom is telling this story day in and day out, cannot sit back and complain about the rules. And whether or not we like how Republicans are using them, we must also strategize towards the lens of the things that we believe in. And right now, the thing that we believe is that our country is at an inflection point that, right, we have a moment to grab our democracy and make sure that it lives on for a very long time in a secure way and that we get back to a place where people feel confident about using their voice to pick their representatives. California is responding because you have to look at this from a national view and not just the lens of a single state. So that is how we got here and that is Sort of the playing field right now you mentioned, right, that that Republic Republicans do not see a path forward to holding the House. Right. Like that is also true. And none of this is guaranteed, right? At the end of the day, districts are made up of voters and voters are paying attention and they are going to decide whether or not what is happening with this Trump administration and this MAGA agenda is good for them or not. And that will happen ultimately at the ballot box in November of 2026.
- [29:39]
A
But my goodness, right, like the Republicans are by nature far better long term planners. It's how we got Roe overturned. You know, they saw that happen in 73 and they were like, let's fix that. And it wasn't let's fix that tomorrow. It took them 40 years, but they got it done right. It's the stacking of the Supreme Court that is a long term Federalist Society plan. It is the way we have set up the system now. Republicans had a far longer term plan to win and I think the Democrats thought, you know, in the MLK version, like the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice and we're standing on the right side of history and things will just keep going in this direction. We elected Obama, everything's going well. And I think the thing is that behind the scenes the Republicans were, whether it was Project Red Map or the Federalist Society or the Heritage foundation, they were working behind the scenes to get the kind of America they wanted. And now we're sitting in the reality of that now. So I mentioned the big beautiful bill before and how it's going to be a disaster for most Americans. And you're talking about it now that at the end of the day, even if you gerrymander five seats in Texas, those Texas voters might not be happy with what they're getting from their Republican government and they might actually choose to vote against it, even if they have voted red in the past. But the Republicans keep spinning their bill, you know, telling everyone it's going to be wonderful, that it's leading to things like no tax on tips right now. But anyone that's actually paying attention knows that this bill is going to be an absolute monstrosity when it comes from everything from cutting Medicare to social programs to anything that helps Americans, you know, who have the least. How are state Democrats working or planning to mitigate the damage coming out of this budget as we're seeing it implemented now? 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That's Q U I-n c e.com politicsgirl to get free shipping and 365 days of returns. To get free shipping and 365 days of Returns, you go to quince.com politicsgirl how are state Democrats working or planning to mitigate the damage coming out of this budget as we're seeing it implemented now? Like SNAP is starting to be cut as you and I speak right now.
- [34:15]
B
As we speak, we have elections going on in Virginia. Their state offices are on the ballot in November of 2025 and we currently have a one seat majority in the state house. So we have live data on the ground from an electoral environment from all of these candidates in all of these communities in Virginia who are talking to real voters about how they feel. And what's interesting is Virginia, as you can imagine is a microcosm of everything that is happening and the approach that Republicans are taking, both in the big beautiful bill, but also just in general, right, the Doge cuts hit there. It's a huge federal workforce impacting like large communities. It's a military state with a base and tons of veterans. It's a Medicaid expansion state. It is a state that is growing, growing, that is attracting tech and data farming and AI supports along with shipping and stuff that you see in the southern part of the state. So we've got it all happening here. And I think what is notable about what is is being heard on the ground. There is two things. One, folks are still looking for, and by folks I mean voters are still looking for someone to fight for them. But they're not looking forward in like the wwe, like let's duke it out in the ring, all right, like performative way. They're looking for someone to stand up for their neighbors and their community and to say the loss of this hospital would be detrimental to us, to my family because you know, I'm a nurse at the hospital, to our community because we now have to go an extra hour for care. It is that kind of conversation that is happening about how do you stand up for the community. And we know that Republicans are unwilling to break rank despite the fact that they know that what is happening is harming their neighbors and their community.
- [36:10]
A
They won't even break rank over the Epstein files like bananas.
- [36:14]
B
So the other part of it is you talked about how it's like people are starting to realize the impact, you know, we as humans like certainty, right? Part of the conversation about like the sort of economic prosperity and where do we go from here and how do I get ahead is also about certainty, right? Like how do I know to plan for a future? How do I know that I can, you know, be confident in my job and my savings and my retirement and, and the care that I'm going to get as, you know, an aging person? This is not doing any of that. So not only do you have people making decisions, if I'm looking to retire right now, how do I do it in this? How do I trust that the nest egg that I have built is going to be secure in an environment where the stock market is up, down all around every 30 seconds? How do I know that I'm going to be secure in my job if private sector industries are making decisions on context and uncertainty about whether or not they're going to open a new building or whether or not they're going to hire more people? How do I plan for my aging parent to age gracefully and with the support that they need in long term care if I don't know that it's going to exist anymore? The amount of pressure that puts on people who are already feeling so burnt out is enormous. And we are seeing that everywhere as these candidates are talking to people.
- [37:39]
A
Right? This is probably why the special elections in this country are giving Those Democrats that plus 10 you were talking about. They're getting a major advantage right now because they're the ones that are saying, look, this is wrong. We don't want your hospital to close. We don't want you to lose the funding from the Department of Education for your special needs child. We don't want you to lose, you know, lunches for your children. We don't want you to lose Meals on Wheels for your granny that lives down the street. We don't want that. And it's nice to have someone say, okay, well yeah, I don't want that either. So I need someone who's gonna support me. Which is probably why these special elections are leading Democrats so hard. Because I know that you were talking about that special election in Iowa that broke the Republican Senate super majority, which is a big deal cuz it allows them to. They can't just rubber stamp everything, move it past the representatives anymore. And then there was just an election in Georgia at the end of August. What did you guys learn from that?
- [38:28]
B
Yeah, you know, Georgia is an interesting case. Here we've got a story of a, you know, a woman who raised her hand to run for office. You know, she couldn't be a candidate more of, you know, sort of now she's very deeply involved in her, in her community, you know, a mom, just somebody who you would look to and say, you know, it'd be great if you ran for office. Right.
- [38:46]
A
She's me.
- [38:47]
B
Yeah, that's. I love that she. Yes, she's all of us. She's me. Yes. And, and she's so indicative of the kind of candidates that we're seeing run. So they have a weird process in Georgia. There's like a runoff process. So she made it through. She's already overperformed in sort of the first step of that process. And interestingly, you know, the Republicans are duking it out on who can like out MAGA each other in this process. And I find that interesting. Right. Because they're not fighting over the issues. They're not fighting over how to be the best leader for that community. They're fighting over whether or not they will be accepted into this MAGA Republican Party and if they're going to find, you know, grace while they're in it. And it's all about their centralized power. So more to come on the outcome of that. But you know, we're excited about what things look like right now and what she's already been able to accomplish.
- [39:36]
A
Yeah, no, it's really amazing if people don't know she ran against, I think it was four other Republicans and she got the plurality of the vote. She had like 40% of the vote. Now if you count up every single Republican vote, they would have got more than her. But I think the point is if these guys are all trying to out MAGA each other, there's a fair amount of regular Republican voters that aren't into the mega agenda. And so they wouldn't be wanting to vote for that. They would want to be voting for someone that was looking out for their actual issues. And at the state level that becomes much more obvious. Like you're saying it's door to door, conversation based. And look, let's go back to the Democrats in general because people, I cannot pretend that people aren't so deeply disappointed with Democrats right now. But the dlcc, what you run is only one part of a far bigger puzzle.
- [40:21]
B
Right.
- [40:22]
A
It's really Democratic leadership at the national level that has got the Democratic brand at such a low approval rating. So let me ask you, with the DLCC being the only organization responsible for full national landscape of state legislatures, what can we do to help? Because I've done a lot of work with the States Project, who I love, but they pick and choose which states they have the best chance to win and which seats they think they can flip, which is great, but you are responsible for all 50 states. So can I ask you why on earth we ever had state races where Republicans were running unopposed? Because that happens all the time and it makes people crazy because they're like, there's not even someone I could vote for that's looking out for me. Why would we ever seed ground like that? And why did we do it for so long?
- [41:08]
B
Oh, that's a really interesting question. So I think there's a couple of things happening, right? Democrats do not have power. Right. We are in the minority. And same is true for Democrats, right. In a number of states. They don't have the power of the agenda. The races that we would need to win to make progress are very Republican. And voter behavior is. It's fairly consistent. Right. You see, you know, sort of red states and people who are participating continue to vote for Republicans.
- [41:39]
A
Even though you're like, why are you voting against your own best interest? These people are going to close your hospital and they're, they don't like your daughter and they want you to be all, you know, like, it makes you crazy. But people are creatures of habit.
- [41:50]
B
Totally. And I think, you know, when we think about this ballot level and to that specific question, right. Of, of how do we think about folks running everywhere? How do we make it more accessible? We think about two things, right. We think about resources, the way in which we as Democrats. Right. Not just the institutions, but we as individual Democrats. Right. Resource these races. We always resource federal stuff first and to the maximum amount of money beyond. Right. Like any candidate's wildest dreams. We love to fall in love with candidates who are running against, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Mitch McConnell, who are data driven, not likely to win. Right?
- [42:34]
A
Yeah. Like we'll spend tens of millions of dollars on one congressional race that we could never win because we hate the person they're running against. And we could have spent a quarter of that on four state legislative races and won all of them.
- [42:48]
B
Yes. And so we're under resourcing as a whole, the ballot level. And that has an impact on, you know, ability to get folks to run in every race. That is sort of the honest assessment of that. I do think that there is certainly, like, progress being made. The understanding over the last, I don't know, decade of how critical this ballot level is, how important it is, how exciting it is. Right. To be a part of it has grown and increased so much. And we're seeing that both in, you know, how people are engaging from the participation standpoint, but also we're seeing it from people, you know, raise their hand to run for office. So I think we are moving in the right trajectory and we're going to continue to see, you know, more and more people do this and hopefully as we are a party in transition. Right. As we get a presidential nominee, as we. Right, like start to have, as we.
- [43:41]
A
Figure out what the heck we're doing. Yeah, we stop floundering in the water, you know, and find ourselves with a backbone. I mean, look at the state legislature in Texas. They have, the Democrats there have no power and yet they were able to pick up and leave the state and go to Illinois not because they knew they would win the vote if they came back, but because they knew they would lose it if they stayed. And they needed to draw national attention to how anti Democratic what the Republicans state legislature was doing. And that is something we can do. It's something we need to look for for our state representatives to say like, I know you're out of power right now. If you're out of power at the federal level, if you're out of power at the state level, keep yourself in the game. Show us that you're willing to fight. You said people are looking for fighters right now. They're looking for someone who will stand up for them and we need to show that to people. We also probably need our own project red map, but for blue. Right. We need someone looking out to say like, hey, these races are incorporated, incredibly important and we can't keep throwing money at these giant state races that we'll probably lose and put them into the local state races that we can probably win. Because I think the goal should be to get these right wing extremists out of office, whether that's at the state level or at the federal level, to replace them with Democrats that want to advance policies that will actually improve people's lives and shore up the voting protections and shore up our human rights. Right, Right. A real opposition party is what people are looking for right now. And then we will need a real leadership party, not status quo party. Right. That if we are given the majority back in states or at the federal level, we have to go in there full bore and say we're protecting the people from these perpetual attacks on their human rights, on our education, on our healthcare, on our personal freedoms. We're going to show our up voting, voting Rights so we never go through this again. Like pass that for the People's Act. Take gerrymandering out of every state. State. Right. Don't even have this be a fight over and over again. Your website says, and I think it says it really well, that our democracy can no longer afford to have state legislative politics take a back seat in America's political consciousness. That we have to remember that the state level legislatures have endless power, especially in a time where the people themselves are being attacked. To stand up for us. Right. Or to make it work worse. I mean, to make it worse for us too. They also have that power. We have a national redistricting coming in 2030, which will decide by the state legislatures how it will shape the next decade of American life at the federal level. So we have to make sure we get as many Democratic majorities in as many state houses as possible to give the Democrats the strongest position by 2030. But let me ask you, are we even getting to 2030 if we're already doing this redistricting shenanigans mid term right now in if our president is already talking about canceling elections or you know, we're blowing up boats coming out of Venezuela and international water so we can be like, oh, now we're at war. So now we gotta cancel elections. What's your take on that? Like we have to obviously keep doing the work. Like we're gonna have elections. I don't think anyone should think we're not going to. But what's your take on this kind of. We're already picking away at the democratic process.
- [46:50]
B
Yeah. I think two things can be true. Right. We need to continue to track the process that's going to take us to 2030. And what that means is that in 2027 we will start electing the first state legislatures in state senates that will be in elected office, will be elected into office to be a part of that process. Because they serve four year terms, they will be in office for that redistricting process. So every year after 2027, we are electing state legislators who will be in office for the process. So that is when the process for 2030 begins. That we cannot take our eye off of that. We know that that exists. Our strategy at DLCC for winning power in states has that decade view built into it. We also know that we have to take advantage of the right now and win everywhere we can so that we have power to challenge this process where we can, to be a part of it where we need to be. And to look at the lens of what is happening in the here and now. I think what's important to remember as we've kind of thread through all of this is, you know, the Democratic Party, a political party, is made up of people. We have the power as individuals to be a part of its future and the future direction of this country. We can take it back if we don't like the direction it's going into. We can lead it to the place we want it to go, but we have to get involved and we can't sit back and say we're frustrated by the process. We don't like that it's happening now. What is the direction we all need to show up and lead together. And this ballot level is such an important place for that because not only can you get involved and make your voice heard and help claim that right future, but this ballot level also is the future in terms of who's running for office. Barack Obama was a state legislator. Gretchen Whitmer is a state legislator.
- [48:55]
A
Right.
- [48:55]
B
Like all of these folks that people love to talk about, they got their start in the state legislature. We are building the bench. You want a future? Elect someone great in your community to run for office. Give them the tools and resources and support they need to be successful and watch them grow and flourish. Watch our ideals, right? Like, show up in our communities and in our politics and in our governing. And I think that's really important to keep in mind as we talk about these, like, big, gnarly. Right? Like complicated and sometimes deeply frustrating things.
- [49:28]
A
Yeah, absolutely. And if you're listening to this right now and you're like, I have ideas and I think I could make it better, then put your hand out because we really do need you. We need way more people who look and think like the rest of us, saying, enough of this. This is ridiculous. I don't want this. And I'm going to put my hand up and put my hat in the ring and go forward and do that. I want to thank you so much for joining us today, Heather. Thank you for the amazing work you were doing at the DLCC to keep us in the game. I don't know what we would do without you. And listen, if you had to leave people with one thought on what they can do to help this country, you know, pull itself back from the authoritarian edge, what would you recommend they do?
- [50:04]
B
Get involved, right? Like, head to dlc.org figure out who's running in your state, in your community. Run for office yourself. But don't lose sight of the fact that state legislatures are where we are currently winning elections, where we're building democratic power, and where we can shape and build our future.
- [50:21]
A
We have the power, as you said, to take back our country and to pull this democracy back and hold it up higher than it's ever been. We just have to keep remembering that and we have to work together to do it. Thank you so much Heather, and thank you to the dlcc. Honestly, you guys are doing amazing work.
- [50:35]
B
Thank you. It's been such a pleasure to be here with you. I love this.
- [50:40]
A
So that was Heather Williams reminding us that we have the power to take our rights back, but we can only do that by getting involved. Democracy is something that happens in our backyard and state legislators are the ones living there. These state elections and representatives are what public service is really about. It's face to face communication, it's dialogue and relationship and we can actually see these people in our neighborhoods. These are the representatives who will act as a bulwark against the most egregious laws being handed down from the federal government. As Heather says, our country is at an inflection point, so we need to be electing people willing to fight for us, not just for a privileged position in their party. I want to thank Heather for joining us today and you for caring enough about democracy to be here. Now go to dlcc.org and see how you can help start our own project, Blue Map because it is about time we had some long term planning up in here. Until next week. PG out. Before you go, I just want to say if you're a premium member of this podcast, thank you for your support and if you're not a member, please consider being a patron of my work. We are almost completely overwhelmed by state supporting legacy media and propaganda at this point, so it is essential that those of us out here still bringing you the facts have backing. So if you aren't a member of Politics Girl Premium, please consider going to politicsgirl.com and signing up. You will get this podcast ad free along with my rants and bonus content sent directly to your inbox. So even if my work is silenced on social media, you will still get access to the truth. There is a link to sign up in the bio of this episode but also on politicsgirl.com and as always, please please like and share these podcasts so we can grow our audience. The more people who have access to this kind of information the better. As always, thank you so much for your time and support. The Politics Girl Podcast is written and performed by me, Leigh McGowan and produced and edited by Happy Warrior Entertainment. All rights reserved.