May 14, 2020
We are watching Trump disintegrate before our eyes, erupting in racist tirades directed at journalists; peevish and alarmed that anything has begun to dent his poll numbers. Yet, any of us tempted to take grim solace in the thought that the escalating death toll might cause his defeat have not been paying attention. In case we have forgotten the knife’s edge on which we’re poised, three developments yesterday should serve as a stark reminder.
Yesterday, Republican Mike Garcia trounced Christy Smith, 55% to 46%, in the special election in California’s 25th Congressional District. This marks the first time in 22 years that the Republicans have been able to flip a California Democratic Congressional district, (Source: “GOP wins special election in California after Democrat concedes,” by Ally Mitnick, Politico.com, 5/13/20). The DCCC’s decision not to invest heavily in the race probably contributed to the lopsided result, where turnout skewed older and whiter in a district that is 53% Latinx, Asian and Black. It is critical to remember that this special election was only necessary because the far right wing media forced Rep. Katie Hill from office by weaponizing revenge porn released by her estranged husband.
Then yesterday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, overturned Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order, despite the fact that there are more than 10,000 positive cases and 421 people have died in the state. Of those, more than half have been in Milwaukee, (Source: “Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Stay-at-Home Order,” by Neil Vigdor, The New York Times, 5/13/20).
This decision comes a month after this same court overturned the governor’s effort to postpone the election and forced voters to choose between their health and their right to vote. In Milwaukee, a city of 592,025 people that is 60% people of color, that meant standing in long lines to vote at one of only five polling places, (Source: “Wisconsin Primary Recap: Voters Forced to Choose Between Their Health and Their Civic Duty,” by The New York Times, 4/7/20). There is no question that the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision will lead to more illness and death for Wisconsin’s Black and Brown residents and create yet another obstacle to voting in a state whose strict voter I.D. law suppressed 200,000 African-American voters in 2016, (Source: “Wisconsin’s Voter-I.D. Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016,(Trump Won By 22,748),” by Ari Berman, The Nation, 5/9/17).
Lastly, yesterday in Texas, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court to block Harris, Cameron, El Paso, Travis and Dallas counties from providing that fear of contracting coronavirus constituted a valid disability entitling a citizen to vote absentee, (Source: “Texas attorney general asks court to stop counties from issuing mail-in ballots to voters afraid of virus,” by Kelly Mena, CNN.com, 5/13/20). It is no coincidence that all but one of these counties is between 62% and 83% Latinx and Black.
The lessons of yesterday are clear. Given the fact that Republicans will go to any length to prevent Black and Brown people from being able to vote by mail, there is no excuse not to maximize turnout when it is available. These ultra conservatives are not subtle. They plan to exploit the legitimate fear of contracting the coronavirus to suppress the votes of people of color. Unless we want to lose again, we’d better understand how they see it. To these white nationalists, this pandemic is not a crisis, but an opportunity.
It is my understanding Katie Hill flipped a republican district when she won and it just flipped back. It will be up for another election in November and hopefully the democratic candidate will win. I personally wish Katie Hill hadn’t resigned.
She did. But this loss Tuesday is the first time that a Congressional district held by a Democrat flipped to Republican. It is in the Politico article.