From: Tina Podlodowski <chair@wa-democrats.org>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2021 3:00 PM
To: Tina Podlodowski <chair@wa-democrats.org>
Subject: Friday News & Action With Tina Podlodowski
Hello Democrats! This November is turning into quite a busy month - with election results, the big infrastructure bill passing Congress, a new Secretary of State, the deadline for redistricting next Monday (expect to hear from me about that as soon as we know the details), and so much more happening! I’m feeling full of excitement and ready for action as we go into 2022 and those hugely important midterm elections. I hope you do too!
Election Wrap-Up - Now that pretty much all the votes are counted in our 2021 local elections, I wanted to update you on how our Rooted To Win candidates fared. Spoiler alert: two-thirds of our Rooted to Win candidates around the state WON their races and that’s just awesome. Electing more Democrats, in more races and places, is how we will win up and down the ballot moving forward.
We had three candidates who were behind on election night come back to win now - Kim Harless for Vancouver City Council, Hugo Garcia for Burien City Council, and Kristina Michele Martens for Bellingham City Council. Congratulations to all three of these candidates for sticking with it and making the strong GOTV push needed to get them over the finish line!
I want to specifically congratulate some of our candidates who overcame massive special interest spending from conservative PACs in their races. Kim Harless in Vancouver was outspent 10-1 by her opponent and the PAC supporting him, and Zack Zappone was outspent 3-1, and both went on to win. We’re never going to have the kind of money that the conservative side does, but this shows that we can win even when we’re outspent. When Republicans spend so much money on mailers full of lies and distortions, we can come back with smart, effective organizing and messaging campaigns that turn out our base, win over persuadable voters, and overcome the barrage of GOP money. We’ve done it time and again, and I bet we’ll have to do it again in a lot of our legislative races next year.
It’s interesting - folks have said “Terry McAuliffe lost the Virginia gubernatorial in a close one, what a bad omen for Democrats.” Folks in Seattle have said “a Republican won Seattle city attorney in a weird race between two candidates on the far extremes of the spectrum, what a bad omen for Democrats.” But that’s not what I saw happen in Washington state. I saw a whole lot of Democratic wins. I saw Democrats beat QAnon city councilmembers in Sequim and SeaTac, and keep cities like Burien under progressive control, plus make gains in Renton, Vancouver, College Place, and in school boards all around the state. I saw Democrat Sarah Perry beat the established incumbent Republican Kathy Lambert by a huge margin in East King County. I saw Kim Harless and Zack Zappone beat opponents who massively outspent them. I saw Democrats in every corner of the state win big, tough races against fierce conservative opposition - Whatcom, Walla Walla, Cowlitz, all over. There’s no doubt that 2022 will be a tough midterm, they always are for the party holding the presidency. But there’s a lot to be optimistic about in these Washington 2021 election results.
Our New Secretary of State - You may have seen the news this week that Governor Jay Inslee announced his appointment for who would replace Republican Kim Wyman in the Secretary of State’s office - our Democratic legislator from the 44th LD, Senator Steve Hobbs!
I want to congratulate Senator Hobbs on this historic appointment - the first person of color and member of the AAPI community to serve as our Secretary of State. He’s worked to help pass so many of the major voting reforms we have here in Washington including the Voting Rights Act and same-day and automatic voter registration. He’s respected on both sides of the aisle in the legislature and has worked to solve big, complex problems - a skill that’s so important in the Secretary of State’s office.
I look forward to Sen. Hobbs taking over the Secretary of State’s office and making sure that we’re running the best, fairest, most open elections of any state in the country, where we all have the chance for our voices to be heard. It’s so important that we Democrats fight hard to hold this position in next year’s special election, and I’m looking forward to working with all of you to make that happen. I think you all know how important to me it is to have a Democrat in this seat - let’s keep it that way in 2022.
Weekend Reading - If you’re inside hiding from the rain, here are some stories I’d recommend checking out from this week. We saw a lot of news come out about the January 6th insurrection attempt by Trump and the Republicans to try to overturn the presidential election results. It’s so important that we continue to remember what Republicans tried to do that day and make sure they can never succeed. We can't only talk about what happened in the past - voters expect our party’s messaging to focus on the future, and how Democrats are helping working families succeed - but we also can’t let these guys off the hook and forget about their attack on our democracy.
And while I have NEVER been a Tom Brady fan, I do admire his work ethic and discipline as does our staff - every day, every little bit, every time we “lose by less” in the Republican areas and grow our share in the Democratic areas, we are making gains for the future. Check this story out: Tom Brady's secret is self-discipline
We will need to do a little bit, every day in 2022, to come out with wins in November.
Save The Date, December 9th - In order to celebrate our 2021 victories and get 2022 started on the right foot, the Washington State Democrats will be hosting a virtual celebration on Thursday, December 9th! We hope you will join folks from all over Washington State to hear from key Democratic leaders and plot the course for an even more successful 2022.
Stay tuned for a complete announcement of event details next week, but for now, please save the date for this virtual 2022 Coordinated Campaign kickoff on the evening of December 9th. We hope you will join us to celebrate this exciting moment and support our efforts!
More Infrastructure Bill Resources - HERE is an updated toolkit that the Democratic National Committee put together in English and Spanish to help you talk to your friends, neighbors, and community about President Biden delivering on his promise to the American people with the major Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that Congress just voted to send to his desk, in addition to his bold and historic Build Back Better Framework, with resources such as message guidance, social media content, graphics, and more. We want to be as loud as possible about this win for the American people, so please continue to share this with your networks, along with the Washington-specific content that we have here:
Child Tax Credit Signup Window - One of the fantastic policies in the American Rescue Plan was the expanded Child Tax Credit, which is sending $200-300 per kid to families all across the country. This is a huge investment in helping people pay their bills and getting our economy back on track after COVID, and we appreciate the work that our Washington Democrats in Congress have done to pass it and are doing now to make it permanent (and no thanks to all three Republicans who voted against it!)
Families of over 60 million children are already receiving the Child Tax Credit - $3,600 annually for children under 6 and $3,000 for kids between 6 and 17 – but families who haven’t signed up and earn too little to have to file taxes are missing out. Folks who don’t file taxes must actively sign up by November 15 to get their payments this year. Between now and November 15, those families can go to GetCTC.org, an easy to use tool to sign-up for the Child Tax Credit. This tool, created by Code for America, in collaboration with the White House and Treasury, is in English and Spanish and is mobile friendly, and most families can complete it within about 15 minutes.
Build Back Better Info - With the passage of the big infrastructure bill, our next priority in Congress is the Build Back Better investment in essential programs like combating climate change, funding preschool, and more.
This Build Back Better framework will level the playing field and make corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share, so that middle-class families can finally get a shot at getting ahead. It is a transformative investment in climate, care, and kids that will lower the costs of programs families depend on, help people get back to work, and strengthen the economy.
This bill will be the most transformative investment in children and caregiving in generations – transforming the lives of millions of families , saving parents thousands of dollars, and adding two years of free, universal schooling to our public education system for the first time in over a century. It will be the largest effort to combat climate change in history. It will cut taxes for tens of millions of middle-class families. And It is the biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade. Here are links with more information on how important this bill is - let’s keep this fight up and get this legislation passed!
· Build Back Better Framework
· How the Build Back Better Framework Helps Black Communities
· How the Build Back Better Framework Helps Latinx Communities
· How the Build Back Better Framework Helps Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities
· How the Build Back Better Framework Helps Native American Communities
· How the Build Back Better Framework Helps LGBTQI+ Communities
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your weekend!
With gratitude,
Tina Podlodowski
P.S. - It’s been reported that GOP Sen. Doug Ericksen is in El Salvador right now, sick with a serious case of COVID, and asking folks to send an overnight shipment of Regeneron monoclonal antibodies to him, and I sincerely wish him the best for his health.
He is up for re-election next year in LD 42 and I would like him to be in good enough health that we can run against him hard and hold him accountable for working as a lobbyist for the Cambodian dictatorship instead of on behalf of his constituents, skipping votes to work for Donald Trump, skipping votes (again) to go to El Salvador, and taking so many free meals from oil company lobbyists that they literally had to change the law to address his behavior. Be well, Senator!
