You Have Power To Change Things This Election Year

The States Project has some answers

It’s time to get serious about the States. Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash

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“Problems scream, solutions whisper.”

It’s a phrase that a journalist I admire uses all the time. And I’m feeling it hard right now, as this presidential election — and the implications of a second Trump presidency — appear to be an insurmountable, and terrifying, problem.

Fortunately, some folks have solutions.

For The States Project the solution lies, not in the presidential election, but at the level of our states.

“Our side needs to stop treating state legislatures like the minor leagues and start investing in them like the vital races that they are,” Adam Pritzker, a co-founder of the States Project, told Politico.

The States Project is among other Democratic groups that have been raising large amounts for state legislative races — including $4.5 million contributed to Virginia’s legislative race last year alone — through major contributions and smaller networks. The States Project calls these “Giving Circles.” It’s like “your book club or your group chat deciding to take strategic political action together,” they say on their website.

I talked to Melissa Walker, a YA novelist turned political organizer, who is the head of Giving Circles, about the issues at stake, and the way a Giving Circle can help. Our conversation is below!

You did an interview on the Politics Girl podcast back in 2022, and you said then that everything we care about — from abortion rights to health care to gerrymandering — all of that stuff gets decided at the state level.

What’s the difference between Washington D.C. problems, where so much of the 2024 election is focused, and state problems?

Yes. D.C. problems include global issues, but on almost everything else, where the rubber meets the road, policy is made in state capitals. It's really where the way that people live their daily lives is decided.

My biggest example of this is Michigan this year, which has a new trifecta. We have control of the state senate, the State House and the governor's mansion.

That new trifecta has enabled Michigan to do really incredible things. In 2023, they passed around 321 bills. Congress passed around 30.

The New York Times ran a story last weekend decribing the well-organized and long-planned legal strategy conservative groups have put in place to fight the results of the presidential election – from blocking people from voting in the election at the start to denying the validity of the election after it happens.

And this builds on decades of organizing by groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council to get conservative candidates into state legislatures.

But the States Project was able to push $60 million into state elections last year. How have you managed to catch up with the conservative machine?

Well, you're absolutely right, they are decades ahead of us in terms of their focus on state legislatures.

The thing that has given me so much hope is that when we, as the States Project, came on board and started turning our attention exclusively to state legislatures, we did start winning more majorities back. 

It's often cheaper to change the balance of power in an entire state chamber than it is to win a single competitive congressional seat.

Congressional races cost millions and millions of dollars, and it just keeps getting higher.

But at the state legislative level, more money doesn't necessarily mean that you win. What you need at the state legislative level is a candidate to run a research-based, fully-funded campaign. Then it’s a “connect four”: a campaign manager and someone to organize the volunteers, some good ads that are tested, lots of local press, and some time to go knock on doors in your district. That's what's needed. 

So it gives me so much hope to work at this level because I can see the impact.

When we are able to focus strategically on those districts where we need to shift power, we are able to bring the resources that we need. That includes the Giving Circles program and other donors outside of that program, who have decided: I'm going to focus not where the glamour is, but instead where the power is. 

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There are nine states you’re focusing on in this year’s elections. How did you choose those states, and what are the issues at stake? 

What we're really looking for are power thresholds. So that could mean flipping a state majority. It could also mean doing something like breaking a right-wing supermajority or defending against one.

Or, as in the case of one of our target states, Nevada, building a supermajority to stand against a right-wing governor who vetoes everything. 

So this year, we are back in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota, which are three states where we helped flip chambers in 2022, all by very slim margins. So we're there to defend those majorities and potentially deepen them. 

We are also going to be in Arizona and New Hampshire to try to flip those states. Currently Arizona is a right-wing trifecta, meaning the right-wing has control of all three branches of government. 

We're in North Carolina and Kansas to break a right-wing supermajority. In Kansas, they have a Democratic governor,  but all of her vetoes can be immediately overturned because of the supermajority. So if we're able to flip just two state house seats, we can break that supermajority and her vetoes will stand. 

In North Carolina, there's a big governor's race happening and the right wing candidate is truly, off-the-charts bonkers. But even if Josh Stein, who's the Democrat who's running, wins that race, he will have no power unless we break the supermajority. 

We are also in Wisconsin with our full-court electoral program, because we see a path on the new maps to potentially flipping the assembly, which is what they call their state house. 

So how do Giving Circles work and how do they make an impact? 

I started my own Giving Circle because I didn't feel like I was someone who could hand giant checks to politicians. But. I knew that I could organize my friends and my family and my neighbors. And I heard [States Project co-founder] Daniel Squadron speak, and when he talked about state legislatures, I thought, “Oh, I think we could really do something here. Because here $1,000 makes a difference.”  

People are looking for a place where they can have an impact that they can see. That's what you really get with state legislatures. It is an incredibly powerful way to plug into our political systems. 

Right, it’s such an emotional time, and people are looking for ways to feel effective and not helpless.

People are scared, people are reactive, people are anxious. People are just like, “I'll just give money here, there and everywhere.” That's understandable, but it's not strategic. 

I worry about people feeling like they can only be witnesses to the destruction. That’s the scariest part to me –  when I find people who care, but who think there's nothing for them to do. That they just have to sit on the couch and be upset –  or tune out. 

Sometimes we have someone join a Giving Circle whose individual contribution is very, very modest. But this is a person who can bring ten people with them everywhere they go. That is incredible power. We always are looking at Giving Circles in terms of dollars, yes, but also in terms of number of people.

Is it fair to say that the States Project is pro-democracy and not necessarily issue-driven? 

We are a non-partisan project, but we are in the business of electing majorities that are focused on improving people's lives. So in 2020, in Alaska, we supported a bipartisan coalition that was standing against a right-wing governor. We also have a whole policy team that works with sitting lawmakers on creating agendas that are popular and affordable, and can pass with even the slimmest of majorities. 

And the truth is that when we win majorities, all of the issues that we care about get moved forward. The one-issue lens, I think, is less potent than the power shift. When the power shift happens, all the issues are free to move.

Is there anything else you think people need to focus on as they’re considering the power of the state legislature? 

People think about Congress all the time. But we have to remember that, in 70% of the country, state legislatures draw the district lines that essentially decide who goes to Congress. So state legislatures have a real power lever over Congress. 

Also, we think about the Supreme Court a lot. But the Supreme Court doesn't write laws, they rule on laws, and many of those laws come out of state legislatures.

It was the Mississippi law that took down Roe. If that one hadn't done it, there were 16 other states that had queued up abortion bans, right after Kavanaugh was confirmed, explicitly to challenge Roe. Those laws are coming from state legislatures. 

So in all the places where I think people feel helpless, there is actually a way to plug in, and it's their state legislatures. It's something that has given me great solace. 

I am grounded and focused in a place – I’ll say it again – not where the glamour is, just where the power is.

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Matriarchy Reports wants to help to start a Giving Circle! (The full selection of states is here.) Tell us, which one would you support?

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