Democrats know the 2022 midterms are likely to be a political bloodbath in the House and even the Senate, so now they’re settling on a new strategy.
They want to protect the governorships they currently hold. Why do you suppose that’s so important to them?
Before you answer that question, let me be more specific. They want to protect the governorships they hold in key battleground states. You know, the kinds of places that Trump flipped red in 2016 but Biden somehow flipped back to blue in 2020.
Politico reports:
The Democratic Party’s emerging priority: Save the governorsAhead of the midterm elections, Democrats are expanding their scope far beyond congressional contests and on to governor races in battleground states, seeing them as existential for the party’s presidential prospects, if not democratic governance itself.Party leaders, deep-pocketed donors and leading super PACS were already planning to prioritize November’s gubernatorial contests, which have long been an afterthought on national election maps. But their focus has intensified this past year after Republicans attempted to undermine and overturn the last election and Democratic-led federal voting rights legislation went up in smoke…Much of the focus from donors on down has centered on the governor races in key battleground states, though there is an expectation that more money and support will also trickle down to candidates for secretaries of state and attorney general as well. Democratic governors in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — states President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020 — have all touted their roles as bulwarks for free elections, and those running for governor in Republican-held state capitals of Arizona and Georgia are pitching themselves as the last opportunity for the party to ensure that those states aren’t lost to Donald Trump-supporting election conspiracists.“My entire donating life has always been centered around Congress, but I really think that if you care about democracy, you need to worry about these governors’ races,” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic donor and lobbyist. “This is critical for us to win in 2024.”
In other words, since Democrats weren’t able to pass their so-called ‘voter reform’ bill, they want to hold on to control in the key swing states, so they can keep using the voting changes they made for 2020 during the pandemic. This is all about voting.
A little further down, the article basically admits this:
Overshadowing all these considerations is the party’s failure to pass voting rights legislation this past year. Without legislative action, Democrats are hoping that governors can serve as a blockade of sorts on GOP-led laws to further dial back pandemic-era voting expansions, restrict voting access and curtail participation in future elections.
The Hill is reporting today that Democrat governors are trying to hold on to their offices by handing out cash:
Up for re-election, Democratic governors dole out checksFacing political headwinds against their party, Democratic governors in key battleground states who are up for re-election this year are offering constituents the one thing voters in every party love to see: Straight cash.Governors considering how to spend hundreds of millions, and in many cases billions, of dollars in unanticipated tax revenue have asked legislators to cut checks directly to voters. The windfalls fueled by pandemic-era federal relief checks and a rapid economic rebound will allow some of the most vulnerable incumbents this year to deliver what may be the most potent political benefit any voter can see.In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers (D) has called on Republican legislators to approve a $150 stimulus check to every resident. In Maine, a budget proposal introduced by Gov. Janet Mills (D) would include $500 checks to about 800,000 eligible taxpayers. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has proposed a one-time $250 tax rebate to any resident who filed a tax return last year.Others have proposed more targeted payments. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she would use a $5 billion surplus in a state insurance fund to deliver drivers a $400 rebate for each vehicle they own. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) pushed for a statewide cut in gross receipts taxes, while Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) proposed cutting property taxes for a million residents.
So the new midterm strategy for Democrats is simple. Hold on to executive power in the swing states and bribe voters if you have to, all in order to keep the swing states as blue as possible in 2024.
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