Newly Energized Liberals Pour Record Effort Into Local Races

Upset over Trump’s victory, grassroots Democrats enlist in nationwide efforts to swing special House elections, state contests and mayoral races; Republicans dig in, citing a lack of results so far

https://www.wsj.com/articles/liberal-activists-pour-record-amounts-of-time-and-money-into-local-gop-strongholds-1491925602

ALPHARETTA, Ga.—For years, Rachel Paule didn’t have much to do with politics. That changed abruptly after Election Day.The 23-year-old Georgian attended the women’s march in Washington after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. She became a local captain for Sister District, a new online group that directs donors to legislative races around the country.

She contributed $15 to a Delaware state senate candidate running in a special election more than 700 miles away.Now she is spending 40 hours a week on a special election in her own backyard, campaigning for Democrat Jon Ossoff in his bid for an open House seat in the suburbs north of Atlanta—the seat once held by Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and recently vacated by Tom Price, the Republican picked to be Mr. Trump’s secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Ms. Paule is one of the new foot soldiers of the Democratic Party—a surging wave of activists who just Tuesday made their presence felt in a special House election in Kansas. Republicans had to make an extraordinary 11th-hour investment—including robocalls by Mr. Trump—to hang on to a seat in a deep-red district that Mr. Trump had won in 2016 by 27 points. The seat had been vacated by Mike Pompeo when he was tapped to be the new Central Intelligence Agency director.

Special elections are generally low-turnout affairs that may not be a reliable bellwether for long-term trends, but the surprisingly close Kansas result was a sign of momentum that will surely energize Democratic activists in coming campaigns.


 

Last edited by Common Sense (4/12/2017 10:06 am)