HENRICO, VIRGINIA — Fresh off a campaign event at Buz and Ned’s Real Barbecue in Henrico, Virginia, Abigail Spanberger was nearing the finish line of her first political campaign — and a most improbable down-to-the wire battle against a vulnerable incumbent, Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA).
Spanberger spoke to ThinkProgress about what it’s like having an opponent in Brat who admitted that he and his fellow Republicans “lie all the time.”
She also sha...
politics
A guide to how Democrats can take back the House in the midterms
Two years after President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win (despite receiving nearly three million fewer votes than his opponent), Democrats finally have a chance to regain control of one (or both) chambers of legislature. This would mean an opportunity for Congress to finally offer meaningful checks and balances on the Trump administration after the midterm elections, this Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats to win the House. Twenty-five GOP-controlled districts...
Democrats winning the popular vote won’t be enough to save Americans’ health care from Republicans
The 2010 election was a historic disaster for the Democratic Party. Republican House candidates won the national popular vote by 6.8 percentage points and took a commanding majority as a result. It marked the end of President Obama’s legislative agenda and the beginning of an era when Republicans demanded massive concessions just to keep the government open.
Now imagine that 2018 is the mirror image of 2010 — that is, that Democrats win the popular vote by the exact same...
Meet the state Senate candidate who’s trying to convince Tennessee’s 1 percent to support Medicaid
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE — Kristen Grimm has just realized she forgot to clean out her minivan. She gushes her apologies as she pulls open the driver’s side door, revealing a passenger seat littered with palm cards and newspapers. Her backseat, filled with yard signs, an extra coat, and a change of shoes is also not rider-ready.
But her dismay about the messy car doesn’t — or rather, it can’t — last long before she’s on to the next thing: A phone call from a fr...
The US now has more than 56.7 million freelance workers—and they vote
Freelancers are on the rise. And they’re rising up.
A new report from Freelancers Union and Upwork estimates that there are now 56.7 million Americans freelancers, an increase of 3.7 million in the past five years.
“The s...
Republican Attorney General reportedly let his Senate campaign consultants direct his state office
Missouri Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley allowed “out-of-state political consultants” to give “direct guidance and tasks to his taxpayer-funded staff,” according to a report by The Kansas City Star.
Among other things, The Star reports that Hawley’s political consultants helped oversee the attorney general office’s rollout of “Missouri’s lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, which Hawley announced in June 20...
“Do you abuse more than one drug at a time?”: Wisconsin to drug screen people on Medicaid
In addition to imposing 80 hours of work per month, Wisconsin will require that Medicaid recipients complete a drug screening questionnaire to keep their health coverage.
While the Trump administration rejected Wisconsin’s bid to drug test Medicaid recipients, the Department of Health Services (DHS) told ThinkProgress on Friday that the state will ask them the same questions they already ask people on cash assistance as a condition of eligibility. The “D...
The economy still matters for US elections, but not in the way many people think
The US economy is doing well. GDP growth is robust and the job market is strong. Yet Donald Trump’s approval rating is low, and his party is expected to lose a lot of seats in midterm elections on Tuesday. So does that mean the economy...
Pennsylvania candidate gets boost from young people drawn to her climate activism
LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA — Long before Election Day, young climate activists began gravitating to a positive force for change in Pennsylvania’s 11th congressional district. Jess King had won the Democratic nomination with a clear vision for how she would fight climate change and improve the lives of residents in Lancaster and southern York counties, a significant departure from previous Republican representatives.
King, head of an economic development nonprofit, pledged ...
Pennsylvania candidate gets boost from young people drawn to her climate activism
LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA — Long before Election Day, young climate activists began gravitating to a positive force for change in Pennsylvania’s 11th congressional district. Jess King had won the Democratic nomination with a clear vision for how she would fight climate change and improve the lives of residents in Lancaster and southern York counties, a significant departure from previous Republican representatives.
King, head of an economic development nonprofit, pledged ...