Indivisible Twin Cities organized volunteers to work two hour shifts standing in front of the GOP booth at the Minnesota State Fair—for the entire ten days of the fair!—wearing tee shirts that call the GOP out for their terrible policies. AMAZING! (Submitted by Ann and David B.)
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
Believe it or not, today’s good news list is so long I have to keep this opening short or I’ll run out of newsletter space! That, in and of itself, is good news!
So many of the victories this week come as a direct result of the work people like you are doing. The arc of history may “bend towards justice,” in other words, but if it does it’s because regular Americans like you are pulling at it with all your might.
It doesn’t go unnoticed.
Thanks for all you have done, all you’re doing now (like getting ready for your Workers Over Billionaires protest tomorrow), and all you will do in the future!
Because of you we will win.
Celebrate This! 🎉
Democrats flipped an Iowa state senate seat, breaking the GOP supermajority in a Trump +11 district and swinging the seat by 21 points!
In DC, dozens of labor unions led a march with thousands of people to protest Trump. There were loud chants of “Free DC,” and “It’s time for Trump to go.”
Thousands also joined Rev. Al Sharpton and Zohran Mamdani for a “March On Wall Street” in New York City.
A Democratic candidate got the most votes in Georgia’s Senate District 21 election and has taken the lead over six Republicans! It now moves to a run-off.
Residents in Michigan showed up to protest Mike Johnson at his $500/night hotel.
On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA staff published an open letter opposing the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency, and demanding change so the country is prepared in the event of another catastrophic disaster.
On the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s death, the U.S. government released thousands of pages of the investigation into his lynching.
Illinois became the first state to launch a legal advice line for LGBTQ+ residents, providing free and confidential legal advice on discrimination, harassment, safety, and more.
The state of Florida is ordering cities to remove rainbow-painted crosswalks and street art, but cities are fighting back. The city of St. Petersburg asked the state for an exemption, citing proof they’ve actually made the intersections safer and communities stronger, and Delray Beach’s city commission voted to keep theirs intact, too.
The U.S. Mint’s new quarter honoring Stacey Park Milbern, co-founder of the disability justice movement, is the first to depict a woman using a wheelchair on American currency.
A judge ruled that the Utah Legislature violated the Utah Constitution when it repealed Prop. 4, which established an independent redistricting commission.
Workers at Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks just won their union elections.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to expand a fast-track deportation process.
George Mason University’s president rejected the Trump Admin’s demand for an apology in order to keep its federal funding.
Paul Prine, the former police chief of Mobile, AL who was fired last year while facing a damning report about his department’s use of force against Black residents, has lost his mayoral race.
A flotilla of ships departed from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip today with humanitarian aid and activists on board in the largest attempt yet to break the long Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea.
A federal judge has issued an injunction preventing the Trump administration’s FTC from investigating Media Matters for America, the liberal media watchdog group.
Jimmy Carter will be honored with a commemorative Forever stamp on what would have been his 101st birthday.The USPS will release it on Oct. 1 in Atlanta.
A coalition of cities, doctors, and small businesses represented by Democracy Forward won a preliminary injunction, blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s dangerous new rule that would gut key protections under the Affordable Care Act.
In Alabama, Ciara Smith won her election for Anniston mayor, becoming the youngest and first African-American elected mayor in the town’s history.
A group of activists gathered at the Ohio Statehouse to criticize Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to send 150 Ohio National Guard members for what organizers called a “bogus” and “manufactured” emergency in Washington D.C.
Ride-hail drivers in California will be able to unionize and collectively bargain for better pay and working conditions under a deal announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom, leaders of the state Legislature, unions, Uber and Lyft.
After a multi-state lawsuit over Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to freeze more than $6.8B in education funding to US schools, the Trump administration has agreed to restore the funds for a range of educational services.
The DHS has begun moving detainees out of the immigration detention center in the middle of the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," days after a federal judge ruled that parts of the facility must be dismantled.
Neil Young has released a new song lambasting Donald Trump, entitled Big Crime.
The California Supreme Court denied Republicans’ petition to block Democrats’ redistricting measure on the ballot – the second GOP challenge to the redraw that it’s thrown out in one week.
A judge has denied Meta’s request to dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against it by early employee Kelly Stonelake.
Through fundraisers, grocery deliveries, ‘adopt a corner’ initiatives and ICE watch, Angelenos are coming together to support their immigrant neighbors.
Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican, said the National Guard shouldn’t be sent to cities without a governor’s request after Trump threatened to send troops to Baltimore and Chicago.
A Fox News host called for stricter gun laws live on air after the Minnesota shooting.
The new Gap ad featuring the global girl group KATSEYE is going viral, not only because of the impressive choreography, but its embrace of individuality and cultural diversity. Ahem, American Eagle—take notes!
League of Women Voters reversed their position and are now neutral on Prop 50! Who did that? YOU DID!!
Sen. Susan Collins was heckled and drowned out at times by demonstrators at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in her home state.
The food workers’ union representing more than 12,000 workers with Stater Bros. Markets voted to ratify a three-year labor contract at grocery stores in Southern California.
The latest #WeCount Report shows another increase in telehealth abortions in the US: now, at least 1 in 4 of all abortions are carried out via telehealth and mailed pills.
In a major win for voting rights, an Arizona court tossed a GOP lawsuit that tried to make voting by mail even harder.
A Pennsylvania state law required election officials to reject undated or wrongly dated mail-in ballots. But in a win for voters, a federal circuit court ruled this week that the law violated the First and 14th Amendments.
And a federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit against every federal district judge in Maryland – calling the Trump administration’s legal maneuver to overturn an immigration court order “novel and potentially calamitous litigation.”1
Joni Ernst announced she won’t seek re-election!
A recent survey conducted by and Verasight found that Democrats now lead Republicans in the generic Congressional ballot by 8 points, 49% to 41%, doubling their advantage from the previous poll in mid-July.
The Texas Supreme Court has denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s filing seeking to stop the State Fair of Texas from prohibiting handguns on the property.
The Texas Supreme Court also denied Paxton’s request to reverse the Fifteenth Court’s decision to halt discovery and delay a hearing in his case against Beto O’Rourke.
Mexico’s jaguar population has increased by 30% since 2010, a “surprising and encouraging” development.
Less than one-third of Americans now view tariffs favorably, and a majority believe they are increasing costs and causing chaos.
Gavin Newsom is now trolling Trump with an online ‘PATRIOT SHOP.’ The collection includes MAGA-style red hats reading “Newsom was right about everything, “Real Patriot” hats, and a “Trump Is Not Hot” tank top.
A new Quinnipiac University national poll indicates that a majority of registered voters oppose Trump’s takeover of the nation’s capital.
AmeriCorps will release all previously withheld funds for jobs and grants supporting western North Carolina’s recovery after Hurricane Helene after a lawsuit by Attorney General Jeff Jackson, whom we helped to elect!
Fed Governor Lisa Cook announced she is suing Trump for trying to fire her.
The Environmental Voter Project announced that their mobilization campaigns in this year’s two largest mayoral elections — New York City and San Antonio — both achieved statistically significant increases in turnout! (San Antonio report, New York City report). Amazing!
A federal appeals court ruled against Trump’s plans to end temporary protections for 600,000 Venezuelans who have permission to live and work in the U.S.
A federal appeals court ruled that many of Trump’s tariffs are not legally permissible. This ruling will not immediately block the tariffs, but it marks a significant blow to Trump’s signature trade strategy.
Watch This! 👀
This man’s comment at Republican Rep. Mark Alford’s Town Hall is exquisite, poignant, and incredibly forceful. So worth a watch.
(Footage from @acynig)
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