We’re now in the thick of the presidential campaign, but it’s always worth staying aware of important state and local contests, and there’s a good opportunity to lend a hand in Alabama this week.
As Run for Something’s Amanda Litman told us when we reached out to her last month to talk about the draconian embryonic personhood decision in the Alabama supreme court:
State legislators are the ones making the decisions about access in each state — even in a deep red place, it matters to have strong pro-choice leaders calling out their bullshit and being a loud voice for the majority of Americans who support the freedom to make our own health care decisions.
Making that happen, Litman says, means supporting folks running for these offices. “Knock doors, make calls, write postcards, give money — whatever and however you can help, do it.”
Here’s a chance to do just that, in a place where the threat to women’s health and reproductive freedom is very clear right now.
There’s a special election in Alabama on March 26th to fill a vacant seat in District 10. Democrat Marilyn Lands, who lost in the race for this seat to Republican David Cole last year (Cole has since stepped down after pleading guilty to voter fraud charges last summer) is running again, and has a good chance this time around.
This is a tight election, with neither Lands nor her Republican opponent clearly ahead in the polls in an very competitive district for the state (District 10 includes Huntsville, Alabama’s biggest city). The stakes are clear to Alabamans — this race is widely seen now as a referendum on reproductive rights — and should be to everyone else, since as we’ve learned over and over, what begins in the states rarely stays there.
Want to do something about it? Sign up for phone-banking shifts right here.
Now we know picking up a single seat in a red state isn’t going to fix things instantly. That’s not how it works. But it’s the collective outcome of these smaller contests that shapes what democracy looks like for everyone nationwide, and every little victory helps. Democracy is slow work, and what matters is getting started.
So get busy!
This was brought to our attention by Jessica Craven — Ink reader and great cataloger of possibilities for action like these at her newsletter, Chop Wood, Carry Water.
Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
This post was originally published on The.Ink.