(Vanessa Vaughn) West is a Democrat making her second run for a Kansas House seat representing a western Kansas City neighborhood where Republicans have held sway since the construction of homes began in the late 1990s.
Despite that history, West’s race against Republican state Rep. Angela Stiens is on the national Democratic Party’s radar, as is the Kansas Legislature. Democrats need to gain just two seats in the 125-member House or three in the 40-member Senate to break a supermajority that has enabled Republicans to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of measures restricting abortion providers and transgender rights.
A similar battle is playing out in North Carolina, where the flip of a single seat in either the House or Senate could cost Republicans a veto-proof majority that has repeatedly imposed its will over the objections of a Democratic governor. In Nevada, meanwhile, it’s Democrats who stand to gain a veto-proof majority over a Republican governor, if they can pick up just one more state Senate seat without losing one in the Assembly.
It would make a difference to the people living there who are too poor to leave.
Those people are hostages, constantly threatened by the red state leaderrship: ‘Cut capital gains taxes if you want them to know how to read!’, ‘better not let in immigrants or we’ll tell them your Jewish space lasers are causing their weather!’.
This same pattern has happened since slavery, they threaten the country with absolute poverty unless they have favorable trade rates (tariff of abominations and nullification) , or they can keep jim Crow, or now, abortion. Remember Medicaid expansion?
We need a new underground railroad to help support decent people with a minimal education who want to be functional to leave the south and start new lives in decent states. We pay their rent for a few months, maybe some basic help like minimal furniture and food, if they have the skills to get a job.
Everybody should have a dream, I escaped from the south and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.