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July 12, 2025 |
A defining feature of Donald Trump is that he demands attention. From outrage to stupidity to outright cruelty, he forces us to look at him the way a disaster prevents us from averting our eyes.
Much has been written about the attention economy and how Trump makes us more polarized, less informed and, frankly, dumber. But there is another byproduct of focusing on Trump that is far more dangerous to democracy. It allows other Republicans, particularly at the state level, to operate under the radar — with little attention paid to how they are tilting the playing field in their favor for next year’s elections.
Across the country, the GOP has built an election operation focused on gerrymandering, voter suppression and election denialism. Fueled by dark money and false conspiracy theories, it is the Republican Party’s top priority.
This is no accident. Trump knows that the greatest threat to his power is losing the majority next year. By slowly eroding voting rights, Republicans are gunning to secure a victory the only way they know how. We can’t let them get away with it.
Let’s start with North Carolina. At this point, Republicans in the state see voter suppression as their side hustle — while outright election subversion is their main hustle. After trying to steal a Supreme Court seat with a failed effort to disenfranchise 65,000 voters, they’re back at it and raring to go.
Last month, state Republicans introduced a sweeping elections bill aimed at restricting voting. Among other steps, the measure would bar state and local election officials from promoting voting. It would also require members of the military and citizens voting from abroad — the latest targets of the GOP voter suppression campaign — to provide a photo ID. North Carolina Republicans know that without these efforts, Democrats are more likely to win. |
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Texas Republicans have their own scheme to rig next year’s vote. After pressure from Trump, the state is trying to jam a rare mid-decade redistricting into a special session, targeting four majority-minority districts. It’s all about the midterms. Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to win the House majority and this redistricting attempt is just a Hail Mary aimed at weakening the power of Democratic votes ahead of the midterms.
The Trump Justice Department, which has turned into an arm of the GOP, played its part by urging Texas to redistrict because of concerns that it impermissibly used race in drawing the current map. Gov. Greg Abbott cited those concerns in announcing the redistricting — a stance that flatly contradicts the state’s previous claims, in court, that it didn’t use race.
These preemptive attacks on free and fair elections are happening every day across the country.
In Kansas, Republicans recently passed a law that bans grace periods for mail-in ballots, likely disenfranchising large numbers of voters. In Wyoming and Indiana, proof of citizenship is now required to vote. Indiana’s GOP secretary of state even announced this week that he’s going to purge over 1,600 already-registered voters from the rolls unless they provide proof of citizenship within 30 days of being notified. And Georgia announced an “audit” that will force voters registered at non-residential addresses to update their registrations or risk having them cancelled. Republicans in the state also are working to install MAGA-loving election deniers on key local election boards.
I know — there’s a lot to keep track of right now. Every push alert feels like impending doom. Every piece of news is breaking. But elections happen in the states, so we can’t ignore what’s going on there. These efforts to rig next year’s vote will make the difference between a Democratic majority and Trump dictatorship.
We all have a role to play in protecting our democracy and we can’t afford to lose hope. To find more ways to get involved, check out our bulletin board, available only to premium members: you can share resources, upcoming actions and events with fellow members and friends in the pro-democracy movement.
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