Democrat wins special state Senate election in Pennsylvania in major upset [Flipping a Trump+15 district]
This district has been heavily red for the last 60 years
One of the focal points of the campaign from the dem who won was opposition to musk
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43 replies
This IS HUGE. It really shows what swing state voters are thinking. It’s great sign for dems
Indeed. this was also a solid republican district. dems need to hammer Elon Musk and Trump are destroying the economy.
Yeah, and fucking everything else
Agree.
Fuck the Dems - I'm hoping it's a great sign for whatever party comes out of Bernie and AOC's current tour. (I know I don't really understand how things work there and I'm being optimistic talking about future elections.)
It's way more feasible for progressives to take over the existing Democratic party like MAGA took over the GOP.
If you think things are rigged inside the democratic party, it's even worse for third parties.
In anything like a competitive district, a progressive Independent challenger is more likely to split the vote for a milquetoast Democratic incumbent and hand the seat to the Republican challenger. Working within the Democratic primary system has its challenges, but also clears the field so that there's one clear choice for left-leaning voters rather than two.
First past the post sucks ass, but it's what we've got to live with until we've got enough power to change it.
We need a progressive tea party
I remember when that was the plan in 2016
That turned out great!
We meed to burn down the Duopoly, remove every boomer from power, and never look back.
Unfortunately, a lot of the shitty people in Congress are GenX. I'm so disgusted with my generation.
Yeah, I can accept that. I guess what really meant was fuck the current Dems that are so clearly complicit in whatever the GOP is doing and maybe even more Zionist. If they can be overhauled to the point they can, and do, get big money out (repeal citizens united), repair all the gerymandered districts etc. then sure - go Dems. I know that's a huge ask, but it's what's needed.
It isn't though it just shows what we already know. Voters want change
We knew that? People seem pretty disengaged overall
Disengaged and dissatisfied. People are currently particularly swayed by anti establishment rhetoric and elections keep swinging back and forth on a macro scale
Easy when Musk isn't rigging the voting machines
Exactly. State senator. The Wisconsin Supreme court where he has skin in the game will likely be another story.
On the one hand: Fucking A
On the other hand: We have a trump admin who is already pushing to get rid of elections and a Democrat Senate minority leader who actively refuses to fight. It is hard to care too much when we actively won't use the seats we have TO fight until it is way too late.
And now come the inevitable cries of "fraud!" and "election interference!"
Probably
And yet some Republicans were actually already warning about potentially losing this district before the election
Elon Musk, Scott Presler sound alarm over Republican Josh Parsons’ chances in Tuesday’s state Senate special election
I'm guessing all the attention and money was focusing on trump and not local election, it's been said on Reddit for years that trump is siphoning campaign money away from down ballot GOP elections to line his pockets
That's great but I really wish a new progressive party would come out of the ashes.
Dreams I suppose.
I really don't get the calls for a new party in the US lately. You've seen how to get a new movement win in a two party system with the tea party. A complete new party would just split the vote.
Ranked choice or STAR voting would potentially fix that.
Of course a different system would have different opportunities. You just won't have that before a progressive movement is in power.
So would magic.
It was called the “tea party”, any new movement within the democratic party will need to differentiate itself in name to make significant headway, so we will probably get a “new party” just as a division in the old one expressed through the primary system (assuming our democracy makes it that far)
Very good sign.
wish they can get rid of fetterman, but he wont be eligble til the next election.
Let’s keep that ball rolling
But Trump won every swing state!
Wow in 2 years maybe you'll show trump you like him less... What a victory
unsurprising really.
Good! If Democrats can KEEP UP The Moment then they Might be able to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING when they Win a HUGE MARGIN OF VICTORY in the Midterms!
Dems are pressurable. Republicans are lot harder to pressure
Elections decide who you have to work with
They alone won't fully fix things, but they can set the stage for progress
It's going to take both voting and directed pressure to change things
Republicans caved to the Tea Party and a catch phrase. They are ridiculously easy to pressure.
The Democrats have been fighting against their own constituency for decades, pushing Hillary over Obama in 2008, Hillary over Bernie in 2016, and whatever you want to call that clusterfuck last year.
Hopefully, we can finally get a Guillotine Party to do to the Democrats what the Tea Party did to the GOP.
Republicans got the Tea Party. Democrats are getting the Guillotine Party.
Schumer is proof they are pressurable!
Very true. His donors apply pressure all the time!
Under what proof are Democrats pressurable?
Like, actually.
One party seems to be have actually adjusted its party to match the citizens requests and has an average age of their house leaders over 20 years younger.
Not for the better but change happened. Where is that present in the DNC?
get out here with that defeatist bs.
Look, Pennsylvanians know a thing or two about election a representative, that representative having a personality changing life event, and then that representative going on to fix absolutely nothing and in fact make things measurably worse.
But even still they did the math, calculated the risk:reward of their vote, held their nose and cast their ballots.
Just as I have for every election my whole life.
You want real, meaningful change? Support progressive candidates at the local level who will be in a position to get rid of first past the post voting. The two party system that enables the Democrats' laziness is a direct, organic result of FPTP. Thankfully how voting works is legislated at the local level, meaning if we can get some form of Rank Choice then suddenly Democrats are going to have to care A LOT because it'll be easier to vote them out without simultaneously voting a Republican in.
But until we can fix the source of the problem (FPTP) damage mitigation will continue to be the name of the game, and it'll be a game we will eventually, inevitably lose.
We CAN fix it, but we need less cynicism* and apathy.
*I didn't say "no cynicism" that'd be terrible, I don't think I could get through the day without a cup or two... But everything in moderation, ya know?
We did that locally, then the dems teamed up with the GOP to defeat all of that, and then helped elected GOP county seats.
FPTP allows it, but FPTP is not the cause. We have had progressive politics in this country before, even with FPTP.
The cause is party leadership that is completely out of touch with reality.