In Daily Beast Op-Ed, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison Highlights Democratic Governors as “Brick Wall” Protecting Voting Rights

In a new op-ed for the Daily Beast, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison highlights the importance of electing Democratic governors in 2022 to protect and expand voting rights.

“We cannot afford Republican governors and secretaries of state who will undermine democracy if it means Donald Trump will say nice things about them,” Harrison wrote. “We need Democrats who are committed to free and fair elections. We don’t have time for lap dogs.”

Republicans in gubernatorial primaries across the country have leaned aggressively into the Big Lie and voter suppression proposals to appease Trump and his far-right base.

Meanwhile, “Democratic governors continue to stand strong against Republican voter suppression.” 

Harrison highlights Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who blocked Republican bills that could have disenfranchised 18,000 voters, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who vetoed a GOP effort to shrink the window to request a mail ballot.

“Make no mistake,” said Harrison, “voting rights — and the future of our democracy — are on the ballot in 2022.”

Read key excerpts from the op-ed below:

Daily Beast: Democrats Are Fighting Like Hell for Voting Rights

Voting is a family tradition for me. It’s something I used to do with my grandfather. Now, it’s something I do with my two boys.

Every time I’m in the voting booth with my sons, I feel my grandfather’s legacy. He faced the burden of Jim Crow voter suppression firsthand. He shared those raw, painful memories with me when he was alive.

I know in my bones that I never want my sons to face those burdens. I wish that they were just stories for them—powerful lessons from a history that will never repeat.

But history is repeating itself all across the country.

And it’s not happening by accident. Ronna McDaniel, Kevin McCarthy, and Mitch McConnell have presided over the wholesale abandonment of democracy and voting rights by the GOP.

Republican lawmakers are leading a national campaign to suppress votes and undermine our democracy. They’ve introduced hundreds of voter suppression bills and nearly two dozen proud, Big Lie-believing Republicans are running for secretary of state offices.

[…]

In addition to our work nationally, Democratic governors continue to stand strong against Republican voter suppression. Recently, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer swatted down Republican bills that could have disenfranchised 18,000 voters. And Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a Republican effort to shrink the window to request a mail ballot.

Republicans didn’t like the way the last election went, so they are trying to make it harder for folks to vote—plain and simple.

In places where they’re in power, Democratic governors, secretaries of state, and state legislators have been a brick wall against these efforts. But we must elect more pro-voting rights Democrats at the state and local levels.

We cannot afford Republican governors and secretaries of state who will undermine democracy if it means Donald Trump will say nice things about them. We need Democrats who are committed to free and fair elections. We don’t have time for lap dogs.

Make no mistake, voting rights—and the future of our democracy—are on the ballot in 2022.

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