Sister District is a political group in the United States aiming to elect Democrats in swing statehouse [1] districts with Republican incumbents. Safe districts provide funds and volunteers. [2]
The Sister District Project is a woman-led operation [3] founded by Rita Bosworth, Gaby Goldstein, Candis Mitchell, Lyzz Schwegler, and Lala Wu [4] following the 2016 United States presidential election. [5] [6] In 2017, Sister District Project reported raising over $350,000 in small-dollar donations. [7]
Bosworth argued more Democratic statehouses would reduce partisan gerrymandering. [8] [9] [10]
Building on Tea Party movement tactics such as field organizing, identifying likely supporters, and tracking door knocking, [11] progressive movements like Indivisible, Swing Left, and Sister District Project brought new energy to progressive grassroots organizing. [12] [13]
Sister District helped flip the Virginia House and Senate to Democratic control. [14] [11]
The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican nominee, and Ross Perot, the Reform Party nominee and 1992 Independent presidential candidate.
American electoral politics have been dominated by successive pairs of major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic of the United States. Since the 1850s, the two largest political parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—which together have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Despite keeping the same names, the two parties have evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over their long lifespans, in response to social, cultural, and economic developments—the Democratic Party being the left-of-center party since the time of the New Deal, and the Republican Party now being the right-of-center party.
Third party, or minor party, is a term used in the United States' two-party system for political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties.
In American politics, a swing state is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to presidential elections, by a swing in votes. These states are usually targeted by both major-party campaigns, especially in competitive elections. Meanwhile, the states that regularly lean to a single party are known as "safe states", as it is generally assumed that one candidate has a base of support from which a sufficient share of the electorate can be drawn without significant investment or effort by the campaign.
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue states — in presidential and other statewide elections. By contrast, states where the vote fluctuates between the Democratic and Republican candidates are known as "swing states" or "purple states". Examining patterns within states reveals that the reversal of the two parties' geographic bases has happened at the state level, but it is more complicated locally, with urban-rural divides associated with many of the largest changes.
The politics of Virginia have followed major historical events and demographic changes in the commonwealth. In the 21st century, the northern region has become more liberal in attitudes and voting, constituting a reliable voting bloc for Democrats and joining with population centers in the Richmond Metropolitan and Hampton Roads areas to dominate the state. Political orientation varies by region, with the larger cities and suburban areas generally voting Democratic and the rural areas voting Republican. The southern, rural regions have remained rural and conservative. Until 2021 when the GOP swept all statewide offices, Virginia was shifting more Democratic and now is considered a swing state again by most pundits.
Elections in Vermont are authorized under Chapter II of the Vermont State Constitution, articles 43–49, which establishes elections for the state level officers, cabinet, and legislature. Articles 50–53 establish the election of county-level officers.
The 1980 United States presidential election in Florida took place on Tuesday, November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Florida voters chose 17 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Vice President Walter Mondale, against Republican challenger and former California Governor Ronald Reagan and his running mate and former Director of the CIA, George H.W. Bush.
The "Blue wall" is a term used by political pundits to refer to eighteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia that the Democratic Party won in each presidential election from 1992 to 2012. George W. Bush, the only Republican president elected during this time, was able to narrowly win the electoral college in 2000 and 2004 only by winning states outside of the blue wall, enough to defeat his Democratic opponents, Al Gore and John Kerry, respectively.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2016, except in New Hampshire and Vermont where governors only serve two-year terms. These two states elected their current governors in 2018. Nine state governors ran for reelection and all nine won, while Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana could not run again due to term limits and Republican Gary Herbert of Utah decided to retire at the end of his term.
Unite America is an American grassroots organization founded by Charlie Wheelan with the goal of reforming the political system and bridging the partisan divide. Unite America supports both electoral political reforms as well as independent-minded candidates.
REDMAP is a project of the Republican State Leadership Committee of the United States to increase Republican control of congressional seats as well as state legislatures, largely through determination of electoral district boundaries. The project has made effective use of partisan gerrymandering, by relying on previously unavailable mapping software such as Maptitude to improve the precision with which district lines are strategically drawn. The strategy was focused on swing blue states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin where there was a Democratic majority but which they could swing towards Republican with appropriate redistricting. The project was launched in 2010 and estimated to have cost the Republican party around US$30 million.
Swing Left is a progressive political group with Hybrid PAC status in the United States that was created following the election of Donald Trump in 2016 with a goal of gaining a Democratic majority in United States legislatures. The group was founded by Ethan Todras-Whitehill, Miriam Stone, Josh Krafchin, Michelle Finocchi, and Matt Ewing to create ways for Democrats to volunteer in their nearest swing district. Its initial mission was to win a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in 2018 by building a network of volunteers and donors in targeted swing districts across the U.S. Swing Left uses a margin of fifteen points to determine which seats are considered "swing seats", and then concentrates their efforts there. Swing Left cast a broader net in 2019, when they began putting effort toward maintaining a Democratic majority in United States State Legislatures after merging with another organization, Flippable. Swing Left focuses on training volunteers to register voters, phone bank, fundraise, and engage in door-to-door campaigning for Democratic candidates.
The 2018 Vermont Senate election took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Vermont voters elected State Senators in all 30 seats. State senators serve two-year terms in the Vermont Senate. A primary election on August 14, 2018, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6 general election ballot.
Cori Anika Bush is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 1st congressional district, since 2021. The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Louis County.
The 2020 Vermont Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Vermont voters elected all 30 state senators from 13 districts, with each district electing between one and six senators. State senators serve two-year terms in the Vermont Senate. A primary election on August 11, 2020, determined which candidates appeared on the November 3 general election ballot. All the members elected will serve in the Vermont General Assembly.
The 2022 Vermont Senate election took place on November 8, 2022, as part of the biennial United States elections. The election coincided with elections for other offices including the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, and State House. Vermont voters elected all 30 state senators from 16 districts, with each district electing between one and three senators. State senators serve two-year terms in the Vermont Senate. Primary elections were held on August 9, 2022. This election will be the first to use new districts adopted by the Vermont General Assembly to allocate for population changes across the state after the 2020 census.
The 2016 Vermont Senate election took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Vermont voters elected State Senators in all 30 seats. State senators serve two-year terms in the Vermont Senate. The election coincided with elections for other offices including the Presidency, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, and State House. A primary election held on August 9, 2016 determined which candidates appeared on the November 6 general election ballot.
The 2014 Vermont Senate election took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Vermont voters elected State Senators in all 30 seats. State senators serve two-year terms in the Vermont Senate. The election coincided with elections for other offices including the U.S. House, Governor, and State House. A primary election held on August 26, 2014 determined which candidates appeared on the November 4 general election ballot.
The 2022 Vermont House of Representatives election took place on November 8, 2022, as part of the biennial United States elections. The election coincided with elections for other offices including the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, and State Senate. Vermont voters elected all 150 state representatives from 109 districts, with each district electing between one and two representatives. State representatives served two-year terms. A primary election was held on August 9, 2022, and it determined which candidates appear on the November 8 general election ballot. All the members elected would serve in the Vermont General Assembly. This election was the first to use new districts adopted by the Vermont General Assembly to allocate for population changes across the state after the 2020 census.