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batboyblog · 2 years

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Governors 2022: You'd Better Vote!

A few days ago I made and blazed a post on important US Senate races but also coming up on November 8th there are equally (if not more) important races for Governor across the country. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe V Wade its thrown abortion rights to the states. Who you vote for in this election will determine what abortion rights look like in your state, will they be protected? or will abortion be banned? up to the voters this election. Democratic Governors in red states have served as the thin blue line protecting the right to choice, vetoing radical anti-abortion laws and refusing to enforce antiquated 19th century anti-abortion laws.

Republican Governors however have declared open season on trans students in sports the families of trans children health care for trans kids trans healthcare for poor adults drag queens LGBT books the use of pronouns any conversation of race in school we can go on but it's clear that Republican state governments in 2022 have declared war on Queer people and Queer life, Trans people in particular and trans children most of all.

Finally many of the Republican candidates in 2022 are election deniers, they do not believe Joe Biden legally won the 2020 election and have made it clear that if they're in charge come 2024 they won't allow their states votes to be counted for any one but Donald Trump. How we vote in 2022 decides if we have a free and fair democratic election for President in 2024. So PLEASE look at this close Governor's elections, if you live in these states VOTE VOTE VOTE. But more than vote, volunteer your time, even if you don't live in this states you can call or text voters for a campaign. If you have even one dollar to spare for these campaigns give it to the candidate you like best. A lot of them also have merch stores you can buy stuff if you'd rather.

Arizona

Katie Hobbs (flip)

Arizona Security of State Katie Hobbs is running to replace term-limited Republican Governor Doug Ducey. As Security of State in charge of Arizona's elections Hobbs was in the center of the 2020 "stop the steal" conspiracy theory. In the face of death threats, doxxing of her home address and children's phone numbers, and armed protests in front of her home Hobbs did her job and made sure all of Arizona's votes were counted. Before becoming Security of State Hobbs was a social worker, a State Senator and Leader of the State Senate's Democrats. In the State House she helped push through medicaid expansion making Arizona one of the few Republican controlled states to do so. Republicans have nominated former news caster, Kari Lake for governor. Lake rose to prominence by being a vocal supporter of election conspiracy theories. Lake has called for Hobbs to be jailed for her role in the election as Arizona Security of State. She called for the Arizona election results to be decertified even after Biden took office, and for Trump to be re-instated as President. She declared she would not have certified the 2020 election result if she'd been governor at the time, bring what she'd do in 2024 as governor into question. Lake also called abortion "ultimate sin" and wants it banned in all cases, she wants to ban trans people from using the bathroom that conforms with their gender rather than assigned sex at birth, she declared she wouldn't follow/enforce federal gun laws, she wants to use Arizona state resources to deport undocumented people without federal government involvement, and to use Arizona tax payer dollars to finish Trump's wall. Also Lake has been vocal about Covid-19 conspiracies, supporting fake treatments, being against vaccine or mask mandates and being proudly not vaccinated herself. Lake would ban abortion, deport people illegally, victimize trans people, and can't be trusted with elections or public health, Katie Hobbs is 100% pro-choice, has already protected our democracy and isn't a bully, the choice is clear.

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Florida

Charlie Crist (flip)

Congressman and former Governor Charlie Crist is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Crist served as Governor of Florida as a Republican from 2007 till 2011. When Crist decided to run for the US Senate in 2010 as a Republican. However hardcore Republicans were outraged at him for his support of environmental policies, his appointing of a black Justice to the state Supreme Court, his expressing a willingness to give President Obama "a shot", and his support of Obama's 2009 Recovery Act. Republicans backed Marco Rubio. Crist ran any ways as an Independent but due to vote splitting Rubio won with 48% of the vote. Crist endorsed Obama's re-election in 2012 and became a Democrat. He ran for Governor as a Democrat in 2014 and lost by 1%. In 2016 Crist ran for Congress becoming the first Democrat to represent St. Petersburg Florida in 62 years. While in Congress Crist has supported bills to legalize Marijuana, and introduced a bill to make it illegal to fire or not hire federal employees for using cannabis. Crist has also supported a federal assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. Crist has centered standing up for LGBT rights and Abortion rights as main issues in his 2022 campaign for Governor. Current Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is running for a second term after a narrow, 0.4% win in 2018. DeSantis has made an all out assault on the rights of LGBT people and reproductive rights the center of his re-election campaign. On June 1st 2021 DeSantis signed a law banning trans girls from participating and competing in middle-school and high-school girls' and college women's sports. He supported and signed the Florida "Don't Say Gay" bill banning any conversion of LGBT issues in younger grades. The Don't Say Gay bill has inspired a wave of banning LGBT related books from school and public libraries around America. DeSantis' Department of Health is in the process of banning transitioning, both medical AND social transitioning for minors in the state. DeSantis' Department of Health has already banned Florida Medicaid from covering medical transition/trans health care in the state. DeSantis is also 100% against abortion and is currently fighting in court to ban it totally in the state. He also took the extraordinary step of firing the elected Democratic State Attorney for Tampa for saying he would not enforce not yet passed laws against trans medical treatment for minors, as well as abortion. Florida in 2022 is the front line of LGBT rights and trans rights most of all. If DeSantis wins he'll try to ride bullying queer people, queer kids, to the White House. If you're queer, if you have any LGBT loved ones, if you care about LGBT rights, dig deep give Charlie Crist a dollar, if you're in Florida please do whatever you can to stop DeSantis.

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Georgia

Stacey Abrams (flip)

Former Georgia State House Minority Leader and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Brian Kemp. A rematch of their painfully close 2018 election face off in which it is widely believed Kemp used his then office of Security of State to weight the odds against Abrams. Kemp closed over 200 polling places in poor and minority areas thought to be strong for Abrams causing longer lines and longer trips to a polling place for her voters. He also purged over 600K voters from the voting rolls and slowed down processing of new voter registration. After her painful 2018 defeat Abrams launched Fair Fight Action. Fair Fight works to register people to vote, to fight unfair voting laws in court, and to boost turn out. It's understood Abrams tireless organizing in Georgia was key to Joe Biden's narrow 2020 win in the state and as well as the Senate run-off wins of Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock that gave Democrats control of the Senate. Expanding Medicaid is one of Abrams top goals for her governorship as Georgia is one of the last states to have not expanded coverage. If elected Abrams will not only be Georgia's first black governor, she'll be the first black woman governor in America. Since taking office Kemp has kept up his voter suppressing ways, signing laws that limit absentee voting, giving the Republican controlled legislature the right to overrule and replace local elected elections officials, and making it a crime to give food and even water to people waiting in line to vote. Kemp also banned mask mandates during Covid even banning local governments in Georgia from enacting them. He lifted the stay at home order in early 2020 against the advice of the CDC and again overruling Democratic mayors in his state. The result was Georgia having some of the worst Covid numbers of 2020. Georgia doesn't need more election suppression, support Abrams.

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Kansas

Laura Kelly (re-elect)

Governor Laura Kelly was elected in an upset win in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Before 2018 Kansas suffered 8 years under Republican Governor Sam Brownback and the "Kansas experiment". Under Governor Brownback taxes on the wealthy and corporations were slashed in some of the biggest tax cuts in American history. The result was an implosion of the state budget and deep cuts in all services and the near collapse of Kansas' education system. Governor Kelly campaigned to reverse the effects of the "Kansas experiment" and drew wide support even from Republicans alarmed by the effects of Republican tax policy. In office Governor Kelly worked to push through Medicaid expansion through the Republican controlled legislature. Thanks to Kelly over 100,000 Kansans got health coverage through Medicaid. Kelly has managed to fully fund Kansas' schools and balance Kansas' budget. Her first official act in office was to sign an order protecting LGBT state workers from discrimination, something Governor Brownback had eliminated in 2015. Governor Kelly was a leading figure in the campaign to protect abortion rights in Kansas through the ballot referendum and she opposes any new restrictions on abortion. Republicans have nominated Kansas' Attorney General Derek Schmidt to try to unseat Governor Kelly. Schmidt has been Kansas' Attorney General since 2011. During the Obama Administration Schmidt sued the Obama EPA to try to block regulation of oil and gas companies, green house gases, and to block Obama's clean power plan. Schmidt sued the Obama Administration to try to overturn Obamacare, and also DACA. Schmidt even took part in an official Kansas government panel which heard "evidence" that President Obama was not an American citizen and shouldn't be allowed on the ballot in Kansas in 2012. In 2020 Schmidt joined other Republican AGs to sue to try to overturn the results of the Presidential election. Since Biden has taken office Schmidt has sued the Biden Administration over its climate change policies. Governor Kelly has been a common sense problem solver and the line of protection for LGBT people and abortion rights in Kansas, Kansas needs a second term of her, not another Republican.

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Maine

Janet Mills (re-elect)

Governor Janet Mills was elected in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Mills is the first woman governor in Maine and was also the first woman Attorney General of the state. On her first day in office Mills signed Medicaid expansion into law. The Medicaid expansion had been passed by citizen vote on a ballot measure but vetoed by the Republican governor. This brought health coverage to 90,000 low income Mainers. Mills has pushed for aggressive climate action putting forward a plan to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045. In 2022 the Maine climate council reported the state had over shot its goals. Mills stand on climate change lead to her being invited to address the United Nations on the topic in 2019. A life long feminist, a co-founder of the Maine Women's Lobby Mills has pledged to veto any restriction on abortion and voiced support for changing the state's constitution to protect abortion rights. Mills also declared she would work to make sure it was safe for people from outside of Maine to come to the state seeking an abortion that might be illegal in their home state. Republicans have nominated former Governor Paul LePage to try to unseat Mills. LePage was governor from 2011 to 2019 winning two elections with split voting. LePage earned national attention for his regularly inflammatory and often racist comments such as declaring "New York Drug Dealers" were coming to Maine to sell drugs and "impregnate a young, white girl before they leave" and "black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers". When a Democratic state rep called him a racist LePage called him in the middle of the night and left a voice message in which he called the state rep a "little son of a bitch" and a "cocksucker" repeatedly, later LePage challenged the rep to a dual. When Maine voters passed ballot measures to expand Medicaid and legalize marijuana LePage vetoed the bills that would implement the will of the voters. He also vetoed a bill that would have banned conversion "therapy" for Minors, Governor Mills signed the bill a year later. LePage cut and restricted welfare in Maine resulting in the state leading the nation in food insecure children by 2018. Maine need a climate change world leader as governor not a racist.

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Nevada

Steve Sisolak (re-elect)

Governor Steve Sisolak was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Since taking office Sisolak has focused on climate change and protecting Nevada's fragile ecosystem. He appointed the first climate czar for the Governor's office in the history of the state. Under his leadership Nevada has become a world leader in solar power. Governor Sisolak set a goal of 50% of Nevada's power from renewables by 2030 and the state is on track to meet those goals. Sisolak stood up for Nevada's election integrity in the face of 2020 election conspiracies that heavily focused on the state. Since Roe V Wade was overturned Sisolak has spoken out in support of abortion rights. Sisolak worked to repel the state's anti-abortion law before Roe was struck down thus protecting abortion rights in the state now. Republicans have nominated Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo to try to unseat Governor Sisolak. Lombardo is against most if not all gun control measures. He worked to eliminate Clark County's (Las Vegas) gun registry even after the 2017 mass shooting, the deadliest in American history with 57 deaths. Lombardo also supports people being able to 3D print their own "ghost guns". Lombardo wants to get rid of Nevada's long standing system of universal mail in ballots and make it harder for people to vote. Lombardo bluntly declares himself "pro-life". Nevada can keep moving forward and be a climate leader or go backward and make it harder to vote.

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Pennsylvania

Josh Shapiro (hold)

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running to replace term-limited Democratic Governor Tom Wolf. Shapiro has been Attorney General since 2017. During his term in office Shapiro was a consistent opponent of the Trump administration. Shapiro sued the Trump administration over it's travel ban and also sued the Trump administration over its plan to allow employers to not cover birth control in their health insurance plans. Shapiro pushed the federal government to ban the blue prints for 3D printed guns. He supported the legalization of marijuana in 2019, but despite support from Governor Wolf and other leading Democrats is still being blocked by Republicans in the state legislature. Shapiro conducted a extensive investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. Shapiro's report uncovered over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse by over 300 priests and an extensive cover up by Church leadership. Republicans Nominated state Senator Doug Mastriano to face off with Shapiro in November. Mastriano is seen as a leading figure on the Christian Nationalist right who has worrying ties to far-right organizations and terrorist groups. Mastriano is known to have organized bus rides for Trump supporters to come to DC on January 6th. Mastriano and his wife were shown in video has being present when barricade around the US Capitol was breached and they can be seen passing beyond the barricade. It is unclear if Mastriano himself entered the Capitol building during the riot. Mastriano has refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation into January 6th or with the FBI criminal investigation. Mastriano's campaigned paid to have Gab, the racist far-right alternative to Twitter, make it so all new Gab users automatically fallowed Mastriano's account. Gab CEO Andrew Torba declared that electing Mastriano was his number one goal for the 2022 election. Torba also declared he had a personal policy that he didn't "conduct interviews with reporters who aren't Christian" and that he knew "Doug has a very similar media strategy where he does not do interviews with these people." Attorney General Shapiro is Jewish. It appears that members of Mastriano's security detail were also members of the far-right extremist militia group the Oath Keepers. Mastriano supporters at a public event he attended carried flags for another far-right militia, the Three Percenters. Both groups were involved in the January 6th rioting. Mastriano is a dangerous far-right anti-democracy candidate who was involved in the January 6th riot and hangs out with right wing terrorist groups, don't let him in office.

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Texas

Beto O'Rourke (flip)

Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke is running to unseat 2 term Republican Governor Greg Abbott. O'Rourke represented El Paso Texas in Congress from 2013 till 2019. O'Rourke won his first election to Congress in an upset primary win. His campaign centered on his support for LGBT rights and drug liberalization two issues that would remain major themes for O'Rourke in future campaigns. While in Congress O'Rourke was a social supporter of LGBT rights, abortion rights, and gun control, taking part in a sit in with Congressman John Lewis inside the House chamber to try to force the then Republican controlled house to vote on gun control. In 2018 O'Rourke left the house to run for the US Senate in an effort to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Many thought O'Rourke's campaign was a hopeless long shot but in the end it was a photo finish with Cruz 50.9% to O'Rourke's 48.3%. While he didn't win O'Rourke netted more votes then any Democrat in Texas history and energized long hopeless Texas Democrats. O'Rourke has run an aggressive no holds barred campaign, centering upholding LGBT rights, abortion rights, and even directly confronting Governor Abbott to his face over the failed response to the Uvalde shooting. Gregg Abbott has been governor of Texas since 2015. Abbott's reaction to mass shooting events in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 has been to uniformly reject tighter gun laws and call for prayer. Abbott was quick to endorse a false narrative of police heroism in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting in line with his "back the blue" ideology. After the 2021 ice storm left most of Texas without power in the record cold Abbott still refuses to consider integrating the state's power grid into one of the two national grids for ideological reasons. Abbott has been aggressively anti-abortion his whole career. Texas' aggressive anti-abortion bill is what lead to the Supreme Court case overturning Roe. Under the law not only is abortion illegal it empowers random citizens to sue those who get or those who preform an abortion. Abbott has also targeted the trans community. in 2022 Abbott ordered the state child welfare agency to treat gender affirming treatment of trans children as child abuse and investigate parents of trans children, which is happening now. Greg Abbott thinks he can bully trans kids and ultra ban abortion his way to re-election, Texas can prove it doesn't want a bully and wants someone to keep the lights on this winter.

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Wisconsin

Tony Evers (re-elect)

Governor Tony Evers was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Before becoming governor Evers was Wisconsin's statewide Superintendent. In his role as head of schools in the state Evers focused on expanding mental health excess for students. He regularly clashed with Republican Governor Scott Walker, who he beat in the 2018 election, over the school system's budget. Since becoming Governor Evers has championed Wisconsin's school passing the first budget increase in years, moving the state from 18th to 8th in the nation, and overseeing the first increase in spending on special ed in decades. Evers has also focused on rebuilding and repairing Wisconsin's crumbling roads and bridges after years of Republican neglect. One of Evers first actions as Governor was to withdraw Wisconsin from a Republican lead law suit against Obamacare. Evers supports expanding Medicaid in the state but has been blocked so far by a Republican legislature. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe Governor Evers joined Wisconsin's Attorney General in suing to try to stop the state's antiquated 1849 anti-abortion law from coming into effect. Evers has stated if the law does come into effect he will pardon any doctor convicted under it. Republicans have nominated perennial failed candidate and businessman Tim Michels to try to unseat Governor Evers. Michels has declared on abortion "The 1849 law is an exact mirror of my position, and my position is an exact mirror of the 1849 law,". Michels stated he believes marriage is "between one man and one woman". Michels also supports plans to make voting harder in Wisconsin and would not commit to certifying the 2024 Presidential election results if Trump doesn't win the state. Wisconsin can pick a common sense Democrat who will protect the right to choose and our elections, or a candidate that wants to use 19th century laws against peoples bodies and won't protect our elections, choice is clear.

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Thank you SO much for reading all this! To keep an already very long post to a readable length I had to make some choices about which races to cover, so please check out Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Tim Walz (Minnesota), Michelle Lujan Grisham (New Mexico) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) They need your support and your votes as well.

If you don't live in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin or New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio (Senate list) Please look up your state/local Democratic Party I GUARANTEE there is an important winnable election going on in your state right now that needs your attention, your vote for sure, but also your volunteer hours, and your money if you got ANY to spare even a dollar is worth giving to a winnable race and a good candidate.

Trust me when I say if you feel hopeless, upset, frustrated, feel like you're going crazy, volunteering, going out for a lovely walk knocking on doors and talking to real people is the best best best therapy there is, every time I feel 1,000 better and I'm NOT a social butterfly.

If you care about LGBT rights, you care about trans people, this is the election to vote and get involved, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott both think abusing trans people, particularly trans children, is their road to re-election and if they win it'll only spread and get much much worse. If you're Queer, or you care about LGBT people vote hard, and talk to everyone, have that hard awkward conversation with a family member about what voting Republican really means, talk till they understand guys. This is also true on Abortion Republicans everywhere are running on extreme total bans, we're talking pregnant teenage, pregnant 10 year old, rape and abuse victims being forced to carry their rapist baby to term when they're physically too young to give birth even close to safely.

finally thank you to @dduane one of my favorite childhood authors (I fangirled hard) and everyone else for helping my Senate post go viral, I hope this one does as well

VOTE NOVEMBER 8TH!