The most important Democratic candidates you’ve never heard of
It’s an off-off year election in 2023 as far as things go, with no federal congressional seats up for re-election and the presidential election a whole year away, but when it comes to elections that have significant and lasting consequences for people of all walks of life, 2023 is deserving of our close attention. There are two races for governor at the top of the ticket, with Andy Beshear up for re-election in Kentucky, and both New Jersey and Virginia have legislative races that determine control of their state houses.
When he was elected four years ago, Beshear only beat incumbent Matt Bevin by a slim margin, so he’s going to need a whole lot of get out the vote effort to put him over the top in 2023. New Jersey is a Democratic trifecta, but Democrats only have a slim majority in the Senate and Assembly. You can make a difference by contributing to the senate race in LD-2 (Democrat Caren Fitzpatrick), the senate race in LD-4 (Democrat Paul Moriarty), as well as the assembly race in LD-4 (Democrats Dan Hutchison & Cody Miller) and the assembly race in New Jersey’s LD-8 (Democrats Anthony Angelozzi & Andrea Katz). This is the state where former Senate President Steve Sweeney lost his seat to a relatively unknown right-wing Republican just two years ago, so your time and money absolutely can make a difference.
Virginia already has a Republican governor who hasn’t been too shy about banning abortion in a state, however pro-choice the majority of its voters may lean, and should Glenn Youngkin flip the Senate, he could get his ban signed into law, whereas growing the Democratic senate majority while flipping the House of Delegates would stop his worst legislation in its tracks. Among the close races and candidates for Virginia are:
Election Day 2023 is just 3 weeks away, with abortion/voting rights & more stake in VA/KY/OH/PA/NJ (among others)
For those who want to get involved but don’t know where to start, I compiled a list of 23 Dem candidates in tight races where your money/time can make an impact
— Adam Carlson (@admcrlsn) October 17, 2023
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(Senate District -24 – Monty Mason; SD-31 – Russet Perry; SD-27 – Joel Griffin; SD-17 – Clint Jenkins; SD-16 – Skyler VanValkenburg;) and House District 21 – Josh Thomas; HD-82; Kimberly Pope Adams; HD-97 – Michael Feggans; HD-22 – Travis Nembhard; HD-65 – Joshua Cole; HD-89 – Karen Jenkins; HD-30 – Robert Banse; and HD-57 – Robert Gibson. There’s also a race in Pennsylvania for Supreme Court Justice, with the liberal candidate Daniel McCaffery and a ballot initiative to codify abortion rights in Ohio. These may actually be the most important races you’ve never heard of, so find a way to get involved in local politics before 2024.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making