See highlights from Chair DelBene’s conversation below:
On NOTUS: Rep. Suzan DelBene: Republicans are trying “to break the system, and we are fighting back.”
“We know that this was a terrible decision by the Supreme Court, undermining the Voting Rights Act, taking away opportunities for fair representation across the country. And the American people see that Republicans have been trying to rig the system because they know they are losing across the country. They’re not winning in the hearts and minds of the American people. And instead of listening and actually sitting down with people across the country and understanding the struggles they’re facing with skyrocketing costs of housing, food, health care, childcare, energy costs, gas prices, all because of actions from this administration or Republicans in Congress — instead of actually listening and focusing on that, they decided the only way that they can stay in power is to break the system, and we are fighting back.
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“This started with Trump calling Republicans in Texas and saying, ‘give me five seats.’ And the people of Texas didn’t like this. They didn’t get a say. And so they drew the maps. And we have opportunities to pick up seats in Texas, but the American people know that this impacts their representation too. And the people of California saw that and responded, and they responded with a vote of the people.
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“Republicans continue to be on this bent to redraw the lines. And we absolutely are going to respond. We’re going to use every tool we have to respond across the country. We are not going to let them unilaterally just change lines. We should have consistent laws across the country so that this can’t happen, and we will fight for that too. But right now, we’re responding to these ongoing attempts by Republicans to break the system.
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“And so you’ve seen that in people’s votes already in special elections, Democrats are running ahead in special elections across the country by almost 13 points. In congressional special elections, 17 points. Big swings, including that state legislative seat where Mar-a-Lago is located, a swing over thirteen points, all because people have seen the broken promises.
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“We have veterans, small business owners, we have a sheriff, journalists, mayors, just folks who are connected to their communities, a minister, even a Grammy Award winning musician — diverse candidates running all across the country, but who are uniquely connected to their communities and give us a great opportunity to flip districts.”
