Dems sweep Congress + OR gov Kotek re-elected + Cascadia legislatures solidly Dem + Millionaires tax stays, but anti-trans measure leads in WA

No doubt about it, it was a BIG election night last night, with Democrats taking both the US senate and house in a loud HELL NO to Donald Trump and Republicans. Texas flipped blue. It was nearly an east coast sweep for Democrats in Senate races that removed GOP candidates from seats in North Carolina, South Carolina and Maine. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed became the first US senator who identifies as Muslim, and Georgia elected Keisha Lance Bottoms as the nation's first Black woman governor.

Here in Cascadia, it was a historic night as well.

Democrat Tina Kotek won her second term as governor against returning rival Christine Drazan. OPB reports that Republicans lost ground in the Oregon legislature, strengthening Democrat's supermajority there. A Democratic Socialist, Tammy Carpenter, won a seat in 27th district.

In Washington, Democrats made gains in the state legislature, with a real possibility they will gain a 2/3 supermajority. In the 37th district, Jaelynn Scott, a democratic socialist, became the state's first trans legislator while newcomer Kelabe Tewolde unseated a 30-year incumbent. In statewide measures, the millionaires tax survived, but a measure that bans trans athletes from girls sports and could result in widespread genital exams of schoolage girls will likely become law, currently leading 57% to 43%.

That result was a sour defeat in the face of historic gains elsewhere.

Both Seattle and Pierce county (which includes Tacoma) solidly passed transit measures dramatically increasing bus service.

In Portland, incumbent city councilors in both district 3 (Steve Novick, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Angelita Morillo) and district 4 (Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, and Eric Zimmerman) were all leading in ranked-choice voting that assigns three top winners to seats. Democratic socialist and Cascadia supporter Jeremy Beausoleil Smith, who ran a great campaign, didn't rank high enough to earn a seat in district 4.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, progressive Nilu Jenks won a seat on the city council in Seattle's north end, solidifying support on the left for mayor Katie Wilson.

In Washington, progressive candidates in five state supreme court races were leading, with the exception of Ian Birk, who was slightly trailing Sean O'Donnell. Look for late counted votes from King county to make that race even tighter.

In Washington's 3rd congressional district in southwest WA, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Fetterman-style Democrat who's often sided with Republicans, retained her seat. In the 5th district, which covers Spokane and eastern WA, Democrat Carmela Conroy was only slightly trailing Republican Michael Baumgartner for a US house seat.

Up in northern Cascadia, Alaska US senate candidate Mary Peltola, a Democrat, was narrowly leading Republican Dan Sullivan – not to be confused with Daniel J. Sullivan, who was also running in order to troll ill-informed GOP voters.

And last but not least, in King county, Bardi Martin, who was once the bassist for the grunge band Candlebox, won his judicial seat! 🎸

What does this major shift to Democrats across the US mean for the Cascadia movement and our steps toward autonomy?

Our demands remain the same: we need to stop ICE's masked goons from terrorizing our communities. The rampant corruption in the federal government needs to end. Members of the Trump regime need to be held criminally accountable. The rule of law needs to be restored to the department of justice. The Spokane 3 and the Praireland protesters in Texas need to be released.

There's still a $51 billion tax imbalance that Cascadia pays to the federal government and never gets back in funds services – this needs to be fixed. Appropriated funds illegally held back from Oregon and Washington by the feds need to be returned.

We need universal health care here in Oregon and Washington, and though newly elected leaders like El-Sayed are pushing for Medicare for all, we'll wait and see what the Democrats actually can deliver.

One thing is clear: the aging, timid leadership in the US Democratic party (Charles Schumer + Hakeem Jeffries) needs to step aside and let the younger, feistier generation take the helm. I'm not optimistic they will.

We need radical reforms in a crumbling US system – like eliminating the undemocratic electoral college, which with Democrats flipping legislatures in several states, is a real possibility.

Here in Cascadia, if Washington's trans sports bill passes, we'll need to mobilize lawsuits and civil disobedience to prove this measure is unjust and gross.

Our work continues. And tonight, if you're in a celebratory mood, join Cascadia Democratic Action and Cascadia Poetics Lab for tonight's Subduction spoken word reading at 7 pm at Vermillion in Seattle. We'll have a big lineup of poets reading Cascadia poetry of resistance. It's still winter in America, but things thawed a little last night. Come celebrate with us!