Posts

Fran Millar Doesn’t Want YOU to Vote

Have you heard about the effort to purge more than half a million registered voters from voting lists? The reason? The voters haven’t voted in three years.

Let’s call this what it is: partisan and racist voter suppression, and a violation of every Georgia citizen’s rights.

But purging the voter rolls is only a small part of the GOP effort to limit voting. Just this year Senate Bill 363 tried to reduce poll hours, end Sunday voting, and limit Saturday voting. All designed to reduce the voice of minority voters in DeKalb and Atlanta.

These antics aren’t new. Only a couple of years ago, Fran Millar was quoted in national media saying how he didn’t want black voters to show up at the polls.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that almost every day I have to explain to my children what politics and government used to be like, and why the behavior of our politicians and would-be leaders is unacceptable.

We must resist and reject the GOP’s efforts to normalize prejudice and oppression in Georgia. We must enshrine the values of equality, integrity, justice, and economic dignity that had started to take hold in our state. We must go back to the days when we expanded Medicaid, lowered class sizes, reduced college costs, and removed a racist state flag. We were never perfect, but we certainly were better than this.

We can increase early voting hours and locations, including weekend voting. We can get rid of racially motivated voter ID laws and registration purges. We can fix our districts so all voters have an equal voice in choosing our representatives.

We can do this together. We must take back our state from extremists. We must protect our democracy.

Will you join us? Give today. Volunteer. Vote Tuesday and vote in November!

—Sally

/by

200 Volunteers, One Goal: Flip District 40

This coming November marks the two year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Many of us feel tired. But we won’t just resign ourselves to a future that has yet to be written.

We have 200 volunteers working on our campaign, and the list is growing. It’s not just a list of names — all of these people have given their time and talent in specific ways to help out. And we’ve met 10% of our goal of having 500 donors each contribute $100 before the June 30th Finance Report deadline.

We are working to win. And we are going to win in this election and the next, because we are building an organization of really engaged voters who are ready and able to mobilize and make their voices heard.

School shootings can be prevented. Healthcare can be more affordable and available for all.

Cleaner air is possible. Raising the minimum wage won’t hurt our economy and we can’t let our politicians keep spreading this myth and preventing so many people in our community from the chance to achieve greater financial stability.

Will you join us? Are you ready to find strength in numbers and a shared purpose?

We need volunteers for outreach and we need money for direct mail. Sign up on our volunteer page and let us know how you want to help. And donate if you can – every bit helps! Better yet, join our effort to get 500 people to give $100. Talk a friend or family member into giving too.

Winning this district is within reach, and will lessen the reach of Georgia’s far-right.

No matter what, don’t get tired.

Don’t lose faith. Don’t give up.

—Sally

/by

Primary Election Night Speech – Say “No More” to Far Right Fran

Are you ready to tell the Gold Dome that big change is coming?

I’m ready too.  I’ll tell you why.

Our community is diverse and thrives on embracing diversity. And yet, our legislators put forward legislation that threatens immigrants and makes it harder for minorities to vote.

Our community values the freedom to live our lives without discrimination. And yet, our State Senate voted to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ families who foster and adopt children in Georgia.

We cherish our children. And yet, our legislators have made it clear that they consider the murder of our children an acceptable sacrifice for their freedom to carry AR-15s — weapons of war — into schools, bars, churches, and businesses.

How has our leadership become so out-of-touch with humanity? Why do they ignore our voices when we say we want change?

Extreme partisan gerrymandering has pushed our democracy into dysfunction.

We need to take redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and into the hands of a non-partisan commission. We need to restore integrity to our elections by demanding a paper trail of our votes and making voting easier, not harder, for working people.

We must address our country’s wealth inequality by ensuring affordable housing and childcare, jobs that pay a living wage, and debt-free higher education that can be paid for with a minimum wage job.

Every single K – 12 school needs the resources to provide a safe, quality education no matter the neighborhood it serves.

We need to expand Medicaid to include more families, and create a public option buy-in that allows anyone to purchase government healthcare when the cost of their private policy jeopardizes their financial well-being.

We need to end the War on Drugs, decriminalize marijuana, and stop the gravy train for for-profit prisons by rolling back mass incarceration.

We need leaders who will call out systemic racism, and work to address inequalities.

We need leaders who will say that Black Lives Matter!

Mine is not the only candidacy seeking to repair the extraordinary damage that Sen. Fran Millar and other pro-Trump politicians are causing. Candidates all over the state have stepped up to win this fight.

Why? Because we refuse to let our leaders drag our laws back in time to the pre-civil rights era. We don’t all come from the same backgrounds or share the same challenges. We don’t all start life on the same playing field. If elected to represent you in the Georgia Senate, I promise you this:

I will work for you. I will ask hard questions to keep the promise of equality and progress that our people value. I will demand that your representatives treat you with respect, and address your fears.

Above all else, I will stand up and fight systemic oppression – including the lack of action in the face of the massacre of our schoolchildren. I will not stand for miscarriages of justice, where poor citizens are treated like the enemy. I will fight the denial of basic rights, like those of our citizens to vote. I will not accept the inattention and lack of compassion for the needs of women, children, and the elderly.

Together, we can achieve healthcare for all. We can raise the minimum wage. We can end the War on Drugs. We can provide affordable education. We can prevent school shootings.

We say “no more” to the far-right and to Fran Millar. We say it’s time for a change. We are ready to help Fran Millar box up his office at the Capitol.

We have some work ahead of us. If you can, make a donation and/or sign up to volunteer today to help us hit the ground running.

—Sally

/by