That's what we need to get people involved with. They say, I can actually make a difference,

and I can make a difference in Arizona, in Virginia, in Pennsylvania, in these places where,

if I flip two house seats, they suddenly cannot do this thing they're promising to do.

That's very empowering, and I think people need to be empowered.

Absolutely.

Hello, and welcome to the Politics Girl podcast. I'm your host, Lee McGowan. Let's get into it.

Today's pod is a candid conversation with Melissa Walker, head of Giving Circles at the States Project.

A graduate of Vassar College, former magazine editor and author of Ten Novels,

Melissa has turned her many talents towards the States Project to change the balance of power

in state legislatures across the country. The States Project believes the strongest force

for change in America are actually our state legislatures. Over the past 40 years, Republicans have

invested billions of dollars and focused energy to build and hold on to state governing

majorities, while Democrats have focused most of their attention and money on national races.

The Republicans' investment and strategic thinking has resulted in certain Republican

state lawmakers having almost unchecked an absolute power, including the drawing of district

lines, making it nearly impossible to vote them out. Their unwavering focus on the States is paying

off tenfold, and if the Democrats don't turn this around, we will lose far more than what our

children are taught in school, what books they're allowed to read, how we treat those deemed

different, and the freedom to make our own health care decisions. We will lose democracy itself.

Evidence shows that Trump's plan to steal the 2020 election relied heavily on state legislative

majorities, and it might not have worked in 2020, but that won't be the case in 24. Democracy is

literally on the line, and the States are our last line of defense. So to talk about what we can do

...