Extra! Extra! 10/20

Your week in good news! 🗞️

Posted on Threads by Victor Shi

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week — I hope that amidst all the craziness you’ve been able to get a bit of rest.

Here’s my contribution to your serenity: a tally of all the political wins I could find for the week we just finished. As usual, it’s LONG! Because your hard work does pay off!

Enjoy this list. Savor it. Re-read it. And please, please SHARE it!

Then get ready to make new victories possible tomorrow.

P.S. — I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.

Read This 📖

I can think of nothing more inspiring than the comments section of my own newsletter this past Friday. If you haven’t taken the time to read about what your co-subscribers are doing to help us win, please do. It will fill you with hope and gratitude. (Scroll down to the bottom for comments.)

Celebrate This! 🎉

A federal judge has turned down Cornel West’s request to be included on the ballot in Pennsylvania. Phew.

Longtime Trump aide Corey Lewandowski has been “put in a box” by Trump and told to focus solely on New Hampshire.

In a win for voters, a Georgia judge ruled that certifying election results is a mandatory duty for election officials under state law. HUGE!

Jimmy Carter lived long enough to vote for Kamala Harris!

The NOAA announced that it is designating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, which comprises 4,543 square miles of coastal and offshore waters along 116 miles of California’s central coast. 🪣

In what is being called a “historic investment,” the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was awarded a nearly $75 million federal grant to help almost 100 Alaska Native communities impacted by climate change. The five-year grant is one-time funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. 🪣

Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Hood Canal Bridge in Washington state will receive $51M for repairs. 🪣

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) signed a hurricane relief bill into law last week, allocating $5 million to the State Board of Elections to make accommodations for voters impacted by Hurricane Helene. 🪣

Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) revealed he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris and blasted former President Trump in a statement.

Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, has added the state’s largest natural gas utility to its $51.5 billion climate lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over their role in the region’s deadly 2021 heat-dome event.

​Nebraska’s Supreme Court upheld voting rights for people convicted of felonies who had finished their sentence.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that California is launching the first phase of its Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates program, for multifamily buildings. 🪣

The Cook Political Report has moved Republican Rep. Scott Perry’s race to a “toss-up” (from leans Republican), a significant shift for the six-term incumbent who is facing a tough race against Democratic challenger Janelle Stelson.

USDA reports that “in fiscal year 2022, 88% of eligible individuals participated in SNAP, marking the highest participation rate since the program began estimating reach nearly 50 years ago.

More than half of middle and high school menus in California’s 25 largest school districts now offer weekly vegan options.

A federal judge ordered Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to stop threatening television stations with criminal prosecution for airing a political ad in favor of enshrining abortion rights in the state’s Constitution.

Kamala Harris‘ sit-down with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday drew 7.8 million viewers — nearly three times what Baier’s show normally gets.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a long-awaited final rule this week to make it easier for customers to cancel subscriptions and memberships, including options to cancel online. 🪣

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced consumers have saved more than $2 billion in upfront costs on their purchase of more than 300,000 clean vehicles since January 1, 2024. 🪣

The USDA announced an investment of $104 million in rural communities to lower energy costs and create jobs in 34 states as part of Investing in America Agenda. 🪣

President Biden canceled another $4.5 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 borrowers, bringing the number of public service workers who have had their student loans for higher education forgiven to over 1 million. 🪣

Americans United have filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma challenging Superintendent Ryan Walters’ Bible mandate in public schools! 🪓

A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump ordered a halt to Alabama’s effort to purge the voter rolls of noncitizens immediately before the election.

Democratic candidates across the 10 top Senate battlegrounds raised a collective $203 million last quarter — nearly 2.5 times the GOP's $83 million. 🪓

A Georgia judge on Tuesday also blocked a new rule implemented by the Georgia State Election Board that would have required county election workers to hand-count the number of ballots cast in each precinct and that critics said threatened to upend the November election by delaying the reporting of results.

An Arizona judge rejected a request from a right-wing group to verify the citizenship of Arizona's 40,000 "federal-only" voters before they can vote this fall. The judge said the plaintiffs lacked standing and their request violates federal law.

North Carolina’s Dare County will provide school meals to all students at no charge this year. Their Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to approve $415,000 in funding to support a county-wide Healthy School Meals for All program. The program will support about 5,000 public school students.   

A federal court in Texas found that some provisions of S.B. 1 violate the federal Voting Rights Act.

Kamala Harris gave “The View” its best ratings in 3 and 1/2 years.

Invitation Homes, the largest owner of single-family homes in the U.S., has agreed to a landmark $48 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, after being accused of using unfair and deceptive practices to siphon millions of dollars from tenants. 🪣

The Supreme Court left in place a Pennsylvania law barring people under 21 from carrying guns. Miracle.

“Apprentice” Star Omarosa Manigault Newman, who worked in Donald Trump’s White House, endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

Former Wisconsin state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz (R) announced that he was endorsing Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in the November election.

The right-wing group Pigpen Project voluntarily dismissed its three lawsuits seeking to remove around 30,000 voters from Nevada's rolls before the November election.

It turns out that the app the Trump campaign is using to canvass doesn’t work without high-speed internet and doesn’t always save data. Nice job, folks.

In related news, Trump’s campaign may be failing to reach thousands of voters they hope to turn out in Arizona and Nevada, with roughly a quarter of door-knocks done by America Pac flagged by its canvassing app as potentially fraudulent, according to leaked data and people familiar with the matter.

The cast of the West Wing went and knocked doors in Wisconsin this weekend. 🪓

Steelers legends Jerome Bettis, Joe Greene and the family of Franco Harris endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a preliminary list of over 100 drugs that could cost no more than $2 for a month’s supply for Medicare recipients. 🪣

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a new law that aims to eliminate the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills by requiring clothing companies to fund and implement recycling programs for unwanted merchandise. ¹ 🪣

The Satanic Temple has just opened its second telehealth abortion clinic, this time in Virginia. It’s called the Right to Your Life Satanic Abortion Clinic. 🪓

The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered West Memphis to open two early voting sites for the November election after county officials previously refused to open any early polling places in the majority-Black city.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has issued a decision that will reduce shareholder profits for the state’s largest energy utilities, including PG&E, SCE, SoCalGas, and SDG&E.

A three-judge panel ruled that Tennessee doctors who provide emergency abortions to protect the life of the mother cannot have their medical licenses revoked or face other disciplinary actions.

The presiding tribunal in the Salvadoran trial of five leading Salvadoran Water Defenders ruled that all five are completely innocent of the two sham charges of murder and illicit association that were laid against them. 🪓

About 328,000 people, 54% of whom were women, voted early in Georgia on the first day of early voting. It’s a record! 🪓

A federal judge tossed out part of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) legal bid to remove up to 225,000 North Carolinians from the state’s voter rolls based on allegations of faulty voter registrations. 

More than 150 Democratic and Republican prosecutors endorsed Vice President Harris, citing her record as a prosecutor as well as Donald Trump’s threat to our Constitution and the rule of law.

The iconic singer and songwriter Marc Anthony endorsed Kamala Harris in a powerful new ad.

According to its founder, Blue Voter Guide just surpassed a million users this year. 600K so far for the Nov 5 election, 400K for this year's primaries. They're currently seeing 40K users a day and climbing. YES! 🪓

The Biden-Harris administration’s environmental policies have created at least 150,000 new clean-energy jobs and will save approximately 200,000 lives from the dangers of pollution in the coming decades. 🪣

President Biden signed the Presidential Determination for Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year ’25, enabling the U.S. to welcome up to 125,000 people seeking refuge. 🪣

Democrats are swamping Republicans in the money race to a degree unheard of even by the extreme standards of recent elections, according to new fundraising data for the House and the Senate compiled by The Downballot. 🪓

CNN data reporter Harry Enten did an analysis this week that found Trump is losing support among white women, a demographic Republicans have reliably won in past elections.

Team harris-Walz unveiled plans to improve the lives of rural voters.

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Biden administration has awarded a total of nearly $2 billion in new grants to help harden, expand, and modernize U.S. power grids. 🪣

Survivors of last year’s Maui wildfire will receive a one-year extension on housing assistance from FEMA. 🪣

Phillips 66 announced it is closing its Wilmington-area refineries in Los Angeles after more than a century. 🪓

Starbucks workers won their union elections 9-5 in New York City, 9-8 in Fredericksburg, VA, 11-0 in Chicago, IL, and 12-0 in West Valley City, UT. 🪓

The Supreme Court cleared the way for a Biden administration plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants burning fossil fuels, denying an emergency appeal by more than two dozen Republican-led states, utilities and others. 🪣

The federal government has just finalized a $861 million loan guarantee to fund what will be Puerto Rico’s largest utility-scale solar and battery storage installations. 🪣

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch endorsed Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce, calling Hawley the “worst sitting senator in America right now.”

North Carolina voters turned out in droves on the first day of the in-person early voting period on Thursday, setting a first-day record of 353,166 ballots accepted at sites statewide. 🪓

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