Unrepresentative Brandon Williams Enables the MAGA Agenda
How We'll Get Rid of Our #NY22 Unrepresentative
Hopefully you read your email from co-founder Ezra Levin on Tuesday, and learned about the launch of The Unrepresentatives, Indivisible's campaign to defeat the MAGAs in Congress and retake the House in 2024. Ezra previewed the plan with Rachel Maddow on Monday night. (Here's the clip in case you missed it). The short version? Indivisibles are taking on the 18 most vulnerable Republican representatives by exposing their extremism, holding them accountable and defeating them. And guess who is on the list? That's right, our very own truffle farming, carpetbagging, tech millionaire posing as someone who cares about the people and communities in NY22: Brandon Williams.
Right now, the Unrepresentatives --Brandon Williams included--are flying under the radar intentionally to avoid being associated with MAGA’s dangerous vision for America and the worst actors of their own party. But the truth is they’re enabling them every single day. To win, we’ve got to make them famous locally for their complicity at every opportunity and bring more people over to our side.
To expose the Unrepresentatives, it’s going to take a massive amount of accountability work, national tools and infrastructure, creative awareness-building tactics, and deep investments in grassroots organizing on the ground.
Some of our own are already starting the work. Check out Sarah Reeske's tweet with cool graphic and messaging. And there's also this one from Sarah Dohl, pointing out that Williams sounds an awful lot like Ron DeSantis and votes with MAGA Marjorie 96% of the time.
If you attended the NY22 Summit or caught up at the IMV meeting afterwards, you are already participating in the plans for this work. This is juts the start. Keep tuning in and showing up. We're just getting started!
It's State Budget Season!
Budget season is here and this is when we push our legislators to lean hard on Speaker Heastie and Leader Stewart-Cousins to be a fighter at the negotiation table with Governor Hochul. Here are impactful actions to take starting now. Please ask people you know to join you in taking action.
Money in politics
Call your Assemblymember asap and tell them you support $100 million in the budget for the Public Campaign Finance Board in order to get money out of politics in NYS. The Assembly is having conversations about this TODAY! After that call, reach out to your state Senator too. Here's the toolkit from the Fair Elections coalition.
Invest in Our NY
We know what we want (Justice!), and funding matters. That's why so many Indivisibles support the Invest in Our NY platform, which calls for raising revenue from the fortunate and investing in the people who need it the most. Click here to find out if your legislators support the IONY bills (hint: we have almost all Republican state legislators in our area, and they are not signing on to bills that support equity, justice, and meeting the needs of those most in need!). As the Democratic conferences in the state Senate and Assembly debate what is going into their budget proposals this week, they need to hear from constituents urging them to support the Invest in Our New York investment and revenue package. Please use this phone-to-action link and then spread the word to generate as much positive pressure as possible!
Climate
Our organizing friends with NY Renews, the largest coalition focused on fighting the climate crisis in New York at the state legislature level, have multiple opportunities for you to make a difference. Learn about the bills that can be passed through the budget plus some messaging tips here. Review the Climate and Community Protection Fund one pager and be inspired by these amazing opportunities our elected leaders can fight to include in the budget. The final push on March 28th in Albany is for everyone! Save the date and show up if you're able. Support each other with digital actions like sending an email with this one-click tool as well as tweeting with the help of this toolkit to keep the drum beat loud!
Housing for All
Have your representatives heard from you on how much you want affordable housing in your community and across the state? The Housing Justice for All Campaign has this easy email tool to do just that. I just did it, and ask you to do the same. They have a lobby day of action on Tuesday, March 14th; if you're interested in learning more please email Andrea@metcouncilonhousing.org.
Citizen Action Event Day of Action and Local Chapter Meeting
Citizen Action's Central New York Chapter continues to be active especially on issues of housing, education, and child care. IMV members are all invited and encouraged to support the following upcoming events:
Tuesday, March 14th, 10 am -3 pm, Day of Action in Albany with Housing Justice for All, Join Citizen Action as we convene upon the NYS Capitol in Albany for a Day of Action with Housing Justice For All! We'll also make some extra noise about Our Justice Agenda 2023 while we're there. Register here.
Tuesday, March 21st, 6:00- 7:30 pm, Citizen Action CNY Chapter Meeting, Midtown Utica Community Center, 40 Faxton Street, Utica.
Public Finance Letter: IMV Signed On!
Along with many of our ally groups, IMV joined in a statewide sign-on letter in support of funding the Public Campaign Financing Board so eligible candidates get matching funds.
Many thanks to the Fair Elections coalition for putting together this letter and giving groups like ours a chance to support public campaign financing through an adequate budget for the Board.
IMV Meetings
IMV Steering Committee has not quite finalized a date and time for our March 2023 Monthly meeting, as petitioning is definitely a top priority. However, if you are able to join CAFE Friday today, Sarah Klee Hood will be on the call. As you probably know, Katelyn Kreisel dropped out of the #NY22 race, but Sarah is still in it, and she will be invited on occasion to CAFE to give an update on her campaign or just answer questions and listen to concerns. She knows that grassroots activists like IMVers are the foundation of a successful NY22 campaign.
That's it for now, folks. We know you are petitioning a lot right now, whether you are on your local Dem committee or you are giving your time and energy to get Celeste Friend on the ballot in Utica, or getting signatures for Crystal, Caroline, Chad, or another candidate. Thank you for doing this important work! If you have not yet signed a petition where you live, please email IndivisibleMV@gmail.com so we can connect you with a petitioner in your area.
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.
