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By Megan Caska Interim Director of Political Programs |
November 21, 2022
What happened in the 2022 election?
Votes are still being counted, but one thing is clear: The 2022 midterms were a resounding win for free and fair elections. From coast to coast, Republicans, Democrats and everyone in between stood up to self-interested politicians and took power for the people. They voted for better choices, better elections, and better representation. They recognized that democracy was on the ballot, and fought back against threats to our elections.
While there’s plenty of work ahead of us, RepresentUs and the anti-corruption movement are celebrating coming out of Election Day 2022. Here’s why.
American voters (mostly) said no to election liars running elections
According to a poll released ahead of the midterm elections, Americans overwhelmingly trust our elections and the nonpartisan officials who run them. Nearly 80% of Republicans, Democrats and independents in key battleground states were confident that the election would be fair.
Nonetheless, hundreds of politicians who campaigned on lies about the 2020 election were on the ballot. Most notably, some election liars were running to take control of elections in the battleground states that will decide the 2024 presidential election.
In a major victory for election integrity, the American people saw this threat and fought back. Voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin rejected election liars. Candidates who ran on a platform of election denial underperformed relative to others in their party.
Voters sent an unmistakable message that the people should decide the outcome of elections, not self-interested politicians. They want professional, nonpartisan officials running our elections, not corrupt liars.
It’s great news that the most high-profile election liars lost and they won’t be in charge of running elections. But there are still reasons for concern. At least 170 election deniers did win races for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and statewide offices. We know the fight to protect our elections from self-interested politicians is not over, and we’ll continue to hold them accountable.
Voters passed more than a dozen laws that take power away from politicians
Local leaders, with support from RepresentUs, won at least ten victories (so far) in the midterms. These victories take power away from politicians and give it to the voters – where it belongs.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) passed nearly everywhere it was on the ballot. Now, politicians in Nevada, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Fort Collins, Colorado and Evanston, Illinois have to get support from a majority of voters to win elections. With these new wins, more than 4.8 million people could soon be living in places that use RCV.
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Meanwhile, Arkansas voters soundly rejected a blatant power-grab by state politicians to take away their ability to pass ballot initiatives. This is part of a trend of self-serving politicians across the country scheming to make passing ballot initiatives harder. But South Dakota voters rejected a similar attempt this summer, and Arkansas did the same.
Finally, voters fought back against the influence of special interests. Oakland, California passed a Democracy Dollars program, while Arizona voters approved increased transparency for large political donations. We’re also celebrating several other local wins where voters supported transparency and increased voting access.
Americans spoke loudly and clearly last week. We the people should have the loudest voice in government, not corrupt special interests or political parties.
The anti-corruption movement is growing, and we’re winning
This is how we win: City by city, state by state. Each victory brings us one step closer to a government that represents the people – not the political establishment or powerful special interests. In total, RepresentUs-supported campaigns secured 15 victories in 2022, affecting 10.3 million people. And we’re already gearing up for our 2023 campaigns to continue adding to our victories list.
If you would like to join RepresentUs in supporting more campaigns to bring power to the voters there couldn’t be a better time. A group of generous RepresentUs donors have pledged to MATCH every donation we receive before the end of the year, so don’t wait! Make your year-end gift today to maximize your impact on our movement!
Contributors: Nolan Bush, RepresentUs Writer; Anh-Linh Kearney, RepresentUs Research Analyst