The Progressive Victories You Didn't Hear About in the Midterms -- And Some That Could Happen

The American Prospect ^ | November 7, 2014 | Peter Dreier

[2ndDivisionVet]

Across the nation, voters passed measures against fracking and abortion restrictions, and for the minimum wage, paid sick leave, public safety and gun reform.

Tuesday’s Republican wave of election victories did not reflect public opinion or the public mood. Instead it was the result of the GOP’s triumph in changing the rules of democracy to favor big business and conservative interest groups, including the triumphs of corporate money and voter suppression. But while Democrat candidates were going down to defeat, liberals and progressive won some impressive but little-publicized victories on important issues—including minimum wage hikes—especially in red and purple states, suggesting that voters are not as conservative as the pundits are pontificating. One of the most significant victories occurred in Richmond, California, where progressives defeated a slate funded by Chevron, the nation’s third largest corporation, which poured at least $3 million (about $150 for each likely voter) into this municipal election in this working class Bay Area city of 105,000 people.

Progressive Victories

Richmond, California. All progressive eyes around the country were focused on this blue-collar city of about 100,000, where Big Oil and Wall Street sought to oust a progressive local government that has been battling big business for the past decade. Instead, the lefties won against overwhelming odds. Under Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and her progressive allies on the City Council, Richmond has challenged Chevron, which owns a huge refinery in the city, to clean up its pollution, pay more taxes into the city coffers, and be a more responsible and accountable corporate citizen. Faced with a decade of predatory lending and an epidemic of foreclosures and “underwater” mortgages, Richmond city officials pushed back against Wall Street banks, demanding that they help troubled homeowners save their homes. In Tuesday’s election, community groups, labor unions, the Richmond Progressive Alliance....

[2ndDivisionVet]

You knew articles like this one were coming.

[Viennacon]

Anticipated and ignored. Progtards got their butts handed to them!

[dforest]

We also knew they would come from California, Oregon, Washington State and all leftist cesspools.

Not impressed.

[BenLurkin]

So destroying the economy and killing babies is “progress”?

[Catmom]

Progressives are like herpes.

You can quiet their occasional flareups but you’re never really cured of them.

[Libloather]

One of the most significant victories occurred in Richmond, California

Isn't that where RAT Leland Yee was importing shoulder fired missiles?

[spodefly]

Another “hurry up and die white people so we can have utopia” progressive hallucination ...

[COBOL2Java]

"Under Mayor Gayle McLaughlin..."

What's an Under Mayor? Is that like a Gruppenführer?

[Yashcheritsiy]

Aside from the minimum wage increases (which, let’s face it, are popular with voters who don’t understand economics...i.e., pretty much all voters), most all of these “progressive victories” took place in places that are already far Left anywise. This article is like bragging about passing an ultrasound law in Mississippi or something.

[Sgt_Schultze]

When your guy is succeeding at placing more people into part-time work and causing inflation, it’s not a hard sell to have people vote themselves a raise. I bet if $90 per hour was on the ballot, it would have beaten $15 per hour handily.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Unterscharführer.

[DaiHuy]

So sad. When I moved to Wa St. It was a nice conservative place. Housing was inexpensive and fishing was good. Then someone or another rated it as the #1 pkace in the US to live. Wasn’t but a couple years later the Boldt Decision gave the NAs the right to 50% of all Salmon. Soon there were gill nets staggered across the rivers. Sport fishing started getting worse. Then the Californicators startes ahowing up and buying houses. Soon prices started rising in the housing markets. What was even worse was they brought their liberal politics with them. Now it is nothing more tjan CA. North.

[buckalfa]

"Not impressed."

Nor am I, but we should not be dismissive of liberals despite the resounding GOPe victory in the midterm elections. The nation is almost irreconcilably split in ideology, a dangerous situation. The last 30 years have seen the liberals take control of the courts, bureaucracy, and schools to the point one election will not set things back as to where they were under Reagan.