4 Days. 2 Governors. Stop Gerrymander, ActBlue
In this newsletter: 1) Unmatched Pace (≈120 words); 2) Alabama Legislative Win (≈180 words); 3) Breaking the “Six-Year Rule” (≈90 words); 4) Wisconsin Veto & Ongoing Fight (≈230 words); 5) Alabama Gov Decision Ahead (≈120 words); 6) Virginia Push fro 4/21: Grassroots vs. $33 Million (≈300 words); 7) Volunteer Training & Sidekick Impact (≈220 words).
At our annual Freedom & Family Action board meeting this afternoon, we’ll be encouraging our board members to ask peers with other organizations to find any other group getting more done, more quickly, than this team.
Because the past four days alone tell the story.
From our team leaders being all in one place just long enough to meet in Mobile, then fan out and knock on thousands of doors throughout districts in Alabama. This included a stop with team leader Darren Nelson, the top canvasser for TPUSA before joining our team, with a fun stop between canvassing stops to remind the Evergreen Waffle House gang that we stole our youth leader from them. We feature Darren here at one of his hundreds of meetings during door-to-door because he was left off the AI-generated photo of team leaders we recently posted.
Photos below in the web version include the Waffle House, Darren Nelson winning over voters door to door, and the rest of the team from our quick Mobile planning session for the May 19 primaries..
But the real story unfolded on the final day of the Alabama legislative session.
With just hours remaining before adjournment, we were alerted that a few final amendments could move our legislation—Senate Bill 92—forward.
By 5:30 PM Thursday, just before the legislature adjourned, it was done.
Our second ActBlue-related bill in two states is now sitting on a governor’s desk.
Pictures below in the web version include the Alabama bill that just made it to Gov. Ivey’s desk and the veto letter from Gov. Evers.
Breaking the “Six-Year Rule”
There’s a saying in politics: it takes six years to pass even a good piece of legislation.
Yet in less than eight months since launching Freedom & Family Action to do the lobbying work our 501(c)(3) could not, since it cannot lobby:
➡️ We’ve placed this legislation on two governors’ desks
➡️ In two different states
➡️ In under a year
That’s not typical.
That’s results.
Wisconsin Veto—and Why the Fight Continues
We were disappointed when Tony Evers vetoed the Wisconsin version of this legislation (AB 385), though we assume there was consideration since it stayed on his desk for more than two months before the veto.
But let’s be clear:
Every objection raised in Evers’ veto letter had already been addressed in this crystal-clear blog, making it clear the same arguments were made in committee. The underlying issue of a loophole for any good programmer at the Bank of China to help flip U.S. elections remains unresolved.
When we first introduced this legislation in Congress a decade ago, it was Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign that first attacked us in Al Jazeera, dismissing this effort as “a solution searching for a problem.”
Three years later, when we proved that hundreds of millions in donations appeared from individuals listed as “unemployed,” it became clear there is a problem.
And even for those who question its scale, a simple question remains:
If the downside is minimal, but the potential to stop foreign or fraudulent donations is real—why not act? Even ActBlue itself has stopped using the process for the time being, so why not outlaw it now?
Alabama: Now It’s Governor Kay Ivey’s Turn
With Wisconsin behind us, attention now turns to Alabama. Whatever she decides, we are glad Governor Kay Ivey is making the decision.
In 2010, it was assumed the Alabama Farmers Federation would endorse Jim Folsom Jr. against Ivey and that Folsom would win. I burned all my political capital that year traveling around the state asking county Farmers Federations to vote for an endorsement of Kay Ivey instead—and she won the endorsement and then the election by narrow margins.
From Montgomery to Southwest Virginia—Overnight
The pace didn’t slow after adjournment.
At 5:30 PM Thursday, we left Montgomery.
By 8:00 AM Friday, we were in Wise County, Virginia—a 490-mile overnight push—for a rally led by Glenn Youngkin.
Photos in the web version include me with Southwest Virginia icon Terry Kilgore, Wise County Commissioner Rusty Peters, and former Governor Glenn Youngkin, who spoke to 100+ at 8 AM.
Virginia: Grassroots vs. $33 Million
In Virginia, the stakes are enormous.
$33 million is being spent to push a gerrymandering plan, while just $3 million is on the side trying to stop it.
But instead of trying to match dollars with dollars, Ben Cline made a different call:
Go grassroots.
And that’s where we come in—training volunteers to multiply their impact.
I’ve told many that the level of enthusiasm throughout the grassroots over this issue is as great as I’ve ever seen—matching when I recruited thousands of delegates to the 1993 Virginia GOP Convention, and they left and delivered stunning statewide upsets for my first political boss, George Allen, and first statewide candidate, Jim Gilmore.
That election led to a 1990s takeover by Republicans that culminated in the election of Bob McDonnell—who in 2009 earned the highest percentage of any Republican overall (59 percent) and of the Hispanic vote (35 percent). He won the Northern Virginia counties of Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William—a feat I can only compare to Tommy Thompson winning Milwaukee and Dane County.
Those are the two icons of their respective states, and it was great to tell McDonnell before his speech to the Giles County GOP event that drew almost 200 people despite $70 single tickets and up to $1,000 sponsorships.
That event was to honor one of the true grassroots stars in history, Mae Midkiff, whose first campaign was the 1994 Ollie North campaign, during which I was a 20-something field rep and we took over 90% of the Southwest Virginia vote.
Web version has photos of Mae Midkiff and keynote speaker Bob McDonnell, and a separate picture of McDonnell and me before the event in the field at the top of the mountain, as well as the packed dinner.
Most Important: Volunteer Training in Galax with Cong. Cline for GOTV for Vote NO April 21
At a packed meeting in Galax, we trained volunteers to use the Sidekick app to:
Make calls efficiently, leave recorded voicemails instantly, and reach exponentially more voters.
The reaction?
Volunteers said the training made it simple—and showed how their impact could be multiplied many times over.
Already, in just the first couple of days of the www.stopthegerrymandering.com effort (chaired by Cong. Cline), 32,000 Virginians have been reached through live conversations or recorded messages urging a “NO” vote on April 21.
In between the two rallies hosted by Governors Youngkin and then McDonnell, we visited churches throughout Southwest Virginia to urge them to remind people to vote April 21.
Kudos to everyone making it happen.
And a final note: we have no business interest in Sidekick—we simply recognize a tool that empowers volunteers to make a real impact, especially when we’re being outspent.
Photos in the web version include the huge gathering for Gov. McDonnell, churches we visited along our route, and lastly—and most importantly—Congressman Cline addressing the Galax volunteers we were training.
And yes, May 20 the focus moves back to www.wisconsinffc.com and voter registration.
