Standing Up For Democracy in 2023
2023 was full of victories for our democracy.
We elected democracy champions to state Supreme Court benches, won groundbreaking legislation in the states to protect and expand voting rights, defeated ballot measures that threatened our democracy and our fundamental freedoms, and pressured Congress to finally subpoena the billionaires buying our Supreme Court justices.
- OVER 22,200 CALLS TO LAWMAKERS
- OVER 2,900,000 TEXTS TO VOTERS
- NEARLY 287,000 EMAILS TO ELECTED OFFICIALS
- OVER 33,000 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
DEMANDING SUPREME COURT ACCOUNTABILITY
This year, our nearly 2 million members mobilized to demand Supreme Court reforms—including passing a code of ethics, enacting term limits, and expanding the Court. Together, we sent 188,000 constituent emails to legislators and submitted nearly 15,000 letters to the editors of their local newspapers.
In October, we worked with partners to deliver over 400,000 signatures to Senate leadership demanding they stand up to stop Supreme Court corruption, including by subpoenaing Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo. A few weeks later, the Senate did just that!
PROTECTING AND EXPANDING
VOTING RIGHTS IN THE STATES
We had a busy year across the states. In Minnesota and New Mexico, we helped local coalitions pass legislation to expand access to the ballot, including automatically registering voters and restoring the right to vote to Americans with felony convictions.
In Ohio, we helped defeat Issue 1 in August, with our members contacting nearly a million voters to protect direct democracy in the Buckeye State. In New York, we helped pass groundbreaking legislation to allow every New Yorker to vote by mail in next year’s election and ensured the state’s groundbreaking small dollar matching program had the funding it needs to be implemented in 2024.
“There’s no substitute for federal action on voting rights. Congress’ failure to respond to the Supreme Court’s attacks on voting rights is shameful. But states like New York and Connecticut have moved the ball forward by protecting and expanding voting rights. If we want our democracy to thrive, we must ensure that every citizen can exercise their freedom to vote. That work starts with protecting voting rights at the state level.”
Brett Edkins, STAND UP AMERICA
EXPELLING GEORGE SANTOS
As soon as the extent of George Santos’s corruption and dishonesty became clear, we immediately called for his investigation and expulsion, making over 12,000 constituent phone calls and sending nearly 33,000 emails demanding action. Republican leaders in the House helped Santos elude accountability for most of the year, effectively leaving constituents of NY-03 without real representation. We continued to demand accountability, and these calls were finally heard, culminating in his expulsion.
ENSURING NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW
Former President Donald Trump was indicted in four criminal cases for attempting to overturn the will of the voters, illegally retaining classified documents, and falsifying business records to cover up fraud. With the 2024 presidential election right around the corner, Trump and his allies are trying to rewrite history to improve his electoral chances.
Across the country, local papers published over 160 letters to the editor from our members highlighting the gravity of Trump’s crimes. Accountability, in the courtroom and at the ballot box, is key to safeguarding our democracy and the rule of law.
ELECTING DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS
From Wisconsin to Pennsylvania to Virginia, our community sent tens of thousands of handwritten letters and sent millions of texts to make sure voters turned out to vote for democracy defenders.
Our work paid off. Progressives took control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and could soon overturn the state’s brutal conservative gerrymander and its abortion ban. We helped elect a progressive state supreme court justice in Pennsylvania, a key swing state where we need democracy defenders on the bench to protect voters’ rights. And Democrats won control of the Virginia state legislature. In each election, Stand Up America members showed up in an “off” year to protect our democracy.
With the 2024 presidential election right around the corner, Donald Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress are ramping up their efforts to undermine our democracy and our fundamental freedoms.
Every dollar you give to Stand Up America will contribute directly to the fight to safeguard our democracy. Whether it’s driving calls to key legislators to stop a voter suppression bill or texting voters in swing districts, your contribution goes directly to protecting our democracy at this critical moment.