Meet Your Progressive Candidates

Jun 132026

In this page

I've gathered as much information as possible to help you find the Progressive Popular candidates running for the Midterm Primaries in your area.

We, the People are no longer willing to accept crumbs and hardship while the rich get richer under a government that is bought and ran by the oligarchy. And we are not willing to surrender our democracy to a fascist coup. So things are changing. Dramatically. Profoundly. And those who do not realize the stakes will nor understand that we need new leaders. We need leaders that fight for our democracy, against corruption, against BIG$ in politics and for the working and middle class. And we know it. Public sentiment has changed. And many Americans are waking up.

We are united in fighting against BIG$ in politics, to defeat this fascist coup and reclaim our democracy. Our nation and our democracy can no longer tolerate cosmetic changes that keep the status quo.

Those who want to keep scaring people by accusing candidates of being "radical" or "leftist" or "progressive" are finding out right now that this is what people WANT and that "centrism" and being "moderate" is no longer equated with safety or equanimity. Instead it is what people abhor. It is recognized as cowardice, betrayal, passive complicity with this regime and convenience for leaders that rise at our expense.

In fact, it is rapidly becoming clear that this is no longer about blue Vs. red, but about oligarchy Vs. the People.

The midterms elections are about two things: class and democracy. We are understanding that democracy is not an abstract thing. If there is no affordability and the majority of the people are struggling to survive, then democracy is failing. If white supremacy is rising and oligarchy calls the shot, then democracy is dying. If misogyny, bullying and homophobia are rising, the democracy is plummeting. If there is war-mongering and human rights are violated, then democracy titters at the edge of oblivion.

This brings us into Unity to address ALL our issues instead of fighting about which gets address and which gets ignored.

We are taking action to bring about profound changes that evolve our democracy and that establish free healthcare, free higher education, climate action, peace and the end to forever wars to conquer, and we demand economic justice for all. In order to achieve this, we need fair representation of the working and middle class, racial and gender equality and leaders that represent us, not the oligarchy. We need democratic leaders that fight!

If this is you, you will find lists, resources and links to what you need to stay informed so that you can vote with clarity to empower yourself and your people.

When I set out to understand how politics were playing in these elections, I was shocked. I was disgusted at the level of corruption. The average Integrity Index for congress members is "D". Imagine if in school the average grade would be a "D"-- we all be failing our grades. And that is exactly what is happening. Our leaders are failing their grades.

The amount of BIG$ in politics is disgusting and confusing. It's hard to figure out who is receiving "bad" money or "good" money. How to choose the progressive candidates that work for us when even the far-right uses "progressive" to label PACS that are attacking the progressive candidates?!

That's why I've spent several days putting this page together. It's not easy. But I've done my best to give you the information and resources needed to vote for the leaders that will help you. I simply could not abide that anyone seeking to vote for leaders that serve We, the People could end up voting against their own needs, as happened in the 2024 general elections.

I hope this helps you vote for the leaders what will serve We, the People, that will help you to thrive and that will help us save our democracy... and evolve it.

Here is a quick Emergency Information if you need to check quickly when and for whom to vote in your area in your midterms or how to support the progressive popular candidates that are helping move democracy forward.

Midterms: Next Primaries

Next primaries are for Colorado coming up in June 30th, Michigan in August 4th, Tennessee in August 6th and Minnesota in August 11th.

Check Indivisible endorsed candidates here.

What can you do?

1. You can volunteer for upcoming Democratic primaries.

You can do phone banks for a candidate.
You can go door-to-door to help people get clear. Indivisible has a tool that makes it easy and people who do it love it!
You can also click on any candidate on the previous link to do a combined donation for the candidate and Indivisible Action to keep doing its job.

Go here to find out more about what we are doing, the candidates and scroll down to find links to do any volunteer work.https://2026.indivisible.org/

2. Give what you can to those candidates that move or impact you, even if they are not in your district. I've been donating for Darializa Avila Chevalier, and now she won for my district. I'm also very proud that I donated for Texas' Talarico, though I'm in NY. He won with his message of love and decency and that for me is so worth it!

Remember, if these candidates do not have the millions from the oligarchy, We, the People must fund them. And we MUST win these midterm elections. When you think "What could my $5 donation do for this candidate?" Remember that we work collectively. $5 multiplied by one million people adds up to $5millions.

To donate, click here. Scroll down and choose your candidate, click on the candidate's link. Then scroll down to donate.

3. Spread the word! Use word of mouth via person-to-person, email or social media to let everyone and their grandmas know what we are up to, who are our candidates, how to recognize them and what to do.

Share this page if you want. Our media has been bought by this regime. We must use People's Power in the form of WORD OF MOUTH to win over this democratic backsliding. And that's not a bad thing. WOM is the fastest most powerful promotional tool in the planet!

Help those around you find out who are the new democratic popular fighting leaders for them to vote in the primaries. Where there are no popular candidates, let the establishment democrats know your demands and that you are watching. You will find plenty of information in the sections below.

The best WORD OF MOUTH strategy is like this: Forward or send a newsletter issue, email or page link that has a clear description of what you want to share with links to do stuff and find resources and with a CTA (call to action) at the end.

If you don't have time to do it from scratch, do you have a newsletter or email you receive that has helped you? Forward it. Introduce it with a paragraph about why you are sending this to the persons and why it's important. Ask them to call if they have questions and suggest that you will call them to discuss what you can do individually and collectively. Then follow up with a call.

We have become accustomed to politics as something that is not part of life. That's how we allowed the oligarchy to win. No more! We are learning the lesson and reclaiming our citizen leadership. This alone is worth discussing.

4. Check that you are registered. Then VOTE!

You can check that you are registered here: https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/ Then stay in tune with your district's primaries and VOTE in the primaries.

Then vote in November.

What's the strategy?

This whole page explains this. But if you need a one-liner here it is:

We are doing two things with one vote in this midterm elections:

Take BIG$ out of politics

And injecting new life into the Democratic Party with progressive, popular candidates that will fight for our democracy and for We, the People.

These progressive popular candidates are committed to:

Take BIG$ out of politics (and they are not accepting any as they run),
Get our congress up and running again as an effective government democratic branch and activate the process of accountability for the destruction this regime has wrecked to our democracy, finances and country, and
Fight for the working and middle class, for We, the People against status quo and bought-for politicians, the regime and this fascist coup. These candidates come from the working class and many of them are community organizers with amazing track records of getting things done on our behalf.

OK. So now you know when the next primaries are coming and where, who are the candidates endorsed by Indivisible , what is their pledge and how to recognize them and what to do to support them. If you don't find candidates for you area that are endorsed by Indivisible, check the other endorsement sections.

What defines a
Progressive Candidate?

As specified in the Quick Summary, in terms of this midterm elections, here's what we mean by a progressive or popular candidate:

These progressive popular candidates are committed to:

Take BIG$ out of politics (and they are not accepting any corporate PACS, techno-fascist money (AI, crypto) or AIPAC money as they run),
Get our congress up and running again as an effective government democratic branch and activate the process of accountability for the destruction this regime has wrecked to our democracy, finances and country, and
Fight for the working and middle class, for We, the People against status quo and bought-for politicians, the regime and this fascist coup. These candidates come from the working class and many of them are community organizers with amazing track records of getting things done on our behalf.

In general terms...

...there are 12 principles that are considered the progressive core values.

People who are truly progressive generally stick to most of the principles below, which are excerpted from the Progressive Congress website. The list below is a guideline. Not all candidates will work for all these principles, but a progressive candidate should be in agreement with most of these principles.

What we need to be mindful of is to not allow MAGA language and corporate-controlled Democrats to use terms such "radical left" to dismiss these principles or devalue progressive candidates. These are terms meant to confuse the voters. They've used these terms to convince us that the quality of life we need and deserve is impossible and that anyone who advocates for it is a "communist" or "radical" or the weird "woke" term or even the fanstastic "antifa" label.

But those are lies. Study after study has shown that the majority of Democrats, and most Americans overall, agree with these principles. I include some stats as evidence.

In fact, in most of the developed countries of the world, these principles are already in place. The fact that in the US, the richest country in the world, We, the People struggle to make ends meet is a shame. And we must change this by curtailing the oligarchy and this fascist coup and then evolving our democracy. That's our goal.

Here are the 12 principles of Progressive Leaders:

Rejection of corporate money, especially corporate PACs and foreign lobbyists like AIPAC; and now this includes AI, Crypto and Techno-fascists money. Also to End Citizens United. This is the first and foremost principle because most of the problems we are facing, including this democratic backslash, are the result of the fascist oligarchy that generated Project 2025 and funded this regime; which was given a green light with the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme court. If we select candidates that eliminate BIG$ out of politics, then we solve many of our problems. Radical? Not really. Recent surveys show that 72% of Americans believe money has too much influence in politics. 78% of Democrats support banning corporate PAC donations. 85% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans support overturning Citizens United.*
Support for Medicare for All (including dental, vision, and mental health). For decades the medical business lobby has convinced us that this is impossible when in reality the majority of developed countries have such a system, even countries that have a much smaller budget that the US. We now understand that this is a human right and are no longer willing to lose health and life to feed corporate greed. The numbers say that 69% of Americans support Medicare for All, including 87% of Democrats!
Recognition of the genocides happening in the world, especially in Palestine. For peace to prevail, we must outgrow patriarchal domination and imperialism as our construct of power. And it is the dinosaurs among our leaders that insist in devastating countries and generating genocides to satisfy the greed of a few authoritarians. Recent surveys indicate that 61% of Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. And 77% of Democrats support conditioning military aid to Israel based on human rights compliance.
Taxing of the wealthy and corporations. Politicians want us to forget that for decades, we taxed the rich at a high rate and that this was used to build a strong infrastructure, grow a middle class and build a safety net for the people. It was not until Reagan that they started convincing us of the "trickle down" myth. But now we know it only ever "trickled up" to make the billionaires richer at the expense of the working and middle classes. But the public is now aware. 79% of Americans support higher taxes on the wealthy, including 93% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans. We now see that a huge gap between the working and middle class and the upper classes is a sign of a weak democracy while the well-being of these classes, which comprise the majority of the citizens, indicates a thriving democracy.
Support for a $15+ minimum wage, union rights (PRO Act), wealth tax, and paid family leave. Something so simple. Catching up on the income of workers so that they can face inflation. And yet, both parties refused to do it. Things have changed, and now about 83% of Americans support paid family leave. 61% support raising the minimum wage to $15 or more and 71%approve of labor unions. Financial injustice creates an untenable inequality that weakens a national economy in a healthy democracy.
Support for climate action and/or Green New Deal. This is not a fringe issue. We all live in this earth and destroying our planet is destroying ourselves. This makes sense to most people--except those who are willing to destroy our planet for profit. In fact, 67% of Americans support government action on climate change, including 90% of Democrats.
Reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. Free choice is not only a woman's issue. We are now witnessing this as hundreds of women die as a result of laws that interfere with urgent life-saving treatments that should be a decision between the individual and their doctor. This is not a "far left" position or a "feminist" stance. Currently, 63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Cancel student debt and make public college tuition-free. Available free education is a foundation for economic equality. There is no progress through generations if college students begin their professional life with a debt burden that does not allow them to progress, buy a home and raise a family. 53% of Americans support student loan cancellation, including 80% of Democrats. Furthermore, 78% of Americans support free tuition at public universities.
Rent stabilization, public housing investment, and banning private equity from buying homes. As with the medical mega-corporations we have allowed the real estate corporations and private equity to make having a roof over one's head almost prohibitive. That is tragic and ridiculous in the wealthiest country in the world. Currently, 82% of Americans support caps on rent increases and 64% of Americans say housing costs won't fall until corporate landlords are reined in.
Eliminate cash bail and end qualified immunity for police. We need to work in developing a law enforcement body that has a healthy, non-repressive and fair relation with our citizens. This is a profound reform, but for now we need to take some measures to protect the public and to prevent racial discrimination from taking more lives. Right now, 63% of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor eliminating qualified immunity for police officers.
Abolish ICE, end for-profit detention, and provide a pathway to citizenship. Once again, greed has shown its ugly head as ICE not only abuses the citizens but creates concentration camps where people live under circumstances that infringe their human rights. 64% of Americans say undocumented immigrants should have a way to stay legally. 50% of Americans now support abolishing ICE — a record high.
Ending endless wars and imperialism. 62% of Americans say the U.S. should be less involved in global affairs. Also, 69% of Americans oppose sending U.S. troops to fight in foreign conflicts. Wars of aggression, to steal country's resources, oppress their people and impose a country's choices on other countries is a thing of the past. If humanity is to evolve, we need to focus our resources in working together for a better world, not destroying each other and the planet for greed.

These 12 principles lead to a world where we can focus on creating better conditions and innovating our resources and where the ordinary citizen can enjoy a good quality of life-- which should be a priority for all of us.

However, the oligarchy wants that way of life only for them. This regime wants that way of life only for white upper middle class people. And they are willing to sacrifice our democracy, our economy and our values to achieve this.

They are funding and lobbying our representatives constantly, bribing them to abandon these principles and neglect our quality of life.

That is why we are uniting around these 12 principles to not only reclaim our democracy, but to evolve it.

Big$ In Politics

What to do know about super PACS ...

... and when a candidate is too compromised or is acceptable?

*Be mindful or corporate SuperPACS. Not only they fund their puppet leaders, but they pay for advertisement to discredit Progressive Leaders.

However, there are some PACS that are formed by unions and organizations to fund Progressive Leaders. They usually form under the blanket of "Leadership PAC" or "SSF PAC" or "Hybrid Political Action Committee" funds. For example, Indivisible Action is such a fund.

For new candidates, we are endorsing them so that they can reject corporate money and fight against BIG$ in politics. So no corporate or trade PACs should be on their record.

For incumbent congress members that we'd like to keep, they may receive some PAC money. The state of things in congress is so bad that you can hardly find members who receive NO corporate money. To explore this situation, you can study the Wall of Shame in the Progressive Congress site. And study the Integrity Index put together... get this... by the Political Integrity PAC. Ja, ja, ja! But I warn ye: that can be a rabbit hole!

Basically, you need to evaluate an incumbent by a mixture of his track record, how he is fighting for the We, the people and democracy right now and the amount, type and impact of any corporate money in terms of his loyalty to his/her constituents.

Let me give you an example: I have great respect for Jamie Raskin. He's been fighting against this regime, educating the people using the alternative media, fighting for the integrity of our election and de-Trumping the government as well as preparing the field for accountability. I'd give him an A+.

But I can't. Why? Because for this last cycle he accepted AI and crypto money ($3,500) and corporate PAC money (about $61,000). AI and crypto are buying their way into politics because their agenda is endangering people and dangerous to the world, in spite of which this regime is refusing to regulate the market. Taking that money is immediately dubious. Corporations don't give money for nothing. They invest and in this midterms as well as during any election, they want their investment to pay back. That's why receiving corporate PAC money immediately reduces the Integrity Index Ratings of a candidate. It's a warning flag.

Raskin has also received money from PACs from unions, like the American Federation of Teachers and others who are also funding Progressives. Those are organizations that represent citizen's interests, not corporate agendas. So that's different.

But it took me a good ten minutes to figure what was what in his funding. Not everybody is going to take that time. And someone without background information may not be able to figure it out. So that's a problem. Because if you cannot differentiate where the money is coming from at a time when we are fighting oligarchy, your trust in the candidate diminishes right then and there, regardless his position or track record.

Raskin also rejects AIPAC money, in spite of being a Jewish person, so that's good. AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is a major, tax-exempt U.S. political organization that lobbies the federal government for strong ties, military aid, and diplomatic support between the United States and Israel. They have an extreme right-wing agenda that chills my bones. According to those who follow the money, AIPAC is the hidden force behind the consistent refusal of the Corporate Democrats as well as the Republicans to address Gazas' genocide and the reticence to set limits to, penalize or stop arm sales to Israel in order to move away from our collaboration with this genocide.

AIPAC is a powerful lobby. To reject it takes guts. But still Raskin Integrity Index has gone down to B- for receiving the corporate PAC money he accepted. Frankly, I don't know why he did it. It's not that much money. And he's still giving the good fight. But here's the problem: We can't tell who he is serving and why he's making his decisions at any given time. And that's the bottom line here.

However, in order to eliminate all this money interference and corruption, we must create new laws that make public funding the only way to go for campaigns. We need to abolish Citizens United or neutralize it, as the states are considering.

In the interim, we have to use our judgment when it comes to current incumbents that we want to keep, based on what they are doing for democracy, the rule of law and for the working and middle class.

And we need to make sure that the new fighting leaders do NOT take corporate, crypto, AI or AIPAC money at all. That's why it's important for us to support them, even if it's with $5. Multiplied by a million of us, that's $5 million. So do not hesitate to give a little bit, if that's what you can do.

For the INDIVISIBLE endorsees, you can go to the website, read more and donate right there. For others, search below in the Endorsments section.

I hope this gives you an idea of how things are, how to choose progressive candidates and how urgently we need to clean house... and House... and Senate! 🙂

Current House Members
Running for Office

Check what incumbent congress Members are running in the 2026 mid-terms.

This is a list from Progressive Democrats. Get more information at:

https://progressivecongress.net/incumbents.html

Ratings

GP* = I personally know their work and endorse them. They are stars leaders who have worked hard for us in 2025.
GP = Good Progressive leaders. These are keepers.
OK = Democrat leaders in congress who are rated by the Progressive Democrats as "doing an OK work." They are uncomprised in that they seemingly don't make decisions based on BIG$ bribes. If there is a new fighting leaders challenging them, go for the challenger. Otherwise, keep them.*
RT = Retired and needs to be replaced. Let's put a new progressive leader there!

*We may not have enough new fighting leaders to cover each seat, so if the democratic incumbent is OK and does NOT have progressive challenger, let's focus on other seats that need to be flipped.

Names	State-District	Rating	Challenger
Star Progressives Incumbent-Candidates			These Star candidates must stay in congress! They've fought for us tooth and nails. I personally recommend them.
Jamie Raskin	MD-08	GP*	He's a constitutional lawyer and working on the elections and de-Trumping government.
Pramila Jayapal	WA-07	GP*	She is doing nonviolent resistance training for thousands of citizens so we know how to fight.
AOC	NY-14	GP*	She is one of the brave ones and her online calls train people to work strategically for our needs and rights.
Ro Khana	CA-17	GP*	Working with the AI racket and other key issues. Educating and speaking truth to power.
Ilhan Omar	MN-05	GP*	Working with Epstein survivors and other key issues for women.

Incumbent-Candidates
Yassamin Ansari	AZ-03	GP
Mike Thompson	CA-04	GP
Mark DeSaulnier	CA-10	GP
Sam Liccardo	CA-16	GP
Joe Courtney	CT-02	GP
Eleanor Norton	DC-AL	OK
Debbie Wasserman Schultz	FL-20	RT	Elijah Manley
Frederica Wilson	FL-24	RT
Jared Moskowitz	FL-24* (FL-20)	OK
Seth Moulton	MA-05 (Senate)	RT	Dr. Mariah Lancaster, Tram Nguyen, Jamie Belsito, Bethany Andres-Beck
Steny Hoyer	Steny Hoyer	RT	Harry Dunn, Jarry Jarin, Wala Blegay
Haley Stevens	MI-11* (Senate)	RT	Don Ufford, Aisha Farooqi, John Paul Torres
Rashida Tlaib	MI-12	GP
Shri Thanedar	MI-13	GP
Angie Craig	MN-02* (Senate)	RT	Matt Little, Kaela Berg
Chris Pappas	NH-01* (Senate)		Carleigh Beriont, Sarah Chadzynski, Heath Howard
Joe Morelle	NY-25	GP
Nydia Velazquez	NY-07	RT	Claire Valdez, Antonio Reinoso, Vichal Kumar
Jerrold Nadler	NY-12	RT	Alex Bores, Micah Lasher, Nina Schwalbe, Laura Dunn,
Steve Cohen	TN-09	RT	Justin J. Pearson
Robert "Bobby" Scott	VA-03	GP
James Walkinshaw	VA-11	RT	Stella Pekarsky
Stacey Plaskett	VI-AL	OK
Mark Pocan	WI-02	GP

To find more about the challengers, go to: https://progressivecongress.net/incumbents.html

Find the name and click on the link for each challenger to see who endorses them and other important references.

Current Senate Members
Running for Office

Check what incumbent Senate Members are running in the 2026 mid-terms.

This is a list from Progressive Democrats. Get more information at:

https://progressivecongress.net/incumbents.html

Ratings

GP* = I personally know their work and endorse them. They are stars leaders who have worked hard for us in 2025.
GP = Good Progressive leaders. These are keepers.
OK = Democrat leaders in congress who are rated by the Progressive Democrats as doing an OK work. They are uncomprised in that they don't make decisions based on BIG$ bribes. If there is a new fighting leader challenging them, go for the challenger. Otherwise, keep them.*
RT = Retired and needs to be replaced. Let's put a new progressive leader there!

*We may not have enough new fighting leaders to cover every seat. Therefore, if the incumbent is OK and has no challenger, let's focus on those seats that need to be flipped.

INDIVISIBLE Endorses

Check THE candidates Indivisible endorses to see if there are any in your area. You can also go to their official site to read more about the candidates and to contribute to their campaign: https://indivisible.org/resources/candidates/

Indivisible is one of the grassroots organizations that coalitions with others in the Pro-democracy non-violent resistance movement that is fighting for our democracy. They are the organizers of NO KINGS national protests with the other organizations.

Indivisible National has local chapters that work organizing in their communities. These Indivisible local groups work with their communities to choose progressive organizers in their district. We want to change the composition of congress from career politicians who are often out of touch with the people to community organizers who come from the people, know and care for our needs.

Once these local Indivisible chapters and their communities select a leader, Indivisible National conducts a survey for the Indivisible Local members to vote. If a majority votes for that candidate, then Indivisible National endorses the candidate. In that way, the candidates have a local track record and have been selected by the local people before they are endorsed.

For example: I'm a member of Indivisible in New York, District 13th. I received a survey for Darializa Avila Chevalier, and I voted for her enthusiastically because she is an organizer that has helped in the battle against ICE and the current Rep does Zero...Zip... Nada for us. That's how she was selected. Unlike the corporate Democrats who choose their candidates from the top, these candidates have been chosen by their local people.

According to Indivisible, this is their criteria for endorsement:

"Indivisible National endorsed candidates have committed to take on failed leadership and have refused campaign money from the bad actors subverting the party, like AI, Crypto, and AIPAC.
The new version of the Democratic Party needs to listen to its actual voters. Every candidate endorsed by Indivisible National must first receive overwhelming support from Indivisible leaders and members in the state or district.
We’re going to take the House and possibly the Senate in November, and we need that new Democratic Congress to hit the ground running. On January 3, we need subpoenas, hearings, investigations, and testimonies to start full force then. Every Indivisible endorsee has committed to an aggressive oversight agenda.

RATINGS

Here I'm using the ratings used by Progressive Congress site:

WS-#= They are in the Wall of Shame as democratic congress members, as evaluated by the Progressive Congress site. Number at the end means how many betrayals a leader hs done to the people/democracy from a total of 12 in 2025-26. Example: WS6 means that they have 6 points of decisions that are anti-democratic or anti-progressive or voted for bills that are bad for the people, etc.

I=# = Integrity Index, followed by grade from A to F, as in grade school values. To learn more about the Integrity Index, click link. These grades refer to the values of the integrity index which is an anti-corruption campaign for our leadership. For example: A good note, like an A or B, indicates that the leaders does not receive corporate PAC money, is not using their position for trading, agrees with getting rid of Citizens United, and a few other values. To give you and idea: AOC, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have an A. And they are very few "As!"

Name	State/District	Incumbent/Outcome
Darializa Avila Chevalier	NY-13 (My district)	Adriano Espaillat (Does nothing.)
Justin Pearson	TN-09	Steve Cohen (Retiring)
Graham Platner	Maine, Senate	Won Primary
Randy Villegas	CA-22	Won Primary
Analilia Mejia	NJ-11	Won Primary
Julie Gonzales	Colorado, Senate	John Hickenlooper =WS-6 + I=F
Peggy Flanagan	Minnesota, Senate	Tina Smith, retiring= WS-2 + I=F
Dr. Jasmine Clark	GA-13	David Scott (deceased)
Brad Lander	NY-10	Dan Goldman =WS-2 + I=D

In the lists below you will find other candidates. When you see candidates in several lists, that is an indicator that they are strong progressives and that they are gathering strong endorsements-- which increases their chances to win.

Name	State	Incumbent	Outcome
SENATE
Graham Platner	Maine	Susan Collins	Won Primary
Abdul El-Sayed	Michigan		August
Peggy Flanagan	Minnesota		August 11
HOUSE
Randy Villegas	CA-22	David Valadao	Won Primary
Will Lawrence	MI-07	Tom Barret (R) I=C+/R=F	August
Donavan McKinney	MI-13	Shri Thanedar(D) I=F/R=B+
Sam Forstag	MT-01	Ryan K. Zinke (Retired)	Won Primary
Analilia Mejia	NJ-11	??	Won Primary
Adam Hamawy	NJ-12	??
Brad Lander	NY-10	Dan Goldman =I=F/R=B	June 23
Claire Valdez	NY-07	Nydia Velazquez (Retiring)	June 23
Brian Poindexte	OH-07	??
Trey Martin	OK-05	Stephanie Bice(R)=I=F/R=F	June 16
Val Hoyle	OR-04		Won Primary
Bob Brooks	PA-07	No incumbent	Won Primary
Nate Blouin	UT-01	Blake Moore(R) = R=F
Rebecca Cooke	WI-03	No incumbent	August

I=Integrity Index, followed by a letter from A to F, as in grade school values.

R= Record in congress work, followed by a letter from A to F, as in grade school values.

Some incumbents were retiring, so there is no incumbent.

I could not find some information, thus the ??

Other Progressive Congress
Members' Endorsements

The leaders here are working in all fronts at once. Some have more and some have less endorsements. Let's give each other grace.

RO KHANA

Khana has endorsed local candidates running in California and some other states.

See more here: https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Ro_Khanna

Name	State	House/Senate	Outcome
Randy Villegas	CA-22	House	Won Primary
Francesca Hong	Wisconsin	Governor
Eunisses Hernandez (I)	LA, D-01	City Council
Peter Ortiz (I)	San Jose, D-05	City Council
Ray Mueller (I)	San Mateo, D-03	Board of Supervisors
Jeff Rosen (I)	Santa Clara County	District Attorney

Chris Murphy

Chris has endorsed Progressive candidates for Senate in 3 states.

Name	State	House/Senate	Outcome
Robin Kelly	Illinois	Senate
Mallory McMorrow	Michigan	Senate
Peggy Flanagan	Minnesota	Senate

Chris Van Hollen

For 2026 I found only two candidates endorsed by Van Hollen.

Name	State	House/Senate	Outcome
April McClain Delaney	MA-D06	House	Lost Primary
Peggy Flanagan	Minnesota	Senate

Jamie Raskin (Maryland)

Jamie only endorsed one candidate. You can't blame the guy. He's running himself this year.

Name	State	House/Senate	Outcome
Clayton Tucker	Texas	Commissioner Agriculture	Advanced in Primary

You can look at other endorsers in other tables to see if they also endorse someone in this table.

Organizations endorsing
Progressive Candidates

By familiarizing yourself with the scores of organizations that are also endorsing progressive candidates you will develop a clear criteria to check if any candidate is progressive.

If you don't know a candidate, but s/he is endorsed by 2 or more of these organizations, you are OK in assuming they have a progressive agenda that is pro-democracy, pro-workers and for getting rid of corruption.

Don't let them Pull the Wool Over your Eyes!

These times are confusing because there are so much lies, manipulation, chaos and cruelty that is easy to fall for misinformation and vote against our own interest.

That is, after all, the agenda of this regime. That is why you will see titles of bills, institutions and executive "disorders" that say the opposite of what they do.

For example: Darializa Avila Chevalier, a progressive candidate from NY-13, just got attacked by an ad placed by the oligarchy. The ad portrays itself as coming from a "Progressive Unity Fund." The fresh-faced hypocrisy is amazing! Well, I could not find any track record for the so-called fund. The only thing I found was an Axios journalist who had also done tracking and warned us:

"New possible big spender alert in #NY13: A group called Progressive Unity Fund (registered w/ the FEC last month, funding sources/affiliations unclear) is going up on the air w/ a $76,000 negative ad buy against Darializa Avila Chevalier."

That's why here I made a list of as many organizations as I could find that are actually endorsing progressive candidates. Copy/paste the list or get familiar with the names, so you can double check any candidate.

I can't give you a profile for each organization. Some organizations will vary on their criteria. And I've ran out of steam!! But just seeing certain endorsements will let you know if the candidate is legit.

Some of the Organizations endorsing progressive candidates include:

Indivisible
Citizens against AIPAC corruptions

CAAC runs campaigns—such as the Anti-AIPAC Candidate and Voter Pledges—to pressure lawmakers to reject financial contributions from AIPAC and its affiliated PACs.
GND Champions
Organize for Peace
Patients Over Profits
Our Revolution
Bernie Sanders
CPC PAC
Progressive Voters Network
Courage for Democracy
Progressive Victory
Progressive Voters Network
Take BAC Congress
PDA (Progressive Democrats of America)
Working Families Party
National Nurses United,
CAIR Action

Good luck choosing your candidates!

Progressive Candidates Who
Won the Primaries so Far

As of July 13, 2026

Amanda Pusczek, Alabama, AL-04

Robb Ryerse, Arkansas, AR-03,

Mai Vang ,California, CA-07,

Connie Chan, California, CA-11

Dr. Aisha Wahab, California, CA-14,

Randy Villegas, California, CA-22,

Tessa Lynn Hodge, California, CA-23

Angélica Dueñas, California CA-29,

Angela Gonzales-Torres, California, CA-34,

Juliana Stratton, Illinois, Senate

Charles Booker, Senate, Kentucky

Graham Platner, Maine, Senate,

Sam Forstag , Montana, MT-01

Dr. Adam Hamawy, NJ-12, New Jersey

Brad Lander, NY-10, New York

Darializa Avila Chevalier, NY-13, New York

Claire Valdez, congress, New York

Ashley Bell NC-10, North Carolina

Brian Poindexter ,Ohio, OH-07,

Jerrad Christian, Ohio, OH-12

Chris Rabb, Pennsylvania, PA-03,

Bob Brooks, Pennsylvania, PA-07,

Justin Wagner, Pennsylvania, PA-16

Evan Hunt, Texas, TX-03

Chelsey Hockett, Texas, TX-05

Claire Reynolds ,Texas, TX-11

James Talarico, Texas, Senate

Tanya Lloyd, Texas, TX-27

Frederick Haynes III, Texas, TX-30,

Greg Casar, Texas, TX-37,

What's Up?

This is an email I received from Robert Reich. I've done my best to update it up to June 13, 2026, which is when I'm writing this section.

Read it in his substack: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-midterms-in-a-nutshell

If details and numbers overwhelm you, skip this.

But if you want to see where we are at in a full picture: How many primary candidates have won, how many we need to win to control the House and then the Senate and what seats are vulnerable, etc.--then you will love this.

The Midterms in a Nutshell,

As of June 13

What we must do over the next 4 and a half months

A number of you have asked me for a simple overview of where things stand in the race to control Congress, so here’s some information you may find useful. It suggests where we need to focus our energies over the next four and a half months.

What’s needed for control of each chamber

In the Senate now: 53 Republicans - 47 Democrats (or independents who caucus with Dems). Democrats need to gain a net 4 seats to gain control of the Senate.
Edit: Of the 47 democrats in the senate, only one is in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Bernie Sanders (I). There are six more candidates who have strong progressive voting records. These are Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)Ron Wyden (D-OR)Brian Schatz (D-HI)Jeff Merkley (D-OR)Edward Markey (D-MA)Cory Booker (D-NJ). We could use with as many Progressive here as can win the primaries because the Senate needs to be shifted towards a more progressive record. It would be great if the 4 extra seats are Progressive!! (I haven't figure out how many progressives are running for Senate, but we already have four who do and won the primaries, so it's possible.)
In the House now: 219 Republicans (or independents who caucus with GOP) - 212 Democrats. There are 4 vacancies (1 in a largely Republican district, 3 in largely Democratic districts). Assuming that none of the current vacancies flip party control in special elections before November, Democrats need to gain a net 3 seats to gain control of the House.
Edit: Of the 212 Democrats in the House, only 95 are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. It is crucial that we place as many progressive candidates here to ensure a strong fight for democracy and the working class. Let's aim to bring Progressive into a majority, which would be more than 106. Let's push for 7 progressives! 25 progressives already won the Primaries for the House.

Vulnerable incumbents

Senate Republicans

Senate Republicans in competitive reelection races, who are considered vulnerable

Maine: Republican Senator Susan Collins is being challenged by Democratic oysterman Graham Platner.
Ohio: Republican Senator Jon Husted is being challenged by former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
Alaska: Republican Senator Dan Sullivan (Edit: Uses his full name for differentiation, so it's Daniel Sullivan) is being challenged by former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola (and potentially another (Edit: Republican) candidate named Dan Sullivan).
Nebraska: Pete Ricketts is being challenged by independent populist Dan Osborn (who came close to defeating Nebraska’s other GOP Senator in 2024).

House Republicans
Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)
Eli Crane (AZ-02)
David Valadao (CA-22).
Kevin Kiley (CA-06).(Kiley switched his party affiliation to “independent” after California’s Proposition 50 redrew him into a bluer district, but he still caucuses and votes with the GOP majority.)
Jeff Hurd (CO-03)
Jeff Crank (CO-05)
Gabe Evans (CO-08)
Marianette Miller-Meeks (IA-01)
Zach Nunn (IA-03)
Bill Huizenga (MI-04)
Tom Barrett (MI-08)
Brad Finstad (MN-01)
Chuck Edwards (NC-11)
Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07)(Kean has not been seen in public or voted in the House since March 2026 due to an unspecified medical issue.)
Nick LaLota (NY-01)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Max Miller (OH-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Scott Perry (PA-10)
Rob Wittman (VA-01)
Jen Kiggans (VA-02)
John McGuire (VA-05)
Derrick Van Orden (WI-03)

PS: Republican incumbents who lost their primaries to Trump-backed candidates (and could turn on Trump)

- Sen. John Cornyn (TX)
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA)
- Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04)

Vulnerable incumbents

Senate Democrats

Senate Democrats in competitive reelection races, who are considered vulnerable

Georgia: Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff will face either Rep. Mike Collins or former football coach Derek Dooley after a June 16 GOP primary runoff.

House Democrats
Derek Tran (CA-45)
Kathy Castor (FL-14)
Nellie Pou (NJ-09)
Josh Riley (NY-19)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

Competitive Open Seats

Senate

- Texas: Scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico for Republican John Cornyn’s seat.
- Michigan: Republican Mike Rogers will face a to-be-decided Democratic opponent for retiring Democrat Gary Peters’ seat.
  - The frontrunners for the August Democratic primary are Abdul El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed doctor who supports Medicare for All and getting Big Money out of politics, and Rep. Haley Stevens, a so-called “moderate” Democrat who is receiving major financial support from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby.
- North Carolina: Former RNC Chair Michael Whatley will face former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper for retiring Republican Thom Tillis’ seat.
- Iowa: Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson will face Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek for retiring Republican Joni Ernst’s seat.House
  - AZ-01 (currently GOP-held)
  - ME-02 (currently Dem-held)
  - MI-10 (currently GOP-held)

These are the down-ballot races I’m paying attention to, but let me know if I’ve missed any (and what key midterm races you’re focused on).

Robert Reich

Links to More Resources

If you are confused by the fact we have two opposite teams in the democratic party, here are two links that spell it out in full detail.

Election Story: The Hidden Battle for Leaders Who Fight for US

and

What’s Wrong with the Democratic Party Leaders?

If you need help NOT getting overwhelm and focusing on what you CAN do, here's a good tactic:

Creative Activism: the 50-30-20 Ratio

If you are losing hope and are feeling that Democracy is dead, here's a good quick-picker-upper for you.

Is Democracy Dead?

Do you need to feel the pulse of the people in the US and if we are fighting for our Democracy? I have just the thing for you. This is a video I put together with photos of NO KINGS 4 and an analysis about how we met our goals and other revelations. With music and poetry, it will raise your spirit. Enjoy!

America is Awakening video Anthologhy No. 4
NO KINGS 4
April 2026

Alternative Media for You

I do extensive research on what is going on, the history behind it, the strategies to deal with it and what is alternative media saying that others are hiding. Here are some links to my favorite alternative media to help you stay clear, stay focused and keep sane.

Alternative Media and Blogs

Professor Robert Reich
https://robertreich.substack.com/

Thom Hartmann Report
https://substack.com/@thomhartmann

The Dworkin Report
https://substack.com/@scottdworkin

Alternative News Media Channels in YT

Political analyst Heather Cox Richardson

With empathy and detachment, Heather analyses what is happening in the framework of US history. Usually about 40-60 minutes, but is also calming and clarifying. No hype. Just facts and values.

https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson

Need a good rant, a dose of truth-speaking and some empowerment?
Get to PoliticsGirl
https://www.youtube.com/@PoliticsGirl

Thom Hartman Report
https://www.youtube.com/@thomhartmann

Bernie Sanders YT Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@BernieSanders

Robert Reich YT channel
Political history professor and former labor uses storytelling to reveal the bottom line of problems with clear connections and calls to actions.

https://www.youtube.com/@RBReich

Pete Buttigieg YT Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@petebuttigieg

Democracy Docket

This is the leading digital news platform dedicated to information, analysis and opinion about voting rights and elections in the courts, with constitutional lawyer and democracy activist Mark Elias

https://www.youtube.com/@DemocracyDocket

Democracy Now

News about democracy by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez

https://www.youtube.com/democracynow

Ari Melber
Lawyer and Journalist that shares investigative reports and other eye-opening news.The Emmy-winning TV anchor, attorney & author posts new videos here...

https://www.youtube.com/@AriMelber

Jim Acosta

Famous newscaster, now independent news to help you get the facts and stay uplifted.
https://www.youtube.com/@jimacosta

Wajahat Ali
Official YouTube channel for Wajahat Ali - a writer, recovering attorney, author, and tired dad of 3 kids. Great conversation. In-depth analysis. Truth-telling.
Great conversations and interviews about hot topics, no holding back.

Amanpour & Co.
Series investigative studies and interviews
https://www.youtube.com/@AmanpourandCompany

MS NOW
The only mainstream media left that speaks the truth. Home of the amazing Rachel Maddow.

https://www.youtube.com/@msnow

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Election Story: The Hidden Battle for Leaders Who Fight for US

Posted by mariamar No Responses »

May 232026

"The billionaires in this oligarchy live under the illusion that they are better than the rest of us because they measure a person's worth by their wealth. But We the People have learned that a person's worth is not in how much money they have in the bank, but how much they contribute to their community. And beyond this, our Soul informs us, each being is sacred."

Maria Mar

Therefore:

"A teacher contributes more to civilization than a real estate grifter hustling his name like a luxury perfume brand. A nurse contributes more than a billionaire tax cheat hiding profits offshore. A union worker building roads contributes more than another hedge fund parasite gaming markets from his Manhattan penthouse."

Thom Hartmann
From
Is Trump's Gilded Ballroom a Middle Finger to Working Americans?

This battle is escalating fast and furiously. And the colors of the flags are more confusing than ever, just when the terrain is more difficult and the stakes are higher. The stakes are our country, our democracy, our way of life and our very integrity as human beings. In fact, the order of our wold and the survival of our planet may very well depend on this battle.

Therefore, we MUST win. But to win we need to know friend from foe. And that's not so clear any more. You see, We, the People are facing a double whammy. One thing is to fight an opponent, like the oligarchy. But another thing is when the enemy disguises itself and tries to steal the elections through candidates you may not recognize.

In this issue I'm going to share a real-life story sequence that is rising from behind the official Elections scene. I'm breaking it up into "scenes" so that you can follow the changing panorama of our voting drama.

To give democracy a win in the 2026 elections, we need to update our mindset about what we are voting for. It's not about parties anymore, though the labels will say "Republican Party" Vs. "Democratic Party."

Do not be fooled! The real adversaries are "Billionaires Vs. We, the People," but if the people don't recognize the puppets from the fighting leaders, we will vote for our very enemies.

So keep your eyes open. I will do my best to give you all the clues to recognize friend from foe. And the story will show you the pitfalls. Open your eyes when you see this in any part of the story: (RF) That's a red flag, but not red as in Republican; but red as in warning sign.

"Why do they betray us, voting against our interest?" cries yet another. "That bill is going to squeeze us even more!"

"Why are some Democrats voting with GOP leaders?" a confused commentator wants to know. "Aren't they suppose to be on our side?"(RF)

I've answered these painful questions so many times in the 16 months of this regime, that I already have a script ready to paste in the comment thread. Here it is:

"These questions are falling into the gap between two different sectors of the democratic party. The short answer to this is that there is not one democratic party, but that the democratic leadership is divided into two.

There is the corporate Democratic leadership, who controls the DNC and the DCCC. They are just a shade less compromised than the Republicans in terms of receiving funds from the oligarchy. And until we get rid of big money in politics, we are going to have these and other leaders being compromised in both parties. A leader who receives money from oligarchy does not respond to their constituents, no matter what party she or he belongs to.

It's not that they are playing dead, as some Corporate Democrats said at the start of 2025. It's that they ultimately work for their billionaire funders. And so yes, they have betrayed us in different degrees than let's say, a GOP congress member who is complicit with the regime. But still, they are no longer working on our behalf. They are working for the oligarchy.

However, there is another part of the Democratic Party. In congress, you will find most of its members in the progressive democratic caucus ,plus several other progressive democratic leaders in the House and Senate. These are the democrats that have been fighting for the people and defending democracy fiercely --in spite of being a minority and in spite of not having control of the official Democratic Party.

These are leaders like Bernie Sanders, who has been traveling across the country with his Fighting Oligarchy tour and now joined Ro Khana to protect us from the deadly danger of an unregulated AI. They are people like Pramila Jayapal, whose Resistance Lab training in nonviolent strategic resistance has helped me and thousands of people to train in how to defeat this fascist coup. They are people like AOC, who has regular calls with citizens so that we can learn what is happening with our leaders and work effectively to pressure congress. They are people like Greg Casar, Adam Schiff, Chris Van Hollen, Jamie Raskin, Chris Murphy and a couple of dozen more.

And then there is the rest of us who right now are fighting for our very democracy, whether we are Democrats, Independents or Republicans. We don't want Kings or dictators in the US."

So when we watch democrats in congress suddenly betraying us, breaking ranks and voting with Republicans, these are usually Corporate Democrats. And what is behind that is that they respond more to the pressure from the corporate lobby of the oligarchy than to the pressure of their constituents.

The grassroots organizations in the Pro-democracy Nonviolent Resistance Movement are aware of this and we are fighting this. How?

The grassroots local groups in the Pro-democracy Movement are working with their communities to choose new leaders who are against big money in politics and are willing to fight for our democracy. There are organizations that have been training new progressive leaders who will run in these primaries.

These leaders are focused on taking big money out of politics and creating policy that benefits the working and middle classes. Many of these leaders come from those classes and are ordinary people who are sick and tired of the corruption and worried about this fascist coup, so they are stepping up. They have commitment and courage. But they don't have money.

If we want leaders who fight for us, we need to fund those leaders.

Once these new leaders are chosen locally, the grassroots organizations step up to support them. The rest of the process I'm describing is how Indivisible is working because that's what I'm familiar with.

Indivisible presents the new fighting leader selected by the local Indivisible Groups to the other Indivisible members in that state or district. If a majority of the members endorse this New Fighting Leader, then Indivisible endorses that leader nationally.

This means that Indivisible offers campaign resources to the leader. For example, I receive emails from Indivisible promoting new local leaders from across the nation.

I am in New York, but when I saw the Indivisible email promoting James Talarico (Texas), I donated to Talarico's campaign because I believe in his integrity and what he stands for. I've seen his track record. He is for the people, not the billionaires. This generates public funding that gives this new fighting leaders a good chance to win against billionaires.

When you see new fighting leaders endorsed by the Pro-democracy Movement organizations, by Unions and Working Families, your contribution to their campaign is a vote against billionaires and for our democracy.

But here's the secret battle that We, the People are wedging right now. And I'm telling you this to make sure that you and all your people know this; because we are fighting in two fronts and we MUST win in order to take big money out of politics, which is the core source of our problem.

I'm sharing here what criteria we need to use in the midterms elections to choose a candidate that fights against oligarchy; because that's how fighting for democracy looks like at this moment. Just saying that you are a Democrat is not enough. (RF)

Why does Indivisible believe this?

Villegas is the son of Mexican immigrants who has dedicated his life and career to fighting for his neighbors.
He’s the only candidate in CA-22 who is committed to not taking a dime of money from AI, Crypto, AIPAC, or any corporate PACs. (To find out about this PAC money and how billionaires hide behind it to manipulate elections, read my article on "What's Wrong with the Democratic Leaders?" Scroll down where it says "About PACs" and read from there down.)
He’s prioritizing family leave, child care, fixing our broken immigration system, and bringing accountability to Trump’s regime.

Randy built grassroots and national support. Keep in mind that Indivisible always takes direction from local Indivisible groups on primaries. So the organization is not imposing a leader to the community. Instead it is choosing to promote leaders that the community is already supporting and that the Indivisible members want to endorse.

This is power from the bottom-up; power that is people-sourced; not chosen by the oligarchs because they will pay for the leader's loyalty. Get it? (Wink.)

After La Raza Indivisible endorsed Villegas, we held a vote of Indivisibles in this district, where a supermajority of Indivisibles voted in favor of a national endorsement. Now we’re investing in local organizing and resources to help Villegas win.

Randy got the support of the local Democratic party, as well as luminaries like Dolores Huerta, national grassroots groups like Working Families Party, National Educators Association, and David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, and some of our favorites in Congress like Pramila Jayapal, Maxwell Frost, Greg Casar, and Bernie Sanders."

So far so good, right? This is how many new fighting leaders are winning.

Unfortunately, there's when the story gets a nasty twist.

Last week, the DCCC picked a different candidate in this Democratic primary: State assembly member Jasmeet Bains. Who is Bains?

Campaign finance records from her career show that Bains shares over 50 of the same corporate donors with the Republican in the race.
Bains has taken over $800k from big pharma, healthcare companies, and corporate polluters, while voting against healthcare and environmental reforms.
AIPAC is investing $500k in the district -- $300k for Bains, and $200k for the Republican.

And get this: Bains is the only Democrat in the entire California Assembly who voted with Republicans against the new California congressional maps. Not only would this district not exist if Bains had won that fight, but Trump would be able to count on five more House seats headed into November.

"Bains is the prototypical status quo Democrat," ends Indivisible's co-founder Ezra Levin.

Why are this old establishment Democrats choosing this type of candidates? Because they are Corporate Democrats, who are also receiving funding from PACS, IPAC, billionaire donors and the techno-fascists. That's why I say that We, the People, on top of this regime's attacks on elections, now face a double whammy.

Not only we are facing the "Republican" establishment. And remember, that this regime is no longer run by a conservative party. It's instead taken over by the oligarchy who is leading a fascist coup to our democracy. As if this was not enough, now the Corporate Democrats suddenly woke up from playing dead and are joining the fight-- just not on the side of the People!(RF)

"The Democratic Party isn’t the enemy. But sadly, too many Democratic leaders have been content to watch the battle unfold from the sidelines, or worse, have actively abetted the regime’s corruption and abuse," says Indivisible. "It’s no surprise that the party has fallen to historic levels of unpopularity."

That’s why Indivisible has launched the biggest primary program in our history – to build a better, stronger Democratic Party capable of meeting this moment and defeating the rise of fascism in America.

We cannot afford the corporate democrats to allow more status quo leaders bought by corporate PACs.

Ezra declares: "I believe that the national Democratic Party should not be parachuting into your town, ignoring the actual constituents, and putting their thumbs on the scale in competitive primaries. Leave it to the locals to select who they want in the primaries, and then rally whoever wins to defeat the Republican."

That's how democracy works, ain't it?

But in order to get our New Fighting Leaders to win, we need you to recognize who are these leaders who are working for you, not the oligarchy.

So when you see democratic leaders, notice who is endorsing them and who is funding them. Follow the money.

Do not elect ANY leader, Democratic or Republican, who is receiving money from Fascism Funders—the techno-fascists of Silicon Valley (AI and robotics), billionaire donors helping to enrich Trump and his cronies, cryptocurrency scammers, or AIPAC.

These are the oligarchs. And they are spending millions on candidates that will be loyal to them. They are spending millions on nasty ads against the New Fighting Leaders elected by We, the People in order to get back our democracy and make it work for the working and middle class families.

Basically, they are declaring a class war against the working folks. So follow the money and vote for the New Fighting Leaders who are funded by We, the People. We are working hard and putting our own hard-won money to back these leaders-- many of whom are working class folks too.

That's why it's essential that you know how to recognize the New Fighting Leaders in the Democratic Party. It's not just enough a candidate is a Democrat. It must be a candidate who is not sold out to oligarchy! (RF)

Here are the criteria to make sure that we take BIG MONEY out of politics:

The candidate is not receiving any money from the oligarchy, including:
- The candidate refuses to take contributions from Fascism Funders—the techno-fascists of Silicon Valley (AI, robotics), billionaire donors helping to enrich Trump and his cronies, cryptocurrency scammers, Super PACs and AIPAC.
- The candidate makes a commitment to demanding accountability and prosecute the Trump regime’s abuses and corruption.
- And for Senate candidates, the candidate makes a commitment to not support Chuck Schumer as majority leader so that we can have a leader in congress that unites us and demands respect.
They are endorsed by the grassroots movements that have been fighting in the Pro-democracy movement to save our democracy and by We, the People. And
They are brave and bold and speak truth to power and they make a direct pledge to take big money out of politics and fight for our democracy against this fascist coup.

Warning Signs: Abstract language, pussy-footing around working class problems, offering vague benefits. A leader that receives money from oligarchy is already compromised. A leader who is not willing to call this regime what it is: a fascist coup, will not fight with us to save democracy.

Another warning sign: nasty expensive ads. Fact-check them. The crypto fascists and the techno fascists are spending millions to discredit the people-elected new leaders. Don't let them fool you!

Check the candidates that Indivisible is endorsing here. The list grows as local groups select their candidates. https://indivisible.org/resources/candidates/

Also check the candidates that Bernie Sanders is endorsing:

https://berniesanders.com/endorse/

Share this page with as many people as possible. Legacy media is not informing us, so we need to become the People's Media through word of mouth.

Call to Action:

Do as many as these actions as you can do:

Talk to friends. Send a link to this page.
Do Study Groups. Together you can follow the $ and back the true fighters.
$upport the People's New Fighting Leaders. They are not taking $ from the oligarchs, so we need to pitch in.
Volunteer to campaign for your local candidates. You can knock on doors or do phone banks.
Make sure that all your people can recognize our New Fighting Leaders!

OK. I hope this helps. Let me know.

In Unity,
Maria Mar

PS. Watch the short video below where Robert Reich exposes those who are trying to steal our elections.

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Creative Activism: the 50-30-20 Ratio

Posted by mariamar No Responses »

May 222026

Every day there is an emergency, a horrible event. If it's not ICE raids, it's concentration camps, breaking the law, those crazy executive “disorders,” Epstein perversity, constant grift and now war. Not just with Iran, but imperialistic, illegal attacks on other countries. And now elections!

How can you stand up to this regime and not go crazy or collapse in exhaustion?

That’s when creativity comes into play. We need to access the wisdom of Creative Activism. There are several principles that I include with this approach.

We need to understand the balance between our Warrior and our Artist
It does not hurt if we understand the importance of responding to chaos with focus.
It’s also vital that we add to this the wisdom of the Shaman Self. Because we need to understand how energy and attention work. Which leads us into the 50-30-20 Ratio.

We’ll take a look at the three principles, but this last one is where we will focus today.

Since I’ve been studying the work of the Progressive Democratic Congress people, let me share an interesting pattern that I see on how many of them work.

Not to mention that he is also doing his legislative job and opposing many of this regime’s policies.

What is he, superman? At 84?

Well, he does have a team that works on research, logistics communications, so there’s that.

And he is one of the most committed leaders I’ve met, so there’s that too.

But it’s not him alone.

I follow the work of three of my Democratic superheroes: in congress ~ AOC, Bernie and Pramila Jayapal and they all have this pattern.

They are all confronting the madness of the Destroyer in the White House every single day.

And yet…

They also address certain causes and priorities that they are committed to and that affect their constituents. They are creating change, saving democracy, serving the people.

Not only that, but they also look forward to create blueprints for new solutions. That’s why they are leaders. Because they look ahead to lead the path.

How do they do all of this?

Because they understand the 50-30-20 Ratio, though their numbers may vary.

But how do you pour energy into something that does not exist? You use your attention because energy follows attention. In other words, that which you pour your attention into, grows and becomes a reality. That which you neglect your attention from, that will diminish and disappear.

The problem is that many of us have been trained to focus on the problem, pouring all our attention in the problem. We are trying to solve it. But we actually feed it!

So what am I saying? Are we to ignore the problem? What nonsense is this?

Are we to become alienated and avoid the political crisis our country is suffering? That is alienation, denial or spiritual bypassing, but it’s not activism!

I hear you.

That’s why we need a ratio.

How much attention do we pour into the problem? Enough to find a solution. A good solution that satisfies us.

That means that we need to pour attention into a place that can contain that solution, right?

For something intangible—like a solution that is not yet manifested—to become tangible, it needs to occupy time and space. Therefore, we need to pour our attention into a time and space that can then hold the energy of our intellect, imagination, vision, intuition and instinct as they work together in the birth of new solution.

And that’s where we summon our Artist Self, our creative aspect.

The Artist Self opens a space and time to imagine, explore and envision potential solutions.

She needs to dream into it. To listen deeply to what is wanting to birth out of the ruins of what has been broken.

She is listening for the potential that is inside the destruction, because chaos is the process whereby something old breaks in order to birth something new.

The point where the break takes place looks like chaos because there is also a birth taking place simultaneously beneath the death.

And the Artist Self listens to both. And then releases the old while receiving the new.

That does not happen on command, but in receptivity.

The Artist intuitively knows what to do. Rest, or recreation? Sleep or dream? Play or experimentation? Silence or conversation? Listening or speaking up? Walking in nature or skating down the street?

And from that state of receptivity and the actions that follow, the vision arises, bringing the possibilities, connecting that which is dying with that which wants to be birthed. A Golden Egg is created. It’s still empty, but it’s a container.

And the more attention is poured into that Golden Egg, the more energy goes inside, until the new being, the new solution is ready to be hatched.

This works is very different to the work of the warrior.

The Warrior Self is our activist. S/he looks at what the Destroyer is breaking and she blows the whistle.

We all hear the call and show up to do what’s necessary. We fight. We clear the rubble. We block the move. We delay, disrupt, sabotage, or make it backfire.

We think strategically. And then we create a counter-tactic.

And that’s about planning and doing.

That gives us the win.

So when we see Bernie in his Fight Oligarchy Tour, we recognize the activist, the Warrior. He planned it and now he executes it.

But when you are a leader, you are not just a Warrior. You need to lead. And in order to lead, you must see ahead to what’s coming at your people, and you must research the danger and then come up with some solutions that can be discussed, developed and voted on by the people.

And that’s when the Artist comes in.

If you are only responding to what your enemy is throwing at you, you are in Reactive Resistance. That’s another topic for another day. But basically, your enemy is leading you.

So you take time to strategize, calm down and respond strategically. That’s the Warrior.

The Warrior flips his enemy. He uses strategy to move ahead of the enemy, so that now he is leading the enemy.

Good move.

But where are we going? What’s the future? What’s the exit? What is the potential here?

That’s the job of the Leader. And the Leader needs the Artist.

Here’s the thing: while Bernie was going state to state, he was also exploring AI and robotics with his team. His team researched. He studied the finding. They discussed the issues. They assembled a group of experts: Nobel-prize winning scientists and technicians, technical geniuses that were insiders, whistle-blowers. In fact, I saw Bernie interviewing Open AI about feasible solutions! (That was spooky.)

How did he do all of this? How did he get ready to confront what is coming with AI and robotics while touring the country?

Because he set aside time to do this.

Bernie, like many leaders, knows how to divide his attention to multiply his capacity. And that’s the opposite of fragmented attention.

Which brings all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Those 12 hours are 100% of your democracy work, not counting emergencies or mass events.

Instead of going all over the place with all the destruction this regime creates, you distribute your time and attention wisely using the 50-30-20 ratio.

50% of your focus is in your work in resistance and noncompliance. You are focused on what you are doing to defeat the regime and on the victories of the People for democracy. This is your Warrior You are planning, strategizing and responding strategically. This is the work where you focus in your main cause or priorities.

For example, my democracy cause is Free Speech. I'm writing a book, articles and doing videos and I have the Storytellers.Indivisible Group. These are the strategies I use to inspire and mobilize people to use Free Speech so they do not lose it. Therefore, the planning and implementing of creating content and communications towards this goal would then take 50% of my time.

30% of your time goes to research what the regime is doing, fact-check, assess alternative media and political analysis and discuss the impact of the regime's actions. Instead of doom-scrolling, you could be doing research on those issues connected to the area that you are prioritizing in your activism.

Examples:

For Bernie this was about coming up with the strategies and implementing the responses to all the crazy policies that the Destroyer in the White House comes up with.

For me that would be also to create content to help others come up with solutions for any violation of free speech.

Of course, both Bernie and I need to stay informed of most stuff in order to do our job; but by having a focus, we have certain criteria; so that we don't get lost in the endless chaos of this regime.

20% of your attention moves to envisioning solutions. You are observing those fresh new shoots of life emerging from beneath the ruins of what has been broken. You are growing quiet and reflecting on how, where and why our democracy is breaking and what that reveals.

These quiet moments or creative conversations have been instrumental in growing the strength of my faith because they help me SEE and FEEL the future we are fighting for. I am pouring my attention into a time/space container that I am then filling with energy.

For example: That’s how Bernie developed his presentation for our nation on the emerging danger and potential of AI and robotics—a scientific development that was kept quiet even though it was already sneaking into our work spaces. But they did not want us to know what was about to hit us like a ton of bricks. Now Bernie could articulate it clearly so we can understand it. He can present the evidence and has ready interviews with experts that help us trust this new crazy thing that sounds like a science fiction movie; but is deadly real.

Had Bernie not taken time to prepare this, we would be clueless and it would be disastrous.

But he was ready for the future because he had travel to meet it in his 20% time for envisioning solutions.

When you stop simply responding to what life throws at you and instead use the 50-30-20 Ratio, you can become a Creator Being. And that’s the next evolution of humanity.

That’s when we all become leaders.

When you step into the shoes of the Creator Being something magical happens: you stay positive, curious, energetic and motivated.

You divide your attention and time in ways that multiply your capacity instead of fragmenting your attention.

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What’s Wrong with the Democratic Party Leaders?

Posted by mariamar No Responses »

May 192026

But before we get into the root of all evil, as my grandma would say (guess what it is), let's clear the fog.

There is no longer just one Democratic Party.

There's not two Democratic Parties either.

Isn't that confusing? Yes, it is.

Here's the thing: There is one democratic party, but it's split.

What's the split?

The way I see it, this is a loyalty split.

Part of the democratic Party, the old guard, is no longer loyal to We, the People. Instead they are increasingly more loyal to their corporate funding. For this reason some of us call them the Corporate Democrats.

You will recognize them because they are the ones who:

Are playing dead (their words).
Hold on to the status quo as is it were a lifesaver.
Are acting as if this was just another bad administration where they can just wait it out, and not a fascist coup that is destroying our democracy.
Are rejecting the new leadership that's coming from We, the People in response to our needs and to this authoritarian regime,
Have joined Republicans in voting for atrocious bills that put We, the People at risk. The betrayal has been heart-breaking for so many who placed their trust on the Democratic Party. And yet, they kept hiding...

That should tell you most of what you wan to know.

Corporate Democrats have made blue into another $hade of green, being that they receive funds from the oligarchy, just as the Republicans.

And coming to think about it... they are BOTH playing dead as our country is dismantled by an oligarchy-funded fascist coup.

Unfortunately, these Corporate Democrats control the DNC and the DCCC.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing organization and executive leadership board of the Democratic Party.

And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) acts as the specialized, focused campaign arm dedicated solely to electing Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

So you can see that if they are rejecting the new leadership that's coming from We, the People, like Mamdani in New York; then we have a big problem.

Not only that, but as they smelled the whiff of the mid-term elections, they've come out of their hibernation and are back to their old habits, mainly:

Asking us for money every single day. No communication. No reports. No consultation. Just give me the money, and
Nominating candidates from the top down, even though that's part of what got us in this mess.

It seems they've learned nothing from this political tragedy.

So if the Corporate Democrats are getting Corporate PAC money, playing dead and betraying democracy, who's there for us?

The Progressive Democrats, who remember that the Democratic Party's essential mandate is to preserve and evolve democracy, which is defined by the will of the people. Those are the ones standing for us.

The other part of the split can be seen in the democrats at the base. These are the ones who campaign for Mamdani. These are the ones who have been standing up for democracy as both Corporate Democratic and republican congress leaders play dead and are complicit of the rise of oligarchy and the fascist takeover going on.

Like every classist society, you can find those democrats at the base, doing the hard work: the knocking on doors, the foot work, the phone banks, the fighting.

You see them organizing and participating in the NO KINGS protests.
They have been instrumental in leading the Pro-democracy Nonviolent Resistance movement in our country.
They have lead the Rapid Responses against ICE since the beginning.

In other words, they are part of We, the People and they are fighting for our democracy. They are also bringing us into unity so that we can fight together against this Democratic Backsliding.

There was a moment of confusion right at the beginning and some falter during the first months. Do you remember? We were all "Where did the Dems go?"

But most of these Progressive Democratic leaders have since then been fighting for We, the People and our democracy against threats by the regime and in toxic, dangerous conditions. And it's important that we acknowledge them because they are part of the forces that are keeping democracy alive and kicking.

The Progressive Democratic leaders in congress have grown by leaps and bounds because they've had to come up with new strategies to fight this regime. And yet, they've done it in record time and they are still coming up with ways to delay, sabotage, expose and make its cruelty backfire as they fight as a minority against this GOP-backed fascist coup. KUDOS to them!

In a moment I will give you a list of my favorite Progressive Democratic congress members with a brief description of what they are working on. I highly recommend that you follow them as they talk in alternative/progressive media, do presentations in congress, interrogate the fascist cabinet and work with our communities to stop this fascist coup.

The good news is that many citizens are picking up the slag. We are helping each other stay informed via Word of Mouth, the oldest and most powerful communication method in the world.

That is why I am writing this. I'm not a political writer. In fact, my writing is about poetry, fiction and spirituality. So what am I doing writing about politics?

Well, if we don't, who will? It's up to We, the People to let each other know what is going on. Otherwise, many people will remain confused or paralyzed and this coup will win.

That is why so many of us ordinary citizens are using our communication vehicles-- whether blogs, podcasts, video channels, emails, cellphones (to record) or other media, in order to share information.

Every person who can do it needs to magnify the work of the alternative/progressive media sources in order to get the truth, stay focused on what we need to do, recognize our victories and then share it with our communities.

If you don't have time to do it or need support in staying abreast of what the Progressive Democratic Leaders, the grassroots organizations and the communities are doing to fight for democracy, you can subscribe to my newsletter Light in the Darkness now.

In my newsletter, I contact you twice a month to keep you in the loop of events, inform you of the Pro-democracy monthly focus and share nonviolent resistance strategies, so you understand what to do and why. I also share the stories of people's victories and share what the people are saying, so you feel the pulse of our democracy.

subscribe to my newsletter

The Progressive Democratic Leaders are the only part of the congress that is working within democratic standards and to safeguard our democracy.

These leaders have realized that this is not business as usual, but that this is a Democratic Backsliding into authoritarianism perpetrated by a white supremacist section in the GOP who has taken over and are in the rapid process of taking this country via a fascist coup.

In contrast to the Corporate Democrats who have been playing dead (their words) these Progressive Democratic Leaders have been working for the people non-stop. They have been:

Placing guardrails against the Destroyer in the White House who keeps signing edicts that are anti-constitutional and illegal. Their Litigation Task Force is constantly fighting these edicts and other illegal actions. And they have succeeded in the Lower Courts to stop many of these.
Working with our communities to stop ICE concentration camps and AI data centers.
Stopping additional funds to go to ICE or CBP and calling for accountability to its agents, which is beginning to take place now.
Interviewing and exposing illegal or unethical behavior in the regime and documenting it for the accountability that is coming.
Proposing bills to support the working class, the vulnerable population and the citizens at large inside a congress that is not legislating and a regime that is decimating all our support programs.
Working to shift a majority of votes to stop the Iran War, which is beginning to increase the support for a War Powers Resolution.
Exposing the truth and agendas of this regime to the public and pressing for growing public pressure, which has worked to crumble the wanna-be dictator's polling numbers.
And much more that we will see below.

We want to keep in mind that the Progressive Democrats in Congress are a minority. But that's just part of the challenge for our democracy. So they need our support. And also, our pressure if they slack. Just saying.

Here's what they are working against inside the White House:

The GOP majority is betraying their duties and complying with the regime. They are barely doing their legislative work, much less placing guardrails to the madness.

The GOP in congress has refused to pass any bill that the Destroyer in the White House does not want; which includes most of the bills the Democrats propose for the welfare of the people at a moment in which the regime is destroying our support safety net. This represents a challenge that no congress has faced before. Sure, there has always been friction to come up with bipartisan approval. But this time the Republican Party is in passive compliance with the regime. They are aiding the fascist coup!

So a hard part of the Progressive Democrats work in congress has been to keep and increase the pressure for these Republicans to do their job and stop complying on top of dealing with the derelict Corporate Democrats who keep breaking ranks with democracy.

You can imagine the chaos and the stress, in the midst of this toxic regime.

However, our Progressive Democratic Leaders have adapted some of the strategies of nonviolent resistance and they are creating constant political pressure, counter-influence and guardrails in order to erode, hold back or diminish the fascist advance.

I include below a sample of the work that the Progressive Democratic congress members are doing on behalf of democracy. The importance of this work is huge, as it covers many political issues and has powerful ripples across our nation.

The key factor here is that these Progressive Democratic leaders, unlike the Corporate, status-quo Democratic leaders, are doing the work for which we elected them as much as is possible right now and they are working to defend democracy, hold back fascist advance, place guardrails to the overreaching executive branch and pressure for policies that benefit the people.

As long as this works exists, democracy is alive and kicking. And we need to include this work in our evaluation of the current political crisis instead of just focusing on what the GOP congress members are not doing.

AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) does amazing workshops to communicate what is going on inside the House and Senate and help citizens work with our Reps in pressuring congress. She not only speaks truth to power and tells the truth to her constituents. She is an excellent leadership trainer that empowers her followers to take strategic actions. I've been in some of her calls which are a mixture of resistance workshops with collaborative strategy. Sign up here: https://act.ocasiocortez.com/signup/aoc-action-email-signups

Other issues that AOC is busy with now are:

Oversight and Accountability: Leading investigations into the Trump administration's allocation of healthcare and energy funds to corporate giants, pressing the EPA over environmental permits, and probing military operations in Iran. I just saw a clip on her presentation to the EPA to investigate the impact of massive data center construction on drinking water quality and availability. During this congressional hearing, she got the EPA to commit to looking into the community and environmental impacts surrounding these large infrastructure projects
Economic & Labor Rights: Introducing legislation to guarantee minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers and pushing to cap credit card interest rates and tariffs.
The "Child Care for America" Working Group: Partnering with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Patty Murray to lower costs and expand child care access.
Tech and Energy Grid Impacts: Studying the environmental strain of AI and crypto data centers on local water and electric bills.

Bernie Sanders has been doing his Fight Oligarchy tour for more than a year. He did about 40 events in 26 states and talked about half a million people. He visited red and blue states:
- Red States: Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
- Blue States: California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania and New York, among others.
From the beginning, Sanders focused on a goal to empower red states with the knowledge that billionaires are the source of our problems and are funding a fascist coup.

Connect the dots here: In NO KINGS 3 almost half the events took place in red states and right now the Pro-democracy nonviolent resistance movement is recognized as being a cross-partisan, national movement—one of the key growth signs for our success in defeating fascism.

The work of these two congress members has been pivotal in the growth of the Pro-democracy movement.

Bernie's work, with AOC~ who joined for one of the tours~and Greg Casar and others who joined the tour in different states~ has been pivotal in empowering Republican citizens. Republicans who are conservative, but are not white supremacists or fascists were extremely confused and scared of the events their own party was producing right from the start.

The Fight Oligarchy Tour traveled red states bringing clarity and support to these citizens, with the understanding that this is not just a bad administration, but a fascist coup and that the core issue is the rise of the oligarchy and big money in politics. And that is now showing in our mid-term elections!

And now Bernie Sanders, together with Ro Khana, are working to stop unregulated AI from being developed against citizens and massively eliminating jobs, changing the face of the working and middle class without any discussion or votes from We, the People.

Congress woman Pramila Jayapal is another Progressive Democratic leader who has been instrumental in the growth and strength of the Pro-democracy nonviolent resistance movement. In her Resistance Lab she has been training thousands of people in strategic nonviolent resistance. I took this foundational training around April 2025 and it empowered me to think strategically and to understand what the pro-democracy movement is doing. And still, every month she trains thousands of people. You can check her Resistance Lab here: https://www.pramilaforcongress.com/the-resistance-lab

Her training showed me that stopping a democratic backsliding is not a one-time win. It is a battle of brain vs brawn. We must meet each action of the regime with -- not just an action, but a a counter-tactic, a strategic response that erodes and sabotages the regime's goals, making its intentions backfire.

Up to date Jayapal's Resistance Lab has trained 30,000 people in strategic resistance. These are the citizens that are right now fighting ICE, defending our elections, organizing local communities and growing the pro-democracy movement.

I've also seen her supporting the Epstein survivors.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg of this amazing leader. She is also engaged in:

Fighting Mass Deportation: Actively pushing back against federal efforts to force states and localities to enforce mass deportations.
Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Introducing resolutions to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis and war in Sudan, while working to advance legislation that establishes diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Immigration Reform: Championing the Roadmap to Freedom Immigration Resolution to build a more humane immigration system.
Progressive Legislation: Continuing to back core progressive priorities including the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, Medicare for All, and labor rights.

Also keep your eyes on:

- Elizabeth Warren: She is fighting against corruption and holding big tech accountable. She is pushing for more affordable housing and military personnel oversight. And she’s keeping an eye for our social safety net, which this regime is actively destroying. Warren has always been pro-working class. Now she’s working in the Social Security War Room in congress, which has curtailed the attacks on that remaining social safety net. If you are in her mailing list, you will not only receive request for money, as happens with the DNC. She keeps us inform of the truth behind the lies of this regime.

- Chris Murphy: He’s supporting our collective efforts to bring in new leaders who fight for democracy and is also working with communities opposing new ICE warehouses. He’s also one of the leading voices against escalation in Iran. Murphy also does brave presentations exposing each anti-constitutional action taken by this regime as it advances its fascist coup. This work will be key in our demands for accountability pretty soon.

- Chris Van Hollen: He is working for AI data centers regulations, pushing for tax fairness and working class benefits and promoting projects for healthcare, education and small businesses in a climate that is destroying them.

- Robert Garcia: He’s fighting for democracy and civil rights, for LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights, to reign in ICE and border patrol and with the Epstein files. This last work is not for the faint of heart. I’ve seen him talking about what he examined in the Epstein files that are still not public and the shock and repulsion are evident in all his being. He’s reading this poison to keep us informed. Kudos for him.

- Jamie Raskin: He’s a constitutional lawyer, so he is now concentrating in the elections and defending our civil rights, doing a lot of media appearances and working with lawyers. He’s also heavily focused on presidential accountability and is introducing a bill to create a commission to evaluate presidential capacity under the 25^th Amendment. Raskin is focused on “de-Trumpifying” government. I’m glad somebody is.
- Adam Schiff: Aside of working with AI regulation, housing affordability and protecting the environment, he does a video every night explaining the events of the day to dispel lies and misinformation. These videos help calm chaos, distraction and confusion so that we understand what is really taking place and where to focus attention.

This is just a short list about the congress members with whom I am most familiar. But there are more and they are each fighting like true warriors on our behalf in an environment that is highly toxic, dangerous and hostile to the needs and wellbeing of We, the People.

Follow these congress members when they show up in alternative or progressive media and you will realize that we are winning so many battles that the regime is panicking.

Their work matters. What would have happened if Chris Van Hollen had not taken a plane to El Salvador to find out about Kilmar Abrego Garcia? That was the move that changed the game. It awakened people to what was happening with immigrants, the lawlessness, the incarcerations, all of it.

Now that you know the vital role that Jayapal has played in the growth or resistance, do you wander why the Destroyer wants her head and is accusing her of treason? She is training the peaceful warriors that are defending our democracy!

How are you feeling now that you know all the things that these Progressive Democratic Leaders are doing for the people and for our democracy?

Become aware of how focusing on what we are doing to save democracy-- instead of constantly worrying about all the things that are going wrong-- changes your energy level, resets your nervous system, uplifts and focuses you. This helps you to do a better job.

Isn't it delicious to feel grateful and uplifted, even inspired, by the work of the Progressive Democratic Leaders?

What a difference from constantly trying to get the Corporate Democrats to DO something! It's like having a lousy lover and spending our time trying to change him instead of dumping him and getting someone who really listens and cares for us. Just saying.

But seriously, I hope that you now can see that it's not just about voting for Democratic Leaders. It's about voting for Progressive Democrats who have been fighting and pledge themselves to fighting against oligarchy, for working and middle class and to save our democracy.

If we vote for Corporate Democrats or their candidates, things will NOT change. We won't defeat fascism. These democrats have not learned. They are still going to communities with pre-selected candidates without honoring the communitie's choices. This says it all. We cannot afford anymore top-to-bottom leadership. We must become the leaders of our leaders.

How can we distinguish between corporate democrats and progressive democrats? It's simple:

Follow the money. Do they have PAC money? Are they funded by AIPAC? Do they have corporate funding? If they do, then they are working for the oligarchy, not for the people. The Pro-democracy movement is electing and endorsing the New Fighting Leaders, who refuse PAC or corporate money and vow to end big money in politics. If we do this, we dry the source of money and support for this fascist regime. We win. If this animates you, then your job right now could be helping voters understand this so that in the coming elections, they vote for New Fighting democratic leaders that help us end big money in politics and take down the oligarch that is funding this coup. I just heard Mike Johnson complaining that there were a lot of "mini-Mamdanis" all over the place. That's the idea! JAJAJA!
Track their record. If they have voted for bills that gave money or tax cuts for the billionaires, ICE, CBP or the Iran War, do NOT vote for them. If they were "playing dead" while we've been screaming for our leaders to stop this fascist coup, do NOT vote for them. These are corporate democrats. Vote for those who have already shown their loyalty to We, the People and their courage to stand up for the regime. And vote for those who are endorsed by the Pro-democracy movement. Check the ones that Indivisible is endorsing. (That number keeps growing, so bookmark the page.)
https://indivisible.org/resources/candidates/

Now that we know which Democratic leaders in congress to follow and trust, let's take a look at the New Fighting Leaders, the candidates that the Pro-democracy Movement is endorsing.

Indivisible Endorses

Justin Pearson, Tennesse (H)
Graham Platner, Maine (S)
Randy Villegas, California (H)
Analilia Mejia, New Jersey (H)
Julie Gonzalez, Colorado(S)
Peggy Flannagan, Minnesotta (S)
Dr. Jasmine Clark, Georgia (H)
Brad Lander, New York (H)

Read about them, $upport them and update your list here with Indivisible.

Bernie Sanders Endorses

(From Bernie's email)

"Graham Platner, who was virtually unknown and taking on the entire Democratic Party establishment in his race for U.S. Senate, is now the presumptive nominee in the campaign to defeat Senator Susan Collins. "(Maine)

My note: You don't know how happy I am to take away the heavy mantle of "CONCERN" from Collins! JAJAJA!

"And Troy Jackson, running for Governor of Maine, who started as a significant underdog in his race now finds himself in a competitive campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Will Lawrence who is running for Congress in a competitive Democratic primary in Michigan. He is an accomplished organizer who co-founded the youth-led Sunrise Movement. In Congress, he will champion Medicare for All, protect Social Security, and demand real accountability for big tech and AI companies.

Trey Martin is running for Congress in Oklahoma. He is an Ironworker, union president, and eighth-generation Oklahoman who knows Oklahoma and the people who make it work. He’s building a movement strong enough to take on the powerful interests making life harder for working families and refocus our politics on the issues that matter most.

Claire Valdez is a union organizer who worked minimum-wage fast food jobs and understands firsthand how this economy fails working people. In my view, Congress needs more voices who come from America's working class. Claire has the experience and vision we need to take on the oligarchy and fight for unions, Medicare for All, and affordable housing. I’m proud to endorse her campaign for Congress."

Click here to $upport Bernie's candidates.

Remember: If we want to take big money out of politics, and until we have public funded elections, it is We, the People who must fund all these candidates.

I have to admit, understanding PACs is a nightmare. I'm going to share a bit here, so you get an idea on how big money is affecting our politics. Then you can watch Robert Reich to further recognize the names of the oligarchic PACS, their agendas and how they are planning to sneak them in the mid-term elections.

There are five type of PACs:

Political Action Committees (PACs) are primarily classified into five distinct structures governing fundraising limits and operational rules:

Separate Segregated Funds (SSFs): These are connected PACs established by corporations, labor unions, or trade associations. They can only solicit voluntary contributions from individuals affiliated with the sponsoring organization (e.g., employees or members).

Nonconnected Committees: These are not sponsored by any specific entity and can raise money from the general public. They can contribute directly to candidates, subject to federal or state limits. Because they lack a corporate or labor sponsor, these committees can solicit funds from the general public. This allows everyday citizens, small businesses, and ideological groups to pool resources and participate effectively in elections. They are also subject to more transparency requirements. You'd think this was good. But they are known to harbor dark money and promote dependency on special interests groups or private donors with their own agenda. They are also sort of merge with the villain of them all, the Super PACs.

Super PACs: Officially known as independent expenditure-only committees, these can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions. They cannot donate directly to candidates but can spend unlimited amounts on independent political advertisements. For me this is the main villain. But really, they are all a team of anti-democracy villains.

Hybrid PACs: Also known as "Carey" committees, these maintain two separate bank accounts: one that operates like a traditional PAC (to make direct candidate contributions) and one that operates like a Super PAC (for unlimited independent expenditures). Are they trying to confuse us more?!

Leadership PACs: Established by politicians or political leaders to raise funds from supporters. These funds are used primarily to assist other candidates' campaigns and build political influence within their party. This were sounding OK until I learned that they lead to some leaders abusing them for illegal luxury items.

Frankly, my take is that I don't trust any of them and we need leaders that work for us. So let us vote for those who have NO PACs and then let's make sure that WE FUND THEM, Y'all!

Good News!

Several members of Congress during the 2024–2026 cycle have officially pledged not to accept any corporate Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, or have sworn off all PAC money entirely. Many of these lawmakers belong to the Progressive Democratic Caucus.

House of Representatives (Examples)

Ro Khanna (D-CA)
Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Summer Lee (D-PA)
Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Delia Ramirez (D-IL)
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Jared Golden (D-ME)
Pat Ryan (D-NY)
Greg Landsman (D-OH)
Chris Deluzio (D-PA)

Senate

Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

What the Pledge Means

"No-PAC" politicians generally refuse contributions from business, corporate, and trade association PACs. However, candidates may still receive funds from:

Individual donors (including corporate executives),
National party committees, and
Campaign accounts funded directly by constituents.

About AIPAC

AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is a major, tax-exempt U.S. political organization that lobbies the federal government for strong ties, military aid, and diplomatic support between the United States and Israel. They have an extreme right-wing agenda that chills my bones.

According to those who follow the money, AIPAC is the hidden force behind the consistent refusal of the Corporate Democrats as well as the Republicans to address Gazas' genocide and the reticence to set limits to, penalize or stop arm sales to Israel in order to move away from our collaboration with this genocide.

Electoral Spending: "Through its affiliated PAC and Super PAC (the United Democracy Project), AIPAC has spent tens of millions of dollars in primary elections to defeat progressive and moderate candidates who are critical of Israeli policies or who advocate for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel."

Alignment with Extreme Right: "AIPAC has drawn criticism from the political left and human rights organizations for endorsing and financially backing conservative candidates, including some Republicans who have been accused of undermining U.S. democratic institutions or holding far-right social views." Read those lips: for backing this fascist coup.

Support for Hardline Policies: "Critics, including liberal and left-leaning Jewish-American advocacy groups, argue that AIPAC's lobbying works to insulate the Israeli government from international pressure, even when those governments adopt far-right policies regarding the expansion of West Bank settlements or military operations in Gaza."

Let me translate this into the People's tongue: They are supporting authoritarians and leaders who are eroding democracy with their patriarchal dominant and imperialistic attitudes.

I don't know you, but for me it's essential that our new leaders do not receive AIPAC money.

Good News!

More leaders are making the NO AIPAC Pledge.

Here's the list until now, as I write this:

Greg Casar
AOC
Pramila Jayapal
Ilhan Omar
Delia Ramirez
Ayanna Pressley
Nydia Velazques
Bernie Sanders

And more.

To check any updates, go to:

https://www.rejectaipac.org/rejecters

Conclusion

I hope that you are now clear about what is going on with the Democratic Party Leaders and how the party is split, as well as who is loyal to We, the People and democracy.

And now you also know that the Pro-democracy movement has decided that We, the People deserve better leaders who are loyal to us and fight for our democracy.

So this is what we are doing:

Grassroots organizations are working locally to select leaders that make the pledge not to receive PACs or AIPAC money and to fight for three things:

Big money out of politics,
Work for the working class and middle class wellbeing, and
Fight to save and evolve our democracy.

Let me talk on what Indivisible does next, as that what I know.

Once the local groups select these New Fighting Leaders, Indivisible surveys their local membership. If the majority of local Indivisibles endorse the leaders, then Indivisible nationally endorses them. They will be promoted nationally to all of us and we can help fund those leaders. I recently contributed to James Talarico, even though I'm in New York. Just cause I love his work. So now Talarico was able to raise the funds needed to stay in the game!

OK. So now you know how we are putting New Fighting Leaders into the mid-terms in order to flood congress and get the leaders we deserve!

Understand that this is no longer about political parties. It's about defeating this fascist coup. So if you have Republican friends and families who are not MAGA, share this information with them.

And now you know what to look for.

Call to Action

You now have three tasks for the midterm elections:

TASK 1: Spread this information now. You can send an email with a link to this article. You can call friends and family to a study group to plan your strategy to defeat this fascist coup through the midterms.
TASK 2: Check that you are registered. Get any papers you can get just in case. And GO VOTE! Choose the New Fighting Leaders.
TASK 3: Watch Robert Reich's short video below, so that you can recognize the oligarchy PACs and how they are trying to confuse you into voting for the wrong leaders.

And of course, if you have not subscribe yet to any grassroots organization, I highly recommend that you subscribe to Indivisible to stay in the loop. Go to: indivisible.org.

And again, you can subscribe to my newsletter here: https://dreamalchemist.com/subscribe-light-in-the-darkness/

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Is Democracy Dead?

Posted by mariamar No Responses »

May 182026

I hear a lot of you asking: "Is democracy dead?"

Some of you are even grieving it as it is was already dead and buried.

It does feel like that sometimes and it is heart-breaking. But we must be careful not to bury democracy alive, because it’s still kicking!

True, on one hand the executive branch is quickly and brutally trying to take over. The GOP in the congress has abdicated its duty. The Supreme Court is supine and the GOP there is also serving fascism. But that’s not the end of democracy.

In March 2025, 3.5 million people took to the streets in the Hands Off protest. In June, the number had grown to 5 million. By October it was 7 million and in March 2026 more than 8 million people took to the streets across the country, and half of the events were in red states!

These numbers do not just grow in trees, you know? JAJAJA!

These numbers grow because there are dozens of grassroots organizations training, supporting and organizing thousands of local groups. Just one group, which I belong to, Indivisible has 3,000 local groups organizing throughout the nation.

Like Indivisible, there are other grassroots groups, such as 50501, MoveOn, Mobilize, Swing Left, People's Union, People Power United, ChooseDemocracy and many more that are fighting for our democracy.

These decentralized grassroots organizations work in collaboration to come together in massive national events, like those of Hands Off and NO KINGS. It's at those moments that our numbers are visible nationally. But locally, they are always working strategically.

Some of these organizations are excellent in communication and national campaigns. Others are amazing in organizing boycotts and blackouts. Yet others are great in gathering petitions and putting pressure to leaders. And so on, each organization lends its proficiency and tools to the Pro-democracy Nonviolent Resistance Movement.

There are also hundreds of community organizations organizing workers, special needs groups, students, civic servants and more segments of the population. These organizations can move hundreds of thousands of people when we gather in national events.

In Summer of 2025 Indivisible did it's first training, called One Million Rising. Around 350,000 people participated in this training series, including me. Connect the dots. After the summer, we went from 5 million in June to 7 million in October. So we went overboard, instead of just 1 million, we had 2 million more people rising!

There are hundreds of thousands of people all over our country doing local organization, speaking truth to power, inspiring, informing, empowering and mobilizing. And there are millions doing small actions with a huge impact, like bombarding our congress with calls and email every day, doing boycotts, writing letters to editors, calling accountability to our leaders, speaking with their friends and neighbors to keep them informed of People's victories, working for free elections, facing ICE in raids to protect immigrants and the rule of law, stopping the creation of concentration camps and AI data centers, fighting to protect our environment and more.

These local leaders are constantly doing resistance events in their communities. And when we call for a national march, they show up. Those national marches are our show of force. They let the regime and the world know that We, the People are standing up and fighting for our Democracy. That's why it's so important than you show up.

It's also important that you spread the word, record the events and share them in social media. This is crucial because the legacy media is covering up mass protests, instead of covering them.

However, for those who minimize the importance of those numbers because they don't compare with the total population, here's what you are missing:

Political experts on Democratic Backsliding and Defeating the Authoritarian agree on this:

It doesn't take everybody protesting to defeat the authoritarian. Modern history has repeated evidence that if a people can gather a broad (cross-partisan) movement that comprises about 3.5% of the population and that unite to practice consistent every day noncompliance with massive resistance actions, then they will defeat the fascist coup.

In less than a year, we have grown into 8 million people. If you have not yet joined, we need you to grow into 12 million people that show up to protests, refuse to comply and speak truth to power. Join here: indivisible.org

Next, I will list 6 different segments of the population that are right now fighting and winning for democracy. As you check the list below, if you can't relate to the different groups that are active and fighting for democracy, you may need to examine where you are getting your information.

One of the first things that authoritarians do to destroy democracy is to buy up, repress, discredit or even persecute the free press. Right now the oligarchy has purchased almost all the mainstream media. So they are not speaking the truth. Instead they are repeating the reality show of the regime. This gives us a lopsided sense of reality and leads to us giving up, thinking we are already defeated... and that is the goal of the regime.

The absence of media coverage of the growing opposition against this regime is a key factor in the struggle our democracy is enduring. The legacy media is covering up the rise of the pro-democracy nonviolent resistance movement in the United States.

Both the general public in the US and the international community are not cognizant of what the pro-democracy movement is doing to defend our democracy. This adds to the impression that the US has fallen fast into fascism and makes invisible many expressions of democracy that are healthy signs of a democracy re-asserting itself in the midst of attack.

The absence of the truth, the twisting of the facts, this matters. And we must rise to the occasion. We cannot allow the media to steal information about the movement, making the People invisible.

If you are a communicator or can become one in any way, be it a writer, interviewer, storyteller, poet or a good talker. If you are someone who can draw a message, speak a message, sing or dance a message, if you have some time to forward the messages that others craft, sharing them with your community, then democracy needs you NOW.

If you see yourself in this description,
I invite you to check my

Storytellers.Indivisible Group

That is why I am writing this. That is why so many of us are using our communication vehicles-- whether blogs, podcasts, video channels or other media, to share this information with you. Because we need to access alternative/progressive media sources in order to get the truth, stay focused on what we need to do and recognize our victories.

And there are not so many of these alternative media sources, plus the regime is trying to close all pathways to legit information. So each of us must join the Word of Mouth People's Media.

If you want to do a small action with big impact, subscribe to my newsletter and then forward it to as many people as you can to let them know how democracy is kicking ass!

In my newsletter, I contact you twice a month to keep you in the loop of events, monthly focus, and resistance strategies that the Pro-democracy movement is using at the moment, so you understand what to do and why and how to connect. I also share the stories of people's victories and share what the people are saying, so you feel the pulse of our democracy.

subscribe to my newsletter

Saying that our democracy is still alive and kicking is not about avoiding the truth or about denial. It's not the same as pretending everything is business as usual.

We first need to face the fact that we are suffering a democratic backsliding. We must acknowledge that this is not just a bad administration. No. This is something much worse. We are facing a corrupt, toxic regime moving fast with a white supremacist fascist playbook--Project 2025-- that they are following step by step to destroy our democracy and our entire way of life.

The signs of democratic backsliding are undeniable: According to political scientists, there has been a sharp decline in the quality of U.S. democracy shortly after Donald Trump's return to office, falling from a ranking of 79/100 in late 2024 to 57/100 in February 2025, a drop of 28 points. That takes us from a “flawed democracy” to a “collapsing democracy” in just a few months! That's not just fast. That's breakneck speed.

One of the crucial factors that has kept us from being declared a dictatorship is that we still have free elections, providing an avenue to reverse democratic decline. But the Destroyer in the White House is going for elections now, which makes it crucial that we stand up for free elections with all we got.

And yet, in spite of all this, the signs of our democracy being alive and kicking are also strong and growing at warp speed as ordinary Americans realize what is at stake. Those of us who are working for democracy see these signs. Those of us who are researching, following alternative media and networking see the signs.

The signs of a kicking democracy are everywhere: the judiciary, especially the lower courts, the progressive democratic caucus in congress and the institutions that increasingly refuse to comply are healthy signs of a fighting democracy. In fact, almost every pillar that holds a government in power has turn against this regime and that’s why it’s crumbling.

Finally, We, the People have joined the Pro-democracy nonviolent Resistance Movement in droves.

Let’s unpack this, starting with the judiciary.

The Judiciary Branch

1.The judiciary branch is fighting like there is no tomorrow. This is especially true in the Lower Courts. More than half the "executive disorders" that the Destroyer in the White House proclaims like a king are actually blocked or stopped in other ways. Last time I looked there were about 700 legal cases of people and institutions suing him. And most of them are winning!

The Destroyer (my name for him cause that all he does) has lost in cases about immigration, elections, state jurisdictions and more. They have lost against most cases in which he sought retribution, which sets guardrails to his thirst for revenge.

The courts have blocked dozens of cases in which he tried to ignore current laws to advance his authoritarian agenda. So that’s kudos to the judiciary. A lot of the damage he has tried to do against elections, with ICE and against his “enemies” have been stopped by the Lower Courts.

We hear talk that the judiciary branch has failed. But this is not true. The Supreme Court is sold out and cooperating with the fascist agenda. The Appeals Court is holding, but there are rising pockets of MAGA judges doing damage. But the Lower Courts are serving as strong guardrails against fascism.

Lawyers and those who care about the rule of law should be keeping an eye and serving as watchdogs for our judiciary. As you will see later on, the Judiciary and legal institutions form one of the Pillars of Governance that we can hold or resist to the regime and that we need to keep on the side of democracy.

The Democrats in Congress

The GOP majority in Congress is betraying their duties and complying with the Destroyer. They are barely doing their legislative work, much less placing guardrails to the madness.

But the Democrats in congress—that’s another thing. First of all, we need to differentiate between two groups within the democratic leaders.

The “corporate” democrats, the old school, is hiding or playing dead (their words). They are also compromised by big money and refusing to respond to the danger our democracy is in. Unfortunately, they control the DNC[i] and the DCCC[ii].

The Corporate Democrats have rejected the new leadership that is emerging (like Zohran Mamdani) and they’ve betrayed us repeatedly in bills that have been key for the working people and for all of us.

In fact, even before Trump, they have been ignoring the working class and the anti-establishment unrest, which was part of the causes that led to this regime.

But the democratic progressive caucus in congress is something entirely different. Many of these democratic leaders are fighting tooth and nails for democracy.

They are placing a constant and relentless pressure on the GOP members, educating the public through the alternative and progressive media, pushing bills for the people and against the regime again and again, coming up with new strategies to go around the lawlessness, working with communities to stop the regime’s dangerous policies and structures and holding trials to poke vulnerabilities. They are also recording issues for the soon-to-be-collected accountability for our leaders, and so much more.

In case that you wanted to see what they are doing, I have dived a little deeper in my analysis of the work that the progressive congress members are doing on behalf of democracy in the Article "What's Wrong with our Democratic Party Leaders?"

The key factor here is that these progressive Democratic leaders, unlike the Corporate, status-quo Democratic leaders, are doing the work for which we elected them as much as is possible right now and they are working to defend democracy, hold back fascist advance, place guardrails to the overreaching executive branch and pressure for policies that benefit the people.

This reminds me of a shamanic principle which we can apply to our democratic work. It's called the Twin Law of Energy and Attention.

Energy goes where attention is placed.

From now on, I invite you to focus your attention at least 50% of your available time in what the Pro-democracy Nonviolent Resistance Movement is doing; in We, the People and how we are fighting for democracy. Then keep another 30% of the time in the problems that the madman in the White House keeps creating in his constant destruction.

What happens with the other 20% of your available time? I want you to focus it on what is being born from the ruins of this destruction. What wants to be born? What possibility emerges from the breaks in our democracy? What needs to be healed? This is key in ensuring that you are nurturing solutions, potentials and possibilities to evolve democracy, instead of just focusing on what is broken, which is what this regime wants. Because~ remember~ we feed our energy where we constantly focus our attention.

Let's feed our energy to saving and evolving our democracy.

[i] DNC. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing organization and executive leadership board of the Democratic Party.

[ii] DCCC. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) acts as the specialized, focused campaign arm dedicated solely to electing Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Some people disregard the work of the Progressive Democrats in congress because they often cannot get bills passed or affect change as the GOP majority bypasses their proposals. What good is what they do?

But their work matters. It matters profoundly. Not only it indicates that a part of the congress is standing up to the authoritarian wanna-be. It has made a vital difference.

Part of the mindset we need to adopt if we are going to defeat this regime is to think strategically and collaboratively. No one leader, no one group is going to bring this coup down. It is all of us together, each group doing what it can, that ultimately creates the synergy that paralyzes the regime.

We also need to think long-term-- not because it's going to take that long, hopefully-- but because an authoritarian is usually not defeated in one event, no matter how powerful it is. It takes a series of strategic responses, a rising movement and a series of moves that lead to the domino effect of the regime's collapse.

What each person does may not seem much, but it adds up. Think of what Van Hollen did at the beginning of this nightmare.

What would have happened if Chris Van Hollen had not taken a plane to El Salvador to find out about Kilmar Abrego Garcia? That was the move that changed the game. It awakened people to what was happening with immigrants, the lawlessness, the incarcerations, all of it. It exposed the cruelty and lies and the collaboration with yet another dictator. It humanized immigrants against the regime's false portrayal that only criminals were been taken.

How has congresswoman Jayapal’s work in training thousands of people in nonviolent resistance contributed to the growth of the pro-democracy movement? I know that it put me in the right direction and helped me find how I could contribute. It was instrumental in understanding how to think strategically and what a battle against a fascist coup looks like.

Up to date Jayapal's Resistance Lab has trained 30,000 people in strategic resistance. These are the citizens that are right now fighting ICE, defending our elections, organizing local communities and growing the pro-democracy movement. Do we have to wonder why the Destroyer wants her head now and is accusing her of treason?

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do you think that the lower courts would be able to constantly rule against the Destroyer if democracy were dead?
Do you think that all the democratic progressive caucus congress leaders could keep the pressure up against the fascist coup if there was no democracy left?
Do you think that if there was no democracy now Zohran Mamdani would have run and won against candidates with big money behind them, pushed by the oligarchy funding this regime? Do you think he would have won if not for the activists who made a commitment to take big money out of politics from the bottom up, and who were supported by congress people like Bernie Sanders and AOC?

All this and more is happening because these people are fighting. They are not giving up. They are not complying in advance.

This goes to show that these two forces~the judiciary and congress, working with We, the People~ are constantly putting pressure to the government to act in accordance with the constitution and for the benefit of We, the People. And that pressure acts as guardrails.

It shows how we are winning small and big battles that change the tides.

The Battle for democracy is also a battle of perception. I hope this brings attention to the battle of perception going on underneath everything else. We need to shift our attention at least 50% of the time from the chaos, scandals, destruction and distractions that comprise the menu of this regime and focus attention in each area of the nation that is fighting for democracy.

We need to see and celebrate each People victory. Otherwise, we are turning a blind eye to our own power and feeding this regime our energy as we believe the lie that they already won. In fact, they are losing. That’s why they are escalating to dangerous levels.

Workers Unions and Community Organizations

Continuing with the groups and institutions that are fighting for our democracy right now, there are two groups we have been counting on through this article, even mentioning at times, but who have remained backstage. And yet... these two groups make so much happening!

3. The non-compliant workers’ unions and community organizations. This includes community, legal, and advocacy organizations that are actively challenging federal actions and policies; with various coalitions reporting participation from dozens to over 1,500 distinct entities that support our communities, migrants, working class, families, women, elders and many other groups.

And of course, it includes our unions who even though they have been decimated, still remain as a civic power and still carry great impact in mobilizing the working class.

These organizations are like wind turbines that harness the power of the nation and the people and both organize and focus that power nationally and locally—to fill all the gaps that have been neglected by government.

Now they are holding our national grid in place AND at the same time, they are coming together in coalitions to protect our democracy.

Hundreds of these organizations partner with the grassroots organizations to give us NO KINGS protests and other events in which We, the People can assert our People Power.

I heard a military officer saying that “amateurs focus on tactics, but professionals focus on logistics.” Well, these organizations are the providers of these logistics for the People. We cannot subestimate their power and contribution in saving democracy.

More noncompliance. This is essential to democracy. In the success of democratic movements against a democratic backsliding, one of the key factors is the building of a huge social Wall of Noncompliance that blocks the fascist advance and paralyzes the regime. Each entity that resists and refuses to comply to this regime’s edicts, threats and pressures is holding democracy in a net of protection.

Institutional noncompliance on the rise: There has been a rise in legal and institutional challenges from higher education, legal professionals, and state-level officials against what they deem unconstitutional actions.

State and Local noncompliance on the rise: As the federal government increasingly acts as an authoritarian force, trying to take away state sovereignty and using violence against the people, the states increasingly refuse to comply and increase creative resistance, which leads to alternative paths that bypass federal jurisdiction.

Civil Service and Independent Agencies are now struggling against the restraints or abuses of this regime.

The global corporations are an exception to this. But I’ll talk about this as part of the last item in the list.

Pillars of Governance

Let's talk about the Pillars of Governance. This may include some of the groups and institutions we have mentioned, but it's a more strategic way of looking at those institutions or groups who are NOT working with us and to shift them into collective noncompliance, a key element of our democratic success.

In any governance, whether democratic or authoritarian, the leaders must count with the compliance of these Pillars in order to bring their agenda to fruition. If the majority of the Pillars of Governance do NOT comply, a regime crumbles. It cannot carry out its goals.

Basically, you can see the administration as the roof of the house of a nation. But it cannot float on air. It needs the Pillars of Governance in order to ground and build their policies. And fortunately for We, the People, we form those pillars.

5. The Pillars:

I’m working on an article to share the Pillar Strategy. For now, I'll group the pillars according to my own extended graphic below. Usually there are about six pillars. I extended it to help people find their place in each area.

The Media
Military, police and veterans
Civic Institutions
Schools and Universities
Professional Associations
Business and Corporations
Oligarchy and the Rich
State/National Elected Officials
Faith/Religions
Courts and lawyers

Just a quick scanning of this list immediately evokes all the work that the People have been doing across the spectrum of society to defend our democracy. A few examples:

Military: Why did the Destroyer stopped sending troops into civilian population? The work that veteran organizations did in creating resistance both in the public and inside the military stopped any compliance that could have led to deadly civilian-military encounters. The Destroyer decided to stick with his personal militia instead.
Universities: The same opposition has grown in colleges and schools, starting with Harvard University, which by the way has tons of material about nonviolent resistance. Plus Erika Chenoweth (from Harvard), who wrote one of the key books in the subject has been helping train our citizens.
Religious organizations all over the nation have form coalitions to oppose this regime and unmask the white Christian Nationalism it promotes.
Local Businesses have collaborated with the movement. Minnesota was a good example, where they either closed their doors or open them to offer free water, refreshments or snacks during the protest event of "Truth and Freedom."
The Rich: Even within the rich, we have an organization like Patriotic Millionaires launching two campaigns: one to help create economic alternatives for economic fairness for all citizens and another to pressure and mobilize the truly rich against the greed of the oligarchy. They are fighting that pillar from within.

Stay tune and subscribe to my newsletter so you receive news as new articles come up. In the Pillar Strategy article I will offer links for you to join those who are already working in that pillar.

So the pillars have been shifting their loyalty incrementally through the whole year of 2025 and today few remain that are holding this regime. That’s why its falling.[iii]

While I get to my article, you can ready this article about what is the Pillar Strategy and how to use it.

https://antiauthoritarianplaybook.substack.com/p/understanding-the-pillars-of-support

We, the People

And finally we are getting to the core power of a democracy: We, the People

6. We, the People and the Pro-democracy nonviolent resistance movement. Ah, here we are! And we are behind all of the above. We are lawyers and stand behind the lawyers. We select the congress people. We belong to and work in the community organizations. We work across all the pillars. And so it goes. We are the drops that form the ocean and when we move, we generate the ripples that change the tides.

The Pro-democracy nonviolent resistance movement is rooted in local work, in our needs. That matters profoundly. From there, it is organized and structured locally and then nationally. The movement allows us to get trained and to focus in strategic actions generated to topple or realign all the pillars that hold this regime.

And then we bring that training and shared strategies to our communities. We implement it locally, in collaboration with others.

- Any day you take a look around the local communities and you see people in small or medium (of even large) protests. And this is taking place even in the red states, by the way.
- When you are in the loop, you receive communications of people announcing that their group is boycotting a corporation that is supporting the regime or its unfair policies (Target, Costco, Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart). These boycotts have take down many giants and are consistently sending a message to the corporations that keep bending the knee as well as to the paid-for media, putting pressure. This is what happened with Disney and Jimmy Kimmel, as example.
- They are building mutual support—like food banks, legal funds and networks to help with walking immigrants to school/work, for example.
- They are doing Rapid Responses against ICE raids to protect immigrants and the vulnerable.
- They are meeting in Town Hall to pressure the leaders, come up with solutions and stop the regime's attacks on their communities and the environment.

This is where things are activated, locally.

- This led to Musk getting out of the White House when the Tesla Takedowns made Tesla stocks drop.
- This is how Avelo stopped transporting illegally deported immigrants.
- This is how Storify stopped allowing ICE to place advertisement.
- This is how we pressured Disney into reinstating Jimmy Kimmel. The list goes on.

Just because an event is local and the national media may not cover it, that does not mean that it’s small or unimportant. Quite the contrary. Most of the campaigns that have worked start local and then catch on nationally.

From making calls to our reps, creating posters, sneakers on the ground for NO KINGS national protests, Town Hall meetings and election campaigns, local boycotts, mutual aid, rapid responses in ICE raids, public pressure campaigns, resistance to concentration camps, resistance to AI data centers and so much more—we’ve been saving our democracy every day 24/7/365 through the entire year of 2025 and still are doing it now.

We make ourselves invisible at our own detriment.

So I would say this as the bottom line answer to the democracy question:

When We, the People stop fighting for our democracy, then it will fall.
But that’s not happening.
So it’s still alive and kicking!

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The Plague of Silence

Posted by mariamar No Responses »

May 182026

The Plague of Silence

How Our Silence Drowns Democracy

Immediately after the Destroyer in the White House took office, a blanket of silence spread through my social media. It was like strolling through a desert. What was going on?

I wrote the observation that follows around early March of 2025.

“Many are afraid to talk. Afraid to post in social media. Afraid to stand up for what they believe. Afraid even to talk with friends about what is going on.

I sent an email letter to about 5 cultural leaders that I've known for years; some for decades. I requested an interview for them to help me feel out the pulse of the people.

Just one has responded and she asked me to call her so we could talk~ even though I invited her for a local or Zoom conversation and explained the purpose. It felt that she needed to scan the situation off the record before she could even agree to talk with me.

Today another responded. As to her perspective on what is going on, she shared that she became conscious that she did not feel safe to reply via email. (Though I did not ask for this. I asked her to give me a good time/day for meeting via Zoom.) Which may mean that she was not able to integrate the whole request because the fear got in the way. Or she does not trust any online environment.

These two friends are cultural leaders. One runs an organization and the other one is a leadership facilitator. This means that the fear that is contracting their trust, communication and networking multiplies exponentially.

This, when at this precise moment we need to create a wall of noncompliance to stop the regime. Every institution or leaders that agrees, stay silent or fails to mobilize people into noncompliance is unwittingly supporting the regime and facilitating its installation. Since this are friends, I know them a bit and I know that they do not want to help this regime. But do they know the consequences of their reluctance? We urgently need to share these things with them.

The other day an old Facebook follower from France asked me what was going on that for months now people do not comment on my posts in a private group. She asked me if the Americans were scared to post.

So that's a huge challenge: the fear that leads to this self-censorship in the people is known to those familiar with this stage of a democratic backslide the ‘Plague of Silence.’”

Experts Reveal

How the Plague of Silence Works

The "plague of silence" during democratic backsliding refers to the quiet, incremental erosion of civil liberties where institutions, the press, and citizens self-censor out of fear of state retribution or social polarization. This gradual silencing is often categorized by political scientists into three distinct phases of democratic decay:

Self-censorship
Dissent is increasingly framed as disloyalty and scapegoats are made to intimidate the people. It involves two aspects:

Institutional Silence
Independent bodies, such as universities, law firms and civil administration muzzle themselves to avoid de-funding, audits or structural reorganization.
Citizen Withdrawal
Individual retreat from public discourse, avoiding protests or open debates to escape targeted harrasment or legal targeting, especially when the regime uses national security as an excuse to attack dissenters

The Capture of Information Channels

Capture of the media and hijacking facts and instead disseminating authoritarian demagogy.

Press degradation-
Oligarchy buys up the independent media and harasses critical journalists so that the press stops reporting facts, especially if they go against the regime and instead repeats the authoritarian promotional lies.
Information assymetry
The silence of the facts generates an absence of accountability, allowing the regime to operate without accountability checks. There is no balance, no reference to assess the truth, which makes it hard for people to make informed choices. This adds to the fear and topples it in favor of withdrawing, instead of mobilizing.

Normalization and Complicity

The ultimate danger of this silence is the normalization of anti-democratic behaviors, moving the public from active resistance to passive complicity.

Democratic decay

Elected leaders stack the court, election laws are altered, the regime defies oversight.

Lack of widespread public outcry signals that the democratic norms are in effect being discarded, paving the way for the success of the authoritarian regime.

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Meet Your Progressive Candidates

WHAT'S IN HERE?

In this page

Midterms: Next Primaries

What can you do?

What's the strategy?

TOC

Table of Contents

WHAT IS A PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE?

What defines a Progressive Candidate?

In general terms...

BIG$ in Politics

Big$ In Politics

What to do know about super PACS ...

STEP 1: CHECK INCUMBENTS WE WANT TO KEEP

STEP 1:

Current House Members Running for Office

Ratings

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SENATE

Current Senate Members Running for Office

Ratings

Senate Keepers

STEP 2: NEW CANDIDATES

STEP 2:

INDIVISIBLE ENDORSEMENTS

INDIVISIBLE Endorses

PRAMILA JAYAPAL ENDORSEMENTS

Pramila Jayapal Endorses

BERNIE SANDERS ENDORSEMENTS

BERNIE SANDERS Endorses

OTHER CONGRESS MEMBERS ENDORSEMENTS

Other Congress Members Endorsements

Other Progressive Congress Members' Endorsements

RO KHANA

Chris Murphy

Chris Van Hollen

Jamie Raskin (Maryland)

ORGANIZATIONS ENDORSING PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES

STEP 3:

Resources

Organizations endorsing Progressive Candidates

Don't let them Pull the Wool Over your Eyes!

Progressive Candidates Who Won the Primaries so Far

As of July 13, 2026

What's Up?

The Midterms in a Nutshell,

What we must do over the next 4 and a half months

What’s needed for control of each chamber

Vulnerable incumbents

Senate Republicans

House Republicans

Vulnerable incumbents

Senate Democrats

House Democrats

Competitive Open Seats

Senate

Links to More Resources

America is Awakening video Anthologhy No. 4 NO KINGS 4 April 2026

Alternative Media for You

Alternative Media and Blogs

Alternative News Media Channels in YT

Election Story:

The Hidden Battle

for Leaders Who Fight for Us

Light in the Darkness Newsletter

May 2026 #1

The Hidden Battle we Must Win:

Election Story:

The Hidden Battle

for Leaders Who Fight for Us

Scene 1: People's Outcry

Scene 2: A new fighting leader

Scene 3: DCCC blunders in

Scene 4: A Stronger Democratic Party

Scene 5: Elect the True Fighters

Who's Trying to Steal the Mid-terms?

Creative Activism:

The 50-30-20 Ratio

Bernie Sanders: Superman?

What defines a
Progressive Candidate?

Current House Members
Running for Office

Current Senate Members
Running for Office

Other Progressive Congress
Members' Endorsements

Organizations endorsing
Progressive Candidates

Progressive Candidates Who
Won the Primaries so Far

America is Awakening video Anthologhy No. 4
NO KINGS 4
April 2026