ECHO BASE

From a friend: please call/ email today if you can on behalf of non-partisan redistricting in Minnesota. See action item below. IMPORTANT TIME SENSITIVE REQUEST FOR MINNESOTA FRIENDS-- PLEASE READ AND SHARE THIS POST! All voices matter in Minnesota, and all votes must count. However, Minnesota’s current process for drawing voting maps removes legislators’ accountability to their constituents. Our legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, draw voting maps with the intent of protecting their incumbency and their party’s control of our government. When issues important to you and your community aren’t given hearings at the legislature, this is why. Protected legislators have no incentive to respond to their constituents. They are “safe.” The good news is that it is within our power to change this practice to protect you and your vote and not legislators. Every ten years, following the census, the voting maps are redrawn. Now is the time to enact legislation to put Minnesota voter...

Something to keep in mind as you vote in the primary: Current Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek is an enabler of 45's nativist immigration policies. Stanek must be replaced . A DFL-endorsed candidate for Hennepin County Sheriff, Dave Hutchinson offers an opportunity to rein in ICE at the local level, increase communication between the Sheriff's office and the community, and to update obsolete approaches to policing. WHO IS DAVE HUTCHINSON? Dave “Hutch” Hutchinson is a 15-year law enforcement and public safety professional. He's served with the Metro Transit Police Department since 2006. He's currently a sergeant, working on the north side of Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs.  He also supervises the Peer Support Program, Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), and Community Engagement Team. More on Hutch's background WHAT HUTCH STANDS FOR Hutchinson's platform reimagines policing for the 21st century, disposing of an "us vs. them" model...

Dean Phillips is a DFL-endorsed Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District , aiming to repeal and replace Republican Trump enabler Erik Paulsen. WHAT DEAN STANDS FOR Given incumbent Erik Paulsen 's atrocious record of supporting 45's agenda , getting rid of him might seem its own reward. But Dean Phillips offers not just an alternative, but a lot of great ideas . He supports the expansion of Medicare as a public option for all Americans, and has a lot to say about  climate change prevention, campaign finance reform, and gun violence prevention. On the gun control front he supports reinstating the assault weapons ban, funding CDC research into gun violence, and commonsense measures to keep guns away from domestic abusers, violent criminals and suspected terrorists (including so-called ‘no fly no buy’ proposals). HOW YOU CAN HELP -- Volunteer for Dean by knocking on doors and phone banking. -- Make a don...

When Al Franken vacated his Senate seat earlier this year, Tina Smith moved from Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota to serve as the state's junior U.S. Senator as appointed by Governor Dayton. She's running to keep the seat this November, first in a primary (you can vote early starting Friday, June 29th) and then (preferably) in the general. She deserves our support in both races. WHAT SHE STANDS FOR A former Planned Parenthood executive, Tina Smith has earned the support of Democrats with an aggressive policy agenda . She supports single payer health care.  She's the cosponsor of bills  to ban the sale of bump stocks, assault weapons, and high-capacity magazines, as well as to expand background checks. She's also working with Senator Amy Klobuchar to ban people convicted of stalking from having firearms. She's co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act to help close the gender pay gap. And she introduced the HELP Separated Children Act to help force ICE to de...

Angie Craig is a Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, challenging incumbent Republican and Trump enabler Jason Lewis. She has a real shot at flipping the district. Let's help her out! WHAT SHE STANDS FOR Raised by a single mother in a mobile home park, Angie Craig stands with working and middle class people. She champions prioritizing funding for public education, the rights of teachers to organize and collectively bargain (and paying them more-- hey, there's an idea), fighting climate change with renewable enrgy initiatives, overturning Citizen's United, equal pay and full reproductive rights for women, common sense gun control, reining in the costs of the pharmaceutical industry, and moving away from a fee-for-service healthcare system toward universal health coverage. Find out more about her policy positions . Please consider supporting Angie's campaign any way you can! HOW YOU CAN HELP ...

Please re-post this entry! Gina Haspel, 45's new nominee to lead the CIA, personally helped torture detainees in a secret CIA-run prison during the Bush administration. She then made sure the video evidence was destroyed. More info about Gina Haspel from the good folks at Indivisible. Haspel has no place in the federal government. Please call your reps and ask them to refuse her confirmation to the cabinet. SENATE ACTION: WHAT TO DO: Call your U.S. Senator. Find your Congressional representatives here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members If you're in Minnesota: Senator Amy Klobuchar: (202) 224-3244 / 612-727-5220 Senator Tina Smith: (202) 224-5641) / (651) 221-1016 SCRIPT, if you need it (if you know your rep already supports what you're asking for, adapt your script as a thank you— yes, this is important to do too!): "Hello. My name is _______. My zip code is _____. I don't need a personal response. I'm calling to encourage Senator ______...