Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

#1769 Politics Beyond the Ballot Box: Elections and the Movements that Power Them

8 snips
Feb 1, 2026
Guest
Civil Rights / Activist Commentators
Guest
Cat (candidate / activist)
Guest
Claire Valdez
Guest
Eric (organizer/author)
Guest
Progressive Commentators (Panel Voices)
Guest
Legal/Policy Commentator (Unidentified)
Civil rights activists on ICE accountability and protest tactics; Cat, a grassroots Illinois candidate organizing mutual aid and anti-authoritarian policies; Claire Valdez, a UAW organizer running for Congress on workers’ rights; Eric, a labor studies professor building mass engagement infrastructure; progressive commentators and a legal analyst. They discuss special-election momentum, Mamdani-style volunteer armies, threats to voting access, and strategies to pressure ICE and corporate collaborators.
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INSIGHT

Voter-Fraud Claims Lack Evidence

  • The DOJ and DHS review of tens of millions of voter records returned virtually no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting.
  • The 10,000 referrals amount to about 0.02% and likely include false positives and people who never voted.
INSIGHT

Canceling Midterms Is Practically Impossible

  • Canceling or fully subverting nationwide midterm elections would require logistical control far beyond the president's realistic capability.
  • State election decentralization, local precincts, and lack of federal authority make such a scheme operationally implausible.
INSIGHT

Special Elections Signal a Potential Wave

  • Recent special elections show Democrats overperforming by double-digit margins in many contests.
  • That overperformance, if sustained, could flip multiple House seats and even Senate races in 2026.
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