Thread by @mayatcontreras

1. Reality is when people chose to vote 3rd party or stayed home* instead of voting for Hilary Clinton, which is their right, there were consequences. (*disinformation & bad press coverage influenced this)

Trump won and appointed 3 Supreme Court Justices who just overturned Roe.

https://twitter.com/madison_tayt/status/1540369740304191492

2. Voting in 2022 & 2024 will be consequential again. Wanna expand SCOTUS (#TheJudiciaryAct), get money out of politics/protect our right to vote (#ForThePeopleAct), codify Roe (#WomensHealthProtectionAct) and end the filibuster? Then we must keep the House & expand the Senate.

3. Right Wing Media/Think Tanks, Republicans, conservative donors, RW judicial appointees have been planning this result for years. They have built a loyal base of voters who *show up at the polls*. As Democrats we must do the same thing to counter their assault on Civil Rights.

4. “But Maya, I think Democrats are feckless and aren’t doing enough to protect us!” That’s fine to feel that way but how many times have you called, emailed, or showed up to your representatives office? Your civic participation does not end at the polls. It starts there.

5. “But Maya, we elect Democrats to get things done! Why aren’t they doing anything!?” Are you sure they aren’t? By that I mean did they introduce a bill about an issue you care about? Check. If they have they may not’ve had the votes to pass it. If they haven’t, that’s an issue.

6. One of the reasons that I ran against Carolyn Maloney is because she hadn’t introduced legislation to combat environmental racism (she has now!) or legislation to aid artists in NYC. She didn’t support *research* to decriminalize sex work or reparations.

7. I met with Rep. Carolyn Maloney and spoke to her about sex work decriminalization saying, “Maloney no matter your feelings on the subject, this is just *a study*. Can we agree cosponsoring a study to get more information is just smart politics?” Guess what? She cosponsored it.

8. That’s how much power we as individuals & collectively can have, but our representatives must hear from us. You don’t have to run for Congress like I did, you can meet with your reps, contact their office, and push them on policy. But you’ve got to show up and vote too.

9. The reality is America has a two party system. In other countries that have multiple parties— coalitions are built, and act in a way as if they were two parties. In a two-party system not voting for Democrats is a vote for Republicans and vice versa. That’s the f—-ing reality.

10. So you can say to me “Maya I’m not gonna vote for Democrats until they learn their lesson.” The “lesson” that will occur is Republicans & their RW majority SCOTUS will continue to strip away our Rights & end our democracy. That’s not a threat or extortion. That’s reality.

11. Finally, the Democrats that win/won the 2022 primaries must be supported. And those Democrats run the gamut from very progressive to moderate. All of them must win and be seated. The same must happen in 2024.