If you’d have asked Torrey Harris and I in 2017 if we would be making history, we would have told you No. If you’d asked us again on August 2, 2018, if we’d give it another go, we would have told you again, No. In 2019, we would have told you Yes, but not how. These past few years have been challenging for the both us.
Read MoreThis November we’ll see record numbers of voting by mail--nationally, in Tennessee, and in Shelby County. The good news is that almost anyone who wants to vote by mail here can do so. The bad news is that is in spite of, not because of, your state and county election officials. The bottom line: if you’re medically vulnerable to COVID, vote absentee, but do it NOW—don’t wait.
Read MoreWith one month left before Election Day, voters have some big decisions to make as we prepare to choose between candidates running for local, state, and national office. But November ballots will include more than just choices between elected officials – the future of public education in Tennessee is also on the ballot. In a significant blow to the Republican-backed school voucher bill last week, the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld the Davidson County PCourt’s decision that Governor Lee’s Education Savings Account Plan is unconstitutional. Think about this for a moment...
Read MoreOn one hand, you have the Republican-financed incumbent, Rep. John Deberry, who is running as an independent. The Democratic Party ousted him earlier this year in response to a ballot challenge I filed after his vote with Republicans against funding for public schools in Shelby County – a measure which has now been affirmed as unconstitutional by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Read MoreIn 2014, I expressed to friends of mine that I wanted to be more involved in local government. For many Democrats, 2014 galvanized them and made them stand up and feel like they needed to do something. For me, it was the “Vote No on 1” campaign. Friends that knew a lot more about local politics introduced me to Dwayne Thompson. It was my first experience knocking on doors and talking to voters. Even though Dwayne didn’t win in 2014, he said to me “I’m going to come back and win in 2016.”
Read MoreWe write this after the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It is sobering to see the rough waters that are ahead of us. On issue after issue, the Court has been the only thing holding back an extremist GOP. The reality is that with RBG gone, many of those battles will move from the USSC to 50 Legislatures around the country. For us in TN, it is critically important that we send women to the Legislature to carry on the fight there.
Read MoreOn August 18, 1920, the state House of Representatives concurred with the state Senate and ratified the 19th Amendment which granted American women the right to vote after a 72-year struggle. Tennessee became known as "The Perfect 36" since it was the last state of the then 48 states that could possibly ratify. Rep. Joseph Hanover, the Memphis (Binghampton) Independent, became the floor leader who kept the pro-suffrage votes together despite the opposition of the railroad, manufacturing and liquor interests.
Read MoreA fighting spirit - that’s what we need in our Tennessee State Legislature. Future901 is proud to endorse Gabby Salinas as the 2020 Democratic candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent the citizens of the 97th District – Bartlett, Cordova, and East Memphis. Gabby ran for the Tennessee State Senate District 31 in 2018, and narrowly lost the seat to Republican opponent, Brian Kelsey, by a mere 1400 votes.
Read MoreThe primaries are over and we now know who is going to help us bring change to Tennessee in November.
Future901’s focus continues to be flipping State House seats. In flipping those seats, we are able to put the break on some of the worst gerrymandering practices during redistricting next year. In flipping those seats, we kill any opportunity for the state GOP to force an unwanted voucher program on Shelby and Davidson counties (and nowhere else). In flipping those seats, we put increased pressure on the Legislature to finally expand TennCare…
Read MoreBecause of a recent court decision, Tennessee had briefly joined 16 other states in allowing no-fault absentee voting. The Tennessee has fought changes despite the global pandemic and its impact here. Formerly certain concrete reasons such as travel, age, disability, or being a candidate would qualify you to apply for a mail-in ballot and it was not widely publicized. This year, with Memphians concerned about the ever-increasing COVID-19 infection rates, around 15,000 voters requested ballots, with little publicity or help from our Secretary of State or local Election Commission.
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