Playing the Long Game
Dear friends and allies -
Welcome back to MVP’s monthly newsletter — The Power Move. 💪💪🏽💪🏿
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about voting power — who has it, who doesn’t, and how it can be given or taken away seemingly by the stroke of a pen.
On May 14, I took my 80-year-old father to vote in Fulton County, GA. (Yes, that Fulton County, GA.) As we walked up to his polling place, I thought about how this white, upper-middle-class man has probably never faced any obstacles to voting in his life, despite living in the South for eight decades. He never had to count jelly beans in a jar, never had to wait in hours-long lines, and never had to worry about his power to vote for the candidate of his choice diminishing. Until now.
Georgia is the latest Southern state to announce it will take up redistricting in the gerrymander scramble (more on that below) after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais gutting the Voting Rights Act (again). In what seemed like an instant, six people determined the fate of millions of people’s voting power — giving more power to predominantly white, Republican-leaning voters and less power to predominantly Black, Democratic-leaning voters across the South.
My father is not the primary target of racial gerrymandering, but his vote power could get caught in the crosshairs of Republicans’ extreme, partisan battle to pick their voters, instead of voters having the power to pick their leaders. This is democracy subversion at its finest.
While it seems like this dramatic shift is happening because of one decision made by a handful of black-robed, bench-sitters in Washington, it is actually the result of a decades-long, coordinated, and well-funded movement among conservatives to not only dismantle the Voting Rights Act, but also to shape the courts, win elections, and build long-term power.
This decades-long, coordinated, and well-funded conservative movement is what we are up against. Not just the next election, or the next court decision, or the next Trump overreach. We cannot concede those, but they are pinpoints on a much longer, bigger, and more comprehensive trajectory in which we must be active participants. That is the work that MVP is funding. (See below for more.)
MVP’s Executive Director, Billy Wimsatt, just released our 2026 “Bat Signal” memo. In it, he outlines how we have to take the long-game approach to defeat authoritarianism and build a new, more just version of our democracy that actually delivers for people.
We are laser-focused on winning everything we can this November — the House, the Senate, and down-ballot, where the next redistricting wars will be won or lost.
- Here’s our path to flipping the House, even post-Callais.
- Here’s a broader sampling of our partners’ plans, from flipping Congress to winning the youth vote and taking the fight to red strongholds.
- And here’s our big five-phase election plan, which includes not just driving massive Democratic turnout but also counting every vote and securing the results.
We have to envision, and, more importantly, strategize and fund the work to build a movement that will win every year through 2033 and beyond.
But the work does not and cannot stop there. We have to envision, and, more importantly, strategize and fund the work to build a movement that will win every year through 2033 and beyond.
As Billy writes in the Bat Signal, that means winning back Congress in 2026, winning a governing trifecta in 2028, shaping new, fair electoral maps in 2031, and winning elections and governing power based on those maps in 2032.
That’s our vision. That’s the vision our grantee partners are organizing for every day, and we need everyone to help us make it a reality.
Thanks, as always, for being with us.
Annie Lipsitz, MVP Donor Communications Manager
(On behalf of the MVP team)
MVP Partners Doing What They Do Best 🏅
Mobilizing thousands of people in just six days to rally for voting rights? Sure! Helping win the primary elections that will boost Democrats’ chances in the midterms? Definitely! Rallying against incumbent Republicans’ healthcare cuts? You got it! MVP partners are out in the streets and at the ballot boxes doing what they do best: building power and winning along the way.
Photo: Black Voters Matter Fund, “All Roads Lead to the South” voting rights rally in Montgomery, Alabama, 5/17/2026. (Credit: photojones.co)
The South: “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” ✊🏾
The rush by Republicans in the South to redraw electoral maps and pick their own voters is decidedly not what democracy looks like. But you know what is? A massive movement of organizers from across the country making their voices heard and resisting rapid racial and partisan gerrymandering.
“All Roads Lead to the South”
With only six days of planning, Black leaders organized “All Roads Lead to the South” — a mass-mobilization show of resistance in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, with thousands of people demonstrating opposition to the Callais ruling and subsequent attacks on Black voting power.
MVP partners Black Voters Matter Fund (BVM) helped coordinate the day of action, while other MVP partners like GA Working Families Party chartered buses to drive hundreds of people to Selma and Montgomery. MVP partner Onyx Impact was on the ground, reminding Black voters of their power. Our national partner Indivisible talked to BVM Co-Director, LaTosha Brown, about what’s needed in this moment. It was “all hands on deck,” and MVP partners showed up and showed out.
Outside of Alabama, the Mississippi NAACP State Conference, TIRRC Votes, and so many other groups across the South have been rallying at their state capitols and mobilizing community members to fight back and stand up for their voting rights.
What’s next: Winning back voting power.
Right now, MVP is developing plans for how to help our partners win back voting power in the South. Here are a couple of examples.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis rushed to pass new maps that Republicans think could gain them up to four U.S. House seats. But according to a recent AP-NORC poll, Trump has a 74% disapproval rating among Hispanic adults. This shift from 2024 could provide an opening for MVP partners like Florida for All, Florida Rising, and FLIC Votes to protect up to two Democratic-held seats targeted by redistricting (FL-22 and FL-25) and flip two seats currently held by Republicans (FL-26 and FL-27), if our partners have the resources. Our partners are also focused on breaking the GOP supermajority in the Florida State Senate by flipping just two seats this year.
In Tennessee, even with recently redrawn maps, Tennessee’s 5th and 9th congressional districts could still be in play for Democrats this year, especially if voters turn out in big numbers. With enough funding, we plan to work with our partners, including Action TN, The Equity Alliance, TIRRC Votes, and Memphis for All, to win these seats and break the GOP supermajority in the state legislature.
MVP partners across the South are showing us that this 👏 is 👏what 👏 democracy 👏 looks 👏 like.
Photo: Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) rallying with boxes of ballot initiative signatures.
Michigan: Mopping Up Money in Politics 🪣
Want to get money out of politics? MVP’s partners in Michigan have come together to lead a first-of-its-kind ballot measure campaign to do just that.
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (aka “MMOP” or “Mop Up Michigan” for short) is organizing to pass a ballot measure that would ban regulated utility companies and corporations with government contracts from making political contributions. (Check out this local ABC coverage.)
Yesterday, MMOP turned in 561,468 signatures — well over the 356,958 valid signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot in November.
Next up: the qualification phase, where MMOP’s two attorneys will go toe-to-toe with the opposition’s legal team and massive funding operation. Backed by corporations whose political influence would shrink considerably if the ballot measure passes, the opposition will throw every legal obstacle at MMOP to try to stop the ballot measure before it gets in front of voters.
MMOP organizers are optimistic, but they still need investment to make it through qualification. For this next phase, MMOP needs to raise $750,000 by June 15 to be fully prepared to take on these corporations and see their people-powered campaign to the finish line.
Photo: Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) canvassing for Chris Rabb in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania: Rabb-le Rousing in the Primaries!
Last Tuesday, MVP partners in Pennsylvania helped secure a primary victory for Democrat Chris Rabb in the Commonwealth’s 3rd Congressional District. MVP partners Pennsylvania Working Families Party (PA WFP), One Pennsylvania (One PA), and Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) endorsed Rabb, knocking thousands of doors and engaging voters across the district. Rabb is a bold, exciting candidate that has galvanized the grassroots — a perfect fit for the bluest congressional district in the country.
You might be asking: “Why is MVP investing in Democratic primaries?!” Well, for one thing, this kind of early voter engagement is exactly how we build the organizing machine that will carry us to victory across Pennsylvania in November. And secondly, it’s no secret that voters are unhappy with the Democratic Party. Rabb’s win, boosted by our partners’ voter engagement work, shows how we can effectively push the Democratic Party to be bolder, more effective, and more compelling to the voters we lost to Trump and to the couch in 2024. File under “Plan to Embolden Democrats.”
Photo: Mobile home residents in August, ME rally for rent stabilization with Maine Labor Climate Council.
Maine: Graham Platner Taking Cues From MVP's Partner
Graham Platner — the Democrat seeking to oust Susan Collins and (finally!) flip a Senate seat in Maine — recently highlighted MVP partner the Maine Labor Climate Council (MLCC) and the work they are doing to organize white, working-class mobile home residents.
MLCC’s organizing is, in Platner’s words, “building robust, organized parks that can build power” and take on the companies that are buying up mobile home parks, raising rents, and taking control away from residents. Working with MLCC, these residents are now leading campaigns for rent stabilization and the eventual community purchase of the mobile home parks in which they live.
This is a prime example of how MVP’s partners are providing a blueprint for Democratic candidates to actually fight for what working-class people need. This is not tried-and-true-blue New York City or Philadelphia. This is Maine — a state that has had a Republican Senator for nearly 30 years, but where the leading Democratic candidate to flip that Senate seat has openly criticized the Democratic Party establishment and still has a genuine shot at winning in November. Double-file under “Embolden the Democratic Party.”
Photo: Georgia Youth Justice Coalition canvassers knocking doors and talking to voters ahead of the May 19 Georgia primary election.
Georgia: Pushing Peaches to the Polls 🍑
If there’s one thing Georgians know, it’s voting. Peach State residents turned out big in the state’s May 19 primary, including breaking early-vote records with Black voters making up a whopping 39% of early-vote turnout. Despite just falling short of unseating the two GOP-appointed state Supreme Court justices, our partners contributed to a lot of wins down-ballot and to growing momentum as we set our sights on November.
Democratic turnout also outpaced Republican turnout by about 7 points, with a spike in Dem turnout the day after Republican Governor Brian Kemp announced a special legislative session to take up post-Callais redistricting, which would go into effect in 2027 ahead of the 2028 elections.
MVP partners were on the ground knocking doors, making calls, and getting voters out to the polls. Georgia Youth Justice Coalition (GYJC) built the largest combined organizing program in Georgia, knocking nearly 50,000 doors and making more than 58,000 calls to voters across the state. They are also working towards a “co-governance” model, in which they can work hand-in-hand with candidates who will fight for their agenda once elected.
We saw wins up and down the ballot, with 70% of Georgia Equality’s endorsed candidates winning or heading to a runoff, including the Democratic nominee for Georgia House District 90 — Bentley Hudgins — who would be the first openly nonbinary and trans person elected to the Georgia State House if they win in November.
Over the past few election cycles, Georgia has proven to be perpetually purple, and high Democratic turnout in the primaries could signal good news in November for re-electing Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and building toward our long-term goals of flipping the GOP-held state legislature and (possibly!) winning back the governor’s seat. And even while the broader political environment puts the wind at our backs, MVP partners’ on-the-ground efforts, once again, could make all the difference.
Screenshot: WEAU 13 News reporting on a rally held at the Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire, WI, where a group of MVP partner organizations called out GOP Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany for their approval of major healthcare cuts.
Wisconsin: Healthcare cuts? That’s going to cost you your seat. 👋
Led by Wisconsin Working Families Party (WI WFP), a group of MVP partners took to the streets to oppose healthcare cuts approved by GOP Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany. Rallying outside of Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire, protesters called out Van Orden and Tiffany for their support of Trump’s One Big BS Bill, which includes one trillion dollars in healthcare cuts.
Luckily and strategically for us, Derrick Van Orden just happens to be on MVP’s list of target House districts we and our partners aim to flip this year. He won his seat by just 2.7 points in 2024, and the growing and demonstrative ire for his policy choices could make this flip even more winnable in November.
Meanwhile, Tom Tiffany is Trump’s choice for Wisconsin’s next governor, but, even if he wins in the August primary, he’s no shoo-in in November, especially given recent Democratic victories in the Wisconsin spring election and Trump’s approval rating falling among registered Wisconsin voters. Bottom line: We have a shot at melting away MAGA’s grip on our nation this November, including in key swing states like Wisconsin, and MVP partners are keeping up the heat! 🔥
Graphic: For West Virginia’s Future’s theory of change and approach to movement building.
West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful Judicial Wins ⚖️
With the help of MVP partners, including For West Virginia’s Future, West Virginians voted to oust two conservative, governor-appointed justices on the state Supreme Court. Retired Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick defeated incumbent Gerald Titus by just 10,000 votes, despite significant outside spending by a conservative PAC in support of Titus, while State Delegate Bill Flanigan won by 30,000 votes over incumbent and conservative-PAC-backed Thomas Ewing.
These victories secured a new, less conservative 3-2 majority on the West Virginia Supreme Court, making it the most pro-worker, pro-democracy Supreme Court we’ve seen in the Mountain State in generations. We’d call that “almost heaven, West Virginia.”
Political Updates and Hot Takes 💥
Trump’s on a revenge tour, but will it pan out in his favor come November? Not if MVP partners have anything to say about it. Also, redistricting got you mad and confused about where electoral maps stand and if we can still flip the House? We got you. (Spoiler alert: we can!)
Photo: MOVE Texas organizers mobilizing young people to vote in the Texas primary election in March.
Texas: Let’s make the GOP Trump Bump backfire. 🪃
From Thomas Massie’s defeat in Kentucky to Bill Cassidy’s loss in Louisiana to ousted Indiana state senators, it's clear the Trump Bump Revenge Tour has helped MAGA-aligned candidates win in the primaries.
The latest: Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeating incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the GOP Senate primary this week.
Paxton will now take on Democrat James Talarico in the general election, giving Dems their best shot in a generation to flip this Texas Senate seat.
We at MVP think we can actually win this seat — if we invest in the independent ground game to turn out the voters who will not be moved by candidate mailers and TV ads.
Now, you might be saying: “I really want to believe this, but I'm a little burned from 2018 [when Beto O’Rourke came within 2.6 points of beating Ted Cruz]. Make me believe!”
Three reasons:
- We have a Democratic candidate with better polling numbers: At about this point in 2018, Beto O’Rourke trailed Tim Cruz by 5 points in the polls. But, right now, Talarico is up by 1.5 points ahead of Paxton.
- We have a more favorable political environment: In 2018, Trump’s approval rating in Texas was roughly split — about equal shares approval/disapproval. Right now, Trump’s approval rating is — and has been — underwater, including in Texas, where disapproval exceeds approval by double-digits.
- We have a more vulnerable GOP opponent: In addition to Paxton’s extreme MAGA-alignment at a time when Trump is wildly unpopular, his net favorability — his approval rating minus his disapproval rating — was 6 points higher than Paxton’s is right now, with Cruz at -2 favorability and Paxton at -8.
In other words: We are, overall, better-positioned to win, but this will still likely be a contest won at the margins — exactly the kind of race that MVP partners could actually help tip.
MVP partners Texas for All, MOVE Texas Action Fund, Poder Latinx, and others are organizing to seize this opportunity and engage and turn out hard-to-reach and long-ignored voters to help Talarico secure the win in November.
Texas for All is supporting their member organizations to recruit, train, and deploy Community Captains to engage voters in their neighborhoods through relational organizing, develop leaders in underserved communities, and turn voters out for the general election in November. MOVE Texas Action Fund has set up 15 campus and community chapters across the state to engage young people throughout the summer and fall. Poder Latinx has built out a 29-week field program, knocking doors across the state in the lead-up to Election Day to turn voters out for Talarico.
Photo: Organizers in Tennessee descend on the state capital to resist racial gerrymandering after the Supreme Court ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act.
Redistricting round-up: It’s bad, but we can still flip the House. 🩴
The changes are constant in the mid-decade redistricting battle kicked off by Trump's partisan power grabs last year. A court-driven loss in Virginia, surprise wins in South Carolina and Alabama, a possible, last-minute victory in Maryland for 2028. It’s a lot to keep up with.
But even with all the redistricting ups and downs, we still have a path to flipping the U.S. House this November. When you factor in all redistricting developments since 2025 (from Texas to California to everything that has followed), Democrats are now presumed to be 7-10 seats down. This is not great — but the overall political environment is so bad for Republicans that we are likely to win many of the toss-up seats this November, and — especially if we invest now in the ground game — the more difficult, lean-Republican seats. And, there is the possibility that some of the presumed redistricting GOP pickups in places like Texas and the South could ultimately backfire — just ask Karl Rove.
MVP’s got the redistricting breakdown you need, which we are updating regularly, so make sure to bookmark! Check out the full list here.
Graphic: MVP national partner People’s Action
Take Action with MVP and Our Partners 🎯
We are five months from the midterm elections, and we need everyone to be all in. MVP has so many ways for you to get involved and take action now to help us win in November.
Volunteer With MVP
Help us build a movement of donors funding year-round organizing! Join an upcoming Donor Thank-You Phonebank, host a house party, and more.
Protect Our Elections
We know that election protection is top-of-mind for many of us this year, with election officials preparing for ICE at the polls and Trump’s proven antipathy toward democracy. MVP has compiled a list of some of the strongest, best-positioned organizations defending our elections this year. Check it out, and sign up now!
June 2: Climate and Elections
On June 2, join MVP national partner REBUILD.US and our very own Executive Director, Billy Wimsatt, for a panel discussion about the intersection of climate disaster and elections. Learn more about their work to mobilize and educate voters and ensure every vote is counted in the same communities enduring big storms and climate disasters this fall. Register here.
June 9: Defeating Authoritarianism
Donors have a critical role to play in the fight for racial and defending democracy. Join MVP national partner Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) on June 9 for an important conversation about the role white donors can and must play to defeat authoritarianism. Register here.
Photo: All Roads Lead to the South attendees fighting for voting rights and Black voting power with MVP partner Black Voters Matter Fund, 5/17/2026. (Credit: photojones.co)
A Moment of Movement Joy ❤️
Each month, we bring you a Moment of Movement Joy — something that moved us, that inspired us, or that made us smile from our broad-based movement for social change. This month, let’s end where we started: All Roads Lead to the South.
On May 16, thousands of people marched, rallied, danced, sang, and chanted their way through Selma and Montgomery, Alabama — two cities that were central to the Civil Rights Movement.
It’s not about the people in power. It’s about the power of the people.
There is so much footage of this beautiful and powerful mobilization of resistance and Black voting power. We wanted to share just one clip from partner Black Voters Matter Fund that captured the spirit of the day, including an 82-year-old Black woman who is “fired up and ready to go,” and Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock reminding the crowd that “It’s not about the people in power. It’s about the power of the people.”
Grab a box of tissues, a megaphone — whatever you need — and watch this whole video, and get ready to answer the question: “What role did you or would you play during the Civil Rights Movement?” Because that’s what we are called to do now.
