Three to Watch

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

This year as the need for honest brokers in government grows more critical, and my personal finances continue to lag behind the growth of the overall economy, I have determined that I must be more selective in how I allocate the few dollars that I am able to budget to add my "voice" to the political scene.   Being selective is hard to do because everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY on the left side of the political spectrum asks me to help their campaign.  Sometimes, in fact, the same political beggars hit me up multiple times a day.

(Oh, for those glorious days before email when the politicos at least had to cough up postage before they could harass grandpa for a fiver!)

In the process of becoming more selective, I have begun to develop a short list of candidates whose election would be a major plus for the survival and growth of democracy, and who have at least an outside chance of winning.  The first three names on the list for 2022 are Val Demings (Florida), Chris Larson (Wisconsin), and Chris Jones (Arkansas).   A few more will follow.

Control of the US Senate is vital if the country is to maintain even a semblance of democracy.  Mitch and Lindsey and the good ol' GOP Klan Kaucus are hellbent on controlling government through elections in which the votes of minorities are suppressed and results are "adjusted" by legislatures and the courts.  A republican Senate also poses a constant threat to social and economic advancement in America.

Missouri has a US Senate seat opening in 2022 that could be winnable for Democrats is the stars align, but so far that alignment does not look very promising.  If that situation changes and a path to victory becomes visible, I will be active and enthusiastic in that race.  But if it appears that Missouri Democrats will be content with a forfeit, then my personal focus will be on trying to help viable Democratic candidates in other states.

Val Demings, whom I talked about in this space yesterday, is one such candidate.  She is currently a member of the US House of Representatives from Florida who is running to oust Marco Rubio from the US Senate.    Marco, an intolerable little Bible thumper who regularly shouts religious pieties from his racist rathole, is trying to paint Demings as a liberal who, by his definition, is soft on crime - and the fact that she is black makes that sell easier to some segments of his southern constituency.  But Val Demings also served thirty years in a major Florida police department, is the former police chief of Orlando, and is married to a career law enforcement officer.

Val Demings can beat Marco Rubio in Florida, and she just may well do it.  A Demings win would be a major blow for Mitch and Lindsey.

Of the two United States Senators in Wisconsin, one is a very liberal Democrat, Tammy Baldwin, and the other is a hard right-wing Trump Republican, Ron Johnson.   Johnson is currently completing his second term in the Senate and has said previously that he would only serve two terms, but he is a strong Trump favorite and that faction of the GOP is hoping he will run again.   Others in the party seem to think that they would stand a better chance of holding onto the seat with a different candidate.  Wisconsin Democrats are also divided in their views as to whether it would be easier to beat Johnson or some replacement candidate.

Chris Larson is a 40-year-old Democratic state senator from Wisconsin who has announced that he is running for  Ron Johnson's seat in the US Senate.  Larson, who served on Milwaukee's governing board when he was in his twenties, has been in the state senate for ten years and for one term served as that body's minority leader.  I have followed State Senator Larson through his on-line newsletter for some time now.   He is a thoughtful and well-spoken progressive legislator who knows how to get things done.  He should make a very strong showing in 2022, regardless of whom the Republicans use to defend the seat.

And the loss of the GOP senate seat in Wisconsin would deal a significant blow to Republican efforts to regain control of the upper chamber of Congress.

The third name on my 2022 short list is Chris Jones, a nuclear engineer and ordained minister who is running for governor of Arkansas.   Dr. Jones, a black man, is a seventh-generation Arkansan who, if he gets the Democratic nomination, will likely be facing former Trump press flack, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in the general election.   She has been endorsed by Trump.  The most amazing thing about the Chris Jones candidacy so far is his kick-ass (and viral) video announcing his candidacy.  The video is all over social media - and I only wish my little Kia had that much polish!   If the announcement video is any indication of the type of campaign that he will run, Ms. Huckabee Sanders will have a tough row to hoe in order to move back into the Arkansas governor's mansion where she used to live when her Daddy was governor.

If you haven't seen the Chris Jones video, check it out on Twitter @JonesForAR.

So those are three for whom I am hopeful:  Val Demings in Florida, Chris Larson in Wisconsin, and Chris Jones in Arkansas.  Maintaining and increasing Democratic majorities in the US House and Senate need to be priorities for democracy's sake, but winning a few governorships would also be very helpful in controlling some of the social and economic carnage that is occurring at the state level.

Who else should be on this list?