theintercept--2020-11-06--Biden Wins, but Now the Hard Part Begins

Wisconsin , and Michigan now squarely in Joe Biden ’ s corner , the former vice president has secured the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win the presidential election .
Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday , President Donald Trump held leads in all three states , but as votes from Milwaukee , Detroit , Philadelphia , and other urban areas were counted , Biden climbed ahead .
On Friday morning , after Biden overtook Trump in the Pennsylvania vote count , Decision Desk HQ called the race for Biden .
At the same moment that those votes from heavily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden over the top , House Democrats were locked in a tortured , three-hour conference call on Thursday .
Centrist after centrist lambasted the party ’ s left for costing it seats in the lower chamber and threatening its ability to win the Senate .
It created a surreal juxtaposition : Had progressive organizing on the ground around left-leaning issues driven registration and turnout for Biden where he needed it , or had it hurt the party more broadly ?
Or was it both ?
Spanberger won a narrow victory and spent 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party ’ s progressive wing .
She is once again locked in a close count , but appears to again have the upper hand , poised for reelection .
It has not diminished her rage toward the left .
On the call Thursday , Spanberger vented not at “ abolish ICE ” but at “ defund the police , ” the slogan that gained mainstream currency following the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police .
Rep. Conor Lamb , whose special election victory in 2018 was a bellwether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spanberger up .
“ Spanberger was talking about something many of us are feeling today : We pay the price for these unprofessional and unrealistic comments about a number of issues , whether it is about the police or shale gas , ” Lamb said .
“ These issues are too serious for the people we represent to tolerate them being talked about so casually.
” But Lamb ’ s criticism of his party colleagues goes to the heart of the flaw in the argument .
Lamb wasn ’ t forced to defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ocasio-Cortez or other members of the Squad .
Rather , it was Lamb who went to a Black Lives Matter protest and took a maskless photo with a ( white ) woman holding a “ defund the police ” sign .
His GOP opponent hammered Lamb for it .
Most centrist politicians think of politics as top-down — a strategy that ’ s decided upon and then implemented .
But “ defund the police ” — whatever one thinks of the slogan — came from the protest movement that grew out of Minneapolis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Squad Central Committee .
Democrats actually benefited from a surge in voter registrations amid the protests , as noted by Tom Bonier , head of the major Democratic data firm TargetSmart .
Party leader James Clyburn , the Democrat from South Carolina whose endorsement of Biden launched him to the nomination , warned on the call that if Democrats ran on Medicare for All and other progressive issues , they would lose the upcoming Georgia Senate special elections that will determine control of the upper chamber and dictate whether Biden and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislative agenda .
( Alaska ’ s Senate seat , a contest between Republican Sen. Al Sullivan and independent challenger Al Gross , is still up for grabs .
While Sullivan is currently ahead , the count of the remaining 44 percent of votes — absentee ballots — won ’ t begin until Monday . )
Even so , progressives defended a number of Republican-leaning seats .
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter won reelection by 8 points in California ’ s 45th District , covering Orange County and Irvine , which she flipped in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Levin , who flipped the 49th District two years ago , won reelection , beating his Republican opponent by 12 points .
Both are co-sponsors of the Medicare for All bill in the House , as are Jared Golden in Maine , Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona , Josh Harder in California , and Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright in Pennsylvania , who all won reelection in swing districts .
And Rep. Tom Malinowski also defended his northern New Jersey district with an 8-point win , again holding onto a district he flipped in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both Porter and Malinowski ’ s districts as R+3 , and Levin ’ s as R+1 .
Democrats insisting that progressive issues are losing policies have yet to articulate what their winning agenda would be , now that getting Trump out of the White House is no longer the mission .
As attention will shift to the Georgia special elections , can Democrats rally the troops simply to help Biden confirm slightly more progressive cabinet nominees ?
What is the Democratic agenda that the party can pledge to voters to inspire them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ From the progressive perspective , it ’ s an easy question to answer , and Ocasio-Cortez has made the argument herself repeatedly : It ’ s better to have Democrats in control so that the left can push them to be better , whereas Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has shown himself immune to protest from the left .
But that ’ s not a message from the party itself .
And if Democrats don ’ t find a message — or insist on spending the next few weeks attacking its left flank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winning the Senate .
Mike Siegel , a Democrat who ran and lost as a populist progressive in suburban Texas , said on this week ’ s Deconstructed podcast that without a persuasive message coming from the top of the ticket , he was unable to convince disaffected voters that he was serious about fundamental change .
Without the Senate , Biden will be a badly hobbled president , the kind that is routinely dealt a blow in the first midterm .
While Spanberger and Lamb may be angry , it appears that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozens of their colleagues who first won in 2018 .
In 2022 , they may look back on this election fondly if they don ’ t deliver something for the people who elected them .
forward by centrist Democrats are the flip side of the same political vision that Trump used to fuel his base .
In nearly every one of his rallies this fall , he singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar for attack , arguing that she was so toxic in Minnesota that she would deliver the state ’ s suburbs to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about Rep. Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and about the rising strength of the left in Philadelphia , which he singled out during the first presidential debate , claiming that “ bad things happen in Philadelphia.
” Yet Trump ’ s hopes were dashed .
“ He effed around and found out , ” said Omar on Deconstructed when asked about Trump ’ s strategy of demonizing her to win suburban votes .
Indeed , not only did margins for Democrats expand in the suburbs in Minnesota , but Omar ’ s strength in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win .
The same is true of the suburbs of Detroit and Philadelphia , where strong left organizing catapulted Biden past Trump in two of the three states that were crucial to the incumbent ’ s 2016 victory , and a third ( Minnesota ) that the Trump campaign hoped desperately to flip .
In the late summer , as the GOP was knocking on a million doors per week in August , the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee resisted a return to in-person canvassing — even though it had become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do so — and advised their surrogates to do the same .
In Minneapolis and Detroit , Omar and Tlaib both rejected the advice of the Biden campaign and instead sent volunteers to persuade people not just to come out to vote for their member of Congress — after all , they had effectively no GOP competition in their general elections — but to do their part in ousting Trump by voting for Biden .
In Philadelphia , where leftist candidates have romped over the past four years , thanks in part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two of their leaders elected to the state House on Tuesday , unions and organizers spent the final stretch of the campaign knocking doors in areas where voters felt ignored by the Democratic Party .
It ’ s too early to know precisely what effect the progressive canvassing operations and organizing had on the vote , as that will require a deeper dive into the data to determine how many irregular or first-time voters were pushed to the polls .
Turnout surged everywhere — Biden garnered more votes than any presidential candidate in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at minimum , that Trump ’ s high-profile attacks against Omar and Tlaib did not deliver him those states , and there is preliminary evidence that their operations were disproportionately beneficial to Biden .
In Detroit , voter turnout reached its highest point in decades , election officials reported , even as the city ’ s population has declined by 10,000 since 2016 , and 3,000 people in Wayne County , which includes Detroit , died from Covid-19 .
Overall in the county , Biden won 587,000 to 264,000 , a net @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still left to be counted .
Biden underperformed Hillary Clinton in the city of Detroit by about 1,000 votes , but outperformed her by 67,630 votes throughout the entire county ; that bump helped put him over the top in a state that Clinton lost by some 10,700 votes .
With about 90 percent of the votes in her district counted , Tlaib already has more than 220,000 votes , having beaten her Republican opponent by some 170,000 votes and counting .
That ’ s a significant jump from 2016 , when John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seat , won it with fewer than 200,000 votes .
Oakland County , the suburbs outside Detroit , also went strongly to Biden .
Clinton netted roughly 54,000 votes there in 2016 , but Biden won it by 110,000 votes .
Tlaib faced competitive primaries , which they won comfortably , and they never really stopped campaigning into the general election .
Their teams worked together , swapping notes on how to safely canvas in a pandemic , and also worked closely with Rep. Mark Pocan , the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Omar ’ s team made 1.4 million attempts to reach out to voters through phone , text , or in person .
They knocked on more than 150,000 doors , hitting everyone in the district more than twice on average , according to Jeremy Slevin , Omar ’ s communications director .
A record 400,000 people voted in the district , netting Biden 253,000 votes .
Biden visited St. Paul , but not Minneapolis , where his wife Jill Biden visited early last month .
Omar ’ s campaign hired dozens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started early voting in September , the Washington Post reported .
They knocked throughout October and up to Election Day , especially targeting voters who sat out in 2016 .
Omar was also one of the only Democratic Farmer-Labor Party candidates to continue canvassing , the Star Tribune reported .
Tlaib ’ s campaign focused on voters who turned out in 2012 and stayed home in 2016 , and knocked 16,000 doors in the six weeks leading up to Election Day .
They made close to 150,000 calls and sent 100,000 text messages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our message was more about Democrats up and down the ballot , ” said Tlaib ’ s Communications Director Denzel McCampbell .
In Philadelphia , Reclaim Philadelphia , a progressive group focused on working-class issues founded in 2016 by local organizers , has helped grow a squad of their own in state and local office .
Two Reclaim Philadelphia alums , Nikil Saval , who helped found the group , and Rick Krajewski , previously a staff organizer , won their elections to the state House on Tuesday .
A coalition of local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including Saval and Krajewski ’ s campaigns , other local elected officials , and unions — knocked 370,000 doors in the weeks leading up to Election Day .
That included West/Southwest Philly Votes , the unions Unite Here and Service Employees International Union , campaigns for State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler , and City Council Members Kendra Brooks , a WFP council member , and Jamie Gauthier .
The 215 People ’ s Alliance , another local grassroots group , made a total of 35,000 calls and texts to Philadelphia voters , and provided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with help from the People ’ s Kitchen , a local food security project .
National groups like For Our Future and Changing the Conversation knocked doors in Philly as well .
Organizers with West/Southwest Philly Votes , a partnership between Krajewski and Gauthier ’ s campaigns , knocked 20,000 doors between October 3 and Election Day , an effort that took about 345 three-hour volunteer shifts .
Members from SEIU ’ s Local 32BJ joined that effort , said Rachie Weisberg , field director for West/Southwest Philly Votes .
Reclaim partnered with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knock doors , said Amanda McIllmurray , Reclaim Philadelphia political director and Saval ’ s campaign manager .
Together with PA Stands Up , a coalition of grassroots organizing groups that grew out of a response to the 2016 election , 8,000 volunteers across local groups made just under 7 million calls , sent just under 2 million texts , and reached 400,000 voters statewide .
SEIU members also held their own canvass , knocking 70,000 doors statewide , 30,000 in Philadelphia , and 20,000 in surrounding suburbs .
They also knocked doors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the state , and other areas and made 2 million calls statewide .
The most significant push came from Unite Here , a hospitality workers union that deployed hundreds of members to knock on 300,000 doors in Philadelphia between October 1 and Election Day , the largest such operation targeting Black and Latino workers in the city .
Statewide , the union knocked 575,000 doors .
They got 60,000 people in Philadelphia to pledge to vote for Biden , 30,000 of whom did not vote in 2016 .
( Trump won the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) “ We saw the effects of everything that ’ s happened since 2016 , with police brutality , right — with Covid-19 and with the pandemic in general , ” said Brahim Douglas , vice president of Unite Here Philadelphia ’ s Local 274 .
“ We wanted to engage our neighbors in places where typically , folks don ’ t go to , ” he said , like his neighborhood in North Philadelphia and where hopelessness as a result of the pandemic is prevalent .
“ This stuff affects our communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 .
Last month , he lost his 21-year-old niece to the coronavirus ; her 1-year-old daughter had also contracted the disease .
“ In the Black and brown communities , Covid has affected — here in Pennsylvania — a lot of us .
And we have a president that took that stuff for granted , and I think that ’ s the hurtful part.
” Update : November 7 , 2020 The article and headline have been updated to reflect Biden ’ s official Electoral College win .

With Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan now squarely in Joe Biden’s corner, the former vice president has secured the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win the presidential election. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, President Donald Trump held leads in all three states, but as votes from Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia, and other urban areas were counted, Biden climbed ahead. On Friday morning, after Biden overtook Trump in the Pennsylvania vote count, Decision Desk HQ called the race for Biden.
At the same moment that those votes from heavily progressive cities beset by protests were putting Biden over the top, House Democrats were locked in a tortured, three-hour conference call on Thursday. Centrist after centrist lambasted the party’s left for costing it seats in the lower chamber and threatening its ability to win the Senate. It created a surreal juxtaposition: Had progressive organizing on the ground around left-leaning issues driven registration and turnout for Biden where he needed it, or had it hurt the party more broadly? Or was it both?
The fiercest criticism was leveled by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA official who won an upset victory in rural and suburban Virginia in 2018. Her victory was symbolic, in that she toppled Dave Brat, the tea party upstart who had himself toppled Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014, presaging Trump’s rise a year later. In 2018, Brat accused Spanberger of endorsing and being in league with, by dint of her party identification, Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi — even though she theatrically distanced herself from all three, as well as former President Barack Obama. Her rousing defense — “Abigail Spanberger is my name!” — earned her a viral clip at a debate with Brat:
My goodness! You're about to find out who Abigail @SpanbergerVA07 is and why she's running. Dave Brat sure did! "Abigail Spanberger is my name!" #VA07 pic.twitter.com/ELvBnUcpWs — Mark Herring (@MarkHerringVA) October 16, 2018
Spanberger won a narrow victory and spent 2019 and 2020 further distancing herself from the party’s progressive wing. She is once again locked in a close count, but appears to again have the upper hand, poised for reelection.
It has not diminished her rage toward the left. On the call Thursday, Spanberger vented not at “abolish ICE” but at “defund the police,” the slogan that gained mainstream currency following the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
Rep. Conor Lamb, whose special election victory in 2018 was a bellwether of the coming blue wave, backed Spanberger up. “Spanberger was talking about something many of us are feeling today: We pay the price for these unprofessional and unrealistic comments about a number of issues, whether it is about the police or shale gas,” Lamb said. “These issues are too serious for the people we represent to tolerate them being talked about so casually.”
But Lamb’s criticism of his party colleagues goes to the heart of the flaw in the argument. Lamb wasn’t forced to defend defunding the police because of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or other members of the Squad. Rather, it was Lamb who went to a Black Lives Matter protest and took a maskless photo with a (white) woman holding a “defund the police” sign. His GOP opponent hammered Lamb for it. Most centrist politicians think of politics as top-down — a strategy that’s decided upon and then implemented. But “defund the police” — whatever one thinks of the slogan — came from the protest movement that grew out of Minneapolis, not from the messaging department of the Squad Central Committee.
Democrats actually benefited from a surge in voter registrations amid the protests, as noted by Tom Bonier, head of the major Democratic data firm TargetSmart.
One more note. In May and June, when Dem voter registration had bottomed out due to the pandemic and GOPs were outregistering Dems, it was the George Floyd/BLM demonstrations that created a huge Dem voter reg spike. pic.twitter.com/Y3YXbJk4Ol — Tom Bonier (@tbonier) November 6, 2020
Party leader James Clyburn, the Democrat from South Carolina whose endorsement of Biden launched him to the nomination, warned on the call that if Democrats ran on Medicare for All and other progressive issues, they would lose the upcoming Georgia Senate special elections that will determine control of the upper chamber and dictate whether Biden and the Democrats have the possibility of implementing a legislative agenda. (Alaska’s Senate seat, a contest between Republican Sen. Al Sullivan and independent challenger Al Gross, is still up for grabs. While Sullivan is currently ahead, the count of the remaining 44 percent of votes — absentee ballots — won’t begin until Monday.)
Even so, progressives defended a number of Republican-leaning seats. Democratic Rep. Katie Porter won reelection by 8 points in California’s 45th District, covering Orange County and Irvine, which she flipped in 2018. Further south, Rep. Mike Levin, who flipped the 49th District two years ago, won reelection, beating his Republican opponent by 12 points. Both are co-sponsors of the Medicare for All bill in the House, as are Jared Golden in Maine, Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona, Josh Harder in California, and Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright in Pennsylvania, who all won reelection in swing districts. And Rep. Tom Malinowski also defended his northern New Jersey district with an 8-point win, again holding onto a district he flipped in 2018. Cook Political Report had rated both Porter and Malinowski’s districts as R+3, and Levin’s as R+1.
Democrats insisting that progressive issues are losing policies have yet to articulate what their winning agenda would be, now that getting Trump out of the White House is no longer the mission. As attention will shift to the Georgia special elections, can Democrats rally the troops simply to help Biden confirm slightly more progressive cabinet nominees? What is the Democratic agenda that the party can pledge to voters to inspire them to vote in that January special election?
From the progressive perspective, it’s an easy question to answer, and Ocasio-Cortez has made the argument herself repeatedly: It’s better to have Democrats in control so that the left can push them to be better, whereas Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has shown himself immune to protest from the left. But that’s not a message from the party itself.
And if Democrats don’t find a message — or insist on spending the next few weeks attacking its left flank — then they have little chance of winning the Senate. Mike Siegel, a Democrat who ran and lost as a populist progressive in suburban Texas, said on this week’s Deconstructed podcast that without a persuasive message coming from the top of the ticket, he was unable to convince disaffected voters that he was serious about fundamental change. Without the Senate, Biden will be a badly hobbled president, the kind that is routinely dealt a blow in the first midterm. While Spanberger and Lamb may be angry, it appears that both will still win, as will dozens of their colleagues who first won in 2018. In 2022, they may look back on this election fondly if they don’t deliver something for the people who elected them.
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib encourages a resident to vote in the upcoming presidential elections in Detroit, on Oct. 18, 2020. Photo: Rebecca Cook/Reuters
The fears put forward by centrist Democrats are the flip side of the same political vision that Trump used to fuel his base. In nearly every one of his rallies this fall, he singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar for attack, arguing that she was so toxic in Minnesota that she would deliver the state’s suburbs to him. He made the same claim about Rep. Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and about the rising strength of the left in Philadelphia, which he singled out during the first presidential debate, claiming that “bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
Yet Trump’s hopes were dashed. “He effed around and found out,” said Omar on Deconstructed when asked about Trump’s strategy of demonizing her to win suburban votes. Indeed, not only did margins for Democrats expand in the suburbs in Minnesota, but Omar’s strength in Minneapolis also helped power Biden to the win.
The same is true of the suburbs of Detroit and Philadelphia, where strong left organizing catapulted Biden past Trump in two of the three states that were crucial to the incumbent’s 2016 victory, and a third (Minnesota) that the Trump campaign hoped desperately to flip.
In the late summer, as the GOP was knocking on a million doors per week in August, the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee resisted a return to in-person canvassing — even though it had become apparent that there was a safe way to do so — and advised their surrogates to do the same.
In Minneapolis and Detroit, Omar and Tlaib both rejected the advice of the Biden campaign and instead sent volunteers to persuade people not just to come out to vote for their member of Congress — after all, they had effectively no GOP competition in their general elections — but to do their part in ousting Trump by voting for Biden. In Philadelphia, where leftist candidates have romped over the past four years, thanks in part to a robust organizing community that saw two of their leaders elected to the state House on Tuesday, unions and organizers spent the final stretch of the campaign knocking doors in areas where voters felt ignored by the Democratic Party.
It’s too early to know precisely what effect the progressive canvassing operations and organizing had on the vote, as that will require a deeper dive into the data to determine how many irregular or first-time voters were pushed to the polls. Turnout surged everywhere — Biden garnered more votes than any presidential candidate in history — but it’s clear, at minimum, that Trump’s high-profile attacks against Omar and Tlaib did not deliver him those states, and there is preliminary evidence that their operations were disproportionately beneficial to Biden.
In Detroit, voter turnout reached its highest point in decades, election officials reported, even as the city’s population has declined by 10,000 since 2016, and 3,000 people in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, died from Covid-19. Overall in the county, Biden won 587,000 to 264,000, a net of 323,000 votes, though more are still left to be counted. Biden underperformed Hillary Clinton in the city of Detroit by about 1,000 votes, but outperformed her by 67,630 votes throughout the entire county; that bump helped put him over the top in a state that Clinton lost by some 10,700 votes.
With about 90 percent of the votes in her district counted, Tlaib already has more than 220,000 votes, having beaten her Republican opponent by some 170,000 votes and counting. That’s a significant jump from 2016, when John Conyers Jr., who previously held the seat, won it with fewer than 200,000 votes.
Oakland County, the suburbs outside Detroit, also went strongly to Biden. Clinton netted roughly 54,000 votes there in 2016, but Biden won it by 110,000 votes.
In Minnesota, Omar’s district saw explosive growth in turnout, with more than 400,000 people casting votes. The district netted Biden more than 250,000 votes in a state he won by just 232,000. And despite Trump’s hopes, the suburbs did not recoil at Omar, giving Biden a bigger margin than Clinton won there.
In Pennsylvania, where ballots are still being counted, Biden outperformed Clinton in Philadelphia’s suburbs, including Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware counties — giving him a crucial boost even as voter turnout in the city of Philadelphia dropped. In other parts of the state, he flipped back to blue the counties of Eerie and Northampton, which both voted twice for Obama before flipping for Trump.
Congressional candidate Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., left, joined by Democratic Senate candidate Tina Smith, D-Minn., speaks during a get-out-the-vote event on the University of Minnesota campus on Nov. 3, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Both Omar and Tlaib faced competitive primaries, which they won comfortably, and they never really stopped campaigning into the general election. Their teams worked together, swapping notes on how to safely canvas in a pandemic, and also worked closely with Rep. Mark Pocan, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who represents Madison, Wisconsin. Omar’s team made 1.4 million attempts to reach out to voters through phone, text, or in person. They knocked on more than 150,000 doors, hitting everyone in the district more than twice on average, according to Jeremy Slevin, Omar’s communications director. A record 400,000 people voted in the district, netting Biden 253,000 votes. Biden visited St. Paul, but not Minneapolis, where his wife Jill Biden visited early last month.
Omar’s campaign hired dozens of organizers to turn out voters when Minnesota started early voting in September, the Washington Post reported. They knocked throughout October and up to Election Day, especially targeting voters who sat out in 2016. Omar was also one of the only Democratic Farmer-Labor Party candidates to continue canvassing, the Star Tribune reported.
Tlaib’s campaign focused on voters who turned out in 2012 and stayed home in 2016, and knocked 16,000 doors in the six weeks leading up to Election Day. They made close to 150,000 calls and sent 100,000 text messages and 100,000 pieces of mail. “Our message was more about Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Tlaib’s Communications Director Denzel McCampbell.
In Philadelphia, Reclaim Philadelphia, a progressive group focused on working-class issues founded in 2016 by local organizers, has helped grow a squad of their own in state and local office. Two Reclaim Philadelphia alums, Nikil Saval, who helped found the group, and Rick Krajewski, previously a staff organizer, won their elections to the state House on Tuesday. A coalition of local and national groups in the city — including Saval and Krajewski’s campaigns, other local elected officials, and unions — knocked 370,000 doors in the weeks leading up to Election Day. That included West/Southwest Philly Votes, the unions Unite Here and Service Employees International Union, campaigns for State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, and City Council Members Kendra Brooks, a WFP council member, and Jamie Gauthier. The 215 People’s Alliance, another local grassroots group, made a total of 35,000 calls and texts to Philadelphia voters, and provided 5,650 meals to voters and poll workers with help from the People’s Kitchen, a local food security project. National groups like For Our Future and Changing the Conversation knocked doors in Philly as well.
Renee Wilson, a member of service industry union Unite Here, canvases for Joe Biden in Philadelphia on Nov. 2, 2020. Photo: Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters
There were a number of virtual organizing operations as well. The Working Families Party’s $1.5 million Vote Today Program netted 93,400 conversations about early voting, 76,900 commitments, and more than 2,000 newly registered voters in Philadelphia. They recruited just under 500 volunteers for the effort, which extended to protests and dance parties at “count every vote” protests on Wednesday and Thursday. Nuestro PAC, a group that worked to turn out the Latino vote, run by former Bernie Sanders adviser Chuck Rocha, spent $2.1 million on bilingual outreach over the last four months.
?@NuestroPAC spent 2.1 Million dollars over 4 months talking to 98,000 persuadable #Latinos in #Pennsylvannia vía bilingual TV, radio, digital and 621,000 pieces of mail. Those blue areas in E Pa are ALL Latino stronghold. Thank you all for trusting me! Latinos deliver PA! pic.twitter.com/E7QqwuWaOx — Chuck Rocha (@ChuckRocha) November 6, 2020
Organizers with West/Southwest Philly Votes, a partnership between Krajewski and Gauthier’s campaigns, knocked 20,000 doors between October 3 and Election Day, an effort that took about 345 three-hour volunteer shifts. Members from SEIU’s Local 32BJ joined that effort, said Rachie Weisberg, field director for West/Southwest Philly Votes.
Reclaim partnered with the campaigns for Krajewski and Fiedler to knock doors, said Amanda McIllmurray, Reclaim Philadelphia political director and Saval’s campaign manager. Together with PA Stands Up, a coalition of grassroots organizing groups that grew out of a response to the 2016 election, 8,000 volunteers across local groups made just under 7 million calls, sent just under 2 million texts, and reached 400,000 voters statewide.
SEIU members also held their own canvass, knocking 70,000 doors statewide, 30,000 in Philadelphia, and 20,000 in surrounding suburbs. They also knocked doors in Allegheny, in the Western part of the state, and other areas and made 2 million calls statewide.
The most significant push came from Unite Here, a hospitality workers union that deployed hundreds of members to knock on 300,000 doors in Philadelphia between October 1 and Election Day, the largest such operation targeting Black and Latino workers in the city. Statewide, the union knocked 575,000 doors. They got 60,000 people in Philadelphia to pledge to vote for Biden, 30,000 of whom did not vote in 2016. (Trump won the state by 44,000 votes that cycle.)
“We saw the effects of everything that’s happened since 2016, with police brutality, right — with Covid-19 and with the pandemic in general,” said Brahim Douglas, vice president of Unite Here Philadelphia’s Local 274. “We wanted to engage our neighbors in places where typically, folks don’t go to,” he said, like his neighborhood in North Philadelphia and where hopelessness as a result of the pandemic is prevalent.
“This stuff affects our communities,” said Douglas, referring to Covid-19. Last month, he lost his 21-year-old niece to the coronavirus; her 1-year-old daughter had also contracted the disease. “In the Black and brown communities, Covid has affected — here in Pennsylvania — a lot of us. And we have a president that took that stuff for granted, and I think that’s the hurtful part.”
Update: November 7, 2020
The article and headline have been updated to reflect Biden’s official Electoral College win.


theintercept--2020-11-09--Biden Appoints Coronavirus Whistleblower to Covid-19 Advisory Board

With a symbolic poke in the eye of the outgoing Trump administration , President-elect Joe Biden named whistleblower Rick Bright to his transition Covid-19 advisory board .
Bright previously ran a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that manages medical response to public health emergencies .
Bright was fired in retaliation for standing up to cronyism in the Trump administration ’ s handling of the coronavirus pandemic , according to a detailed complaint he filed in May .
Among the other board members are Dr. Céline Gounder , an infectious disease specialist and medical journalist , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former health adviser to the Obama White House who has blamed the Trump administration ’ s bungling of the epidemic for “ hundreds of thousands ” of unnecessary deaths from Covid-19 .
Bright , who has a Ph.D. in virology , will be joined by other experienced public health experts on the board , which “ will consult with state and local officials to determine the public health and economic steps necessary to get the virus under control , ” according to the Biden-Harris transition team .
The board will be co-chaired by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997 ; Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith , an associate professor of internal medicine and public health at the Yale School of Medicine , who has written about racial and ethnic disparities in deaths from Covid-19 ; and Dr. Vivek Murthy , who served as surgeon general during the Obama administration .
Biden ’ s plans for addressing the coronavirus pandemic include immediately reversing several steps taken by the current administration .
The transition team has announced its intentions to restore the White House National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Biodefense , which Trump folded into another office ; rejoin the World Health Organization , which the administration began formally withdrawing from in July ; and relaunch the U.S. Agency for International Development ’ s pathogen-tracking program , PREDICT , which the Trump administration stopped funding .
Many of the principles the incoming administration says will guide its approach to Covid-19 — including pledges to listen to science and to promote trust , transparency , common purpose , and accountability in the U.S. government — are corrections to the corruption and incompetence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the pandemic that Bright described in both testimony before a House subcommittee and his 63-page whistleblower complaint .
While Biden is promising a government in which “ public health decisions are informed by public health professionals , ” Bright shined a light on an environment in which his supervisors at the Department of Health and Human Services pressured him to grant contracts to politically connected companies .
In one case , a consultant described a CEO of a pharmaceutical company to Bright as “ friends with Jared ” and someone who “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the first to report on the administration ’ s internal push to hastily greenlight the use of hydroxychloroquine .
The FDA approved the malaria medicine , which can cause fatal cardiac complications , as a Covid-19 treatment on an emergency basis — only to later withdraw the approval for the drug and caution against its use .
Bright also explained how members of the Trump administration ignored and mocked his attempts to draw attention to the looming shortage of personal protective equipment , particularly N95 masks , as coronavirus infections began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he attempted to raise the issue with his boss , Robert Kadlec , and HHS Secretary Alex Azar at a meeting in January , they assured him that the Trump administration would be able to contain the virus and keep it out of the United States using travel bans — and excluded him from further meetings .
Bright was later reassigned to National Institutes of Health to work on diagnostic testing .
Last month , he resigned from that position and explained in an amendment to his original complaint that he had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 .
”

With a symbolic poke in the eye of the outgoing Trump administration, President-elect Joe Biden named whistleblower Rick Bright to his transition Covid-19 advisory board. Bright previously ran a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that manages medical response to public health emergencies. Bright was fired in retaliation for standing up to cronyism in the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a detailed complaint he filed in May.
Bright, who has a Ph.D. in virology, will be joined by other experienced public health experts on the board, which “will consult with state and local officials to determine the public health and economic steps necessary to get the virus under control,” according to the Biden-Harris transition team. The board will be co-chaired by Dr. David Kessler, who served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997; Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of internal medicine and public health at the Yale School of Medicine, who has written about racial and ethnic disparities in deaths from Covid-19; and Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general during the Obama administration.
Among the other board members are Dr. Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and medical journalist, and Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and former health adviser to the Obama White House who has blamed the Trump administration’s bungling of the epidemic for “hundreds of thousands” of unnecessary deaths from Covid-19.
Biden’s plans for addressing the coronavirus pandemic include immediately reversing several steps taken by the current administration. The transition team has announced its intentions to restore the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which Trump folded into another office; rejoin the World Health Organization, which the administration began formally withdrawing from in July; and relaunch the U.S. Agency for International Development’s pathogen-tracking program, PREDICT, which the Trump administration stopped funding.
Many of the principles the incoming administration says will guide its approach to Covid-19 — including pledges to listen to science and to promote trust, transparency, common purpose, and accountability in the U.S. government — are corrections to the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic that Bright described in both testimony before a House subcommittee and his 63-page whistleblower complaint.
While Biden is promising a government in which “public health decisions are informed by public health professionals,” Bright shined a light on an environment in which his supervisors at the Department of Health and Human Services pressured him to grant contracts to politically connected companies. In one case, a consultant described a CEO of a pharmaceutical company to Bright as “friends with Jared” and someone who “has Hollywood connections.” Bright was also one of the first to report on the administration’s internal push to hastily greenlight the use of hydroxychloroquine. The FDA approved the malaria medicine, which can cause fatal cardiac complications, as a Covid-19 treatment on an emergency basis — only to later withdraw the approval for the drug and caution against its use.
Bright also explained how members of the Trump administration ignored and mocked his attempts to draw attention to the looming shortage of personal protective equipment, particularly N95 masks, as coronavirus infections began to spread throughout the U.S. When he attempted to raise the issue with his boss, Robert Kadlec, and HHS Secretary Alex Azar at a meeting in January, they assured him that the Trump administration would be able to contain the virus and keep it out of the United States using travel bans — and excluded him from further meetings.
Bright was later reassigned to National Institutes of Health to work on diagnostic testing. Last month, he resigned from that position and explained in an amendment to his original complaint that he had been given “no meaningful work since September 4.”
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
While Trump disavowed face masks — and mocked his opponent for wearing them — Biden has said that while he lacks the legal authority to issue a national mask mandate, he will encourage all governors, mayors, and county executives to use their authority to require masks locally. The Biden team is also calling for “using the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of masks, face shields, and other PPE and aiming to increase production of PPE within the U.S.”
The plan to address the mask shortage — and fix the supply chain problems — reads like a direct response to the urgent pleas Bright was making more than nine months ago. But back then, Bright was warning about the disaster that could result if the government officials didn’t take immediate action. Now, more than 238,000 people have died of Covid-19, and months will pass before Biden’s plan can be enacted.


theintercept--2020-11-09--The Battle to Count Every Vote in Philadelphia

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Philadelphia residents turned out, ensured safety at the polls, fought voter suppression, and demanded that every vote be counted despite an onslaught of misinformation and conspiracy theories directed at the city. The result was a decisive blow to the Trump era.
Read Our Complete Coverage Election 2020


theintercept--2020-11-11--The Election Is Exposing the Cracks Within Georgia’s Republican Party

secretary of state , must have been surprised to hear Donald Trump call him a Democrat a few days ago .
Raffensperger is a former state representative and , by all accounts , a lifelong Republican .
But le Parti Républicain , c ’ est Trump .
You ’ re either with him or against him .
Raffensperger announced Wednesday that the secretary of state ’ s office would conduct a hand recount of ballots in the presidential race .
On the surface , it might appear to be a capitulation to Republican political forces looking for a way to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , to delegitimize them .
But things aren ’ t quite that simple .
Today , the difference between President-elect Joe Biden and Trump in vote totals is under 15,000 ballots on about 5 million votes cast — a difference of about three-tenths of a percent .
The smaller the margin , the larger the number of votes an auditor needs to ensure that the error rate of the audit is below the margin between the candidates .
Auditors had initially intended to check a smaller sample of ballots to check the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million ballots would be needed for a statistically valid audit , Raffensperger ’ s office said .
As a practical matter , it would take just as much effort to hand count the whole election .
So that ’ s what they ’ re doing .
“ We ’ ll be counting every single piece of paper , every single ballot , every single lawfully cast legal ballot , ” Raffensperger said Wednesday at a press conference .
comes a day after Georgia ’ s two U.S. senators — Kelly Loeffler and David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monday calling for Raffensperger ’ s resignation , describing the election as rife with “ mismanagement.
” The release does not specify what constitutes mismanagement on his part ; one can only assume they are referring to a result which doesn ’ t end with a Trump victory , or their own .
Neither campaign responded to a request for comment .
The move blindsided both Raffensperger and the state ’ s Republicans , which now find themselves choosing sides between the administrators of a government that they control and a president that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this as two camps within Georgia ’ s Republican Party : the Isakson wing and the Collins wing .
Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp ’ s office buried an announcement of staff changes by releasing it on Election Day .
The changes signaled a meaningful shift in the governor ’ s public posture toward , well , madness like this .
Kemp replaced many of his inner circle with long-serving hands of former Sen. Johnny Isakson , widely perceived as less ideologically driven than their predecessors on Kemp ’ s team .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of former congressman Doug Collins to run his recount effort in Georgia .
Collins , one of Trump ’ s most vocal supporters in Congress , ran against Loeffler in Georgia ’ s jungle primary after Kemp passed him over for appointment to the Senate seat vacated by Isakson .
Collins ’ s challenge drew sharp criticism for exposing the seat to a Democratic challenger by making it harder for Loeffler to gain a simple majority on the first ballot .
With a challenge from her right , Loeffler found herself running ads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absurd ad , Loeffler was cast as “ more conservative than Attila the Hun , ” complete with an actor in yellowface in a yurt .
Meanwhile , Perdue tried to diminish his support for Trump in his campaign advertising as polling showed Trump ’ s growing disfavor in Georgia .
Loeffler came in second to Rev .
Raphael Warnock , but beat Collins by about 300,000 votes .
Loeffler and Warnock face each other in a runoff January 5 .
But without Trump at the top of the ballot here , one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s base when turnout will determine the victor of the runoffs in January .
Neither can afford to lose voters who view them as part of Washington ’ s systemic failures .
The loyalty test , it seems , requires them to attack fellow Republican Raffensperger for being insufficiently pro-Trump .
might have led to a bonkers end run around the election itself .
Kemp , state House Speaker David Ralston , and Lt. Gov .
Geoff Duncan issued a joint statement Tuesday in response to questions about whether the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invalidate the election results and assign electors to Trump .
“ Any changes to Georgia ’ s election laws made in a special session will not have any impact on an ongoing election and would only result in endless litigation , ” the statement said .
“ We share the same concerns many Georgians have about the integrity of our elections .
Therefore , we will follow the coming audit and recount closely , and will work together to keep Georgia ’ s elections safe , accessible and fair.
” Georgia ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Assembly are controlled by Republicans , as is that of Arizona .
The U.S. Constitution does not require a state to submit its choice for president to an election ; it merely requires that it be done “ in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.
” Appointing new electors would be a straight steal , fomenting chaotic protests and massive litigation .
Everything about this thwarts democracy and the rule of law .
But it was seriously discussed — and conservative talk show hosts Mark Levin and Sean Hannity have both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaker have also ruled out a special session to close an apparently loophole in Georgia ’ s voter registration laws which allow recent transplants to register to vote in January ’ s special election .
The law criminalizes voting in that election by people who do not intend to reside in Georgia after the election , but it doesn ’ t prevent people from registering .

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, must have been surprised to hear Donald Trump call him a Democrat a few days ago. Raffensperger is a former state representative and, by all accounts, a lifelong Republican. But le Parti Républicain, c’est Trump. You’re either with him or against him.
Raffensperger announced Wednesday that the secretary of state’s office would conduct a hand recount of ballots in the presidential race. On the surface, it might appear to be a capitulation to Republican political forces looking for a way to overturn the election results or, barring that, to delegitimize them.
Read Our Complete Coverage Election 2020
But things aren’t quite that simple. Today, the difference between President-elect Joe Biden and Trump in vote totals is under 15,000 ballots on about 5 million votes cast — a difference of about three-tenths of a percent. The smaller the margin, the larger the number of votes an auditor needs to ensure that the error rate of the audit is below the margin between the candidates.
Auditors had initially intended to check a smaller sample of ballots to check the election mechanisms, but more than a million ballots would be needed for a statistically valid audit, Raffensperger’s office said. As a practical matter, it would take just as much effort to hand count the whole election. So that’s what they’re doing.
“We’ll be counting every single piece of paper, every single ballot, every single lawfully cast legal ballot,” Raffensperger said Wednesday at a press conference.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference with Fran Leathers, Director and Chair Oconee County Board of Elections reflected at right, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP
The announcement comes a day after Georgia’s two U.S. senators — Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue — issued a joint press release Monday calling for Raffensperger’s resignation, describing the election as rife with “mismanagement.” The release does not specify what constitutes mismanagement on his part; one can only assume they are referring to a result which doesn’t end with a Trump victory, or their own. Neither campaign responded to a request for comment.
The move blindsided both Raffensperger and the state’s Republicans, which now find themselves choosing sides between the administrators of a government that they control and a president that they do not.
One might think of this as two camps within Georgia’s Republican Party: the Isakson wing and the Collins wing. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office buried an announcement of staff changes by releasing it on Election Day. The changes signaled a meaningful shift in the governor’s public posture toward, well, madness like this. Kemp replaced many of his inner circle with long-serving hands of former Sen. Johnny Isakson, widely perceived as less ideologically driven than their predecessors on Kemp’s team.
Contrast this with Trump’s appointment of former congressman Doug Collins to run his recount effort in Georgia. Collins, one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Congress, ran against Loeffler in Georgia’s jungle primary after Kemp passed him over for appointment to the Senate seat vacated by Isakson. Collins’s challenge drew sharp criticism for exposing the seat to a Democratic challenger by making it harder for Loeffler to gain a simple majority on the first ballot.
With a challenge from her right, Loeffler found herself running ads touting her conservatism. In one particularly absurd ad, Loeffler was cast as “more conservative than Attila the Hun,” complete with an actor in yellowface in a yurt. Meanwhile, Perdue tried to diminish his support for Trump in his campaign advertising as polling showed Trump’s growing disfavor in Georgia. Loeffler came in second to Rev. Raphael Warnock, but beat Collins by about 300,000 votes. Loeffler and Warnock face each other in a runoff January 5.
But without Trump at the top of the ballot here, one wonders if that diminishes their appeal to Trump’s base when turnout will determine the victor of the runoffs in January. Neither can afford to lose voters who view them as part of Washington’s systemic failures. The loyalty test, it seems, requires them to attack fellow Republican Raffensperger for being insufficiently pro-Trump.
That loyalty test might have led to a bonkers end run around the election itself. Kemp, state House Speaker David Ralston, and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan issued a joint statement Tuesday in response to questions about whether the state would hold a special legislative session to invalidate the election results and assign electors to Trump.
“Any changes to Georgia’s election laws made in a special session will not have any impact on an ongoing election and would only result in endless litigation,” the statement said. “We share the same concerns many Georgians have about the integrity of our elections. Therefore, we will follow the coming audit and recount closely, and will work together to keep Georgia’s elections safe, accessible and fair.”
Georgia’s governor and both chambers of the General Assembly are controlled by Republicans, as is that of Arizona. The U.S. Constitution does not require a state to submit its choice for president to an election; it merely requires that it be done “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.”
Appointing new electors would be a straight steal, fomenting chaotic protests and massive litigation. Everything about this thwarts democracy and the rule of law. But it was seriously discussed — and conservative talk show hosts Mark Levin and Sean Hannity have both raised the idea.
Kemp and the speaker have also ruled out a special session to close an apparently loophole in Georgia’s voter registration laws which allow recent transplants to register to vote in January’s special election. The law criminalizes voting in that election by people who do not intend to reside in Georgia after the election, but it doesn’t prevent people from registering.


theintercept--2020-11-11--Democratic Officials Lied About Role in Alex Morse Smear, Internal Report Finds

leadership lied to The Intercept when it denied involvement with a College Democrats of Massachusetts effort that undermined the insurgent congressional campaign of Alex Morse , a new internal report produced by the party has found .
Among other damning revelations , the report paints a portrait of a party that at best mishandled the situation from start to finish , and at worst deliberately stoked a homophobic smear to undermine Morse ’ s challenge .
The report is the latest chapter in a saga that began on August 7 when University of Massachusetts Amherst ’ s college newspaper , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ College Democrats of Massachusetts had accused Morse of unspecified inappropriate behavior .
The bombshell dropped a week before the first debate between incumbent Rep. Richard Neal and Holyoke mayor Morse , whose campaign was gathering steam .
The investigation was conducted by former state Sen. Cheryl Jacques , and was demanded by party regulars after The Intercept uncovered evidence that the attack on Morse was a coordinated and manufactured smear campaign put together jointly by party officials and student activists .
Messages obtained by The Intercept showed that CDMA leaders like Timothy Ennis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allegations against Morse for political ends .
Subsequent reporting from The Intercept detailed how the students received advice and guidance from leaders of the Democratic State Committee , or DSC .
After revelations about the involvement of party chair Gus Bickford , state committee attorney Jim Roosevelt , and executive director Veronica Martinez , the DSC opened an investigation into the party ’ s role in the scandal .
Despite its public assurances , the report concluded , the party remained in close touch with the College Democrats as the attack unfolded .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the report found , spoke to an attorney who said that the allegations , which were not specific nor backed up by evidence , did not rise to the level of something that could be made public without risk of a slander lawsuit .
Party leaders then referred the students to a different attorney , Jim Roosevelt , who advised them to put their concerns in writing and helped edit the letter to Morse .
The students told party investigators that Roosevelt urged them to leak the letter , but Roosevelt denied giving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately leaked .
While the report details the failings of party leadership to properly handle the allegations , and levels criticism for those leaders involving themselves in the primary , some unanswered questions remain .
Morse , however , sees it as vindication of the claim that he was specifically targeted .
“ It stated pretty clearly that the chair of the party violated their bylaws and that the executive director also violated the bylaws , and that the leadership of the Democratic Party essentially tipped the scales to favor an incumbent and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ And it said that pretty unequivocally.
” of 2019 , Gus Bickford , the Massachusetts Democratic Party chair , took Morse to lunch in an attempt to discourage the young mayor from running against Neal , suggesting that Morse could have a chance to run for lieutenant governor in 2022 alongside state Attorney General Maura Healey .
While this meeting may have avoided a violation of the governing rules of the DSC , Jacques did find that it was at least against the spirit of organizational guidelines .
Bickford claimed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Morse ’ s primary challenge did not drain resources from the state party as they prepared to defeat Donald Trump in the general election — but Trump ’ s ability to win Massachusetts was never even a concern , as the state now goes comfortably to Democrats in national elections .
DSC member Nancy Stenberg , whose committee district includes Morse ’ s home , told The Intercept that the excuse was “ bullshit ” and that Bickford was using it to deflect from his real motivations .
“ We spend our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ level races ; that ’ s where we put our money and our time and our effort — state Senate , state representative races , ” said Stenberg .
“ So I find that kind of suspect.
” In August , after the allegations were leaked , Morse noted that Bickford had urged him not to run and suggested the party leaders were working against him .
“ At no point did I tell the Mayor that he should not run for Congress , ” Bickford said in response .
“ The Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race and in all contested Democratic primaries.
” Alex Pratt , another DSC member , said Bickford ’ s previous lie , which has since been exposed , calls his current denials into question .
“ It ’ s so hard to trust someone when they ’ ve been caught lying so many times , ” said Pratt .
spoke to said that their concerns over Morse ’ s behavior had existed for years .
At some point in early 2020 , as The Intercept previously reported and Jacques confirmed , somebody with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Politico reporter Alex Thompson alleging inappropriate behavior by Morse .
Thompson , who declined to comment for this story , asked members of the CDMA if they would comment on the allegations , but nobody was willing to do so on the record .
However , Andrew Abramson , then a leader of the UMass College Dems , told Hayley Fleming , then head of the statewide chapter , that the inquiries at the time made him feel “ proactive ” about “ doing something , ” the report found .
What that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s also unclear that the impulse was acted on .
CDMA member Prerna Jagadeesh dismissed Morse as a candidate on Twitter in July , saying of the mayor ’ s promotion by the Justice Democrats “ big thumbs down , if you know you know.
” When Morse campaign manager Max Clermont reached out to Jagadeesh and Fleming to assess their problems with his boss , he got no response .
The CDMA was already planning on sending an open letter to Morse .
Plans for a public statement had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and on July 24 , Fleming reached out to Young Democrats of Massachusetts President Lezlie Braxton Campbell to see if the group had any attorneys who could help .
Braxton referred Fleming to YDMA member Lisa Stevens-Goodnight , an up and coming Democratic Party operative in the commonwealth and lawyer .
CDMA member Harry Brussel reached out to Stevens-Goodnight , who declined to give the students legal advice and instead , given the nature of the situation , urged the CDMA to reach out to a Title IX attorney and talk to UMass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Bickford , who Fleming said they at the time considered a “ responsible adult.
” During a discussion between CDMA leadership and Bickford and Martinez , the group weighed their options , including talking to Thompson at Politico .
Ultimately , the group decided on a letter , with Fleming and Abramson recalling that Bickford said “ go with that one ” and “ do it before the election.
” Jacques said she asked Bickford why he didn ’ t follow Title IX and refer the students to their school .
Bickford @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he went to school with were harassed and assaulted by staff — “ colored ” his response to the dissimilar and unrelated accusations against Morse .
Bickford also told Jacques that “ he coached lacrosse for eleven years and received a lot of training on sexual abuse and harassment , ” training that apparently did not stick with respect to Title IX procedures — protocols that are federally mandated to provide students with protections that often fail to materialize in the criminal justice system .
In Jacques ’ s findings , she faults @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of involvement in the scandal after and for not referring the students to the appropriate authorities through Title IX recommendations .
“ Such a referral would have been a wise course of action and would have protected DSC staff from allegations of interference in a contested democratic primary , ” Jacques wrote .
“ To me , that ’ s just a big red flag , ” said Stenberg .
“ And , you know , why did they continue down that path ?
” went to DSC volunteer attorneys Andrea Kramer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found the allegations “ yucky ” but that they did not rise to the level of harassment and recommended the CDMA not take the story to the media , warning it could be viewed as slander .
Rather , Kramer said , the students should talk to Morse over the phone so as not to leave a paper trail , and that if an email or letter was necessary , to keep as short and vague as possible , because the allegations were unsubstantiated and “ could cause legal problems.
” DSC leadership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , claimed Bickford , it wasn ’ t so that Roosevelt would be more aggressive in coming after Morse .
Gus told me the reason the students were connected with Jim rather than Andrea was because Jim was a “ volunteer ” who never charged the DSC and Andrea “ sometimes charged ” for her services .
The referral , said state committee member Zelda MacGregor , was an act of “ pure malfeasance.
” “ It shows a direct lack of interest — at the very best — in terms of helping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ It shows an absurd and alarming lack of respect and attention being paid to them by referring them repeatedly to the same kind of non help.
” Roosevelt , as The Intercept previously reported , acted as a guide for Fleming and the CDMA , editing the letter and advising the students .
According to Fleming , she “ spoke to Jim by phone or text ‘ every 2 days for a period of 2 weeks.
’ ” According to Fleming , Roosevelt recommended she tip off Politico ’ s Thompson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which was confirmed by Abramson .
Roosevelt , for his part , denied Fleming ’ s account and his wife Ann backed up that version of events , leaving Jacques unable to come to a clear finding on that matter .
Nonetheless , the letter was leaked to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian , setting the scandal in motion .
Martinez , who told Fleming she “ couldn ’ t help her in her professional role , ” nonetheless advised the younger woman on how to handle reporters .
But the executive director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
By August 12 , interest from The Intercept in the ongoing scandal was creating a headache for party leaders .
Emailed questions from The Intercept prompted a conversation between Martinez , Bickford , and DSC communications consultant Kevin Ready in which the trio decided to use neutral language to avoid admitting to any involvement in the allegations , letter , or scheme .
As Jacques makes clear , the statement Martinez provided to The Intercept was not based in reality .
Claims of “ no further involvement ” were repeated on many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case .
In fact , as I previously found , there was significant communication between Veronica [ Martinez ] and Hayley [ Fleming ] after Hayley had been referred to Jim [ Roosevelt ] .
I conclude that DSC staff were not honest in their public communications denying that they had further involvement in this matter once CDMA was referred to legal counsel .
“ They clearly lied , ” said Stenberg .
“ They were lying to us at that point and lying to the press.
” The report recommends that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions for the behavior of its leadership and recommends that the DSC establish a Judicial Council — which is allowed for in the organization ’ s rules — to avoid a situation like the one in which Roosevelt was involved .
The absence of such a committee despite charter mandate , Pratt told The Intercept , is another example of the real problem : Party leadership wanted complete control over the scandal .
“ The real failure when it comes to Jim Roosevelt is that we could have had a judicial council , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before but is in the party charter , ” said Pratt .
“ That ’ s who this matter should have been referred to , but it wasn ’ t and the reason it wasn ’ t is because they want to be in control.
” a political liability for Bickford as he faces reelection on Thursday against Bob Massie and Mike Lake .
DSC member Pratt was hesitant to say that Massie or Lake could defeat Bickford , noting the incumbent ’ s long-standing ties to committee members .
“ He ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s still going to be very uncomfortable for people to vote him out , ” said Pratt .
Morse was also unimpressed with Bickford ’ s term , calling the chair ’ s antipathy to progressive policies part of a problem that will continue to harm the party going forward with key constituencies like young people and the gay community .
“ Even when you look at Gus ’ s record in terms of fundraising , I mean , it ’ s been abysmal , ” said Morse .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of his term .
The Democratic Party lost the governor ’ s race in 2018 .
And so I just think it ’ s important for the party to do some soul-searching as to what we want to stand for here.
” Jonathan Cohn , a DSC member , told The Intercept that the report ’ s findings were clear and that Bickford has a lot to answer for .
“ The fact that Gus Bickford was actively discouraging candidates from running for office seriously calls into question his ability to effectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Bickford replied to the report ’ s findings early Friday morning by protesting his innocence in an emailed statement to the committee .
“ At all times I was determined to stay out of this race , and I know I did that , ” Bickford wrote .
“ Consequently I am certain that I never suggested any action be taken before the election.
” Stenberg fired back in an email to party members less than two hours later .
“ Fellow members , the Recommendations portion of the report show that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic State Committee , have a lot of work to do to ensure that something like this does not happen again , ” wrote Stenberg .
“ The first task at hand is to elect a new chair , to lead us in a new direction , on November 12th.
” Reached by The Intercept by phone Sunday , Bickford said of his email , “ I think that that covers it and I appreciate your call , ” before hanging up .
Calls for Bickford ’ s resignation , which began after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scheme to smear Morse , have increased since the report was released .
It ’ s impossible for those in DSC leadership involved in the scandal to remain in their positions , the Massachusetts CD-1 Progressive Coalition said in a statement Sunday night .
“ These conclusions lead us to demand that Gus Bickford remove himself from the race for Party Chair because of his serious violations of the Party ’ s bylaws , ” the group said .
“ Furthermore , we demand that both Veronica Martinez and Jim Roosevelt , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Alex , be removed from their roles in the Party.
” The Bay State Stonewall Democrats , a group that has been consistently critical of the party ’ s handling of the Morse case , released a scathing statement Friday faulting Bickford and Martinez for their “ unethical actions ” in handling the situation .
“ The report is extensive and conclusive , ” the group declared .
“ Gus Bickford and Veronica Martinez violated the policies of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee prohibiting staff from participating in contested primaries , lied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and attempted to cover up their actions , all to spread homophobic rumors and tropes about a gay elected official and rising star in our Party.
” Jim Roosevelt , the grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt , a longtime health care executive , is known for his hostility to the left .
As the co-chair of both the Democratic National Committee rules and credentialing committees in 2016 , Roosevelt played a high-profile role in the testy battle between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders , steadfastly siding with Clinton .
Since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chair , Bickford too has drawn the ire of Massachusetts progressives for his stances on issues ranging from climate change to opposing the state ’ s powerful Republican Gov .
Charlie Baker .
In August 2019 , Sunrise activists agitated for Massachusetts DNC delegates to push for a climate change debate at a DNC planning meeting in San Francisco that same year .
Despite the state committee unanimously passing a resolution to support the debate , Bickford and Roosevelt voted against the idea just weeks later at the DNC meeting , in direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resolution .
To Pratt , the report confirms that if the party wants to rebuild trust with its progressive wing , the queer community , youth community , and grassroots donors , it will have to shake up leadership .
That ’ s part of an ongoing problem , he continued , referring to data showing a plummet in donations since Bickford took office .
“ Why would you as a donor give to the state party now especially ?
” said Pratt .
“ Our small-dollar donations have dropped 50 percent since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bickford should step down , saying that “ without question ” the chair needs to resign in order to rebuild trust and confidence in the party among the state committee and regular people .
The actions of the chair , Morse said , have severely damaged the credibility of the DSC .
“ People are angry , ” Morse said .
“ Not just people here in the district , but across the state .
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Massachusetts Democratic Party leadership lied to The Intercept when it denied involvement with a College Democrats of Massachusetts effort that undermined the insurgent congressional campaign of Alex Morse, a new internal report produced by the party has found. Among other damning revelations, the report paints a portrait of a party that at best mishandled the situation from start to finish, and at worst deliberately stoked a homophobic smear to undermine Morse’s challenge.
The report is the latest chapter in a saga that began on August 7 when University of Massachusetts Amherst’s college newspaper, the Daily Collegian, reported that the College Democrats of Massachusetts had accused Morse of unspecified inappropriate behavior. The bombshell dropped a week before the first debate between incumbent Rep. Richard Neal and Holyoke mayor Morse, whose campaign was gathering steam.
The investigation was conducted by former state Sen. Cheryl Jacques, and was demanded by party regulars after The Intercept uncovered evidence that the attack on Morse was a coordinated and manufactured smear campaign put together jointly by party officials and student activists. Messages obtained by The Intercept showed that CDMA leaders like Timothy Ennis had planned for a year to weaponize allegations against Morse for political ends. Subsequent reporting from The Intercept detailed how the students received advice and guidance from leaders of the Democratic State Committee, or DSC. After revelations about the involvement of party chair Gus Bickford, state committee attorney Jim Roosevelt, and executive director Veronica Martinez, the DSC opened an investigation into the party’s role in the scandal.
Despite its public assurances, the report concluded, the party remained in close touch with the College Democrats as the attack unfolded. Even more damningly, party officials, the report found, spoke to an attorney who said that the allegations, which were not specific nor backed up by evidence, did not rise to the level of something that could be made public without risk of a slander lawsuit. Party leaders then referred the students to a different attorney, Jim Roosevelt, who advised them to put their concerns in writing and helped edit the letter to Morse. The students told party investigators that Roosevelt urged them to leak the letter, but Roosevelt denied giving such advice. Regardless, it was immediately leaked.
While the report details the failings of party leadership to properly handle the allegations, and levels criticism for those leaders involving themselves in the primary, some unanswered questions remain. Morse, however, sees it as vindication of the claim that he was specifically targeted. “It stated pretty clearly that the chair of the party violated their bylaws and that the executive director also violated the bylaws, and that the leadership of the Democratic Party essentially tipped the scales to favor an incumbent and against the challenger,” said Morse. “And it said that pretty unequivocally.”
In the spring of 2019, Gus Bickford, the Massachusetts Democratic Party chair, took Morse to lunch in an attempt to discourage the young mayor from running against Neal, suggesting that Morse could have a chance to run for lieutenant governor in 2022 alongside state Attorney General Maura Healey. While this meeting may have avoided a violation of the governing rules of the DSC, Jacques did find that it was at least against the spirit of organizational guidelines.
Bickford claimed to Jacques that he was trying to ensure that Morse’s primary challenge did not drain resources from the state party as they prepared to defeat Donald Trump in the general election — but Trump’s ability to win Massachusetts was never even a concern, as the state now goes comfortably to Democrats in national elections.
DSC member Nancy Stenberg, whose committee district includes Morse’s home, told The Intercept that the excuse was “bullshit” and that Bickford was using it to deflect from his real motivations.
“We spend our resources as a state committee on state level races; that’s where we put our money and our time and our effort — state Senate, state representative races,” said Stenberg. “So I find that kind of suspect.”
In August, after the allegations were leaked, Morse noted that Bickford had urged him not to run and suggested the party leaders were working against him. “At no point did I tell the Mayor that he should not run for Congress,” Bickford said in response. “The Party has been and remains neutral on this race and in all contested Democratic primaries.”
Alex Pratt, another DSC member, said Bickford’s previous lie, which has since been exposed, calls his current denials into question. “It’s so hard to trust someone when they’ve been caught lying so many times,” said Pratt.
Attorney Jim Roosevelt attends a meeting at the Massachusetts Medical Society in Waltham, Mass., on May 1, 2018. Photo: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Students that Jacques spoke to said that their concerns over Morse’s behavior had existed for years. At some point in early 2020, as The Intercept previously reported and Jacques confirmed, somebody with knowledge of those concerns reached out to Politico reporter Alex Thompson alleging inappropriate behavior by Morse. Thompson, who declined to comment for this story, asked members of the CDMA if they would comment on the allegations, but nobody was willing to do so on the record.
However, Andrew Abramson, then a leader of the UMass College Dems, told Hayley Fleming, then head of the statewide chapter, that the inquiries at the time made him feel “proactive” about “doing something,” the report found. What that “something” was is unclear; it’s also unclear that the impulse was acted on. CDMA member Prerna Jagadeesh dismissed Morse as a candidate on Twitter in July, saying of the mayor’s promotion by the Justice Democrats “big thumbs down, if you know you know.” When Morse campaign manager Max Clermont reached out to Jagadeesh and Fleming to assess their problems with his boss, he got no response.
The CDMA was already planning on sending an open letter to Morse. Plans for a public statement had been in the works since late June, and on July 24, Fleming reached out to Young Democrats of Massachusetts President Lezlie Braxton Campbell to see if the group had any attorneys who could help.
Braxton referred Fleming to YDMA member Lisa Stevens-Goodnight, an up and coming Democratic Party operative in the commonwealth and lawyer. CDMA member Harry Brussel reached out to Stevens-Goodnight, who declined to give the students legal advice and instead, given the nature of the situation, urged the CDMA to reach out to a Title IX attorney and talk to UMass.
CDMA did neither, instead turning to Bickford, who Fleming said they at the time considered a “responsible adult.”
During a discussion between CDMA leadership and Bickford and Martinez, the group weighed their options, including talking to Thompson at Politico. Ultimately, the group decided on a letter, with Fleming and Abramson recalling that Bickford said “go with that one” and “do it before the election.”
Jacques said she asked Bickford why he didn’t follow Title IX and refer the students to their school. Bickford replied that his personal experiences — students he went to school with were harassed and assaulted by staff — “colored” his response to the dissimilar and unrelated accusations against Morse. Bickford also told Jacques that “he coached lacrosse for eleven years and received a lot of training on sexual abuse and harassment,” training that apparently did not stick with respect to Title IX procedures — protocols that are federally mandated to provide students with protections that often fail to materialize in the criminal justice system.
In Jacques’s findings, she faults the DSC leadership for lying about their lack of involvement in the scandal after and for not referring the students to the appropriate authorities through Title IX recommendations. “Such a referral would have been a wise course of action and would have protected DSC staff from allegations of interference in a contested democratic primary,” Jacques wrote.
“To me, that’s just a big red flag,” said Stenberg. “And, you know, why did they continue down that path?”
Bickford and Martinez went to DSC volunteer attorneys Andrea Kramer and Jim Roosevelt. Kramer said she found the allegations “yucky” but that they did not rise to the level of harassment and recommended the CDMA not take the story to the media, warning it could be viewed as slander. Rather, Kramer said, the students should talk to Morse over the phone so as not to leave a paper trail, and that if an email or letter was necessary, to keep as short and vague as possible, because the allegations were unsubstantiated and “could cause legal problems.”
DSC leadership then referred CDMA to Roosevelt. But, claimed Bickford, it wasn’t so that Roosevelt would be more aggressive in coming after Morse.
According to the report:
Gus told me the reason the students were connected with Jim rather than Andrea was because Jim was a “volunteer” who never charged the DSC and Andrea “sometimes charged” for her services.
The referral, said state committee member Zelda MacGregor, was an act of “pure malfeasance.”
“It shows a direct lack of interest — at the very best — in terms of helping these young Democrats,” said MacGregor. “It shows an absurd and alarming lack of respect and attention being paid to them by referring them repeatedly to the same kind of non help.”
Roosevelt, as The Intercept previously reported, acted as a guide for Fleming and the CDMA, editing the letter and advising the students. According to Fleming, she “spoke to Jim by phone or text ‘every 2 days for a period of 2 weeks.’”
According to Fleming, Roosevelt recommended she tip off Politico’s Thompson on the letter and then leak it, which was confirmed by Abramson. Roosevelt, for his part, denied Fleming’s account and his wife Ann backed up that version of events, leaving Jacques unable to come to a clear finding on that matter.
Nonetheless, the letter was leaked to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, setting the scandal in motion. Martinez, who told Fleming she “couldn’t help her in her professional role,” nonetheless advised the younger woman on how to handle reporters. But the executive director had her own problems with the media.
By August 12, interest from The Intercept in the ongoing scandal was creating a headache for party leaders. Emailed questions from The Intercept prompted a conversation between Martinez, Bickford, and DSC communications consultant Kevin Ready in which the trio decided to use neutral language to avoid admitting to any involvement in the allegations, letter, or scheme.
HRC Executive Directive Cheryl Jacques attends the Human Rights Campaign Greater New York Gala Dinner on Feb. 7, 2004, in New York City. Photo: Peter Kramer/Getty Images
As Jacques makes clear, the statement Martinez provided to The Intercept was not based in reality.
Claims of “no further involvement” were repeated on many occasions, however, this was not the case. In fact, as I previously found, there was significant communication between Veronica [Martinez] and Hayley [Fleming] after Hayley had been referred to Jim [Roosevelt]. I conclude that DSC staff were not honest in their public communications denying that they had further involvement in this matter once CDMA was referred to legal counsel.
“They clearly lied,” said Stenberg. “They were lying to us at that point and lying to the press.”
The report recommends that the DSC take any and all necessary actions for the behavior of its leadership and recommends that the DSC establish a Judicial Council — which is allowed for in the organization’s rules — to avoid a situation like the one in which Roosevelt was involved. The absence of such a committee despite charter mandate, Pratt told The Intercept, is another example of the real problem: Party leadership wanted complete control over the scandal.
“The real failure when it comes to Jim Roosevelt is that we could have had a judicial council, this ethics body that has never existed before but is in the party charter,” said Pratt. “That’s who this matter should have been referred to, but it wasn’t and the reason it wasn’t is because they want to be in control.”
The report raises a political liability for Bickford as he faces reelection on Thursday against Bob Massie and Mike Lake. DSC member Pratt was hesitant to say that Massie or Lake could defeat Bickford, noting the incumbent’s long-standing ties to committee members.
“He’s obviously doing a terrible job and it’s still going to be very uncomfortable for people to vote him out,” said Pratt.
Morse was also unimpressed with Bickford’s term, calling the chair’s antipathy to progressive policies part of a problem that will continue to harm the party going forward with key constituencies like young people and the gay community.
“Even when you look at Gus’s record in terms of fundraising, I mean, it’s been abysmal,” said Morse. “It’s gone down the last four years of his term. The Democratic Party lost the governor’s race in 2018. And so I just think it’s important for the party to do some soul-searching as to what we want to stand for here.”
Jonathan Cohn, a DSC member, told The Intercept that the report’s findings were clear and that Bickford has a lot to answer for.
“The fact that Gus Bickford was actively discouraging candidates from running for office seriously calls into question his ability to effectively lead the party,” said Cohn.
Bickford replied to the report’s findings early Friday morning by protesting his innocence in an emailed statement to the committee.
“At all times I was determined to stay out of this race, and I know I did that,” Bickford wrote. “Consequently I am certain that I never suggested any action be taken before the election.”
Stenberg fired back in an email to party members less than two hours later.
“Fellow members, the Recommendations portion of the report show that we, the members of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, have a lot of work to do to ensure that something like this does not happen again,” wrote Stenberg. “The first task at hand is to elect a new chair, to lead us in a new direction, on November 12th.”
Reached by The Intercept by phone Sunday, Bickford said of his email, “I think that that covers it and I appreciate your call,” before hanging up.
Calls for Bickford’s resignation, which began after The Intercept publicized his role in the scheme to smear Morse, have increased since the report was released. It’s impossible for those in DSC leadership involved in the scandal to remain in their positions, the Massachusetts CD-1 Progressive Coalition said in a statement Sunday night.
“These conclusions lead us to demand that Gus Bickford remove himself from the race for Party Chair because of his serious violations of the Party’s bylaws,” the group said. “Furthermore, we demand that both Veronica Martinez and Jim Roosevelt, who were complicit in this premeditated smear campaign against Alex, be removed from their roles in the Party.”
The Bay State Stonewall Democrats, a group that has been consistently critical of the party’s handling of the Morse case, released a scathing statement Friday faulting Bickford and Martinez for their “unethical actions” in handling the situation.
“The report is extensive and conclusive,” the group declared. “Gus Bickford and Veronica Martinez violated the policies of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee prohibiting staff from participating in contested primaries, lied to members of the Democratic State Committee, and attempted to cover up their actions, all to spread homophobic rumors and tropes about a gay elected official and rising star in our Party.”
Jim Roosevelt, the grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a longtime health care executive, is known for his hostility to the left. As the co-chair of both the Democratic National Committee rules and credentialing committees in 2016, Roosevelt played a high-profile role in the testy battle between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, steadfastly siding with Clinton.
Since his 2016 run off victory for party chair, Bickford too has drawn the ire of Massachusetts progressives for his stances on issues ranging from climate change to opposing the state’s powerful Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. In August 2019, Sunrise activists agitated for Massachusetts DNC delegates to push for a climate change debate at a DNC planning meeting in San Francisco that same year. Despite the state committee unanimously passing a resolution to support the debate, Bickford and Roosevelt voted against the idea just weeks later at the DNC meeting, in direct opposition to the state committee’s resolution.
To Pratt, the report confirms that if the party wants to rebuild trust with its progressive wing, the queer community, youth community, and grassroots donors, it will have to shake up leadership. That’s part of an ongoing problem, he continued, referring to data showing a plummet in donations since Bickford took office.
“Why would you as a donor give to the state party now especially?” said Pratt. “Our small-dollar donations have dropped 50 percent since Gus took office.”
Morse agreed that Bickford should step down, saying that “without question” the chair needs to resign in order to rebuild trust and confidence in the party among the state committee and regular people. The actions of the chair, Morse said, have severely damaged the credibility of the DSC.
“People are angry,” Morse said. “Not just people here in the district, but across the state.”
Update: November 13, 2020
Members of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee on Thursday night reelected Gus Bickford. The vote was not close, with Bickford taking 229 votes to Mike Lake’s 87 and Bob Massie’s 49.