Shiftless2
Well-known member
BREAKING
36 states are electing governors this November. Half the races are open seats. If you think the president determines trans rights, you have not been paying attention to what governors have been doing for two years.
The federal government sets the tone. But governors sign the bills. Governors control the state police. Governors decide whether to cooperate with federal data requests for trans kids' medical records. Governors appoint the judges who hear the appeals. Governors can veto anti-trans bills that make it through a legislature, and the most consequential veto in American politics right now is not in Washington. It is in a statehouse in Georgia, or Texas, or Pennsylvania, or Michigan.
This November, 36 states will elect a governor. That is the largest gubernatorial election cycle in recent history, driven by term limits and retirements. Republicans and Democrats each currently hold 18 of those 36 offices up for grabs. Nationally, Republicans hold 26 governorships. Democrats hold 24.
The stakes for trans people could not be higher. The ACLU is currently tracking hundreds of anti-trans bills in state legislatures across 49 states. Every single one of those bills requires a governor's signature to become law. In states with Democratic governors, legislatures have passed anti-trans bills and watched them die on the desk. In states with Republican governors, they have become law within days.
Key battlegrounds include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire and Minnesota, where the outcome of November's governor race will directly determine whether trans kids can access healthcare, whether trans students have legal protections in schools, and whether a trans woman can renew her driver's license without being forced to misgender herself on a government document.
The Human Rights Campaign has committed $15 million to 2026 races. The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has already endorsed more than 83 candidates up and down the ballot. The math is simple: if trans people and their allies vote in governor's races at the same rate they vote in presidential years, the map changes.
Federal courts have been blocking Trump. But courts do not sign bills into law. Governors do.
This is the election. Right now.
The federal government sets the tone. But governors sign the bills. Governors control the state police. Governors decide whether to cooperate with federal data requests for trans kids' medical records. Governors appoint the judges who hear the appeals. Governors can veto anti-trans bills that make it through a legislature, and the most consequential veto in American politics right now is not in Washington. It is in a statehouse in Georgia, or Texas, or Pennsylvania, or Michigan.
This November, 36 states will elect a governor. That is the largest gubernatorial election cycle in recent history, driven by term limits and retirements. Republicans and Democrats each currently hold 18 of those 36 offices up for grabs. Nationally, Republicans hold 26 governorships. Democrats hold 24.
The stakes for trans people could not be higher. The ACLU is currently tracking hundreds of anti-trans bills in state legislatures across 49 states. Every single one of those bills requires a governor's signature to become law. In states with Democratic governors, legislatures have passed anti-trans bills and watched them die on the desk. In states with Republican governors, they have become law within days.
Key battlegrounds include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire and Minnesota, where the outcome of November's governor race will directly determine whether trans kids can access healthcare, whether trans students have legal protections in schools, and whether a trans woman can renew her driver's license without being forced to misgender herself on a government document.
The Human Rights Campaign has committed $15 million to 2026 races. The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has already endorsed more than 83 candidates up and down the ballot. The math is simple: if trans people and their allies vote in governor's races at the same rate they vote in presidential years, the map changes.
Federal courts have been blocking Trump. But courts do not sign bills into law. Governors do.
This is the election. Right now.
