Colorado Democrat Joe Neguse
Nothing is more important than protecting the right to vote, which is why Daily Kos endorsed Nina Turner for Ohio secretary of state—our first-ever endorsement in a secretary of state's race. Today, we're announcing three more secretary of state endorsements in crucial purple states.
Joe Neguse (Colorado)
Colorado's next secretary of state has his work cut out for him. As chief elections official of a big purple state, outgoing Republican SOS Scott Gessler has a long record of using his office for partisan gain. Fortunately, Democratic rising star Joe Neguse knows that having an elections officer who's transparent and accountable to the public is the cornerstone of our democracy.
Colorado has hotly contested raced for governor and senator, so down-ballot races like this one aren't getting the attention they deserve, but will be just as hard-fought and just as important to win.
Kate Marshall (Nevada)
In Nevada, Democrat Kate Marshall and Republican Barbara Cegavske couldn't be more different: Marshall opposes voter ID, Cegavske does not; Marshall supports same-day voter registration, Cegavske does not; Marshall supports early voting, Cegavske sponsored a bill to eliminate early voting entirely.
This is a race where the differences between the two parties couldn't be clearer: Democrats want to make it easier for you to vote and Republicans want to make it harder.
Brad Anderson (Iowa)
Iowa has another open seat race. Outgoing Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz is famous for trying to scare immigrants into not voting, though GOP candidate Paul Pate likes to praise Schultz's "good stewardship." So, of course, Pate's been endorsed by GOP neanderthal Rep. Steve King, who thinks Democrats are just going to start stealing elections if they win the SOS race this fall.
Iowa is one of the few competitive SOS races where we have good recent polling. Suffolk has the race tied at 31-31. Pate has served as secretary of state before, so the fact that the race is wide open is great news for Anderson.
We know Republicans are fighting a losing battle to demographics in the long run—young people and people of color are the future of America, and they're hugely Democratic. We also know that Republicans have responded to this reality by doing everything in their power to keep people who might vote for Democrats from voting at all. That's why we need to win these races.
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