Hooray for Hollywood! Ben Sheehan, a Hollywood producer and writer who’s been an executive at Funny or Die and Save the Day, has launched a PAC supporting Democratic candidates for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general in the following swing states:
Ohio
Michigan
Georgia
Wisconsin
Texas
Florida
Clearly, a Hollywood “insider” wouldn’t shy away from the name OMG WTF.
But the goal of the PAC is both serious and important:
… Its goal is to raise awareness about these races through digital content and events aimed at the 18 to 35 demographic, and it has already hosted several gatherings in Los Angeles featuring live comedy and music performances.
[…] "A lot of groups are supporting House, Senate, or state legislative races, but we noticed that top state executives weren't getting as much attention," said Sheehan. "OMG WTF spotlights the political power held by these executives in terms of checking the Trump administration and impacting the issues we care about. Over 70 percent of governors, secretaries of state, and attorneys general are up this year, so it’s a chance to help a group of races too often overlooked by Democrats."
[…] The group's message is focused on helping explain to voters the importance of these state elections. For Sheehan, an especially important issue is that of gerrymandering, or the process of manipulating voting districts to favor a particular party. Governors have the power to block gerrymandering in many states. This year, 36 governors will be elected and, per Sheehan, 26 of them have the power to veto Congressional district lines. "So if we don’t want another decade of badly gerrymandered districts, we need to elect Democrats to those 26 governorships," he said, adding that "39 secretaries of state — including two lieutenant governors who act as secretary of state — oversee the elections in their state. Twenty-eight of those will be elected or appointed this year. So if we want most states of have fair elections in 2020, we need to get Democrats elected or appointed to secretary of state positions this year."
This work is so crucial in the fight against GOP voter suppression tactics and gerrymandering. So it’s good to see more national effort and focus on these races. I suspect fundraising won’t be a problem, and a name like OMG WTF is its own advertising.