Politics
Abrams endorses Wikler in DNC race
Wisconsin state party chair Ben Wikler scooped up a key endorsement as he seeks to head the Democratic National Committee.
Stacey Abrams, the two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Georgia and a leading voice in the party’s push to combat what it sees as growing voting suppression efforts, announced Monday that she is backing Wikler for DNC chair.
In a statement to Blue Light News, Abrams praised Wikler as “the battle-tested chair the DNC needs right now,” citing his success fighting against “destructive GOP control” in his home state and his ability to build coalitions.
“I have the deepest respect for the other candidates and their commitment to our party and our nation,” Abrams said. “Ben has proven that with year-round voter protection, smart organizing and clear messaging, we can win — especially in states where our rights are being eroded.”
The Abrams endorsement comes days after the party held its first official candidate gathering on Saturday, the first of four ahead of the Feb. 1 DNC elections.
“I am honored to have the endorsement of Stacey Abrams,” Wikler said in a statement to Blue Light News, adding that her work in Georgia “has been an inspiration for the year-round organizing, permanent campaign, and voter protection infrastructure that we supercharged to historic wins in Wisconsin. Moreover, I’ve been lucky to have her as a friend, mentor, and advisor.”
Abrams also threw her support behind Georgia Democrat Rep. Nikema Williams, who is seeking to be Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation. Unlike the race for the chair, that contest features all candidates of color, including Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Reyna Walters-Morgan, the former Director of Civic Engagement and Voter Protection at the DNC and former DNC vice Chair Michael Blake.
“Nikema has steadfastly served the Democratic Party of Georgia,” Abrams said. “She’s a fierce advocate for inclusion and equity, and her deep connection to the grassroots makes her the ideal choice to help steer the DNC forward.”
She declined to endorse in other DNC leadership contests, including vice chair, secretary and treasurer.
The race for the DNC’s top job is considered by many party insiders to be a two-person race between Wikler and Ken Martin, who heads the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor.
Both are from upper midwestern states with very little difference between them on how they would reshape the party.
Both men vowed, if elected chair, to implement a year-round organizing strategy for all 50 states and seven U.S. territories and do away with the party’s reliance on the political consultant class, which they argue helped feed the perception that Democrats are largely out of touch with everyday Americans.
“The reality is, our party’s got to stand up and fight for working families again and give them a sense that we give a damn about their lives,” Martin said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
For now, the biggest difference among the two front-runners — and the dark horse candidacy of Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor who is seen as surging as of late — is in endorsements.
Martin has the backing of nearly two dozen Democratic leaders across nine southern states, including the party chairs of Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia, as well as the support from the entire Democratic party delegations in eight states like Oregon and Arkansas.
Wikler in recent days won the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and state Democratic Party chairs Anderson Clayton of North Carolina and Lavora Barnes of Michigan.
The next officially sanctioned DNC candidate forum takes place on Thursday in Detroit, which will be hosted by Blue Light News.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore the government-run Voice of America’s operations after it had effectively been shut down a year ago, putting hundreds of employees who have been on administrative leave back to work.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth gave the U.S. Agency for Global Media a week to put together a plan for putting Voice of America on the air. It has been operating with a skeleton staff since President Donald Trump issued an executive order to shut it down.
A week ago, Lamberth said Kari Lake, who had been Trump’s choice to lead the agency, did not have the legal authority to do what she had done at Voice of America. In Tuesday’s decision, Lamberth ruled on the actions she had taken to respond to Trump’s order, essentially shelving 1,042 of VOA’s 1,147 employees.
“Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote.
There was no immediate comment on the decision by the agency overseeing Voice of America. Lake had denounced Lamberth’s March 7 ruling, saying it would be appealed. Since then, Trump nominated Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, to run USAGM. That requires Senate approval, a step that was not taken with Lake.
Patsy Widakuswara, Voice of America’s White House bureau chief and a plaintiff in the lawsuit to restore it, said she is deeply grateful for the decision.
“We are eager to begin repairing the damage Kari Lake has inflicted on our agency and our colleagues, to return to our congressional mandate, and to rebuild the trust of the global audience we have been unable to serve for the past year,” she said.
“We know the road to restoring VOA’s operations and reputation will be long and difficult,” she said. “We hope the American people will continue to support our mission to produce journalism, not propaganda.”
Voice of America has transmitted news coverage to countries around the world since its formation in World War II, often in countries with no tradition of a free press. Before Trump’s executive order, VOA had operated in 49 different languages, broadcasting to 362 million people.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore the government-run Voice of America’s operations after it had effectively been shut down a year ago, putting hundreds of employees who have been on administrative leave back to work.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth gave the U.S. Agency for Global Media a week to put together a plan for putting Voice of America on the air. It has been operating with a skeleton staff since President Donald Trump issued an executive order to shut it down.
A week ago, Lamberth said Kari Lake, who had been Trump’s choice to lead the agency, did not have the legal authority to do what she had done at Voice of America. In Tuesday’s decision, Lamberth ruled on the actions she had taken to respond to Trump’s order, essentially shelving 1,042 of VOA’s 1,147 employees.
“Defendants have provided nothing approaching a principled basis for their decision,” Lamberth wrote.
There was no immediate comment on the decision by the agency overseeing Voice of America. Lake had denounced Lamberth’s March 7 ruling, saying it would be appealed. Since then, Trump nominated Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, to run USAGM. That requires Senate approval, a step that was not taken with Lake.
Patsy Widakuswara, Voice of America’s White House bureau chief and a plaintiff in the lawsuit to restore it, said she is deeply grateful for the decision.
“We are eager to begin repairing the damage Kari Lake has inflicted on our agency and our colleagues, to return to our congressional mandate, and to rebuild the trust of the global audience we have been unable to serve for the past year,” she said.
“We know the road to restoring VOA’s operations and reputation will be long and difficult,” she said. “We hope the American people will continue to support our mission to produce journalism, not propaganda.”
Voice of America has transmitted news coverage to countries around the world since its formation in World War II, often in countries with no tradition of a free press. Before Trump’s executive order, VOA had operated in 49 different languages, broadcasting to 362 million people.
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