FEATURING JAKE ASSAEL – While the critical issues of immigration, income inequality, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights loom large during the midterm races, one issue on which our very existence depends has not gotten nearly enough attention. And that is of course climate change. Candidates for federal and state-level office are rarely tracked on their positions supporting the end of fossil fuel use and a transition to clean energy. Now, a climate-related voter guide for the 2018 midterms is offering Americans for whom climate change is an important issue, some direction as they cast their ballots.

Jake Assael, lead researcher for the 2018 national climate change voters guide at the Vote Climate U.S. PAC.

FEATURING ALEJANDRA GOMEZ – A new report by the Pew Research Center has concluded that Latino voters are more engaged this midterm election than they were four years ago but challenges remain in voter engagement within the community. More than 29 million people of Hispanic origin are eligible to vote during this election – an unprecedented number that is 4 million more than the 2014 midterms.

Over the weekend, a number of well-known Latina actresses including America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson, and Gina Rodriguez held a major “Get Out The Vote” rally in Miami, Florida aimed at Latino voters. PLAY VIDEO. That’s a clip from the weekend Get-Out-The-Vote rally in Miami, Florida featuring a number of well-known Latina actresses.

How will Latino voters and candidates change the face of US politics during these midterm elections?

Alejandra Gomez, co-executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA).

The Florida gunman who shot and killed two women at a yoga studio on Friday has a history of misogyny and sexual assault of women. Forty-year old Scott Paul Beierle fatally shot 61-year old Dr. Nancy Van Vessem and 21-year old Maura Binkley at a yoga studio in Tallahassee before killing himself. Five others were injured. According to the BBC, “Beierle, who lived in Deltona, Florida, was known to authorities as he had ‘been the subject of prior calls for service in the Tallahassee area related to harassment of young women,’ local police said in a statement. In 2012 and 2016 he was arrested for grabbing women’s bottoms, although prosecutors later dropped the charges.” Additionally Buzzfeed found that Beierle was a, “far-right extremist and self-proclaimed misogynist who railed against women, black people, and immigrants in a series of online videos and songs.” He referred to himself as, “an involuntary celibate,” or “incel.” In other words, he blamed women for rejecting his advances. In one of his videos, he made a reference to Elliot Rodger, the man who targeted women in 2014 and killed 6 people in Isla Vista, California.

In election news, Georgia Secretary of State and Republican Gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp announced over the weekend that he would be investigating the state Democratic Party over an unsuccessful hacking attempt of the voter registration system. Kemp made the claim with no evidence and has been slammed for making what appears to be a last-minute ploy to win over voters. A representative for Georgia’s Democratic Party said, “This political stunt from Kemp just days before the election is yet another example of why he cannot be trusted and should not be overseeing an election in which he is also a candidate for governor.” On Sunday, Kemp’s rival Stacey Abrams said, “this is a desperate attempt on the part of my opponent to distract people from the fact that two different federal judges found him derelict in his duties and have forced him to accept absentee ballots to be counted and those who are being held captive by the exact match system to be allowed to vote.” If elected Abrams would become the nation’s first black female governor.

Meanwhile, a white supremacist group that had targeted Florida’s African American gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum with racist robocalls, turned to Georgia over the weekend to give Abrams the same treatment. The neo-Nazi group, Road to Power, sent out an unknown number of calls to Georgia voters, and according to CNN, “The pre-recorded phone message features a voice impersonating Oprah Winfrey, who was in Georgia on Thursday stumping for Abrams, and contains racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.” Kemp denounced the calls saying, “I stand against any person or organization that peddles this type of unbridled hate and unapologetic bigotry.” But Abrams’ campaign shot back with spokesperson Abigail Collazo saying that it was, “pathetic” that Kemp “has only now suddenly decided to find a conscience as polls are tightening and Georgia voters are making it clear that they reject the kind of hate he and his allies have been spewing around the state.” She added, “These automated calls are being sent into homes just days before President Trump arrives, reminding voters exactly who is promoting a political climate that celebrates this kind of vile, poisonous thinking.”

In Florida, Trump’s Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue speaking at a rally in support of gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, said, “Public policy matters; leadership matters. And that is why this election is so cotton-pickin’ important to the state of Florida. I hope you all don’t mess it up.” According to Vox,

FEATURING NEGIN OLWIAEI – The November 6th midterm elections are shaping up to be among the most critical elections of the decade. Much is at stake, especially the makeup of Congress. But also important are some of the measures being tackled at the state and city level by voters, especially on the critical issue of income inequality.

The US is fast becoming a strictly stratified nation with the billionaire class awash in ever-greater riches while the majority of people struggle to make ends meet. Today we’ll explore some of the ways in which voters can use the ballot box to address inequality.

Read the report ‘Billionaire Bonanza 2018: Inherited Wealth Dynasties in the 21st-Century U.S.’, HERE.

Negin Owliaei, researcher and editor at Inequality.org. She previously worked as a journalist and digital producer at Al Jazeera Media Network.

FEATURING TRINITY TRAN – Voters in Los Angeles will have the opportunity this fall to decide whether or not to charter a public bank. If the measure is successful, Los Angeles would become the first city in the country to have its own bank. Currently the city banks with large financial institutions like Wells Fargo, which make hundreds thousands of dollars in interest off of taxpayer money and then in turn invest those profits into unjust institutions like private prisons and fossil fuel corporations. Many campaigns over the years have attempted to pressure banks to stop their funds from promoting unjust or cruel practices. A public bank would address this problem at its source, removing tax dollars from private institutions altogether.

For more information visit www.publicbankla.com and www.PublicBankInstitute.org.

Trinity Tran, Lead Organizer, Public Bank LA.

**This segment was originally broadcast on August 20, 2018.

FEATURING ADAM MAZO – The scandal of immigrant family separation in the summer of 2018 was a heart rending moment for the nation. The stories of young children separated from their parents broke our collective hearts. But this is a story that has unfolded before in the US – with Native American communities.

For a large part of the 20th century, the US government forcibly removed Native American children from their homes and put them into the foster care of white families. The horrendous practice was so widespread that even until the 1970s, about a quarter of all Native American children were being raised in non-Native homes. The emotional and psychological toll of the separation on children and parents is incalculable and has barely been acknowledged or addressed.

But in the state of Maine, a historic 2-year process of “Truth and Reconciliation” over Native American family separation took place, confronting the hard truths of what was done. A new documentary called Dawnland, airing soon on PBS’s Independent Lens, captures that process.

For more information about the movie, visit https://upstanderproject.org/dawnland/.

Adam Mazo, co-director and co-producer of the documentary ‘Dawnland’, airing on PBS’s Independent Lens starting November 5th.

FEATURING SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL – For an entire month ahead of the critically important midterm elections, a group of Catholic nuns have been traveling on a bus all across the US calling attention to the injustice of President Donald Trump and the GOP’s tax reform law. The “Nuns on the Bus,” as they literally call themselves, are lobbying, holding community forums, and rallying voters. Their tour was launched from Los Angeles on Monday October 8th and will end at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on November 2nd.

The Nuns on the Bus took a similar tour two years ago in their signature bus. Now, joining me via phone from the latest tour as it’s wrapping up, is Sister Simone Campbell.

Sister Simone Campbell, part of the ‘Nuns on the Bus’ Tour.

Jim Crow-level voter suppression in Georgia is likely to determine the governor’s race. But this isn’t just a local crisis. These racist tactics threaten the core tenets of democracy and a new short video by Brave New Films takes on this issue ahead of the November 6th election.

President Trump cracked down on the issues of border migrants once more, saying in a rambling speech on Thursday that he, “plans to sign an order next week that could lead to the large-scale detention of migrants crossing the southern border and bar anyone caught crossing illegally from claiming asylum — two legally dubious proposals that mark his latest election-season barrage against illegal immigration.” 

There are currently two caravans in Mexico and “Mexican authorities haven’t directly targeted the main caravan of about 4,000 migrants,” as per AP.  Activists aiding that group said they were shifting their route toward the Gulf coast, a path closer to the Texas border.” Trump has made the caravan a major election issue, hoping it will rile up his base enough to vote for Republicans. On Thursday the President posted to his Twitter account a political ad about immigration so virulently racist that even some members of his own party denounced him.

The man charged with 44 counts of murder and hate crimes in the mass shooting at the Pittsburgh Synagogue, pled “not guilty” to the charges on Thursday. According to the BBC, “US media reported [Robert] Bowers entered the courtroom without a wheelchair, bandaged on the arm from the injuries suffered during a shootout with police on Saturday. With a loud “yes!” Mr Bowers confirmed he had read the indictment and understood the charges against him. He reportedly had no reaction when told he faced the death penalty.”

Oprah Winfrey attended a major political rally for Stacey Abrams in Georgia on Thursday, throwing her weight behind a woman who could become the first black female governor in the nation. Oprah Winfrey spoke at a political rally in support of Stacey Abrams in Georgia who is running for governor.

Vice President Mike Pence also spoke at a political rally – for Abrams’ rival Brian Kemp who is the current Secretary of State of Georgia and who has been a controversial figure for his pro-gun ads and for suppressing the voting rights of African Americans this election. Pence slammed Abrams’ celebrity support. 

Representative Steve King, a long time Republican Congressman who is known for his overtly white supremacist views is running for re-election this November. On Thursday King spoke at a forum in his home state of Iowa and was questioned about his values by an unnamed member of the audience. King is being challenged by one of his constituents about his white supremacist values.  

the mass shooter who massacred 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in the worst hate crime against American Jews in history, has been charged. Forty six year old Robert Bowers was indicted on the second day of a week long series of funerals and related events for the victims. He may be facing the death penalty with 44 charges of murder, hate crimes and other offenses. 

In the wake of the massacre Trump declared, even before there was a suspect, that the death penalty should apply to the perpetrator of the massacre. Statistics on the use of the death penalty in federal cases show they have spiked under Trump. Under his predecessor, Barack Obama, there was a de facto moratorium on the death penalty – except in the case of Dylann Roof, the Charleston church shooter. Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions has so far approved more than twelve capital punishment prosecutions since he took the reins of the Justice Department. However, the numbers are still lower than George W. Bush and his Attorney General John Ashcroft, who, according to AP, “signed off on capital prosecutions against more than three dozen defendants, at times overruling his own prosecutors when they recommended against seeking capital punishment.”

A federal judge has ordered the state of Ohio to reverse its voter purge. Ohio, like several states around the country, decided to send letters to those voters who did not participate in recent elections and if voters ignored them, they were purged from the voter rolls. The sixth Circuit Court of Appeals which took up the challenge brought by voting rights groups, ruled that, “Plaintiffs have a reasonable, and perhaps even greater, likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that defendant’s confirmation notice did not adequately advise registrants of the consequences of failure to respond, as the NVRA (National Voting Rights Act) requires.” Ohio’s State Secretary is Republican Jon Husted, who is running for Lieutenant Governor alongside gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine. DeWine faces a tight race against Democrat Richard Cordray that could be determined by a close vote margin.

In Georgia, Republican State Secretary Brian Kemp pulled out of a gubernatorial debate on live television against Stacey Abrams at the last minute. Abrams and Kemp were scheduled to debate one another this Sunday but Kemp has instead opted to rally with President Trump. Trump has been gracing political rallies for GOP candidates nonstop around the nation ahead of the midterm elections. Abrams and Kemp are running neck-in-neck for Georgia Governor. After Kemp pulled out of the original debate time, his campaign requested a new time but Abrams, who had a previously scheduled event with voters turned it down. Her campaign released a strongly worded statement saying, “We refuse to callously take Georgians for granted and cancel on them. Just because Brian Kemp breaks his promises doesn’t mean anyone else should.” If Abrams wins in Georgia, she will become the first Black female governor in the nation’s history.

Relatively absent from this year’s midterm election campaigning is the National Rifle Association. The NRA has only poured $11 million into electing politicians – that’s half the amount it has spent on the last midterms four years ago. The lower profile comes at a time when the national debate on gun control is changing in a nation weary of mass shootings.