I think it’s fair to say 2025 is off to a rough start.
Between the human toll of the California wildfires, and the constant outrageous behavior of the Trump administration, it can be easy to despair.
But if you have money to spare, there are ways you can make a difference.
Wildfire Relief
Pod Save America is raising money for local charities to help people harmed by the California Wildfires.
Donations will be split between six organizations.
· Latino Community Foundation
· Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
· Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation
· United Way of Greater Los Angeles
· California Community Foundation Wildfire Relief Fund
· Inclusive Action for the City
Here is where you can donate to help support those impacted by the California Wildfires.
An Endless Series of Outrages
The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s second term have featured a whirlwind of outrageous, chaotic, and horrible decisions.
Trump has begun the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Accord, attempted to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, chosen to deny transgender and nonbinary Americans accurate federal identity documents, attempted to freeze huge swaths of federal government spending, and separately frozen foreign aid spending.
I discussed those five stories in a previous blog post, but this is only a partial list of the many horrible things Trump has done in his first few weeks as president.
Many people are despondent by this constant drumbeat of unacceptable behavior.
They are looking for a way to “do something” in response to these provocations, even if they don’t know exactly what they can or should do.
If you’re looking for a way to push back against Trump and his Republican enablers, one simple way is to donate to Democrats running in important elections in 2025 and 2026.
The Democratic Victory Fund splits donations between 10 Democratic candidates, who will be running in competitive races.
I created the Democratic Victory Fund through ActBlue, an organization that processes donations for Democratic candidates.
You must be at least 18 years old, and either a US citizen, or lawful permanent resident, to contribute.
In this article, I will discuss these 10 Democrats, and their upcoming elections.
We’ll begin with Susan Crawford and Abigail Spanberger, who are campaigning in elections that will be held this year.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
An April election in Wisconsin will determine ideological control of its state Supreme Court.
Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, and two candidates are running to replace her.
While the race is technically non-partisan, Susan Crawford is aligned with the Democratic Party, and Brad Schimel is aligned with the Republican Party.
Bradley has endorsed Crawford in the race.
PBS Wisconsin and the Associated Press have both published good articles about the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
In 2023, the election of Janet Protasiewicz flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court from conservative to liberal control.
Protasiewicz won the April 2023 election by 11.0%.
Protasiewicz received 55.5% of the vote, and her conservative opponent, Dan Kelly, received 44.5%.
I donated $20 to support Protasiewicz in 2023.
Gerrymandering and abortion were key issues in the 2023 election, and they remain important issues for the court.
If Crawford wins, liberals will maintain their majority.
If Schimel wins, conservatives will regain majority control.
Wisconsin is a perennial swing state.
In each of the three most recent presidential elections, Wisconsin was decided by less than 1%.
Wisconsin also voted for the winner each time Trump has been on the ballot.
In 2024, Trump won Wisconsin by 0.86%.
In 2020, Biden won Wisconsin by 0.63%.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin by 0.77%.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election will take place April 1.
Virginia Governor
Abigail Spanberger is campaigning to be Virginia’s next governor.
As far as I can tell, she is the only Democrat running for the position.
Spanberger previously represented Virginia-7, a competitive district, in the US House.
Spanberger was first elected to the US House in 2018.
She chose not to run for reelection in 2024, so she could run for governor in 2025, instead.
In 2021, Glenn Youngkin (R) defeated Terry McAuliffe (D) in the Virginia Governor’s race by 1.9%.
Youngkin (R) received 50.6%, McAuliffe (D) received 48.6%, and all other candidates received 0.8%.
Under the Virginia Constitution, governors are ineligible to run for consecutive terms.
Therefore, this year’s Virginia Governor’s race will be for an open seat.
In the three most recent presidential elections, Virginia has voted Democratic.
In 2024, Harris won Virginia by 5.8%.
In 2020, Biden won Virginia by 10.1%.
In 2016, Clinton won Virginia by 5.3%.
Primary elections for the Virginia Governor’s race will be held June 17.
The general election will take place Nov. 4.
Georgia Senate
The Democratic Victory Fund includes one US Senator, Jon Ossoff.
Sen. Jon Ossoff will run for reelection in Georgia in 2026.
Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were both elected to the US Senate from Georgia in Jan. 2021, after winning runoffs in their respective races.
Their victories brought the number of Democrats in the Senate to 50, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to break the tie and give Democrats majority control of the chamber.
Ossoff (D) won his Senate runoff on Jan. 5, 2021, against David Perdue (R) by 1.2%.
Ossoff (D) received 50.6%, and Perdue (R) received 49.4%.
I donated $34.08 to Ossoff during his 2020 campaign.
The day after the Georgia runoffs, Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump incited a mob to attack Congress to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
After the mob was dispersed, Congress reconvened and certified Biden’s election.
Four years later, in 2024, voters decided to reelect Donald Trump president, because ending America’s longstanding practice of peacefully transferring power wasn’t disqualifying in the eyes of US voters.
Georgia has been a swing state during presidential elections in the Trump era.
Georgia voted for the winner of the presidential race in each election where Trump was on the ballot.
In 2024, Trump won Georgia by 2.2%.
In 2020, Biden won Georgia by 0.23%.
In 2016, Trump won Georgia by 5.1%.
Georgia has become competitive thanks in part to the efforts of Stacey Abrams and other Democratic activists.
Arizona Governor
The Democratic Victory Fund includes three governors eligible to run for reelection in 2026: Katie Hobbs, Tina Kotek, and Tony Evers.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is eligible to run for a second term in 2026.
Hobbs was elected Arizona Governor in 2022.
She won her election by 0.67%, or 17,117 votes.
Hobbs narrowly beat conspiracy theorist Kari Lake, who is a passionate promoter of the big lie that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election, but the election was stolen from him.
Hobbs (D) received 50.3% of the vote, and Lake (R) received 49.6%.
I discussed the 2022 Arizona Governor’s race in an editorial where I urged Arizonans to vote against Lake.
I donated $20 to Hobbs in 2022.
Arizona has been a presidential swing state during the Trump era.
Arizona voted for the winner of the presidential race in each election where Trump has been on the ballot.
In 2024, Trump won Arizona by 5.5%.
In 2020, Biden won Arizona by 0.30%.
In 2016, Trump won Arizona by 3.5%.
Oregon Governor
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is eligible to run for a second term in 2026.
Kotek was elected Oregon Governor in 2022.
Kotek won her election by 3.4%.
The election was a three way race between Tina Kotek (D), Christine Drazan (R), and Betsy Johnson, an independent candidate.
During the election, Phil Knight, the billionaire co-founder of Nike, made large donations to both the Independent and Republican candidates.
The New York Times wrote a great article about the election, which I highly recommend.
Kotek (D) received 47.0%, Drazan (R) received 43.5%, and Johnson (Ind.) received 8.6%.
The remaining 0.9% went to other candidates.
Democrats have won the most recent Oregon Governor’s races, but the margin is consistently less than 10%.
In 2018, Kate Brown (D) won by Oregon Governor’s race by 6.4%.
A special election was held in 2016 to replace Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), who had resigned.
In 2016, Kate Brown (D) won the Oregon Governor’s race by 7.2%.
Oregon has voted for the Democratic candidate by more than 10% in each of the last three presidential elections.
In 2024, Harris won Oregon by 14.3%.
In 2020, Biden won Oregon by 16.1%.
In 2016, Clinton won Oregon by 11.0%.
Wisconsin Governor
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is eligible to run for a third term in 2026.
In 2018, Evers was first elected Wisconsin Governor by 1.1%.
Evers narrowly defeated incumbent Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Evers (D) received 49.6%, and Walker (R) received 48.5%.
Other candidates received the remaining 2.0%.
In 2022, Evers was reelected Wisconsin Governor by 3.4%.
Evers (D) received 51.1%, and Tim Michels (R) received 47.8%.
House of Representatives
The Democratic Victory Fund includes three House Democrats: Marcy Kaptur, Derek Tran, and Adam Gray.
Their seats will be up for reelection in 2026.
Marcy Kaptur was first elected to the US House in 1982.
In 2024, Kaptur was reelected by 0.63%, or 2,382 votes.
Kaptur (D) received 48.3%, Derek Merrin (R) received 47.6%, and Tom Pruss, a Libertarian candidate, received 4.1%.
Kaptur represents Ohio-9.
Derek Tran and Adam Gray were first elected to the US House in 2024.
Derek Tran won his election by 0.21%, or 653 votes.
Tran (D) received 50.1%, and Michelle Steel (R) received 49.9%.
I donated $10 to Tran in 2024.
Tran represents California-45.
Adam Gray won his election by 0.09%, or 187 votes.
Gray’s race was the closest US House race nationwide in 2024.
Gray (D) received 50.04%, and John Duarte (R) received 49.96%.
Gray represents California-13.
You can learn more about the closest 2024 US House races in an article I wrote last month.
For the sake of comparison, I will discuss how Ohio and California voted in recent presidential elections, even though this information isn’t particularly relevant to the competitiveness of individual US House districts within these states.
Ohio has voted for Trump in each of the three most recent presidential elections.
In 2024, Trump won Ohio by 11.2%.
In 2020, Trump won Ohio by 8.0%.
In 2016, Trump won Ohio by 8.1%.
California has voted for the Democratic candidate in the last three presidential elections by more than 20%.
In 2024, Harris won California by 20.2%.
In 2020, Biden won California by 29.2%.
In 2016, Clinton won California by 30.1%.
Kansas Legislature
The Democratic Victory Fund includes one Democrat in the Kansas House, Nikki McDonald.
Elections will be held in 2026 for the Kansas House of Representatives, but not for the Kansas Senate.
In 2024, only one Democrat won a Kansas House race by less than 5%.
Nikki McDonald won by 1.2%, or 148 votes.
McDonald (D) received 50.6%, and Kurtis Ruf (R) received 49.4%.
McDonald represents Dist. 49, located in Johnson County, in the Kansas House.
Last year, I solicited donations for several Kansas Democrats, including McDonald, to try to break the Republican Supermajority in the Kansas Legislature.
Democrats were unable to break the Republican Supermajority in the Kansas Legislature.
Instead, Republicans expanded their majorities in both chambers.
Once again, statewide presidential results aren’t particularly relevant when considering the competitiveness of an individual state house district.
But I find these results interesting, nonetheless.
In each of the three most recent presidential elections, Kansas has voted for Trump by more than 10%.
In 2024, Trump won Kansas by 16.2%.
In 2020, Trump won Kansas by 14.6%.
In 2016, Trump won Kansas by 20.6%.
Looking ahead
I plan to rotate candidates out of the Democratic Victory Fund once their elections are complete, and into the fund once Democrats win primaries in competitive races.
I also plan to cover important elections in 2025 and 2026.
I’m still working my way through covering the results of the 2024 elections.
I’m also mid-way through Season 3 of LGBT by the Numbers.
I plan to alternate between these ongoing series, and current political stories, including the upcoming 2025 elections.
It will always be a safe bet that any ongoing series will take longer to complete than either you or I would predict.
Especially when political news is as intense and relevant as it has ever been.
There will be no shortage of interesting things to read on Meticulous Musings in the months ahead.
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