Three Wins Today, May 7 2025
It’s a great day when there are so many wins to choose from! I mean, Jefferson Griffin FINALLY conceded! And I didn’t even include that because everyone knows about it.
But here are some you might not have heard (actually you probably did hear #1, but who knows, maybe not.
Both Boise Idaho Mayor Lauren McLean and Salt Lake City Utah Mayor Erin Mendenhall found a loophole in their states’ new law banning non-government flags from government buildings.
Mayor Mendenhall, who is queer herself put the official flower of SLC, a Sego Lily, in the corner of the progress flag, the trans flag and the Juneteenth flag. And the queer majority City Council unanimously voted that this makes them official flags of the SLC government.
Meanwhile, Mayor McLean went a different way. All the Idaho bill says is that the flag must be a government flag, so, the Boise City Council, with one no, voted yesterday to make the progress flag an official City Government flag.
This is a beautiful example of malicious compliance and also a reminder of how important local elections are.
Up until yesterday, Orlando Florida Commissioner, Tony Ortiz, was a Republican. But yesterday, he announced in a Commentary in the Orlando Sentinel that he is changing his party registration to Democrat. He said:
Though my current role is nonpartisan, I’ve long been affiliated with the Republican Party. I once believed it stood for duty, accountability, individual freedom and family values. But over time, that party has changed. And I can no longer stand by in silence as it turns its back on the very people I’ve sworn to protect.
He then goes on to talk about how much he cares about and supports immigrants and queer people, fighting against the climate crisis and so much more. It seems like he was still a Republican for the same reason Michael Steel or Ana Navarro still is, this hope that the fiscally conservative party will come back. But that Republican party is long gone and will probably have to be reinvented under a new name if it’s ever to return. As Nikki Fried says, we welcome him with open arms!
For the first time in recent memory Democrats are contesting every single Virginia House of Delegates race this year. The final candidate, Rocco Debellis filed this week. He is the chef and owner of Love + Rosemary, a catering service and mobile kitchen in Cape Charles VA. He told Virginia Mercury:
Nobody else had put their hat in the ring, so I said, it can’t go uncontested. This guy has to have at least somebody playing a little defense against him. If nobody else is going to step up and do it, I will gladly.
We can’t win when we don’t compete, and this November, we are competing EVERYWHERE in the VA House of Delegates. So, if you live in VA, get ready to do everything you can to support your Dem candidate, cause, no matter how red your area is, you have at least one!
I hope these wins helped brighten your day!
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
Well guess I’m gonna have to do more research before election time here in VA. Thankfully I already know who I want for Governor, Lt Governor, and AG.
Thank you for these three wins, I hadn’t seen the VA one and it’s exciting after everything Youngkin has been doing to keep VA from moving forward.
Wonderful wins today! I've already shared the first one with several friends who have relatives in the LDS community, and they were absolutely delighted.