With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the redrawn congressional district map put out by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, we usher in the political primary season. Welcome to a new Pennsylvania, where Democratic candidates now have a chance to win.
But this is not the end of the story: It’s the beginning. The end comes in the November midterm general election, when you have a chance to vote for a Congress that would put a check on the Trump administration. To get there, we need to nominate Democrats who can win in November. Your choices in this May’s primary have consequences.
The issue that all Democrats are facing in the primary election is basic: Should you support the progressive candidate who stands for all the correct progressive ideas that you believe in, or do you vote for the candidate who might not be perfect but can draw a larger voter base and win in November? That’s the question that all progressives are asking themselves across the country.
Luckily for us in the five-county Philadelphia region, most of our Democratic candidates are progressive.
We in the LGBT community are in a good place this November. We are a major voting block. It will be easy to vote for almost any Democrat for Congress, since all of the Republican incumbent candidates for Congress in this area have all voted against LGBT rights, and all the Democrats have supported equality. But there are other issues to consider, including trans rights and the flood of anti-trans legislation in Congress, along with immigration, the trashing of environment regulations and school safety, to name just a few.
By denying the GOP attempt to kill the redrawn map, SCOTUS has given us a level playing field. It’s up to us to keep it that way.