Aloha Reader,

What a week: our ʻohana filled a federal courtroom for the Act 11 case on Tuesday, then rallied across the islands on Saturday for No Dictators, our day of action urging everyone to vote early. We can sit quietly through a court hearing and celebrate loudly on the sidewalk, and we’re proud of how diverse and multi-talented this community is.

In this issue

• No Dictators, vote early: 8,400 strong across Hawaiʻi
• Act 11 in the courtroom
• Blue wave: pivoting for the win
• Staying alert

No Dictators, vote early: 8,400 strong across Hawaiʻi

Mahalo nui to everyone who showed up yesterday to remind our fellow citizens to vote early and that their voice matters. In all, 8,400 of you joined in across the state, part of millions nationwide at more than 3,000 locations — the largest single-day early voting activation in Hawaiʻi and US history. The mood was festive, and in Honolulu the energy carried right into the Pride Parade that followed.

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Click here to watch a video from Honolulu. Mahalo to Jonathan for the quick turnaround. Throughout the week, our team will keep adding photos and footage from chapters across the islands to the October 17 Get Out the Vote media archive. Local outlets covered us too, including Hawaii News Now and KHON2.

The day also brought a chilling reminder of how much power a few billionaires hold over our information space. Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company, suspended the No Kings coalition’s Instagram account for more than four hours, right as events were underway nationwide. Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin was front and center calling it out, and it looks a lot like targeted censorship.

Many of you asked at the rally what comes next. First we get out the vote, then we protect the results. You’ll find ways to help with both later in this issue.

Act 11 in the courtroom

For those of us who aren’t lawyers, Tuesday was a rare experience: walking into a federal courthouse and sitting through a hearing most people only see on TV or read about in the news. When we show up in person, we can help shape policy, or at the very least make clear that we’re paying attention.

That message landed before proceedings even began. The security guards first assumed we were late for another trial, and we had to point out that our case was right there on the docket. Afterward they asked what it was all about. They had never seen a crowd like this for a pretrial hearing. Several of us gathered on the steps outside once it ended.

Act 11 is Hawaiʻi’s Sunshine over Dark Money law, and Tuesday’s session covered preliminary motions. Courthouse News Service summarized the proceeding. The State asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the Grassroot Institute, the group challenging Act 11, lacks standing, meaning it has suffered no harm and therefore can’t sue. US District Judge Leslie Kobayashi hasn’t ruled yet, but she seems unlikely to dismiss, so the lawsuit will probably proceed.

The judge also expressed skepticism about Act 11's core premise: that the State can deny corporations the power to take part in election-related speech. It is a novel legal argument, and we urge the State to make its case forcefully at trial.

Bookmark our Act 11 lawsuit tracker to follow each development. However the court rules, we will keep working to rid our politics of dark money.

Blue wave: pivoting for the win

When we set our midterm strategy, the odds of flipping the US Senate were 50-50 at best. We focused on six states where our help could make the most difference because their populations are relatively small. Those races remain key, and all are statistical toss-ups, polling within the margin of error.

Now Democratic Senate candidates are also gaining ground in places few expected.

• Kansas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in 94 years, yet Democrat Adam Hamilton is pulling even with Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. Hamilton is pastor of the country's largest Methodist congregation. Marshall, an OB-GYN, sued 700 former patients over medical debt.
• Florida is known for its deep MAGA lean, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, who championed Alligator Alcatraz, the now-shuttered immigrant detention center. Progressive Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary in a surprise and is making a serious run at Republican Senator Ashley Moody. In the race to succeed DeSantis, Democrat David Jolly leads Republican Byron Donalds. Jolly is a former Never Trump Republican congressman who switched parties rather than embrace MAGA.
• Texas, the largest red state, has long disappointed Democrats running statewide. This year looks different. Democrat James Talarico leads Ken Paxton for Senate, and the GOP is worried enough to pour in money: two super PACs tied to Senate Republicans, one named Texas PAC, have already spent $280 million this cycle. In the governor’s race, Democrat Gina Hinojosa is within the margin of error against incumbent Republican Greg Abbott.

Nothing is certain, but there are now more paths to a Senate majority. Data journalist G. Elliott Morris studied the historical accuracy of Senate polls and found an average error of 3.7 points. Applied to this year’s races, that puts the outcome anywhere from 47 to 56 Democratic senators. Read his analysis.

Take action: help close the gap. Postcarding season is over, and the final stretch belongs to phone and text banking. A friendly call or message can be the nudge a voter in a tight contest needs, and you can do it from home on your own schedule. Sign up for a session on our events page.

Staying alert

Have you noticed how much more attention Indivisible gets compared to a year ago? National media have caught on to the strength of this movement, and legacy outlets now cover our events regularly.

Our work doesn’t end on November 3. Once results come in, expect election deniers to challenge them. Indivisible at every level — national, state and local — will stay vigilant through the counting, the certification and the seating of the new Congress in January, ready to act as an election protection force. We will notify all subscribers immediately of any call to action.

The world has shifted again in just the past two weeks. President Trump struck a deal easing sanctions on Russian diesel, drawing criticism from both parties in Congress, then began calling for Zelenskyy’s removal while praising Vladimir Putin as the one who wants peace. On Friday he went further, signing an executive order that waives the Graham Act’s sanctions on Russia two days before they were due to take effect — a bipartisan law he signed himself just last month. It’s clear whose side he’s on. Our answer is at the ballot box, and we’ll make it too big to rig.

If you haven’t cast your ballot yet, vote early, and bring your friends and family along. Every vote helps push us over the finish line. Know someone who wants to stay in the loop? Forward this newsletter and invite them to subscribe.
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Warmest Aloha

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