{"id":1056276,"date":"2025-09-26T21:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T01:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1056276"},"modified":"2025-09-28T17:54:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T21:54:06","slug":"in-the-states-democrats-fight-back-against-gops-threats-to-health-care-and-freedom-of-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/in-the-states-democrats-fight-back-against-gops-threats-to-health-care-and-freedom-of-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE STATES: Democrats Fight Back Against GOP\u2019s Threats to Health Care and Freedom of Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This week, the DNC announced an initial, six-figure investment to support the Pennsylvania Democratic Party\u2019s voter outreach efforts to ensure Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht remain on the bench \u2013 key elections ahead of 2026 and 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/state-watch\/5520632-dnc-voter-contact-pennsylvania\/\">The Hill<\/a>: DNC makes six-figure investment in Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/meidasnews.com\/news\/dnc-announces-six-figure-investment-in-critical-pennsylvania-supreme-court-races\">Meidas Touch News<\/a>: DNC Announces Six-Figure Investment in Critical Pennsylvania Supreme Court Races<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/articles\/pennsylvania-election-2025-supreme-court-retention-dnc\/\">WHYY<\/a>: The DNC is jumping into the 2025 Pa. Supreme Court fight to protect Democrats in November election<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityandstatepa.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/dnc-announces-six-figure-investment-pa-supreme-court-retention-elections\/408354\/?oref=cspa-homepage-river\">City &amp; State Pennsylvania<\/a>: DNC announces six-figure investment in PA Supreme Court retention elections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politicspa.com\/dnc-announces-initial-six-figure-investment-into-pa-supreme-court-retention-election\/144391\/\">PoliticsPA<\/a>: DNC Announces Initial Six-Figure Investment Into PA Supreme Court Retention Election<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_978c6410-964a-4290-9872-eff2a124bdd9.html\">Center Square<\/a>: National Dems spending big on Pennsylvania Supreme Court races<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Targeting vulnerable Republicans, including Reps. Rob Wittman (VA-01), Jen Kiggans (VA-02), Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), the DNC launched a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1BOVZbUX2fA&amp;feature=youtu.be\">ad campaign<\/a> slamming Donald Trump\u2019s assault on free speech. \u201cFreedom of Speech\u201d targets conservative and independent voters by highlighting Trump\u2019s attacks on the First Amendment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nationwide: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrats-target-vulnerable-house-republicans-slam-trumps-attacks-free-speech\">Fox News<\/a>: Democrats target vulnerable House Republicans as they slam Trump\u2019s \u2018attacks on free speech\u2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nationwide: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/politics-news\/democrats-jimmy-kimmel-help-1236386006\/\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a>: \u2026 Can Jimmy Kimmel Help [Democrats]?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Pennsylvania: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/news\/2025\/09\/democratic-ad-campaign-calls-out-trump-for-attacking-free-speech.html\">Penn Live:<\/a> \u2018Democrats launch ad campaign calling out Trump for attacking free speech\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In New Jersey: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/newjerseyglobe.com\/congress\/democrats-target-independents-conservatives-in-nj-7-with-trump-focused-ad-campaign\/\">New Jersey Globe<\/a>: Democrats Target Independents, Conservatives in NJ-7 with Trump-focused ad campaign<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Virginia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/virginiamercury.com\/briefs\/dnc-ad-emphasizes-free-speech-critiques-trump-targets-virginias-1st-2nd-congressional-districts\/\">Virginia Mercury<\/a>: DNC ad emphasizes free speech, critiques Trump, targets Virginia\u2019s 1st, 2nd Congressional Districts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday, Democrats had more strong showings in special elections held in Arizona and Georgia. Adelita Grijalva won her bid to represent Arizona\u2019s 7th District in Congress and Debra Shigley pulled off a massive overperformance in her bid for Georgia Senate District 21 in a Trump +34 district. Democrats have now won or overperformed in 45 of 46 key elections this year \u2014 a clear sign that Americans are putting their faith in the party of the working class, not Trump\u2019s party of billionaires and elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/23\/arizona-special-election-makes-things-tricky-for-republicans\/\">Deseret News<\/a>: Arizona Democrat wins special congressional election \u2014 putting Republicans in the hot seat<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrat-succeeds-her-late-father-congress-gop-house-majority-shrinks\">Fox News<\/a>: Democrat succeeds her late father in Congress as GOP House majority shrinks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/azluminaria.org\/2025\/09\/24\/arizona-district-7-special-election-results-2025-grijalva-butierez\/\">Arizona Luminaria<\/a>: Adelita Grijalva wins special election, becoming first Arizona Latina in Congress<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/election\/arizona-cd7-special-election-adelita-grijalva-daniel-butierez-face-off-vacant-seat\">Fox 10 Phoenix<\/a>: Adelita Grijalva wins CD7 special election, AP projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/adelita-grijalva-arizona-democrats-epstein-2134104\">Newsweek<\/a>: What Adelita Grijalva&#8217;s Arizona Win Means for Democrats&#8217; Epstein Push<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/amp\/Politics\/arizona-special-election-house-tipping-point-releasing-epstein\/story?id=125859777\">ABC News<\/a>: Arizona special House election could be a tipping point on releasing the Epstein files\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/georgia-senate-election-democrats-hail-overperformance-10478504\">Newsweek<\/a>: Democrats Cheer \u2018Overperformance\u2019 After Losing Georgia Election<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Arizona and Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/5518904-adelita-grijalva-wins-arizona-election\/\">The Hill<\/a>: Key takeaways from special elections in Arizona and Georgia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of Georgia Senate District 21 candidate Debra Shigley\u2019s special election on Tuesday, DNC Chair Ken Martin traveled to Georgia to attend a canvass kickoff \u2014 emphasizing the DNC\u2019s mission to organize everywhere to win anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/09\/25\/nx-s1-5548589\/ken-martin-democrats-special-election-overperformance\">NPR<\/a>: DNC chair says special elections show Democrats are winning, even when they lose<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theatlantavoice.com\/debra-shigley-jason-dickerson-runoff\/\">Atlanta Voice:<\/a> \u2018You Can\u2019t Give Up On Local Races\u2019: DNC Chair visits Georgia on eve of special election<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/2025\/09\/21\/democrats-chief-visits-georgia-to-campaign-with-state-senate-candidate-as-runoff-enters-homestretch\/\">Georgia Recorder<\/a>: Democrats\u2019 chief visits Georgia to campaign with state Senate candidate as runoff enters homestretch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/2025\/09\/why-national-democrats-are-focusing-on-special-georgia-senate-race\/\">Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/a>: Why National Democrats are Focusing on Special Georgia Senate Race<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Georgia: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/georgia\/article_09c73a1b-ad75-4204-9d34-33f8abf6ae38.html\">Center Square<\/a>: Democrats eying special Georgia Senate election<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This country is days away from a government shutdown, yet Republicans still refuse to meet with Democrats to solve the health care crisis they started. Now, millions of Americans are at risk of losing the health care they rely on. Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House, so if the government shuts down, Americans will know who is responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In Colorado:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpr.org\/2025\/09\/24\/medicaid-cuts-impact-colorado-nursing-homes\/\">CPR News<\/a>: Nursing homes and their residents fear Medicaid cuts impacts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Massachusetts:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/boston\/2025\/09\/boston-health-care-for-the-homeless-laying-off-25-workers-as-trump-medicaid-cuts-loom.html\">MassLive<\/a>: Boston Health Care for the Homeless laying off 25 workers as Trump Medicaid cuts loom<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In North Carolina:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalpine.com\/2025\/09\/25\/housing-health-nc-medicaid-cuts-homeless\/\">Cardinal &amp; Pine<\/a>: \u2018Housing is health care\u2019: Trump\u2019s Medicaid cuts could leave thousands of NC families homeless<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Oregon: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/oregoncapitalchronicle.com\/2025\/09\/20\/a-rural-oregon-town-lost-its-maternity-ward-as-medicaid-cuts-loom-other-hospitals-may-be-next\/\">Oregon Capitol Watch<\/a>: A rural Oregon town lost its maternity ward. As Medicaid cuts loom, other hospitals may be next<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In Wisconsin: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-abortion-trump-illinois-28f362c5c27f74e9a5dba8340088f4a0\">Associated Press<\/a>: Wisconsin Planned Parenthood pauses abortions amid federal Medicaid funding cut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, the DNC announced an initial, six-figure investment to support the Pennsylvania Democratic Party\u2019s voter outreach efforts to ensure Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht remain on the bench \u2013 key elections ahead of 2026 and 2028. Targeting vulnerable Republicans, including Reps. Rob Wittman (VA-01), Jen Kiggans (VA-02), Tom [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IN THE STATES: Democrats Fight Back Against GOP\u2019s Threats to Health Care and Freedom of Speech - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/in-the-states-democrats-fight-back-against-gops-threats-to-health-care-and-freedom-of-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-27T01:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-28T21:54:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/in-the-states-democrats-fight-back-against-gops-threats-to-health-care-and-freedom-of-speech\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/in-the-states-democrats-fight-back-against-gops-threats-to-health-care-and-freedom-of-speech\/\",\"name\":\"IN THE STATES: Democrats Fight Back Against GOP\u2019s Threats to Health Care and Freedom of Speech - 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