The political left says it is on a roll after former President Donald Trump was hit with felony charges in New York and progressive candidates racked up wins in elections in Chicago and Wisconsin this week.
The string of events lifted the spirits of liberal activists, who said it is helping restore some of the faith they have lost in the rule of law and democracy after watching Mr. Trump sidestep criminal charges in the past and elected leaders run roughshod over the will of the people.
“For the last couple of years, there was very real doubt about whether democracy would continue functioning. Having the people vote in new leadership in Chicago, having a majority on a Wisconsin state Supreme Court that could un-gerrymander [congressional and state legislative] maps and having a former president that is not above the law indicates that democracy might live another day,” said Adam Green, head of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee or PCCC, a liberal group.
Mr. Trump’s arraignment came hours before Brandon Johnson — a county commissioner and former teachers union organizer — gave progressives something else to celebrate by notching a win in Chicago’s mayoral race over Paul Vallas, who advocated for charter schools, vowed to be tough on crime and had the support of police.
The cherry on top came in Wisconsin when Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a pro-choice Democrat, emerged victorious in the race for the state Supreme Court. She ran against former Justice Daniel Kelly, a pro-life Republican.
The hotly divided contest was the latest front in the battle over abortion rights. The money flooded in. More than $45 million was spent, according to a running tally from WisPolitics, smashing both state and national spending records on state Supreme Court races.
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Mrs. Protasiewicz also made the race about voting rights and GOP-drawn congressional and state legislative maps that Democrats have criticized for giving Republicans an unfair edge.
Mrs. Protasiewicz’s landslide victory flips the ideological majority, marking the first time in 15 years the court will have a liberal majority. The shift comes as the court is poised to consider cases involving abortion rights, gerrymandered maps and voting rights.
On Wednesday, the good news for abortion rights proponents continued when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan signed a bill repealing a ban from 1931 that made it a crime to assist in an abortion.
“So to all the women and girls and our allies in states that don’t value you or your rights, maybe you should come to Michigan,” Ms. Whitmer said at a press conference.
For the left, the Trump arraignment made the string of political victories all the sweeter. Liberals have long held that Mr. Trump made a mockery of the justice system, skirting the law and getting away with things that most Americans would not.
That changed Tuesday, they said.
Mr. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who both claimed to have had affairs with Mr. Trump.
Another payment allegedly went to a doorman at Trump Tower who was peddling a story about Mr. Trump having a love child.
Mr. Trump denied all of their stories.
Progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the Trump charges help put to rest looming questions of whether Americans “really have an equal society no matter your income, no matter how powerful you are.”
“I think the presence of this process demonstrates we should have one law that applies to all people no matter who you are and where you come from,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers.
Carlos Cardona, a liberal activist who serves as New Hampshire state director for Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, said the satisfaction derived from the Trump arraignment stems from activists’ belief in law and order.
“During his administration, it just felt like it didn’t matter how bad he was, nothing he did was going to be punished,” Mr. Cardona said. “People are like, ‘The democracy survived his presidency and it is still working,’” he said. “Donald Trump has been getting away with so much it is nice to finally see he is not above the law.”
Others took the opposite view, warning the indictment reduced the U.S. to a despotic nation.
“Think what you want about former President Trump and the reasons he’s being indicted,” said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. “But just imagine if this happened in any other country, where a government arrested the main opposition candidate.”
“The United States’ ability to use ‘democracy’ as foreign policy is gone,” Mr. Bukele tweeted.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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