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As Free and Fair Elections Face Unprecedented Threats, Business Leaders Recognize A Strong Economy Requires a Strong Democracy

In New Polling by Morning Consult, Business Leaders Say Companies Should Protect American Democracy And Customers Say They Will Support Them

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, a coalition of business leaders and organizations announced the Business & Democracy Initiative, a new partnership dedicated to protecting the integrity of our elections and rebuilding trust in democratic institutions, becausea strong economy requires a strong democracy.

The Business & Democracy Initiative's founding partners are top business leaders and advocates: the Black Economic Alliance, the Leadership Now Project, and Public Private Strategies. Leaders in America's business community view democracy and voting rights as an economic issue. Fully 45 of the top 50 global companies operate in a democracy, according to research by Freedom House. The Business & Democracy Initiative will engage business leaders to shift the conversation around our democracy, drive corporate change, and secure the next generation of American prosperity.

New research by Morning Consult on behalf of the Business & Democracy Initiative shows the business community wants to be active in protecting American democracy, and their customers will support them. The results show:

"With our nation's democratic system under more stress than ever, the business community is a critical voice in the fight to preserve our free, open, and democratic system," said Rhett Buttle, founder of Public Private Strategies. "We believe that a strong democracy is the cornerstone of a dynamic and inclusive American economy, and we will be engaging with stakeholders across all levels of business to advocate for reforms that strengthen our democracy."

"Business leaders across the country are concerned about the health of our democracy. They understand that our economic dynamism depends on a capable and accountable government," said Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of the Leadership Now Project. "The Business & Democracy Initiative will provide business leaders with the knowledge and platform to lead on the issues from preventing election crisesto expanding civic engagement and secure a strong economy for the next generation."

"As businesses continue to expand their influence on the American public, they have an increasing responsibility to proactively preserve and protect American democracy," said David Clunie, Executive Director of the Black Economic Alliance. "Through the Business & Democracy Initiative, the Black Economic Alliance and our partners will help the business community utilize its increasingly expansive reach to help fortify the integrity of our democracy, which is necessary to achieve an inclusive and sustainable economy for all Americans."

Read the full survey report and learn more about the Business & Democracy Initiative at businessanddemocracy.org

About Public Private StrategiesPublic Private Strategies (PPS) creates opportunities where the public and private sectors meet. We bring together diverse allies including foundations, associations, corporations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to solve pressing societal challenges. By harnessing the power of the private sector, we build coalitions, activate campaigns, and create strategic partnerships to drive desired policy and market outcomes. Learn more at http://www.publicprivatestrategies.com.

About the Leadership Now ProjectThe Leadership Now Project is a membership organization of business and thought leaders who are committed to long-term solutions to renew American democracy. Leadership Now has four guiding principles that transcend political parties: to protect democracy while renewing it; to promote fact and evidence-based policymaking; to create an economy that works for all, and to embrace diversity as an asset. In 2019-2021, the organization is focused on the threats to the fundamentals of democracy, including low voter participation, gerrymandering, and the influence of money in politics. You can follow LNP on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @LeadershipNP. Learn more at http://www.leadershipnowproject.org.

About the Black Economic Alliance The Black Economic Alliance is a coalition of Black business leaders and allies committed to driving economic progress for the Black community through public policy, advocacy, and engagement with government and business leaders. Led by a board that includes executives from a range of industries including media, finance, pharmaceutical, nonprofit, and tech, BEA uses its collective power and business acumen to advance policies that will improve work, wages, and wealth for Black Americans. Learn more at blackeconomicalliance.org.

SOURCE The Business & Democracy Initiative

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Announcing the Business & Democracy Initiative: New Coalition Will Empower Business Leaders to Stand Up for American Democracy - PR Newswire

DATE: Wednesday, May 25

TIME: 11 a.m.

WHO: Experts from Beyond Conflict, a nonprofit organization that uses conflict experience and brain and behavioral science to work for peace; the American Immigration Council; and UMass Amhersts Linda Tropp, professor of social psychology.

WHAT: Media telebriefing on Beyond Conflicts new report, Renewing American Democracy: Navigating a Changing Nation, which identifies psychological drivers that are being exploited to deepen social division and hasten democratic decline in the U.S.

WHERE: Virtual event. RSVP at the Zoom link here.

CONTACT: Patty Shillington, pshillington@umass.edu, 305-606-9909 Embargoed copy of the report is available.

The nonprofit organization Beyond Conflict will discuss the findings of Renewing American Democracy: Navigating A Changing Nation. The new report analyzes Americas social divides through the lens of social science to understand how demographic, social and cultural changes in the U.S. can affect perceptions of threats to our identities, feelings of belonging and perceptions of status and power. The report illuminates how these psychological dynamics can lead to greater support for populist authoritarianism, ultimately threatening the health of our democracy.

The report authors will discuss the human instinct to align with groups of people who look and think alike and to defend those groups against perceived threats, and how that instinct has been exploited and leveraged by political actors, decision makers, media conglomerates and other influencers.

Oriented toward practical interventions, the report focuses on how four identity-related dynamics in modern American life factionalism and partisan sorting, residential segregation and declining social trust, information echo chambers, and divergent racial attitudes and beliefs about racial equity are exacerbating the divides.

In addition to Tropp, the other panelists are Tim Phillips, founder and CEO of Beyond Conflict; Michelle Barsa, Beyond Conflicts director of democracy and social identity; and Wendy Feliz, founding director of the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council.

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Experts Analyze Link between Human Psychology and Threats to American Democracy - UMass News and Media Relations

The writer Alan Furst has shrewdly observed, Fascism famously stomps around in jackboots, but it sometimes wears carpet slippers, padding about softly on the edges of ones life, and in a way that is worse.

And so here we are, in my home state of Pennsylvania, face to face with the worst.

No need for jackboots here. In last nights gubernatorial primary, pro-coup Republicans merely went to the ballot box and chose a MAGA loon who loudly agitated to overthrow Joe Bidens victory and nullify the will of the people. And if this guy winds up as governor, you can forget seeing an honest election in this swing state in 2024.

Granted, conventional wisdom decrees that Doug Mastriano has no chance of beating popular Democratic nominee (and current attorney general) Josh Shapiro. To which I say: Have you ever visited Pennsylvania? More specifically, the vast expanse between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia?

In a formerly sane America, a fascist fellow traveler like Mastriano would pull a single-digit percentage in any statewide election. But apparently, for Duh Republican Base in 2022, plotting a coup is what passes for a sterling credential.

Mastriano projected winner of Pa. Republican governor primary

Mastriano didnt cheer on Trump from the sidelines he was a central player. In late November 2000, from his perch as a state senator, he introduced a resolution to erase Bidens popular vote victory and instead authorize the Republican-run state legislature to gin up its own slate of electors, whod then magically award the swing state to Trump.

Mastriano insisted that Dear Leader had been cheated out of his victory by a corrupt election process There is mounting evidence that the PA presidential election was compromised (there was no such evidence) and therefore we are going to take our power back. When all that failed, he bused supporters to the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. And when that failed, he wasted time in 2021 agitating in vain for an audit of the Pennsylvania election.

Denying the reality of Mastriano would mean that weve learned absolutely nothing these last six years.

He has been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Committee (he has ignored it). Hes also cited in a Senate Judiciary Committee report for having raised a litany of false and debunked claims of widespread election fraud. Hes also defiant about his presence at the Capitol on insurrection day: Shame on the media and the Democrats who are painting anyone who was down there as a villain.

But never mind the past. Take a gander at the potentially fascist future.

Im well aware that the word fascist sounds hyperbolic. But were talking here about the exercise of dictatorial power and the suppression of democratic opposition. Denying the reality of Mastriano would mean that weve learned absolutely nothing these last six years.

Pa. Dems want to run against Mastriano. They may end up regretting it | John L. Micek

Hes already telling us who he really is. He recently surfaced at a QAnon meeting, where he mocked what he called this myth of the separation of church and state, and vowed that in November were going to take our state back. My God will make it so. Hes also an anti-choice zealot who has already floated a bill to ban all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. If/when the Supreme Court nixes Roe v. Wade, Mastriano would work with the Republican legislature to end womens bodily autonomy. (He says: I dont give way for exceptions, either.)

Most importantly, a Pennsylvania governor has the power to appoint the states top election official (the secretary of the commonwealth, who certifies election results), and its a cinch bet that whoever fills that role would work with Mastriano to ensure that the 2024 contest is rigged for MAGA.

So much for Pennsylvania being the birthplace of democracy.

Do I sound like an alarmist? Was I an alarmist in 2016 when I wrote repeatedly (and in vain) that Trump was a clear and present danger to our democratic values?

Pennsylvania Democrats are reportedly giddy that Mastriano is the Republican gubernatorial nominee because theres supposedly no way he can beat Josh Shapiro. (I seem to recall that many Democrats in 2016 were giddy about Trump because there was no way that such a clownish fraud could beat Hillary.) But this is no time for haughtiness.

If grassroots Democrats do what they usually do stay home en masse during non-presidential elections then fascism, in Alan Fursts words, will no longer be padding around softly on the edges of ones life.

Opinion contributor Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes at DickPolman.net. His work appears on Mondays on the Capital-Stars Commentary Page. Readers may email him at [emailprotected].

Continued here:
Pennsylvania, the birthplace of democracy, could elect an insurrectionist governor | Dick Polman - Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn has suspended her campaign for Congress.

Hahn made the announcement on Twitter Sunday afternoon.

This was not an easy decision, but Im confident its the right one. Democratic unity is the most important thing we can bring to the fight to flip NY-01 this year, which is why I will support my colleague Bridget Fleming, Hahn said in a tweet.

The legislator vowed to stay active in the Democratic effort to flip the First Congressional District, a seat held since 2015 by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), the Republican and Conservative parties designee for governor, who is not seeking re-election.

While Im stepping aside today as a candidate, I will not stay on the sidelines in this election, Kahn said. With the future of our democracy, fundamental rights, and the environment at stake, we have a critical mission. I hope all my supporters will stay in this fight, she said.

Kahns announcement comes one day after Jackie Gordon, whos Copiague residence was in NY-01 on the map adopted by the state but struck down by the N.Y. Court of Appeals last month, announced she is running again in NY-02, where she was the Democratic candidate in 2020, but lost to Andrew Garbarino.

Ive said throughout this campaign that I intend to represent my home community, and I will run in the district I live in, which is NY-02, Gordon said in a press release Saturday.

With Hahn and Gordon out of the race, Fleming is the only remaining candidate in the race for the Democratic nomination with any significant campaign war chest, according to the Federal Elections Commission website.

Previously declared candidates for the Democratic nod Nicholas Antonucci, John Atkinson and Austin Smith have suspended their campaigns. Greg Fischer of Calverton has declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in NY-01 but is not registered with the Federal Elections Commission, according to the FEC website.

Nick LaLota, former Suffolk County commissioner of elections and former Village of Amityville trustee, has the Republican and Conservative parties designation for Congress in NY-01.

LaLota does not live in the First Congressional District but has said he will move into the district if elected. Congressional candidates are not required by law to live in the district where they are seeking election. They need only be a resident of the State of New York.

LaLota is facing a primary challenge from Anthony Figliola of East Setauket and Cait Corrigan of Patchogue.

The party primary election in New York State was pushed back from June 28 to Aug. 23 due to litigation over the states redistricting maps. The states highest court, the N.Y. Court of Appeals, last month ruled the congressional and state senate maps adopted by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor was unconstitutionally gerrymandered for partisan advantage. The Court of Appeals directed the trial court in the case to appoint an independent special master to draw new maps. The trial court late Friday night adopted the special masters final maps.

The congressional map adopted by the court significantly alters the boundaries of NY-01, which now excludes southeastern Brookhaven Town but takes in the entire north shore of Suffolk County to the Nassau County border.

Under a May 11 court order concerning the 2022 political calendar, candidates who qualified for the June 28 primary ballot remain qualified for the Aug. 23 primary ballot. But new candidates have until June 10 to file nominating petitions with the county boards of elections, so the final field of candidates in the Aug. 23 party primary election will not be known until June 11.

The survival of local journalism depends on your support.We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. Support RiverheadLOCAL today.

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Democratic field in NY-01 narrows as Kara Hahn suspends campaign and Jackie Gordon says she's running in NY-02 - RiverheadLOCAL

Democracy Now is committed to bringing you the stories and perspectives you won't hear anywhere else, from the peace activists demanding an end to war to Indigenous leaders fighting to stop fossil fuel extraction and save the planet. Our independent reporting is only possible because were funded by younot by the weapons manufacturers when we cover war or gun violence, not by the oil, gas, coal, or nuclear companies when we cover the climate crisis. Can you donate $10 today to keep us going strong? Every dollar makes a difference. Right now a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, making it twice as valuable to Democracy Now! Please do your part today, and thank you so much. -Amy Goodman

Democracy Now is committed to bringing you the stories and perspectives you won't hear anywhere else, from the peace activists demanding an end to war to Indigenous leaders fighting to stop fossil fuel extraction and save the planet. Our independent reporting is only possible because were funded by younot by the weapons manufacturers when we cover war or gun violence, not by the oil, gas, coal, or nuclear companies when we cover the climate crisis. Can you donate $10 today to keep us going strong? Every dollar makes a difference. Right now a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, making it twice as valuable to Democracy Now! Please do your part today, and thank you so much. -Amy Goodman

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Ginni Thomas Asked Arizona Lawmakers to Help Overturn 2020 Election - Democracy Now!