Down-Ballot Politics With Daniel Nichanian of Bolts

Election season is still a few months away, but the scent of it is already on the wind. There is a lot at stake in the presidential election, of course, but that's not the only issue for voters in November. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Daniel Nichanian of Bolts Magazine to get a deeper understanding of the importance of the many down-ballot races on which Americans will be casting votes this fall. We examine state Supreme Court elections in Arizona and North Carolina, and discuss how abortion may affect various swing state races in places like Florida. Narrator | 00:02 - This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise. Daniel Nichanian (DN) | 00:15 - Trump named the federal justices that overturned Roe. And then the Governor DeSantis signed the law that is now at issue in Florida. So the dots very much connect to Republicans who are already, you know, being put on a defensive on these issues. Whether that actually translates into the presidential race being more competitive, that might be a stretch. We'll see. Narrator | 00:39 - Election season is still a few months away, but the scent of it is already on the wind. There is a lot at stake in the presidential election, of course, but that's not the only issue for voters in November. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Daniel Nichanian of Bolts Magazine to get a deeper understanding of the importance of the many down-ballot races on which Americans will be casting votes this fall. We examine state Supreme Court elections in Arizona and North Carolina, and discuss how abortion may affect various swing state races in places like Florida. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:30 - I am joined now on Sea Change Radio by Daniel Nichanian. He's the founder and editor of Bolts Magazine. Daniel, welcome back to Sea Change Radio. Daniel Nichanian (DN) | 01:41 - It's great to be back. Thanks for having me. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:43 - So, when we first spoke, you were just launching Bolts. Before we dive into all the, the nuts and bolts of this upcoming election, tell us what the mission of the organization is and how it's been evolving since we last spoke a couple years ago. Daniel Nichanian (DN) | 01:59 -Um, yeah, so it's, it's really great to be back after a few years of having Bolts in the world. Now, Bolts… the idea behind Bolts is that for a lot of the big issues that people are interested in or care about, the federal government, just as a very small slice of what's important, of what's happening, it's very important to be aware of the ways in which counties, municipalities, state are also very, very important when it comes to matters linked to civil rights, voting rights, and, and so on. And, and what Bolts does is on the themes we cover, which are really focused on criminal justice on one hand and, and vote voting rights on the other, um, we, we really pay, pay attention to what's happening around the country at these levels, at the local level, at the municipal level, at the county level, at the state level. And we try to connect the dots for people because, you know, there's, uh, a lot of states, a lot of cities, a lot of towns in, around, around the country. And, it's easy to miss the forest for the trees. And it's been great, you know, there's been a lot of interest, um, in the past few years at what's happening with prosecutors, with judges, with sheriffs, with election officials, uh, and the laws that are changing in blue states and red states that are sort of going in in different ways. And it's been great to have this platform to cover all of these issues.  AW | 03:19 - And when somebody watches cable news on election night, that's maybe the first time that they'll look at down-ballot races for the year or for the cycle. I think it's really important to be a part of the Democratic process 24 7, and that's what Bolts is designed to do. DN | 03:39 - Yeah, and I think sometimes it may seem esoteric, uh, or it's,