“My vote doesn’t matter.”
We’ve all heard the phrase time and again, but we say: tell that to Meghan Tubbs, an Ohio woman whose last-minute decision to vote had ripple effects that changed everything for her state.
In August 2023, Ohio held a special election on a referendum that would have made it significantly harder for voter-led initiatives to propose and approve amendments to the Ohio State Constitution.
The special election was pushed by Republicans to keep the Issue 1 ballot initiative, which would have protected significant access to abortion in the state, off the November ballot. (The ballot initiative Red Wine & Blue fought for!)
The day before the special election, Meghan was visiting her grandfather, Ronald Tubbs, in Warren, Pennsylvania. He passed away that Monday morning at the age of eighty-three.
Meghan wanted to stay and mourn with her family, but she knew the best way to memorialize her grandfather wouldn’t be in Pennsylvania. Her grandfather never missed an election, so she wasn’t about to, either.
Meghan and her husband drove nearly six hours, making it just in time to vote against Issue 1. The next day, she discovered the initiative was defeated in her county by one vote – her vote.
Meghan’s decision to vote ensured Ohioans’ right to vote on their reproductive rights initiative that November, which went on to codify reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution, including access to contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and the restoration of Roe v. Wade-era abortion access.
Any of us could be Meghan. Since 2018, Ballotpedia reports that 734 elections have been decided by 10 votes or fewer, including 104 decided by a single vote. One trip to the polls, one box ticked next to a candidate’s name could be the deciding factor in whether you have access to reproductive care, your child’s school receives funding, or whether you have a data center built in your backyard.
It’s on us to ensure that one last vote is cast – one conversation at a time.
Having real conversations with your circle, especially those who don’t always vote, are hearing disinformation, or just aren’t paying attention, could change the outcome of critical state and local elections. Research shows that voters are at least 2.5 times more likely to be swayed by a friend or family member than by a stranger – we just need to be willing to have those conversations.
Yesterday, November 1st, Red Wine & Blue brought together over 1,200 people for an in-person event in West Chester, Philadelphia. The line stretched for ages, wrapping around the college campus, with people eager to do anything they could to elect a trifecta in their state.
Red Wine & Blue’s founder, Katie Paris, put them to work. She asked the crowd to think of all the people they could talk to about voting before Tuesday’s midterms. Anyone in their lives who needed one more nudge, help with their voting plan, or had any last-minute questions about their ballot.
Attendees wrote down how many conversations they planned to have in the next two days. In the end, they pledged over 21,000 conversations with friends and family. Any one of those conversations could be the vote that flips a seat, funds a library, or turns the tide in our direction.
If you want to listen to that event with Heather Cox Richardson, you can hear it on our How To Not Lose Your Sh!t podcast! Pennsylvania was the last stop in our 4-state tour with Heather before the midterms and we couldn’t be more grateful for the thousands of Red Wine & Blue members who showed up… and, of course, for Heather herself.
There’s still time for you to get involved, too. Text that friend you talk politics with. Call family members who haven’t quite decided whether they’re voting.
Don’t wake up on Wednesday morning wishing you’d done more.