Don Kusler: Democrats dominated 2023 with victories for reproductive rights, labor

2023 was a good year for Democrats and their issues at the ballot box. Virginia put MAGA allied politicians with higher aspirations, such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin, on notice. Democrats maintained control of the Virginia Senate and regained control of its House control, halting Youngkin's agenda for his final two years in office.

That's a victory for Democrats. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won an unlikely reelection. This provided Democrats with an interesting snapshot into how to govern and campaign in a progressive way yet connect with a challenging electorate. That's another victory for the left. Two ballot initiative in Ohio favored Democratic positions.

The first was a crass attempt by Ohio Republicans to head off a November ballot measure protecting a woman’s right to choose. By conducting a special election aimed at requiring a supermajority for public ballot measures to become law, this measure challenged both women’s rights and our democracy.

The vote wasn’t close in what has become a deeply Republican state. Then on the November ballot, a measure protecting reproductive choice passed by a similar margin. These electoral victories make a difference. Just look at two Midwestern states that used Democratic majorities paired with Democratic governors to gain a range of legislative victories.

In Michigan and Minnesota, Democratic control brought gun safety laws, protections for reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ communities, climate friendly measures and more ability of workers to organize. Labor, a traditional Democratic bloc, repeatedly made gains this past year by standing up, speaking out and winning favorable contracts.

Workers already had notched victories at Amazon and Starbucks in 2022. This trend continued in 2023 with the headline grabbing strikes for writers in the entertainment industry and auto workers. Sometimes victory comes more in the form of problems for your opponents. The year 2023 proved that point for Democrats with a stack of woes for Republicans.

It was hard not to see that the Republican Party remains wrapped tightly around the little finger of dictator in waiting Donald Trump. His legal woes business wrongdoing in New York, the careless handling of sensitive documents, and insurrectionist behavior on a national scale contrast nicely for Democrats against their governing and electoral successes.

The Republican controlled House of Representatives provides another contrast with its chaotic and dysfunctional running of the people’s business. Leadership elections seems pretty straightforward. The party with the most members elects a speaker and goes about its work. Not so with the 2023 Republican House Caucus.

It took four days and 15 votes to get Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R Calif., as their speaker. Then came a series of bizarre and fruitless political projects including committee hearings, impeachment inquiries and bills with no meaningful results for the people. The one exception was a deal McCarthy finally made on the most basic of functions funding the government.

But that promptly cost him his job. Did the chaos subside? Well, no. More speaker votes and infighting followed over the next three weeks until Rep. Mike Johnson, R La., was finally elected speaker. The sum of this very public display of broken and unfit leadership for Republicans can be seen as nothing other than a victory for Democrats.

So a quick review of the naughty vs. nice list shows Republicans with a 2023 record filled with dysfunction, contrasting nicely with the Democrats' roster of electoral, legislative and ally victories. Yes, 2023 was a good year for Democrats..