A Republican Mayor is sleeping where?; Louisiana has Planned Parenthood again; NIMBY lose in Huntington Beach; and, do you know how many Dems are in elected office?

We're NOT Domed: July 30, 2026

How many Democrats do you think are in office across the US?

Apologies in advance for the following word problem

If Democrats are in, conservatively, 40% of elected positions around the country, and there are 519,682 possible seats, there are about 205,063 elected Democrats in the US.

And that doesn’t account for certain nonpartisan positions or appointed positions.

That’s a hell of a lot of elected Dems. It’s not enough, not by a long shot, but it’s a lot.

Which is why it always boggles my mind when I see posts talking about seven members of the Congressional Democratic Caucus as if they are the entire party.

And even if we go with the argument that Congressional Dems ARE the entire party, because the federal seats matter more — which is an argument, it’s not a factual argument, but that’s neither here nor there — we’re at 3% of House Dems, or 2% if we include both legislative bodies.

So either 2% or 7/200k are treated as if they represent all Democrats.

But only when something bad happens.

When something good happens, the people involved in that good thing only represent themselves. Even when the entire party is behind them.

As for Republicans, well there, it seems like people understand the assignment.

There are Republicans that vote with Democrats occasionally, in Thomas Massie’s case, more than occasionally, these days.

But everyone understands that Massie does not speak for the Republican Party. No one praises the Republican Party anytime a Republican, or a few, do something less horrific.

So Republicans are not subjected to the same scrutiny and Dems are only subjected to it in the negative.

No wonder Dems have a low approval rating.

I mean, how could their approval rating ever improve if they are collectively blamed for every single little thing that one person does that a certain portion of people online don’t like?

That’s impossible.

We have a big tent party. That’s just a fact. And that means that there is at least one subsection of the party that each other subsection is not a huge fan of.

So it is, quite literally, impossible for Dems to be the good guys if every subsection uses this logic.

One thing that sets Democrats apart from Republicans right now is that we are not a cult.

We do not have a leader who we listen to without asking questions.

And I think that’s a good thing.

Cause when we start blindly listening to a leader that’s when we stop being Democrats. We stop thinking and feeling and caring about what happens to others and how our actions affect the world and people around us.

But that also means that we’re gonna disagree, passionately. It means that how I see caring about the world and how you see caring about the world might be different.

My nonnegotiable are different from yours because my focus is different from yours.

At this point, ALL Democrats believe that the most important thing we must do is save and strengthen Democracy.

And, right now, that’s enough.

It might not be enough when we’ve had a trifecta for a few years, but it is right now.

It has to be.

Cause the alternative is a party that doesn’t agree with Democracy, doesn’t care and doesn’t even consider how their actions affect others.

And I think that’s worse every single time.

So can we PLEASE stop blaming all Democrats for the actions of a few?

There are some INCREDIBLE Dems at every level of government across every state and municipality. Instead of holding the entire party accountable for what seven people did, lift up those who are doing the right thing, especially those who don’t get much attention for it.

You are not convincing the Dems to “stick to the status quo” by focusing on supporting the ones who impress you, but you ARE convincing them not to listen to you when there is not a single second they can collectively do one thing right.

It’s in our power to change the Dems approval rating. And if you ever want the kind of progress you dream about, that’s what we have to do.

Aurora, Colorado

Tue, June 16 - Republican Mayor Mike Coffman has always had pretty unconventional methods for creating change, especially when it comes to homelessness.

In 2021, two years after he was elected Mayor, he spent a week on the street undercover as a homeless veteran so he could learn what his constituents go though and how he could best help.

He told CBS News Denver at the time:

I don’t think a lot of policymakers like myself understand it. ... I think there’s so many questions -- Where’s their income? How do they exist? And what is the profile of people in homeless encampments?

Fast forward to 2025 and Advanced Pathways, where he is on the board, created the Aurora Regional Navigation Center (ARNC) to help get those experiencing homelessness into transitional housing through a tiered system.

In February he found out that ARNC was making those staying there really sick with bad plumbing, among other things especially in Tier 1’s basic shelter.

Almost immediately, instead of trying to push it under the rug, he started spending his Friday nights in Tier 1 so he could see first hand what needed to change.

It wasn’t until June that he announced he has been doing this for the past 5 months:

Every Friday afternoon, I leave my office for the ARNC where I meet with the men and women who are staying in Tier I. I stay overnight in the men’s’ congregate shelter sleeping on a cot. In the morning, I help set up and serve breakfast to everyone in Tier I

And he’s gonna keep doing it:

I will continue to stay with those experiencing homelessness, every Friday night, until the program is everything that I believe that it can be and it is a model, not just for Colorado, but for the country.

I rarely use this series to praise a Republican, but how could I not? He’s walking his talk in such a literal way and that really matters.

And I do believe him when he says he’s gonna do this for as long as it takes. I hope other Mayors and elected officials follow in his footsteps and make sure all their constituents can live a life of dignity with their basic needs met.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Wed, June 24 - In September. Planned Parenthood shut their doors in Louisiana, last year thanks to the Big Ugly Bill. Now, they are back in New Orleans.

Louisiana has joined the Planned Parenthood Great Plains Network. With their support the state can resume telehealth services this summer and open the new New Orleans facility in the fall.

While they will still not be able to provide abortion services, they will be able to provide support for those going out of state. They will also provide “contraception, STI testing and treatment, gender-affirming care, pregnancy testing, perimenopause and menopause care, vasectomies, cancer screenings, and other preventive health services.“

Their abortion services are important, but Planned Parenthood is so much more and it’s so important to see them coming back to New Orleans.

Emily Wales, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains told the Louisiana Illuminator:

When we took a hard look at the patients who had been coming to Planned Parenthood [in Louisiana] and the lack of resources for those patients trying to find other providers, we knew that there was a gap we could fill.

She continued:

We have fought constitutional fights. We have pushed for state legislators to do better, and we’re going to bring that same energy to Louisiana.

Every day I hear people talk about how Louisiana is on no one’s priority list for creating change, and I hope this story changes your mind.

Huntington Beach, California

Wed, July 1 - Huntington Beach has lost yet another lawsuit against the state as they try to do everything in their power not to provide affordable housing.

In 2021 they were supposed to create a plan for how to increase the amount of affordable housing and refused. In 2023 the state sued and in May they won.

However, Huntington Beach countersued, arguing that the lawsuits, violated their freedom of speech, which is illegal in California thanks to the Anti-SLAPP Statute of 1992.

As, I’m sure you can expect, Superior Court of San Diego Judge, Katherine Bacal was incredibly unimpressed with this argument and ruled against Huntington Beach.

Attorney General, Rob Bonta broke it down in a statement:

Huntington Beach claimed it was immune from state housing laws because it’s a charter city. It lost. It claimed that having to comply with state housing laws violated its First Amendment rights. It lost. Now it’s lost on its claim that the State can be sued simply for enforcing state housing law. No more excuses. It’s time for the City to adopt and implement a lawful housing element.

And they aren’t stopping there. On July 16, AG Bonta announced five more cities that the state is suing over their refusal to create more affordable housing.

And I’m confident that those judges will be just as unimpressed with those cities. Hopefully, after enough of these lawsuits, California Republican enclaves will finally realize they don’t have a leg to stand on.

Or maybe, we can just flip their city councils and it won’t matter anymore. This is why voting is so important.

I feel like most people who aren’t directly affected by California prioritizing affordable housing might not even know how big a priority it actually is. So, now you know and hopefully this can give you some hope that we won’t stop combating Republican’s lack of values.

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So those are today’s stories. I hope you learned something and it makes you wanna keep fighting!

Remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!

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If you made it to the end, comment 🏝️(beach) because Huntington Beach is losing and it’s beautiful to see.