campaign 2020 coverage differs from all other coverage for one reason, it is c-span, the people who brought you unfiltered government since 1979 are bringing you an updated view of the people seeking to steer the government this november. your future. see the biggest picture for yourself and make up your own mind. you as aign 2020, but public service by your cable television provider. we want to welcome jessica post, president of the democratic legislative campaign committee, which is what? jessica: we are the official democratic party organization committed to building power in state legislatures. our job is to flip state legislatures from red to blue across the country and increase democratic representation in the states. i want to put on thp of changing representation in congress. it shows the population ship we have across the country.

-- population shift we have across the country. texas is expected to gain as many as three house seats come along with florida, north carolina. michigan, illinois losing seats. in terms of your efforts in these states, what is it? guest: part of the reason we do the work we do is state legislatures draw congressional lines in 35 states. in states like texas, where they are gaining an additional congressional seat, one thing we are looking at is our ability to flip the texas statehouse from red to blue. we only need nine seats to flip texas. beto o'rourke won all of those seats last cycle. we have an upcoming special election in texas. it is not make or break to win the chamber, but if we flip it from red to blue, having a democrat holding the texas speaker's gavel gives us 80 --

seat at the table for redistricting. in 2010, republicans had this national strategy where they had an effort of flipping state legislatures and the idea was they wanted to get a 10 year control on the united states congress. now we are doing everything we can. we are better positioned than ever to flip state legislatures red to blue in advance of the 2021 congressional legislative redistricting. host: for those not involved in public -- politics, when you say flip, a slain what you mean. -- explain what you mean. guest: we have a national strategy to flip 13 states red to blue. the republicans have done a great effort to control legislative chambers. since trump, we have changed democratic control in 10 state legislatures. republicans used to have majority control. now democrats do. host: those states include what? .uest: minnesota

we flipped virginia red to blue. we flipped the colorado state senate red to blue. we flipped both changers -- chambers in new hampshire. host: democrats were critical of one seat in particular, pennsylvania, for what they call the gerrymandering of congressional districts. will democrats keep that in mind if they control the house and senate to make sure they do not do what the republicans did? guest: absolutely. one goal of ours in terms of flipping chambers red to blue is we only need four seats to flip the pennsylvania senate, nine to flip the statehouse. democrats believe in fairness. if you look at states that have nonpartisan redistricting, it was democratic legislatures, blue states, that have put these nonpartisan commissions into place. truly, democrats felt locked out --the process in the 22 and in the 2010 election cycle. in 2021, they want to make changes to make things inclusive.

host: how can you take politics out of redistricting? politicians determine the lines. guest: it is challenging. that is why, and so many democratic states, there have -- has we have learned a lot from what happened in the 2010 election cycle, where republicans drew maps and what they called the bunker in ohio. in wisconsin, republicans locked democrats out of the redistricting process. many of these republican drawn maps have been challenged in court as racial or partisan gerrymandering and have been thrown out, like cap it in pennsylvania. democrats have learned from this and i think have a sense that fairness is the most important thing if we are drawing legislative and congressional lines in the next cycle. host: republicans claim this impeachment is a sham and democrats are overlaying their

-- overplaying their hand. guest: it is a bad moment for america that impeachment is happening at all. no one went into congress wanting to move forward on impeachment in the case of another president. obviously, president trump has given ample reason to move forward with impeachment. it is a sad moment for america. the reality is democrats have flipped two state legislative chambers red to blue and virginia. despite donald trump going to campaign in louisiana, we flipped the louisiana governor maintained his governorship. we have won so much since impeachment started. that is not the reason why it is progressing, but the american people are on our side. 70% of americans think trump should be removed from office. host: our guest is jessica

post. your background is what? guest: i studied political science and communication. i started doorknocking as a college democrat in rural missouri and did campaign work around the country. i ended up here at the dlcc. host: and your pick for the super bowl? guest: i grew up on the st. louis side. i have to go kansas city. host: this is from the president. in the impeachment hoax is a massive election interference the likes of which has never been seen before. the radical left, do nothing democrats have seen their phony case shredded. shifty is exposed for illegally making up my phone call and more. what impact has the impeachment case had on state legislative races, if any? guest: in virginia, there was a concern that, with this increase turnout we decisively won both changers

-- chambers. we picked up seats in the house and flipped seats in the virginia senate. in many ways, impeachment set the stage. trump's rhetoric is ridiculous on this. we have seen a mobilization of the democratic base, even in light of what happened with redistricting which happened all across virginia. host: our phone lines are open. good morning. caller: good morning. this is connected and maybe not connected. the democrats and i am a nonparty affiliate, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot, always talking social issues. most americans are concerned about the mortgage, car payments, how the kids will go to school, how things will be

better. the reason i am a nonparty affiliate is things were good for me under ronald reagan and bill clinton and barack obama. it's not a party thing. it's a social issue thing and the democrats need to stop propping up al sharpton and elizabeth warren and even bernie. he's not the right man for the job. they need the joe biden's and the tom steyer's. am i saying that right?

they need moderates like that. we don't need to go so far right. we don't need to go so far left. the democrats could put people like joe biden and this guy tom. i would absolutely vote for that. if they keep putting up these way out there candidates, we will wind up with four years of the schoolyard bully again. he is just weird. host: i am going to leave that there. guest: the most recent case in 2019, we say exactly what he said, talking about the kitchen table issues. the impact state legislatures have where we see bridges, the schools your kids might go to, those things are determined by state legislatures. what we say to our candidates across the country is tell your

personal story and listen to what your constituents have to say. they are concerned about the quality schools, concerned about traffic. a delegate focused on the traffic in virginia as she campaigned. she knew that was pressing for her constituents. this is really about focusing on those kitchen table issues that are pressing and a real concern for the quality of life for people in these districts. host: let me share with you this headline from the washington post online. here are some of the details from north carolina where lawmakers have been forced back

to the drawing board again after the current map was drawn illegally. this is the latest judicial review of gerrymandering in north carolina. guest: the north carolina supreme court ruled that the legislature have lost its right to popular sovereignty because they are such a gerrymandered body. the maps have improved in north carolina after the supreme court made rulings. after the supreme court ruled they would not interfere with gerrymandering, it would go to the states. state legislatures and governors and supreme court's will determine what a gerrymandered is or isn't. it is still being ruled on at the supreme court level. partisan gerrymandering is now

just something the states have to resolve. this is a trend we have seen with an action at the federal level. democrats across the country have made progress bypassing protections for roe v. wade, improving education, improving voting rights. host: john roberts wrote this in his opinion from june last year. this leads to results that seem unjust. that such gerrymandering is incompatible with democratic principles does not mean that this lies with the federal judiciary. guest: this is another piece of federalism in america. so many decisions are decided in the state legislatures.

that's why we need to place more of an emphasis on it. this is the supreme court shirking their responsibility. they have ruled another gerrymandering cases. instead, they said the state should move. that's why it's more important to flip these legislatures in order for us to gain a democratic seat at the table when it comes to redistricting. host: gerrymandering is alive and well. the coming battle will be eager -- will be bigger than ever. rob is in north carolina. caller: what is she trying to say? our country is doing great? we are doing great.

host: to that? guest: there is income inequality, there are places like oklahoma and kansas where children are only going to school four days a week because the state government neglected its responsibility to fund schools. if you talk to americans, they would say to you and this is true when i talked to my mom in st. louis or my dad or members of my family, it's more difficult to make your way in the united states.

people need to jobs to make it. i think we need a lot of change to make progress. that is the truth of the matter. host: barbara is next in pennsylvania. good morning. caller: what i have to say, i did not get a chance to speak when elizabeth was speaking. i want the nation to know that we half to decide if we are going to be a democratic society or run by authoritarians. everything trump says is leading toward that. he wants to be the head of everything, eliminate the main body of our government.

when democrats are speaking and saying they will do this or that, the people you are talking to, go back to those areas. just like in michigan with the water, nothing is ever been done about that. correct the things, they need schools and hospitals. go into the communities. do those things. that's all i have to say. we have to be a country of truth. that's all i have to say. we have to step up to the plate. guest: thank you. i couldn't agree more. there is a lot of action at this time and there is only so much the federal government can do. great legislation is being

passed the house. it's not moving through the senate. what we have to do is elect more democrats. when that happens, democrats of made movements on gun safety in oregon and paid family leave. in virginia, they have passed expansion to the franchise to make your voters are automatically registered to vote. we really believe in democracy. we need to make sure that people have the essential right to vote, that they are voting in fair districts. in north carolina where 49% of the vote goes to a statewide candidate but only get one third of the delegations, this is not fairly portioned. i agree with you. i've been very impressed i the work about the water in flint. host: your counterpart had this to say about your efforts. democrats cannot beat president trump and they cannot take back the senate. they are spending staggering sums in state elections. we are going to stop them by protecting our majorities in states we have held for years. guest: i'm glad he acknowledged that they are heavily

gerrymandered district. republicans control all of those legislators going into redistricting. they heavily gerrymandered districts. democrats have a half in the senate and the presidency. democrats did take their eye off the ball in 2010 and did not focus on state legislatures. we gave republicans a decade in congress. they dismantled voting rights, collective bargaining, they put abortion restrictions on and that is continuing with a number of states where this is happen. we need democrats to vocus on -- to focus on early infrastructure in the state. we've invested $1 million in states like pennsylvania, north carolina, all across the country for us to build up the campaign capacity to win. that will help the eventual

nominee for the democrats for president. it will help people get elected to the senate. we have to build the party from the ground up. host: what david abrams was saying, they are gerrymandering the state seats. guest: we don't have control any of the statehouses he listed. we are not gerrymandering how seats. i think you will see that is democrats take over. in colorado, democrats could exert control over the redistricting process. the speaker supported an independent commission. democrats believe in fairness. you will see that in democrat

run processes. host: could we see more independent commissions? guest: in north carolina, they would benefit. the republican controlled state legislature won't have it. michigan just put voters, not politicians in. a few things that happened, the

state legislature had tried to defund the commission. scott walker's organization was sued in federal court to dismantle the commission. republicans assault independent commissions. if they believed in fair districting, they would have done it in 2010 and they didn't. they have been struck down by many federal courts. they would support the independent commissions which they do not. host: good morning. caller: good morning, steve. how have you been? i am slowly recovering. i had my blood pressure up. i know when my blood pressure hits that mark. host: stay healthy. caller: i'm glad you got a civilized person that doesn't lie and steal from people. before i get to her, you had a caller from texas on who was 92. i am so glad you are alive and well. i was worried about you. it was so good hearing that you are ok. she is just wonderful. host: all of the callers are wonderful. caller: the ones that don't violate, i keep a journal on the journal. you have republicans that consistently violate your line that you should be on. they call on the democrat line and the independent line. host: host: let's get to your

point is we are short on time. -- because we are short on time. caller: jessica, i am an independent who may switch to the democrats if you throw your full weight of the democratic party behind bernie. that's where you messed up last time. republicans, the voice of the people elected hillary clinton. i did not vote for her. i would never vote for a republican as a retired union machinist. don't throw roadblocks in front of bernie if that's who the democrats want on the ticket. we will win and i will reregister from independent to democrat. i got a letter from my pension fund. it was not a good news letter.

host: we've got to move on. thank you very much for the call. caller: i just of like being lied to. i don't like being stolen from. that's what the republicans do. this guy belongs in prison. guest: it's great to hear from a retired union machinists. it's good to engage.

we are not really involved in the presidential election. we don't get involved in primaries. we think it's important for voters to choose the candidates they think are best. we help win state legislative victories. i agree with you that what should happen is voters in the states should make your decisions. we will be excited to work with whoever the nominee is. any of these nominees are great alternative. host: this is from james in tennessee, a text message. my comment is it takes a great deal of money and time to be elected to state legislatures. doesn't it? guest: state legislatures are different. we are in different districts, different district sizes. in montana, people are elected

with 1500 votes. we do need to make it so people of all economic levels can run for the state legislature. it costs less in states like montana or new hampshire. in new hampshire, the legislative salary is only $100. people might have a tough time taking time off work and they might not be able to run for the legislature. that is a problem with the process in the states. you do have to raise funds to compete. many of our districts in the small geographies, you can knock on doors and talk to people in your community. if you think there are challenges to democracy, people are really engaging in new hampshire and been elected by 1500 votes. host: we will go to kentucky next. go ahead. caller: i have to plug it in. can you hear me? i wish that the president's defense lawyers would bring up the fact that the money to

ukraine being held up by the president was released ahead of time. it was meant for ukraine for this year. for 2020. host: thank you. guest: from my perspective, it's very clear the president did hold up resources to ukraine. many of the pieces of evidence i would love to see verifies that. host: some background on whatsit -- what is at stake after the census. the democratic party lost nearly 1000 state seats during the obama presidency. republicans kroll -- control 60% of all state legislative changers -- chambers.

this is from the national conference of state legislatures. next is renee from mississippi. good morning. caller: hello. i've voted for jill stein. i would like to ask your guest, you think states have the sovereign right to conduct elections without interference? guest: i think many of the rights to implement elections are given to the states. there are federal voting guidelines. you don't need any sort of electoral interference at any point. one of the things we do know is

that state legislatures in voting districts create voting laws. in one of the republican strategies after 2010 was to restrict voting and to create voter id laws another restrictions around voting hours. that is something we will take back. another thing people may not know is the right to allocate electoral votes is given to state legislators. we could move forward on an interstate popular vote compact and the national popular vote system. there is so much power inside state legislatures and we need to get focused on that. host: fort lauderdale, florida. good morning. caller: you fit the nail on the head with state legislatures. 2010 in 2014, democrats did not come out to vote.

republicans always vote. that's why they got that. i hope they don't let any witnesses in. i don't hope they let any new information. in my opinion, i hope all the republicans vote to keep him in. that makes him look more corrupt. it makes the republicans look like what they really are, his lackeys. they are going to do whatever he wants. i think he's going to get killed in the next election. host: thank you. your reaction? guest: as democrats, we want a fair trial in the senate. those republicans have been enabling president trump to their actions. i don't know that we will get a fair trial. we have seen that signaled from mitch mcconnell in terms of how he has been conducting this. for the sake of our democracy, i

hope there is a fair trial and republicans come to their senses and vote the right way after they are able to get a look at the evidence and take this seriously. what i have seen so far, we've been waiting for a brave republican to stand up. that hasn't happened. host: do you sense that either lamarr alexander or mitt romney would vote to have witnesses? guest: it's hard to predict actions. they have an ethical standard. i'm encouraged by the signals we've seen. it would be great if there were other republican senators who would put country over party. my hope is we move forward to

make sure this is truly a fair trial and republicans don't lay down on the party line. host: david, good morning. caller: good morning. i've got a question. it's kind of an observation as much as anything. i've been watching this game for a while, maybe 50 years. all the teachers, all the lawyers, the media, they are all of one party. that's nationwide. it's everything. they are 95% democrat. when you go to small business owners, i mean small. even 10 employees. they are all republicans. elizabeth harrington would've been a great tennis player.

i would have another question. this is about party identification. why is the media so deeply invested in the democrat party? 95% registration, that always concerns me. i see it on a local level. there is a double standard we see, the steele dossier, cambridge analytic. there are sins on both sides, i understand that. i'm looking at the result of a one-party system in new york.

we've lost 180,000 people since last year. the right tire is are leaving -- retirees are leaving. our governor said conservatives need not apply. they are not welcome here. that's just my observation. why is the media predominantly the democrat party? host: the great part about this program is we get to hear from you, we are just here to provide all points of view. we appreciate you sharing your view on this. guest: we are very proud of our chairman. we flipped the new york state senate in 2018. to me, a lot of of the forecasting you're talking about

is it the result of a single party. we have seen record job growth in california and new york, there are 243 fortune 500 companies. there is a lot of big business in states that lean democrat. i don't know that the press is in the tank for one party or another. i studied journalism as an undergraduate. you take a note to make sure you report the truth as you see it. they are reporting the truth as

they see it. i know of a lot of small business owners who are emma kratz. they say -- are democrats. i'm not sure -- i appreciate your observation. i'm not sure that we have as much cohesion or as much of a monolith in terms of the profession. we are proud of the progress that's been made in democrat run states. they banned democratic legislatures from gdp. democrats are the party of opportunity and we will continue to be. we believe an opportunity for all. host: i hope i am pronouncing your name properly. caller: that's correct. i am just north of grand rapids. thanks for taking my call. my first comment would be the percentage of people who want president trump removed and impeached. there is no pull out there that says 70% of the people want him out. that is a lie.

the only reason democrats regained the house was because of this crazy scandal about russia collusion. i think the republicans would've held the house. if you're going to speak the truth, speak the truth. there has never been a poll that said 70% of the people want trump kicked out of office. host: a poll from abc news said 66% want witnesses. caller: that could be. the problem i see is now that the house has their fiasco on how to do this impeachment, now they want to be fair in the senate. i find that hard to believe. host: thanks for the call. guest: anyone who has been in a courtroom realizes what happens in a trial is witnesses are

called. as i said earlier, they need to make the right decision. we need more focus on the states. there is progress in virginia. they are making progress on gun safety. they are doing incredible things extending the franchise on voter registration. host: jill is in illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. it's very good to finally get on. i do watch the impeachment. i watched them on c-span. i will watch more of those this week. i am truly independent. i was a democrat once.

citizens united made the most important thing, the democrats and republicans, there is not enough difference. they are all driven by the money situation. a lot of people knew donald trump has been somebody who's passed practices, he's defaulted on loans, on small business contractors who did jobs, that's been his practice with contractors and buyers, to do the work on his developments. when he was elected in 2016, i was more appalled.

i voted for jill stein. i wanted to break their grip. i did petitioning and things for the green party. that is the only option that i see in breaking the overwhelming power of the two parties who have taken over the operation, the congressional and presidential activities. host: let's get a response. guest: i do think there are significant differences between the values of the parties. we do things like expand health care, extend medicaid. in virginia, we voted to protect

trends students -- trans students. we have made so much progress on key issues. i think there is a big difference between the parties. in order for us -- i do appreciate your work and your interest. in states like michigan, you can put things on the ballot as citizens. there has been a lot of progress through that process. i think it's a great way to make a change. host: the republicans spent $30 million in state assemblies. guest: our planet to spend more than $50 million across the country.

-- plan is to spend more than $50 million across the country. if we make early investments, we had to scale up our operation going into 2020. that's what motivated me, to make sure we had a better operation and we would fight to make sure in advance that democrats were better positioned. host: were the democrats expecting what the republicans did in 2010? guest: i don't know that we were. they were prepared for the old battles. fights with attorneys, data. we did not have enough resources. democrats spent $10 million and it gave republicans decade hold on congress. we won't make that mistake again. on election night in 2010, i was in pennsylvania.

we had lost 21 state seats in the chamber. we have to do everything we can to take back these legislatures. that's why we have the organization to do that. host: thank you very much for stopping by. we hope you will come again. guest: it's an honor to be on c-span. >> c-span "washington journal". morning, we are getting your reaction as the senate impeachment trial of president trump resumes this week. and roll calls officer will be with us to give us the latest on the impeachment trial. a short to watch c-span's "washington journal" coming up at 7:00 this morning, join the discussion. >> senator bernie sanders holds a rally in ames, iowa ahead of

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