Direct Democracy Diaries Episode 6: From Victory to Vigilance: Richard von Glahn on Post-Election Power

11/12/2025

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In this episode of Direct Democracy Diaries, Chris and Caroline are joined by Richard von Glahn, a longtime ballot initiative strategist with Missouri Jobs with Justice. Together, they explore what happens after the win — when implementation battles begin and the work of organizing deepens. From California’s Proposition 50 and Maine’s defense of voting access, to Colorado’s tax reforms for school meals, they trace 2025 ballot trends that shape the road to 2026. Richard shares stories from Missouri’s fight to uphold Proposition A, lessons from campaigns won and lost, and how movement-building becomes the foundation for long-term power. This episode highlights why organizing doesn’t end at the ballot box — and how every campaign is a step toward collective agency.

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Highlights from the episode with Richard von Glahn: 

  • “The nexus that I often try to focus on or the North Star is actually about power, because often the reason that we are having to do ballot initiatives to begin with is because of the structures that disempower. Workers and working communities why do we have a low minimum wage? We shouldn’t. Why don’t we expand Medicaid? We should. But it’s because there is a power imbalance. So as we work on policies, yes, we want to win policies. We want to improve material conditions for workers. But actually what we want people to engage in is a power building exercise. Where at the end of this, it’s not just, oh, the wage went up or I got paid sick days, but I actually now have a greater sense of my own power and my own agency in the world. And when we stay focused on that, the transformation goes far beyond the policy. It goes into how people view themselves as agents of change.” 
  • “There’s lots of data about how union members tend to have higher rates of participation in our democracy, higher just voter registration rates, higher voting rates. And it’s because they’re in a culture of collective action and agency, and that reinforces some of the values of democracy as a concept.” 
  • “A well-functioning system is one where working people are experiencing agency and collective decision making and a healthy democracy, both in their workplaces and in their civil society and in any organization they’re a part of. I am a deep believer that democracy everywhere is going to get us the best results and keep our community bound together in a really healthy way. And of course, the opponents of that are always seeking to divide our community in dangerous and unhealthy ways.” 
  • “It was a loss. Does it hurt? It hurts. Absolutely, it hurts. But we have also built something out of that that has had tremendous success. And so you always have to look at campaigns as to how are you doing them and what is that positioning you for? Which people based in your state are learning new skills, are developing new leadership, are going to be able to run the next campaign?” 
  • “Yes, we want to win. We absolutely want to. The policy is important, and also movement building is important. Sometimes people think those things are in conflict, but the reality that Missouri has very clearly shown is that those things work in concert with one another.” 
  • “Make sure you’re in contact with your community. Does this policy matter to them? Does it resonate? And who does it matter to?” 
  • “We recognize gerrymandering for what it is. It is an attempt to manipulate structures to silence the power of certain people. So in this context, it makes perfect sense to us. Are any of us necessarily experts on gerrymandering? No, but we don’t have to be because we understand a power play for what it is. And are prepared to respond to it as exactly that.” 
  • “The gerrymandering fight, the attack on the ballot initiative process, these are all part of desperate power grabs by politicians against the people of this state. They want to center power in our legislature and not in our people and our communities. Sometimes what I think they don’t realize is that every time they do that — every time they invite us to this dance and every time we win, our power only grows.” 
  • “Time is the one resource that you can’t really change in a ballot initiative process. It is the one thing. So if you want to position power building and in-state power building groups powerfully, what they need more than anything is time. Mobilizing a community takes time. It is education. It is skill building. It is leadership development. It is all of those things that we want to do. And to do that effectively, we need time. What that really means is early investment into the process.” 
  • “If you want a campaign to not just win, but to position the people of the state to be stronger in the future, you have to invest in it early and invest in those people early.” 
  • “Authoritarianism and the threat that we’re really facing is about structures. Whether it’s gerrymandering, or photo ID, or campaign finance. Authoritarianism is not the natural instinct of most Americans, but we can get there when structures are manipulated and twisted in service of that result.” 
  • “What we see is in a state that voted 58% for Donald Trump and nearly 58% for an economy that rewards hardworking, underpaid, and underappreciated people is that actually our values with our community are not what is being reflected right now in the structure of our politics. So what is the solution to authoritarianism? It is always organizing. It is through campaigns that bring people together.” 
  • “Ballot measures are like the way of saying, I hear you, I see you, and I’m going to fight for you.”

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Episode Shownotes:

  • [00:01:13] Discussion of California’s Proposition 50 and its implications on gerrymandering.
  • [00:02:24] Introduction of Richard von Glahn and the significance of Maine’s ballot measures.
  • [00:04:35] Overview of Colorado’s Measures LL and MM and their impact.
  • [00:06:03] Richard’s advocacy background and ballot initiative involvement.
  • [00:10:34] Missouri’s coalition building and strategy after winning ballot measures.
  • [00:14:24] Implementation challenges of Proposition A in Missouri.
  • [00:20:31] Power building lessons from union and worker organizing.
  • [00:23:33] Lessons from failed campaigns and the importance of movement building.
  • [00:27:31] Powerful stories that shaped campaign narratives.
  • [00:31:04] Gerrymandering and initiative process threats in Missouri.
  • [00:33:09] BISC’s role in ballot measure strategy and campaign support.
  • [00:36:20] Importance of early campaign funding for power building.
  • [00:38:47] Lessons from organizing against authoritarian structures.
  • [00:41:33] Advice for new and seasoned advocates in ballot measure work.
  • [00:46:24] Ballot measures as love letters to communities.

Episode Transcript:

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Welcome to the Direct Democracy Diaries, the podcast where we explore the power of ballot measures and the people behind them. I’m Caroline Sanchez Avakian.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

And I’m Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo. Join us as we dive deep into the stories, strategies and successes that are shaping the future of our democracy, one diary entry at a time. Hey, y’all, it’s Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo.

 

Welcome back to the show. Caroline, we chose to record the final two episodes after the November 2025 election so we could have more timely conversations that incorporate the results and how they may help us understand the trends going into the 2026 midterms.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Yes, as we have heard throughout the first election cycle, the lessons learned during a campaign election cycle can have lasting impacts long after Election Day as we move from the campaign to accountability to implementation and governing. So, Chris, what do you think this year’s ballot measure results reveal to us about the road ahead?

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Well, obviously, all eyes were on California’s Proposition 50, which was the state’s efforts to counter gerrymandering efforts by states like, unfortunately, my home state, Texas, after Trump asked Republican leadership to deliver more congressional seats so Republicans can still control the House after the midterms. Voters approved Proposition 50, which counters the authoritarian maneuver to consolidate power and only temporarily changes the congressional maps to give Democrats a competitive advantage. But that isn’t the end of the story.

 

Other Republican governors and state legislators have responded to Trump’s orders, like Missouri, which held a special session in September to further gerrymander the state maps and undermine the will of the people by making the initiative process even more challenging in Missouri. The People Not Politicians campaign launched to stop this illegal gerrymander, and we just happen to have the campaign manager on today’s episode.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Yes, Chris, Richard von Glahn is a veteran of ballot initiative campaigns. And in addition to his work with Missouri Jobs with Justice, we are excited to have him on the show. But, Chris, California wasn’t the only state with important issues on the ballot.

 

Maine also had two measures, question one and question two, which also could shape the 2026 landscape. So first, Mainers voted down, good, a question one, which was an attempt to trick voters into changing their incredibly popular voting systems, a voting system that is a model for so many, could be a model for so many other states and where many states look to them for that voting system. And that system included absentee ballots and multiple ballot drop boxes across communities under the guise of passing a voter I.D. law. Right. So here we are tricking the voters. Over 40 percent of Maine voters, which include rural voters, seniors, shift workers, students, voters with disabilities and others, we rely on to participate in our democracy and often have a harder time getting to the ballot boxes on Election Day.

 

These folks need to participate in our democracy. Fun fact, one of the leaders of the effort to defeat question one was Beth Allen, who Hutch, who was on the show this season, mentioned having worked with on the marriage equality ballot measure more than a decade ago. So it definitely feels like a full circle moment.

 

Maine also approved question two, which will give courts the ability to temporarily prohibit a person from possessing dangerous weapons if that person poses a threat to themselves or to others. And this effort was championed by families of Lewiston mass shooting victims who said the current law failed to prevent this tragedy. This was a huge victory for gun violence prevention and public safety.

 

And these efforts in Maine show us how we can fight for pro voter and community safety policies in 2025 and beyond, something that’s really, really, really important for us to be doing so much more about.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Absolutely. So many lessons learned. And finally, in Colorado, voters approved measures LL and MM.

 

Measure LL allows the state to invest the excess tax revenue to fund free schools for children and teens. And Measure MM taxes the wealthy in Colorado to provide even more funding for healthy meals for students, as well increase wages for incredibly important people like cafeteria workers and gives grants for schools to purchase locally grown food. But that isn’t it.

 

Any additional revenue can be used to fill gaps in SNAP benefits, ensuring that low income families can continue to access healthy food. So tax the rich to feed the hungry and keep people healthy. That’s something I can get behind.

 

The results in Colorado also show us how we, the people, have the power and agency to respond to federal inaction. We are now in the longest federal government shutdown in history.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Yes. And on a positive note, Chris, there is so much to have to celebrate from the November elections. And as you said, today’s guest, Richard, is perfectly timed.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

It is. So Richard has quite the career in advocacy. He’s worked for 13 years at Missouri Jobs with Justice, and he’s been involved in multiple ballot initiatives, from blocking anti-worker initiatives to raising the minimum wage three times, redistricting reform, Medicaid expansion and so much more.

 

In 2024, he was the campaign manager for Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, a minimum wage and paid sick leave measure that passed with over 57 percent of the votes.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

I’m sure Richard will have a lot to say about what happens when you win a ballot measure. And spoiler, there is still a lot to be done after Election Day. So let’s get the show started, Chris.

 

There is so much to do.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

So, Richard, welcome to the show.

 

[Richard]

Thank you for having me, Chris.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

I’m very, very glad to see your face and not just be texting you. So, you know, we gave a little bit of background on you, things that you can read on a bio or a resume. But Richard, I would really love to know what drives you, what led you to this work and who are your people?

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I consider myself I’m a very proud member of the labor movement. I got my start organizing with workers as a college student, then worked for SEIU with home child care providers and then the communication workers in Missouri for seven years. What I really value about that work is being able to connect, you know, really pretty deeply with working people, understand their lives and their struggles and how so many of them do everything that is asked of them and everything that is suggested in order to, you know, receive your fair piece of the pie and the American dream and who often aren’t getting that.

 

And so I feel, you know, especially deeply connected to those workers that I’ve spent time in their living rooms and in their workplaces and talking to them and getting to know them. And I want to make sure that we have an economy that recognizes the value that they provide and, you know, rewards them fairly for the wealth that they frankly create.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Absolutely. And I think that’s so real for the times that we are in. You know, I’m a working class kid, too.

 

You know, I unfortunately grew up in a state where labor unions weren’t strong. And, you know, my dad was, you know, the maintenance manager of a printing company, and he was the one that had to advocate for his workers without a union. And I think about his own story and the struggle and the wealth that all of those workers created.

 

And they haven’t gotten a fair shake and they were doing contributing so much to the American story. So I appreciate you sharing them and rooting us in the labor movement, which has been so critical to all of for all of us that even for those of us who work in, you know, the progressive movement, literally every human being in the United States, what you have is a result of the labor labor movement. So so thank you for grounding in that us that.

 

So we are a podcast about your favorite topic about measures. And in previous episodes, we’ve talked about the different aspects of the ballot measure life cycle, you know, from getting signatures. To qualifying, right, and going through that process to running a campaign, but in this episode, we’re focusing on what happens after you win and maybe sometimes when you lose to.

 

Especially implementing that when you have worked on a lot of winning ballot measures through the years and Missouri has really been a real champion in the last decade of what’s possible for not just Missourians, but really a model for other states. So tell us a little bit more about how Missouri is, you know, approached the coalition building that, you know, gathers around about measure to guess when, but also build that long term infrastructure that lasts beyond that campaign, especially for implementation.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I think the nexus that I often try to focus on or the North Star is actually about power, because often the reason that we are having to do ballot initiatives to begin with is because the structures that disempower. Workers and working communities, you know, why do we have a low minimum wage? We shouldn’t.

 

You know, why don’t we expand Medicaid? We shouldn’t. But it’s because there is a power imbalance.

 

And so as we work on policies, yes, we want to win policies. We want to improve material conditions for workers. But actually what we want people to engage in is a power building exercise.

 

Where at the end of this, it’s not just, oh, the wage went up or I got paid sick days, but I actually now have a greater sense of my own power and my own agency in the world. And when when we stay focused on that. You know, the transformation goes far beyond the policy, it goes into, you know, how people view themselves as agents of change.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

And, you know, since you sort of talked about, you know, your history and working in the labor movement, I’d love to know how what you’ve learned in that, how that might have contributed to your approach with ballot measures.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I think part of that experience is that. The contest is always really rooted in this power. Struggle, you know, when you’re organizing workers for a collective bargaining campaign, a contract campaign, you know, the day that you vote and ratify the contract is really, you know, the completion of one phase.

 

But the next phase begins instantly where what does that contract mean? And. In that case, a boss is going to look to, you know, reinterpret some of the language that they might have just agreed to or change things or say, well, here was a gray area we didn’t address and assert their power in that place.

 

And so if. You know, I think in the in the labor context, you know, you’re not you’re not running a campaign every three years over the next contract, you’re running a campaign constantly about the balance of power. And I think that’s how we approach democracy as well.

 

These ballot initiatives on whatever issue they might be. Are often kind of like our contract campaigns, you know, they are the moment of expression of our values. And in a different piece, but at the end of the day, that’s also how we run these campaigns and what the long term power building is afterwards that matters, because, of course, we pass things and then the legislature works to repeal them or change them or interpret.

 

 

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Are you speaking from personal experience?

 

[Richard]

Yeah. You know, the fight doesn’t stop.

 

The fight doesn’t stop.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Yeah.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Richard, talking about power building and what we leave behind after a campaign, I know you have witnessed firsthand, especially this year with Prop. A, which raised the minimum wage and created paid sick leave for workers, that some politicians undermine the will of the people by blocking the implementation or overturning a ballot measure. When?

 

How has the Missouri coalition approached this? And tell us a little bit about what that process was like for you.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, of course, you know, we passed, as Chris mentioned, over 57 percent of the of the state voted for Proposition A. You know, we won in a majority of House Republican of House districts represented by Republicans and and 10 Senate districts represented by Republicans. So, look, if this was going to be an issue of our politicians just going to respect the will of their constituents, it would have been easy.

 

And of course, the Speaker of the House, you know, the week after the the week of the election said, no, we’re going to respect the will of what voters did. Well, you know, that lasted all of, you know, maybe a month until the Chamber of Commerce came knocking and, you know, told these people, remember who writes your checks and your campaign committees and do the things. And so we saw legislators launch an attack not just on workers, but on their own voters, on their own constituents as well.

 

And, you know, that was a full fledged attack. It was a judicial attack. You know, and it was a legislative attack.

 

And so we had to continue to do this and we had to continue to organize workers throughout the period. Knowing that particularly the paid sick days, it didn’t take effect immediately, and so we had to make sure people were aware of the rights that they were going to get. And what the legislature was trying to desperately trying to make sure that they that they never got ultimately the conclusion of that fight.

 

I mean, we want to. We got a unanimous ruling out of the Missouri Supreme Court. You know, but ultimately the legislature on the final day of session, you know, voted to use a filibuster to break a filibuster.

 

You know, something that has been done less than 25 times over the last century to say, say that again, less than 20, less than the last century, you know, it is.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Wow.

 

[Richard]

It is a, you know, they always call it the nuclear option.

 

And look, this is what corporations viewed workers having access to paid sick days as as as a nuclear option that they were going to take. And so ultimately, you know, that’s that is what they did. Now, in terms of follow up on that, you know, we’re continuing to make sure voters know what politicians attacked them as you turn their backs on them.

 

But the other important thing is because we were always organizing workers through this campaign and through this process anyway, what we found is the law went into effect on May 1st and the repeal went into effect on August 28th. Well, in between that time, we just were workers were able to meet with their bosses, pressure their corporations and say, you know what? Just because the legislature passed a law saying we don’t have to respect you doesn’t mean that that’s what we’re going to do.

 

And so despite the legislative attack, because we were focused on this concept of power, workers have been able to leverage that power and hold on to this benefit. Despite the legislative clawback, you know, that’s not the universal story, but it is part of the story and it’s a big part of the story. And I was thrilled just yesterday, a unionization campaign launched at a local coffee roastery, you know, sort of midsize business here in Missouri.

 

And, you know, the workers there tell the story of like one place where they first realized their collective power was actually in getting their boss to agree to continue to provide paid sick days, even though they no longer had to. And so that experience of collective power has now like is now ingrained in these workers and they’re using it to continue to fight for more permanent power in their workplace, which is ultimately what we want.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Absolutely. You know, I appreciate you sharing that story in the context because, you know, it’s not just about building the power. It’s also about wielding the power when you have it, too.

 

And so it’s like the sword and the shield constantly. And it’s not just one election that, you know, determines the outcome. Right.

 

If we have done our job, which is to build power and people realize that they have power and agency, then we can come back to them. Right. And then they have seen they’ve gotten that taste, like you just said.

 

Maybe it was a little very strong espresso taste that they had in the context of those that coffee shop. Right. But now that they know, oh, I’ve done this thing now, I’m going to try to take action in a different way.

 

I really appreciate you sharing that story. And I think that’s important for people to understand, especially after an election. Right.

 

We go, we vote, but the work doesn’t stop there. Right. Then we have to get to the business of governing.

 

Right. We have to get into the business of accountability. Right.

 

So I appreciate you sharing those stories in that context, because I think, you know, people are figuring out maybe they’re they have a little high, a little coffee high after this, this last election, this last election and the results. But we got to get in the business of governing now.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I think there’s lots of data about how union members tend to have higher rates of participation in our democracy, higher just voter registration rates, higher voting rates. And it’s because they’re in a culture of, you know, collective action and agency. And that reinforces some of the values of of democracy, you know, as a concept.

 

And so when we can also have workers outside maybe the organized labor movement experience collective action and agency in their democracy and then bring those values back to the workplace, you know, that’s great. A well-functioning system here is where working people are experiencing agency and collective decision making and a healthy democracy, both in their workplaces and, you know, their civil society and any organization that they’re a part of. I mean, I am a deep believer in democracy everywhere is going to get us, you know, the best results and keep our community bound together.

 

In a really healthy way, and of course, the opponents of that always seeking to divide our community in dangerous and unhealthy ways.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Yeah, I think that’s so important to give more context of what actually democracy means. Right. It’s not just a voting, the act of voting.

 

That’s a part of the process. But it’s it is all this collective action and wielding and building together like that is how democracy actually functions outside of institutions, right, outside of just government itself. So I appreciate that.

 

You know, this the the name of this episode is the Direct Democracy Diaries. And, you know, back when we were in middle school, right, when we were writing in our diaries, which I have found my old diaries from from when I was a young teen, oh, Lord almighty. So, you know, we in our diaries, we tell secrets.

 

Right. And sometimes we tell some hard truths as well. And there are certainly a lot of hard truths about working on ball measure or any campaign.

 

Right. And sometimes that hard stuff is maybe the things that we don’t want to hear in the moment. But we have to learn so we don’t repeat those past mistakes.

 

So I’d love to hear from you from all the different campaigns, whichever one you want to use. Can you share some of those hard lessons that you learned and and what that has meant for maybe how you’ve shifted your work after for that particular campaign and also like how that has maybe helped you understand, you know, that in that implementation, that wielding of power and maybe maybe sometimes when you lose to.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I was actually going to say probably one of the most transformative campaigns I worked on was one that didn’t qualify for the ballot. It was trying to cap interest rates of payday lenders. And, you know, if there’s an industry that’s going to pull out all the dirty tricks and shady maneuvers.

 

On something, it’s the payday loan industry. And, you know, we missed qualification for the ballot and we shouldn’t have, you know, we did the work like it should have been there. Interest rates should be lower in Missouri than what they are right now.

 

And it’s a real regret that I carry. But that was a campaign that engaged, I mean, thousands of people in Missouri. And the failure of that campaign actually kind of led to the launching of this collaborative of organizations being in permanent relationship and committed to voter engagement as a key strategy and power building as a North Star.

 

And now that collaborative has raised the minimum wage twice, you know, expanded access to abortion. You know, passed campaign finance regulations and anti-gerrymandering pieces. It’s the coalition that is supporting me right now.

 

And the fight against a gerrymandered, you know, map in Missouri and silencing of voters power. Expanding Medicaid. And so it was actually a loss that taught us the most about how to be committed to one another and actually to have power as this North Star.

 

And say, OK, you know, we can we can emerge out of this stronger. You know, was it was a loss like it was a loss. Does it hurt?

 

It hurts. Absolutely. It hurts.

 

But, you know, we have also built something out of that that has had tremendous success. And so you always have to look at campaigns as to how are you doing them and and what is that positioning you for? You know, what what people based in your state are learning new skills, are developing new leadership, are going to be able to run the next campaign?

 

You know, the first campaign I worked on, I was just a volunteer signature gather. I was standing on a farmer’s market asking people to sign my petition, you know, to raise the minimum wage. Like that’s where I started.

 

And I’ve come through the series of leadership steps and trying to provide those steps for the next generation. So I don’t have to continue doing this all the time. I’d like to take a break at some point, you know, is is critically important for us.

 

So every campaign should focus. Yes, we want to win. We absolutely want to absolutely.

 

The policy is important. And also the movement building is important. And sometimes people think those things are in conflict.

 

But the reality that Missouri has very clearly shown is that those things work in concert with one another movement.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

It’s not just if we win, it’s how we how that’s how we win matters.

 

[Richard]

And caring about how we win does not mean we don’t care about winning.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Yeah, absolutely. So important, so important. And I feel like you’ve already told us so many rich stories and the way you bring people into the proverbial tent, right, is is such an inspiration.

 

But looking back over the campaigns that you’ve worked on, Richard, what were some of the stories and messages that really resonated with folks and help you shape the narrative of your campaign?

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I mean, I think for us, we always really want to center the impact that policies are having on real people. So in Prop A, you know, I mean, the woman I think most concretely about, because we did an interview together as a woman, Fran Marion, who’d been a fast food worker for 20, 20 years and was talking about the impact of not having access to paid sick days and how her son once asked her, you know, when he was not feeling well, when he was vulnerable and she had to leave him home alone, her son asked her, you know, Mom, like, why don’t you love me like other parents love their kids? Why won’t you stay with me? And how her response had to be like, it’s because I love you that I need to go to work, make sure the rent is paid at the end of the month and the heat is on and how that just ripped at my heart.

 

And just being grounded in those things, I think, is so critically important for every campaign to really be grounded, you know, early in a ballot measure lifecycle. I imagine you’ve talked about this, but making sure you’re in contact with your community. Does this policy matter to them?

 

Does it resonate? And who does it matter to? And and have that, you know, right now I’m working on this anti-gerrymandering piece and I think of a woman, Ashley, in Kansas City, who if Trump’s gerrymandered map would take effect.

 

She has two kids in school and she lives right near where this gerrymandered map would really split the community. And one child would go to school in one congressional district. Another child would go to school in a congressional district and they would come home to get a third congressional district.

 

Well, does that really think they’re going to get the resources and the support and they need for an education from our federal government when we’re split up like that? Of course, of course. And so those things that I always try to stay connected with and thinking through.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Thank you for that. And since you already started to talk about it, I know one of the things that you did not think was going to be on your dance card this year and the coalition that you alluded to, you know, and, you know, the coalition in Missouri includes so many different organizations. Missouri Jobs with Justice, obviously, but it’s also Abortion Action, Missouri, the Missouri Workers Center, MOVE.

 

There’s just so many. Fanta Action, St. Louis, there’s just so many great groups. In Missouri, you already alluded to this, right?

 

Y’all from that campaign where you lost, y’all realize that there has to be this analysis around power that really centers y’all in all of your fights. So, you know, that that dance card that none of y’all were going to were choosing this year, but chose you, right, is is gerrymandering, right? And the People Not Politicians campaign.

 

So not only I’d love for you to talk a little bit more of that work that’s happening in real time, but how is that connected to other pieces of work that’s happening in the state around reproductive freedom and also protecting the initiative process?

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I mean, we recognize gerrymandering for what it is. It is an attempt to manipulate structures to silence the power of certain people, you know. And so in this context, you know, it makes perfect sense to us.

 

Are any of us necessarily experts on gerrymandering? No, but we don’t have to be because we understand a power play for what it is. And are prepared to respond to it as exactly that.

 

And so, you know, Chris, you alluded to along with this, this was passed in a special session in September, along with this was passed a restriction on the ballot initiative process on rights that every Missourian that is alive today has had for their entire voting life. Our legislature have decided, nope, we should no longer have those rights. You know, we’re going to take them away.

 

And so, you know, the gerrymandering fight, the attack on the ballot initiative are all part of these like desperate power grabs by politicians against the people of this state. And wanting to center power in our legislature and not in our people and our communities. And so sometimes what I think they don’t realize is every time they do that, every time they invite us to this dance and every time we win, our power only grows.

 

So I guess in some ways I should write them a love note and saying thank you for like teaching our community so clearly about power. Because now they’re ready to hold on to it themselves.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

And listen, you’ve learned the salsa, merengue, you’ve learned how to cronk.

 

[Richard]

We’ve got a lot of different dance moves out here in Missouri now. Just don’t ask me to do any of them in real time.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

And go. Speaking of dancing and partnerships, tell us a little bit about how BISC has shown up for you during ballot measure work for folks who like to connect the dots in terms of like what BISC does relative to the partners we work with. Tell us a little bit about what that partnership has been like for you.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I think BISC has been critically important in my time of really actually positioning the idea of this life cycle of ballot initiatives and what are the different phases that you need to be paying attention to and what are the critical components that have to happen at each phase, I think has been very helpful. I think BISC has also been a real anchor in this question of how, you know, the how of a campaign matters. Much of what I talk about in terms of power and who things are centered, you know, should sound familiar to you, Chris, because they’re things that you’ve helped, you’ve helped teach me and you’ve helped focus me on.

 

And so, you know, that has been super important. And I really encourage people to listen to BISC on those things, you know. And I was super appreciative, you know, in the Prop A campaign especially.

 

I mean, BISC was able to even make some investments into our campaign that really positioned some power, you know, in terms of, you know, just brass talk, like money is sometimes power in these campaigns and be able to position some of that power around these values of community building and investing and state power building groups. You know, it’s something I started saying in the Prop A campaign. People would always refer to groups as like, well, the grassroots groups in Missouri.

 

And I’m like, no, we’re actually just power building groups. It’s not that we’re groups of individual people. It’s that we’re groups who focused on this mission, on this North Star.

 

And that’s really been a lot of stuff that I have appreciated and learned from BISC over the years, not to mention all of the amazing work that they do about keeping me up to date on what’s going on in other states and how power is acting. You know, sometimes it’s like whack-a-mole. What happens in Missouri, you know, then happens in Michigan, then happens in Nebraska, and then we see it in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

 

And so there’s always being part of that bigger community and context is very important.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Listen, I use Missouri in a lot of stories. I was just talking to a reporter this week, you know, after the election. I’m like, you know, he wanted to know, you know, what else could happen in the initiative process.

 

I’m like, have you talked to people in Missouri? Because that kind of has been the groundwork. You know, you alluded to this a little bit, and I’d love you to talk maybe a little bit more about, which is a project that we worked on together, is the importance of early funding and why that is so critical to power building.

 

[Richard]

Yeah. I mean, early funding, like time is the one resource that doesn’t, you can’t really change in a ballot initiative process. It is the thing.

 

And so if you want to position power building and in-state power building groups powerfully, what they need more than anything is time. Mobilizing a community takes time. It is education.

 

It is skill building. It is leadership development. It is all of those things that we want to do.

 

And to do that effectively, we need time. And, you know, what that really means is early investment into the process like that. If there’s not investment into community until a month out and it’s just, well, what can you possibly do to save us?

 

You know, here’s some money. I mean, this often happens in political campaigns. Money comes in the last two weeks, you know, and that is, you know, I mean, everything is fine, but like that misses the opportunity to power build.

 

That becomes simply mobilization. What is the muscle that you already have and what can it do? There’s no investment into building a stronger muscle.

 

And so if you want a campaign to not just win, but to position the people of the state to be stronger in the future, you have to invest in it early and invest in those people early.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Yeah, that’s how we build and sustain movement. So I appreciate that, Richard. You know, we’ve talked about this a little bit, but, you know, it’s the air that we’re breathing right now, right, is, you know, every day in the United States, we move closer and closer to authoritarianism.

 

And I you’ve heard me say states like Missouri or our friends in Ohio or Florida, y’all have been prepared for this for a while because you’ve already been facing authoritarian threats in your states for a minute. So what have you learned in your time in Missouri, right? Well, before last year’s election, that can help us understand how we improve and fight back moving forward.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, I think authoritarianism and the threat that we’re really facing is about structures. It is about how, you know, whether it’s gerrymandering or photo ID or campaign finance or different things like authoritarianism, I don’t think is the natural instinct of most Americans. But we can get there when structures are manipulated and twisted in service of that result.

 

But look, what we see is in a state that voted for 58 percent for Donald Trump, you know, nearly 58 percent vote for an economy that rewards hardworking, underpaid and underappreciated people. You know, what we see is actually our values with our community are, you know, are not what is being reflected right now in the structure of our politics. So what is the solution to authoritarianism?

 

It is always organizing. It is always organizing. It is through campaigns that bring people together.

 

It is through institutions like labor unions and worker centers and other places where the community can come together and experience small d democracy and, you know, understand that together and then resist, you know, these fights that come our way. But, you know, anyone who cares about the state of democracy in this country, you know, become a member of your local Jobs with Justice, Action St. Louis, Missouri Workers Center, you know, Lucha in Arizona. I mean, you know, Majority Rising, Down Home North Carolina, whatever it is, whatever that institution is in your community that is practicing small d democracy, be a part.

 

Lend your time, lend your treasure. That is how we beat authoritarianism.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

That is really great advice. And speaking of advice, that’s what we’re going to be moving on to, Richard, because you have a lot of experience to share for some of the newer folks who could be tuning in and listening and looking for those on the ground warriors that are doing this every single day. So with that said, what is one piece of advice that you’d give someone just beginning their career in either advocacy or politics?

 

And then on the flip side of that, what is something important for more of the seasoned folks like yourself, like Chris were here to know or to be open to?

 

[Richard]

Maybe I’ll start with the second question, because I think it was something that had a very profound impact for me on this last campaign. You know, like Chris mentioned, I’ve I’ve done this a lot. I’m also a white man.

 

You know, we’re taught to always be confident and assertive. And what I actually have experienced in these campaigns, especially in positions of leadership, is the truth that vulnerability is not a weakness. It is actually a strength.

 

When you can say to people what you don’t know or what you’re afraid of, people know where and how to support you. But if you hold on to that because you think I’m not supposed to be weak, I’m supposed to be perfect, I’m supposed to know everything, then you don’t give people an opportunity to support you. And I mean, for me in Missouri, I have an amazing group of people that never get the flowers that they deserve because I get to do the interview, the podcast, whatever.

 

But I mean, there’s an amazing group of people, Julie Turbrock, Caitlin Adams, Laura Granich, Jeremy Alhaj, Mallory Schwartz, Kayla Reed, like all of these people, all of my co-workers who will not appear on any of these things, but who are tremendous sources of strength. And so trust your people, be honest with them, and let them support you because together you will be stronger than you possibly can ever be alone. And I say that particularly to maybe the more seasoned people who can bring, as I am guilty of, bring some level of arrogance and, ah, yeah, I can do this, I know how to do this.

 

I get it. I get why we’re that way. But we can be better.

 

And that helps build movement. You know, for people who are new to this, have fun in this work. The practice of small d democracy is fun.

 

It is enjoyable. Seeing people develop as leaders, giving them the opportunity, watching them grow is a great thing. It’s a great thing.

 

And so you can be sometimes a little silly and a little playful in these things. I know a team of some of our organizers the other day, you know, on a day that I’d had a particularly bad week and they were there and they were all ready to go. And so I started singing, you are my sunshine to them, um, you know, and it’s a little silly thing, but it like meant a lot to them.

 

And that’s the type of stuff that actually people remember. Like they aren’t going to remember anything else about that call and what do we need to do and blah, blah, blah. They’re going to remember that I was like, you guys are important to me and we need to do this together.

 

And so, like, make room for that. There’s making room for celebrations. You know, that Biz talked about, like, honor your people, honor their work, honor their, honor the value that they bring and do it in a fun and playful way.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Richard, I appreciate how, one, you’ve given folks flowers in the course of this conversation. It’s so important in our work that we recognize the people who are our ride or dies that are by our side, right, that deserve those flowers. And, um, and the importance of vulnerability.

 

Like, yeah, I don’t know all the things. I’m an executive director, but listen, I, I, I’ve learned so much from you. I’ve learned so much from the, everyone you literally named in Missouri.

 

I’ve learned from them. Like they’re, there’s just so much for us to, and you don’t know. It’s hard when you’re a leader to be vulnerable and then say, oh, I don’t know.

 

Because then people are like, wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be the one who knows all the things? I’m like, no, I’m, yeah, the one person that knows all the things and, and the importance of joy and celebration. Like we have this motto at BIS, we can do hard things with joy.

 

So thank you. That, that’s such great advice for, for no matter where you are in your, in your career. So as we close out the call to action that you’ve heard me say at Road Ahead and in other places, right, is to make ballot measures, love letters to our people.

 

How has your work, the ballot measures that you’ve been a part of, have, how has that been a love letter to your community?

 

[Richard]

Yeah. I mean, I think it is, um, when I tell the story of Fran and the experience, you know, that she’s had with her son, to me, ballot measures are like the way of saying, I hear you, I see you, and I’m going to fight for you. That’s what I try to do.

 

I mean, we try to have policies that are reflective of the pain in our community. I can think of on, on Medicaid expansion, you know, when we won that, the first call I got was from a woman. She was actually a, she had served in the legislature and her nephew had always been in the Medicaid gap.

 

And when we were fighting and fighting for 10 years to get this done, and sadly, as a young man, he had a heart attack and he died because he didn’t have health insurance. And winning that, I mean, it was both, I carry the pain that it took too long to get there. And also she was the first person who called me after that happened.

 

And she said, you know, she felt like this was a love letter to her nephew and that he would be smiling. And so, you know, we always try to carry those things. And what’s the Mother Jones quote about, like, you know, honoring and remembering those that have passed, fighting like hell for the living.

 

And that’s what we’re going to continue to do each and every day. And the victory parties are always an exciting thing where people can come together and do all of the things. I know Caitlin and Jeremy had an experience on the Prop A1 of going into a Taco Bell and telling the workers what they want.

 

And it was like burritos on the house, you know.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Oh, give me that cheesy gordita crunch, please.

 

[Richard]

So we like having that time.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Richard, thank you so much for just sharing so much of yourself, so much of your experience, so much of the stories that really ground us in why we do this work. I think it’s so important, not just for the people who are tuning in, but for us. I’m just deeply moved by so much of the work that you and your team are doing and in the communities you serve.

 

So thank you so much for talking with us today.

 

[Richard]

Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for all of your investment into me. I appreciate it.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

If you’re interested in the work that Richard and Missouri Jobs with Justice are doing, you can learn more at mojwj.org. And we’ll make sure to include that link in the show notes as well. Thanks again, Richard.

 

[Richard]

Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

 

[Caroline Sanchez Avakian]

Thanks for listening to the Direct Democracy Diaries. If you enjoyed today’s episode, leave us a message on our socials at Ballot Strategy and check out our website at Ballot.org for more updates, insights, research, and so much more.

 

[Chris Melody Fields Figueiredo]

Can’t wait to see you next time. Keep fighting for change, one ballot at a time.