Can Democrats Get A Trifecta In November And Use It To Enact Democracy Reforms?

In January 2021, two Democrats won Senate runoff elections in Georgia. This flipped the Senate and resulted in an unexpected “trifecta” – Democratic control of the White House, the House, and the Senate.

That 2021 trifecta brought an important opportunity and Congress came within two Senate votes of enacting historic democracy reforms, including reforms to clean up our corrupt campaign finance system and to protect voting rights.

While a Democratic trifecta this November would be difficult – especially in the Senate – it is possible.

Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly leads former President Donald Trump, according to recent polls. If Democrats win the presidency, a trifecta is possible and, if that happens, the democracy reforms that nearly passed in the last Congress would be on the doorstep for quick passage in 2025.

A Harris victory could provide down-ballot support, especially in key House races, including battles in California and New York. Democrats need to pick up just four seats to flip the House.

Holding the Democrats’ two-vote majority in the Senate, which includes four Independents who caucus with them, is much more difficult – but possible.

Of the 34 Senate seats up for election in November, 23 are currently held by 19 Democrats and the four Independents, and just 11 by Republicans.

Senate Democrats and Independents currently hold a 51-49 edge over Republicans.

It’s widely expected that Democrats will lose the seat currently held by retiring Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV). To maintain control of the Senate, Democrats and Independents would need to hold all of their remaining seats that are up this year, or defeat a Republican incumbent, along with a Harris win to preserve the Vice President’s tie-breaking vote.

Democrats and Independents running for reelection generally are polling ahead of their challengers, except for Senator John Tester in Montana, who currently trails Republican businessman Tim Sheehy. The Tester race could well be the key to whether a Democratic trifecta can be accomplished.

If Democrats beat the odds and obtain a trifecta in November, Congress is expected to move quickly to pass the democracy reform measures.

In 2021, after the House passed early versions of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Senate Democrats failed by just two votes to pass an exception to the filibuster rule that would have allowed the democracy reform legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority and go to President Biden for his signature.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have already said they would make the measures early priorities if given the opportunity.

Schumer has said he would move to change the filibuster rules for the democracy reform legislation and that Democrats would have the votes to do so.

Vice President Harris has been a strong supporter of the legislation and called for both measures to be passed in her convention speech last month.

After decades of providing some support for various democracy reforms, Republicans have largely abandoned these reforms in recent years. Polls have shown these reforms have strong public support among both Democrats and Republicans.

The Freedom to Vote Act would be the most comprehensive pro-democracy law enacted in decades, addressing voting rights, corrupting political influence money, extreme partisan gerrymandering, and other core reform issues.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would strengthen the legal protections against discriminatory voting policies and practices by restoring the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and repairing the damage done by recent Supreme Court decisions.

Whether the Democrats obtain a trifecta in November is in the hands of the voters, and possibly the courts if Trump refuses to accept the election results as he did in 2020.

But one thing is clear – we must repair and revitalize the rules of our democracy in order to reflect our democratic values, to ensure the opportunity for every eligible citizen to vote, and to protect against political money corruption of our democracy.

This begins with the enactment of the two historic democracy reform bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.