Major School Districts Shutting Down for May Day - FOUR DAYS TO GO (4/27/26)
Plus a chance to unseat conservative justices in Georgia, taking a stand on the Farm Bill, this week's judges to thank and more
TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
Major school districts across the nation are shutting down for #MayDayStrong – keep recruiting folks for Friday, community strike readiness training tonight
Phonebank, donate to help progressives unseat two forced birther supreme court justices in Georgia
Demand House remove Cancer Gag Act, other corporate giveaways from the Farm Bill, push to restore SNAP funding – vote anticipated this week
Florida special session on redistricting starts tomorrow, help drive calls to legislators, contact them ourselves and spread the word
If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!
MAJOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHUT DOWN FOR MAY DAY ACTIONS
The momentum is building for mass non-compliance on May Day, and we’re flexing the muscles of some of the most valuable and undervalued workers in our society: teachers. With the major teachers unions putting their weight behind the May 1st shutdowns, Trump and the oligarchs can count on there being no business as usual. Already, school districts from Charlotte-Mecklenberg and Durham to Chicago to Madison are closing down or adjusting operations for International Worker’s Day. It’s a simple acknowledgment: they need labor, so labor has power.
🪧 Let’s keep growing the shutdown by taking the no school, no work, no commerce pledge and asking our friends and neighbors to do the same. And let’s keep spreading the word in our networks and everywhere else about this day of collective action! 🪧
🫱🏻🫲🏿 And let’s come together to learn more about May Day, our future plans and getting ready for even bigger strikes this week. We can join a community strike readiness training TONIGHT at 8PM ET and a mass call Wednesday at 8PM ET. 🫱🏾🫲🏼
EARLY VOTING STARTS TODAY IN FIGHT FOR FOOTHOLD ON GEORGIA SUPREME COURT
We’ve beginning to break the Republican chokehold on Georgia. First came the Senate-changing victories of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Then last November, Democrats flipped two seats on the Public Service Commission, winning statewide constitutional offices for the first time since 2006. Now polling indicates we’re in strong position to re-elect Ossoff and possibly capture the governor’s office this fall. And on May 19th, along with the primary we could put two progressives on the GOP-dominated state supreme court.
Former state senator Jen Jordan and trial attorney Miracle Rankin are trying to unseat Republican-appointed Justices Sarah Warren and Charlie Bethel. They’ve emphasized taking on corporate power and protecting voting and reproductive rights as they challenge judges who upheld a six-week abortion ban.
These elections usually go uncontested, and a sitting Georgia justice hasn’t lost reelection in more than 100 years. Conservatives have controlled the court since 2016, when the legislature added two seats to be filled by Republican Governor Nathan Deal. We’re going to shake things up – wins here would shift it from 8-1 GOP to 6-3, and position us to flip it just months before the 2028 presidential election.
This is the sort of low profile race where a little bit of our efforts can make a big difference, and party IDs will not be on the ballot to guide folks. Let’s do what we can to help as early voting starts TODAY.
☎️ We can join Georgia Democrats to phonebank and get out the vote for this race on Thursdays from 6:30-8PM ET and Sundays from 1-3PM ET. We can also sign up to make calls any time here and find upcoming shifts in May here and here. ☎️
💰 Oath has set up a page to allow us to easily donate to Jordan, Rankin and other key state supreme court candidates here. (H/t Jess Craven) 💰
We’re also just eight days from a crucial special election in the fiercely contested Michigan state senate. Firefighter, Marine corps vet and union man Chedrick Greene is the Democratic nominee against pro union-busting MAGA lawyer Jason Tunney in the 35th District, an area Kamala won by 0.8% in 2024. A GOP win would tie the Senate 19-19. ☎️ Let’s join States Win for a phonebank shift for Chedrick TOMORROW from 6-8PM ET here. ☎️
HOUSE TO CONSIDER A PRO-CORPORATE FARM BILL THIS WEEK
We’re headed into a busy week on Capitol Hill, with the Senate set for a committee vote on the nomination of Trump’s chosen puppet for the Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the House considering a three-year extension of warrantless wiretapping and a budget resolution to fund ICE and CBP.
Also on the table: the House GOP’s take on the 2026 Farm Bill, our country’s primary vehicle for food and agriculture policy. It’s a mess, a nonstarter that gives handouts to big corporations and screws over small farmers, consumers, rural communities and the environment.
Republicans are preserving the $187 billion in cuts to SNAP food assistance from the MAGA Murder Budget, which have already resulted in 2.5 million people losing support while grocery prices rise and the economy tanks. It also includes a federal Cancer Gag Act, which would prevent lawsuits against pesticide companies like Trump donors Bayer-Monsanto for poisoning us with carcinogens, and the EATS Act, one of several measures blocking state regulations for public health, safety and animal welfare that industry has been begging for.
The good news is, there is substantial right-wing anger over both of these provisions. If Democrats stand united, we may be able to force significant changes. 🗣️ Let’s contact our members of Congress and urge them to block this bill until we get a version that works for regular Americans, not CEOs. We can find language on the corporate giveaways to use from Food & Water Watch here and here from the Food Research & Action Center to demand a restoration of food aid. 🗣️
🗣️ Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have introduced an amendment demanding immunity for pesticide companies be stripped out of the bill, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has added another which would kill the preemption of state animal welfare regulations via the EATS Act. Let’s specifically ask our reps to support the Pingree-Massie and Luna amendments and demand they get floor votes. 🗣️
☎️ Food & Water Watch will be phonebanking to drive calls to Congress to demand a Farm Bill that works for regular Americans instead of corporate profits TODAY at 2PM ET. We can sign up to join here. ☎️
📰 We can also find a tool to write letters to the editor about the impact of the SNAP cuts here. 📰
THE LAST PRE-CALLAIS REDISTRICTING FIGHT BEGINS TOMORROW IN FLORIDA
Last week’s victory in Virginia means that for now, Democrats have managed to balance out Trump’s attempt to tilt the House with an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting. Now the fight moves to Florida, where the legislature will begin a repeatedly-delayed special session to redraw congressional maps tomorrow. This will likely be the last attempt until the Supreme Court rules on the future of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais.
The GOP has a supermajority in both houses, but that doesn’t mean finalizing new congressional districts will be easy. There’s been significant concern among Republicans that they were approaching the limit of how much more they could gerrymander Florida, which already has a 20-8 GOP advantage in its delegation, without it backfiring. A leading GOP consultant in the state has circulated a memo arguing an aggressive approach could put three Republican-held seats in danger, and Governor DeSantis’ office has yet to release its proposed lines. We may well be able to stop them.
Here’s some ways we can help:
☎️ TODAY from 1-3PM ET, Florida organizations will be phonebanking voters to help drive calls to legislators against the gerrymander. We can sign up to join them here. ☎️
🪧 TOMORROW, a coalition of groups led by Common Cause Florida will be holding a day of action at the Florida State Capitol. Those of us in-state can find more on how to attend, plus transportation options from multiple population centers in the Sunshine State, here. 🪧
🔁 We can spread the word in our networks about this attempted gerrymander with graphics and sample social media posts here. 🔁
🗣️ If we’re in Florida, we can use this call tool from Common Cause and this email tool from the ACLU to reach out to our legislators and tell them to stop messing with our maps. 🗣️
THIS WEEK’S JUDGES TO THANK
Facing threats, political pressure and a Supreme Court that has frequently not had their backs, lower court judges are still doing vitally important work to keep this administration’s power within the bounds of the law. Let’s acknowledge their work and send encouragement to keep fighting!
Judge Fred Biery ordered the release from ICE custody of Hayam El Gamal and her five children, and banned the family from being deported while they seek asylum. The El Gamals, who are believed to be the longest held at the Dilley concentration camp, were subsequently detained again and then re-released. The family was locked up last June after Hayam’s husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was found guilty of throwing two Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israel. There is no indication that Hayam or the kids had any connection with this violent assault. ✍🏼 Let’s write a note or postcard to thank Judge Biery for blocking the punishment of a woman and her children for someone else’s crime. ✍🏼
Judge Fred Biery
U.S. District Court
262 West Nueva Street
San Antonio, TX 78207
Judge Kyle C. Cohen has ordered the immediate release from custody in Alligator Alcatraz of Alejandro Osvaldo Ghysels Reales, who was under a deferred action order while being evaluated for an U-1 visa for victims of crimes, and so should never have been detained.
✍🏼 Let’s write a note or postcard to thank Judge Cohen for refusing to allow the administration to prosecute a man currently under legal protection. ✍🏼
Judge Kyle C. Cohen
Collier County Courthouse
3315 Tamiami Trl E, Suite 206
Naples, FL 34112-5324
Judge Denise J. Casper has struck down actions by the administration which have served to slow down clean energy projects, such as a requirement that all projects be personally approved by the Secretary of the Interior. She issued a preliminary injunction to stop the administration from hindering the projects, thereby preventing them from meeting a deadline to claim tax credits. ✍🏼 Let’s write a note or postcard to thank Judge Casper from blocking efforts to stop the clean energy projects needed to prevent further climate change. ✍🏼
Chief Judge Denise J. Casper
John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse
1 Courthouse Way, Suite 2300
Boston, MA 02210
Judge George C. Hanks Jr. has dismissed Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit against former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi for saying on Morning Joe in May 2025 that the FBI director spent more time in nightclubs than in his office. The judge said it was obvious hyperbole and therefore rhetorical. Patel has since filed another defamation case against The Atlantic for their reporting accusations of excessive drinking and unavailability. ✍🏼 Let’s write a note or postcard to thank Judge Hanks for refusing to allow Patel to punish unfavorable discussion of him in the press. ✍🏼
Judge George C. Hanks Jr.
Bob Casey U.S. Courthouse
515 Rusk Avenue
Houston, TX 77002
👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀
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NEWS: ICE agent charged with assault on protester in Colorado
COMMENTARY: Dylan Gyauch-Lewis writes for Revolving Door Project on the Trump Administration’s pro-cancer agenda
Join a mass call on organizing for the Working Families Guarantee TONIGHT at 8 PM ET
Call on the DNC to release the full results of their 2024 election autopsy
Public Citizen identifies 446 hospitals at risk thanks to the MAGA murder budget, let’s make sure folks in our community know we’re in danger and who’s to blame
Solidarity with striking workers in Independence as they enter Week 4 on the picket line
Looking for ways to get engaged in the midterms? Here’s a full list! And here’s some ways to help with the spring elections!