Millions Join No Kings Demonstrations for Free and Fair Elections
Tuesday 20 October 2026, by Dan La Botz
An estimated 7 to 9 million people joined some 3,000 No Kings demonstrations across the United States on October 17 to encourage voters to vote and to defend the vote. The liberal organizations leading No Kings—Indivisible, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and Black and Latino voters’ group—called for a non-partisan demonstration. Certainly, there were many Independents and some Republicans present, but, like three earlier No Kings protests, this was another massive movement against President Donald Trump. [1]
“I think the president is breaking our country,” said Vic Cerra, a Vietnam War veteran, speaking to a reporter in Wheeling, West Virginia. “He’s destroying our friendships with other countries; with our neighbors to the north and our neighbors to the south. He’s fighting a war we don’t need to be fighting. Taking money away from programs that should be helping our people. We need a change and voting is the best way to do it.”
With the midterm election coming on November 3, participants’ placards, speeches, and chants angrily criticized everything they hate about Trump’s last two years: the war on Iran, higher fuel prices, climate change, the firing of thousands of federal employees, the reduction in government health, education, and social welfare programs, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s violent attacks on immigrants, the oligarchy of billionaires, the erosion of civil rights, threats to democracy, the proliferating construction of data centers, the unregulated expansion of artificial intelligence, and the 150,000 Flock cameras that track every movement of our cars.
Carrying a large sign reading “Defend Democracy,” Kelsea Bond, a labor organizer and member of the Atlanta City Council, speaking at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, said, “We need to build a society that works for the working class, not the billionaires.” Her remarks were met with cheers and she went on, “We need an economy, we need a society that is democratically run by working people because we keep this economy running.”
This latest No Kings protest was not built around mass marches in the big cities, but rather around local protests everywhere. Wherever they were held, many of those participating were older people in their 60s and 70s while young people were few.
An official No Kings slogan was “Hands Off My Ballot.” No Kings organizers, protest participants, and millions of other Americans fear that Trump may try to steal the election or even launch another coup such as the one he attempted on January 6, 2021. The U.S. Constitution gives the states virtually total control over elections, with Congress having some oversight, and the president no role whatsoever. The Trump administration, however, has been trying to get access to the voter rolls of 31 states, supposedly to ensure that non-citizens are not voting. Trump has also suggested that ICE agents or the military might be sent to polling places on election day in violation of the federal laws that forbid armed people at voting sites. These are seen as efforts to intimidate voters and keep them from casting their ballots. They could also be the first step in a coup, leading to the seizure of ballots and a declaration that the election is invalid.
So, the key slogan of the demonstrations was “Vote Early.” Some 47 of the country’s 50 states permit early voting, getting the ballots into the hands of trusted state and local officials to collect and count them fairly. In this way, protecting the vote from Trump’s shenanigans.
Esther RodrÃguez, 73, participating in Denver, Colorado said, “I’m going to do everything I can to participate in active resistance against what is happening in this country. We have to preserve our democracy.”
Footnotes
[1] Image: By https://www.nokings.org/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84548654
Dan La Botz
Dan La Botz was a founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). He is the author of Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (1991). He is also a co-editor of New Politics and editor of Mexican Labor News and Analysis.
We are less than three weeks away from a critical midterm election—the first since Donald Trump returned to power. In the last two years, Trump has raced through the authoritarian playbook. The speed and scope of this autocratic offensive has been truly staggering. Yet as I wrote this spring, the acceleration of MAGA’s fascist project has intensified its contradictions, opening the possibility for a democratic resurgence just as sweeping.
While midterm elections generally favor the party out of power, all indicators point toward a large anti-MAGA backlash well beyond a typical midterm correction. This spring, I outlined three potential scenarios: a “blue wave” like 2018; a “landslide” like Reagan’s 1980 rout; or, at the outer limits of the possible, a “realignment” analogous to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 election.
Currently, polling averages paint a picture somewhere between my “wave” and “landslide” scenarios. Democrats are ahead by roughly 8.8 points on the generic Congressional ballot. Polls increasingly project they will retake both chambers of Congress. Election analyst Nate Silver forecasts 52 Senate seats—in line with my “landslide” range—while predicting a more modest 238 seats in the House, closer to a conventional wave. (MAGA’s egregious new racial gerrymanders may account for some of that gap.)
Polls, notoriously, can be biased—in either direction. If they overstate Democratic support, we could see a smaller wave, with a narrower House majority and Republicans retaining the Senate. But if they understate it, we could be looking at a truly massive landslide. Republican spending suggests they fear the worst: GOP groups are pulling millions from states like North Carolina to defend Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Carolina, and pouring money into dozens of previously “safe” House races. Democratic wins in some of these states and districts could open the way to a once-unthinkable 54- or 55-seat Senate majority and perhaps 250 House seats.
Of course, under partial but intensifying autocracy, it is not enough to win elections—we also have to defend them. We know for sure that Trump and MAGA will attempt to undermine the vote, because they already have—through gerrymandering, voter purges, disinformation, and federal attacks on voting. In the weeks and months ahead, risks to election integrity will unfold in three phases: potential interference with the casting of ballots between now and November 3; potential obstruction of accurate counting and certification in the weeks after the election; and potential attempts to prevent duly elected members from taking their seats as the new Congress takes office in January. Pro-democracy forces will need to be prepared to withstand these and other potential challenges.
It will take a very broad, multi-tendency front to defend our flawed and imperfect democracy against the fascist threat. The more decisively the left demonstrates our ability to contribute to that fight, the more people we can rally to our vision, the more influence we will gain, and the greater our ability to push for a Third Reconstruction.
Therefore, we on the left have a responsibility to meet this moment with everything we’ve got. Coming off a strong primary cycle, we now need to bring that energy into the fight against our main enemy: the MAGA New Confederacy. In some races, that means rallying behind progressive champions like Randy Villegas, William Lawrence and Abdul El-Sayed. In others, it means extending tactical support to centrist candidates—sometimes the very ones we were just fighting in the primaries.
Two Key Tasks: GOTV and Election Defense
We have two key tasks before us in the weeks and months ahead. Between now and election day, we need to mobilize voters in numbers too big to rig. Then, if the election results are undermined, we must take to the streets to stop the cheat.
1. Numbers Too Big to Rig
While many are already looking ahead to election protection, it’s worth remembering that the best election defense is a good election offense. Close elections are especially vulnerable to subversion; the bigger the margins, the harder the results are to manipulate, deny, or overturn. That means our core job from now to election day is to do everything we can to get out the vote.
The October 17 “No Kings” mobilizations aims to make this Saturday the largest single day of early voting in US history. That is a great goal. If your state has early voting, consider voting tomorrow. There are No Kings events planned all around the country; you can find the nearest one here.
People should also plug into canvassing, phone banking, and other GOTV work wherever they can have the greatest impact. For many of us, that’s close to home. The Congressional battlefield extends well beyond the familiar “purple” states; there are at least 20 states with competitive House or Senate races, with some of the tightest in deep-red Texas and deep-blue California. Backlash against MAGA could broaden the battlefield even further, as we are seeing with tightening polls in states like Kansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina. A strong enough wave could even turn the post-Callais gerrymanders into “dummymanders”—allowing us to expand the map and protect Black and Brown political power in the South.
Moreover, the electoral battlefield is not just Congressional. Because our federal system gives enormous authority to the states, state-level races have a critical impact on the balance of power at both the state and national level. The latest round of Republican gerrymanders is just one illustration of the critical importance of state trifectas—control of the governorship and both legislative chambers. Forecasts suggest there are at least five states where we could break Republican trifectas, and six where we could win new Democratic ones.
If you live in an area with important state or federal races, plug into local GOTV efforts and make sure your friends and family have a plan to vote. If your area does not have competitive races on the ballot, you can support efforts to get out the vote elsewhere. National organizations like Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) offer opportunities to phone bank remotely, and Seed the Vote is coordinating travel to critical swing districts, working with partner organizations on the ground. You might focus on nearby battlegrounds or places where you have personal ties, or prioritize left-progressive candidates and fights against racial gerrymandering. (Justin Pearson in Tennessee combines both priorities—one of the reasons I think it is among the most critical races of this cycle.)
2. Take to the Street to Stop the Cheat
After the election, the focus shifts to ensuring that votes are fairly counted and honored. Election defense work has three overlapping stages: ballot curing in the days immediately after voting; local and state mobilizations during counting and certification; and nationwide mobilizations if attempts are made to block the seating of the new Congress.
Immediately after the election, people can help with ballot curing wherever state rules allow, helping voters resolve problems that might otherwise prevent valid ballots from being counted. This work is local and time-sensitive: curing deadlines vary by state and can come just days after the election.
Through November—and, in some states, December—we should be ready to organize and join big “Hands Off Our Vote” mobilizations in the event of attempts to stop the vote count or obstruct certification. This is most likely in places where close results could determine control of Congress, and/or where MAGA officials have the ability to obstruct counting or certification.
Once state results are certified, attention shifts to Congress. If Trump or Republican congressional leaders try to delay the swearing-in of duly elected members or obstruct the transfer of congressional control, we should be ready for nationwide mobilizations in December and early January, demanding that elected members take their seats and the new Congress be allowed to exercise its authority.
Build Organization Beyond November
Wherever possible, we should pursue these two key tasks in ways that strengthen place-based, member-driven organization. Traditional candidate campaigns fold up after Election Day, and in most places Democratic Party structures do little to organize people beyond turning them out to vote. Pursuing election work through grassroots movement organizations can help us win the immediate fight while building a base, developing leaders, and strengthening our power beyond November.
Which organizations to focus on depend on your context. If you’re already involved with a local group or a member of a union, start there. Find out what plans they have for GOTV and election protection. If they don’t yet have a plan, help connect your organization to existing local and state efforts. For union members, your local Central Labor Council (CLC) can be a good place to start.
Liberation Road has long called for building independent political organizations (IPOs) that combine electoral organizing with year-round base-building and leadership development, without formally functioning as a traditional political party. State-level IPOs like the Carolina Federation, New Virginia Majority, and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative put this approach into practice. All three belong to State Power Caucus, which brings together similar organizations. People’s Action and Movement Voter Project also support groups combining electoral work and community organizing, and their directories can help you find organizations near you.
While many left-progressive groups are converging around this IPO strategy, we still lack a single shared political vehicle at the national level. Two very different organizations that aspire to that role are the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party. Depending where you live, one or the other might be a good place to plug in—but look at what they’re doing locally. DSA chapters with a mass-politics orientation offer a fantastic political home; but amid factional infighting, other chapters remain sectarian and isolated. WFP’s work likewise varies from state to state depending on which individuals and organizations are leading it. (And with its direct membership model still developing, joining one of those partner groups may be the best way to get involved.)
Depending on where you live, local chapters of other national groups like Indivisible and Sunrise might be the best place to plug in. Black Voters Matter is coordinating tours across the South to support local Black groups that combine electoral and community organizing. And for white allies, SURJ is doing some of the most impactful electoral organizing out there.
As this diversity suggests, left-progressive political infrastructure remains fragmented and uneven. A critical task beyond November is to bring these organizations into closer alignment around a shared strategy—building a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
From Resistance to Refusal, on the Road to Reconstruction
A decisive victory in November will open a new phase in the protracted struggle against the MAGA New Confederacy. For the past two years, pro-democracy forces were on the strategic defensive. Locked out of power at the federal level, we have largely been in resistance mode. Wresting back control of Congress will allow us to move from resistance to refusal. We will have more power to block the further advance of Trump’s fascist project, even as we don’t yet have the ability to implement our own agenda—a strategic stalemate. We must then use that strengthened position to ready the ground for a strategic counteroffensive in 2028.
Having Democratic House and Senate majorities would greatly strengthen our ability to halt the Trump regime’s corruption and lawless violence. The House can impeach officials responsible for abuses, the Senate can block judicial appointments, and both chambers must reclaim the power of the purse—compelling the administration to spend funds as Congress directs, and using budget negotiations to refuse further money for wars and deportations. Given the fecklessness of Democratic House and Senate leadership, it will take sustained mass pressure to make them use these powers—and we should push for leadership challenges if they refuse.
States that break Republican trifectas can pursue a similar strategy, blocking MAGA’s agenda even where we cannot yet enact our own. In states like Florida and Georgia, winning the governorship would give us veto power over reactionary legislation, and greater leverage over budget negotiations, in addition to the direct powers of the executive branch. Our movements must press governors to use those powers to block attacks on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, strengthen voting access, protect workers, and fight for Medicaid expansion and an end to state cooperation with ICE.
States that emerge from the election with new or strengthened Democratic trifectas will become our forward operating bases. Here, we can move beyond blocking MAGA’s agenda to advancing our own: expanding healthcare, housing, and workers’ rights; protecting immigrants and bodily autonomy; and enacting bold structural reforms to our system of government.
Minnesota provides one example of what that can look like. After winning a state trifecta in 2022, Democrats moved quickly to enact a sweeping agenda: paid family and medical leave; free breakfast and lunch for all public school students; tuition-free public college; expanded immigrant, reproductive, and trans rights; and a plan for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. Though that bold agenda passed in a single legislative session, it was the product of years of organizing by labor and social movements to build a shared program, and the power to win it.
Our movements urgently need to ready the ground for something similar at the federal level, so we can push for and take advantage of a strategic counter-offensive in 2028. Assuming we win House and Senate majorities and the presidency, we will have a narrow window in which to act.
Winning electoral ground this November strengthens our starting position: newly elected senators will still hold their seats in 2028, while House victories give us incumbents to defend. But electoral gains alone will not prepare us to govern. We need to forge a shared agenda bold enough to rally millions—and an organized movement strong enough to win it.
Our agenda must match the scale of the crises we face. We must be ready to deliver universal healthcare, childcare, and eldercare; build social housing; strengthen workers rights; implement a just transition to renewable energy; and guarantee reproductive and gender freedom. And we must transform the institutions that obstruct those gains: expanding and democratizing the Supreme Court, securing statehood for DC and self-determination for Puerto Rico, passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and replacing rigged electoral maps with free and fair ones.
We must start organizing for that transformation now. Our movements must bring our members together to discuss demands, connect immediate fights to structural change, and forge a common governing agenda. By 2028, we need millions of people who have helped shape this agenda, are organized to fight for it, and will demand that those we elect deliver it.
Together, we can turn an electoral opening against autocracy into a mandate to expand, transform, and fundamentally reconstruct our democracy. Only then can we truly break the power of the MAGA New Confederacy and launch a Third Reconstruction.
Hundreds of workers from a score of unions packed the two-block-wide steps of New York City’s main post office Oct. 15 for a rally launching a labor campaign to protect elections from tampering by the Trump administration.
A five-piece drums-and-horns combo from American Federation of Musicians Local 802 pumped out a New Orleans-style parade beat while Laborers Union organizer Anthony Williamson led chants of “Union in the house” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
“Look at this crowd,” Laborers International Union Vice-President Mike Hellstrom declared. “Private sector, public sector, different trades, standing together shoulder to shoulder with one clear message—the labor movement will defend democracy.”
If anybody attempts to steal the election, he added, the labor movement will mobilize communities, protest peacefully, and document intimidation of voters.
“We need to make sure that every ballot is counted, that people can exercise their right to vote without interference,” New York City Central Labor Council President Brendan Griffith told the crowd. “That should not be controversial.”
The principle that “we pick our leaders,” said Communications Workers of America Local 1180 secretary-treasurer Robin Blair-Batte, is now “under pressure.”
“We fought for the Voting Rights Act,” she reminded.
32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich also hailed the coalition of “janitors with construction workers, security officers with nurses.”
Griffith told Work-Bites the coalition began with various unions expressing concerns and built momentum from there. “Democracy affects all workers,” he said. The crowd included members of at least 20 unions, with large contingents from the Laborers, 32BJ, and 1199SEIU, along with electrical workers, painters, nurses, City University faculty, retail workers, theatrical and stage workers, hotel workers, the public-sector union DC37, and more.
Two specific attempts by the Trump administration to limit the right to vote have so far failed. The SAVE Act, which would require people to register to vote in person—banning registration by mail, at motor-vehicle bureaus, or online—and document their citizenship with a passport or birth certificate (plus a marriage license, for women who changed their names), narrowly passed the House in April 2025, but a threatened filibuster blocked it in the Senate.
On March 31, Trump issued an executive order to prohibit mail-in voting except by people on a list of eligible voters that states submitted to the Postal Service at least 60 days in advance, using only an officially designed envelope with specific markings. The Postal Service issued a rule on August 26 that it would not accept mail ballots from states that did not provide such lists, but a federal judge in Massachusetts issued an injunction against it. On Sept. 14, the Supreme Court refused to lift that injunction.
“We beat him back,” American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith told Work-Bites after the rally. “Our oath is to deliver America’s mail, not to decide who can vote.”
The APWU filed an amicus brief in that case arguing that the rule infringed on both the states’ constitutional power to regulate elections and the Postal Service’s constitutional obligation to deliver the mail.
Voting by mail is “not a convenience,” APWU Local 10 President Joseph Martir told the rally. It’s a necessity for people in the military, students, and a large share of the elderly.
The union plans to have election monitors “in every station” in the last two weeks before the election,” Smith said, to “make sure every ballot gets out.” Ninety-nine percent of mail ballots reach their destination within seven days, and 97% do within three days, he added.
But what the country is up against is a president who repeatedly insists that he won the 2020 election, has made that delusional belief a loyalty test for his government and party, sent 1,500 goons into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to disrupt Joe Biden’s certification as President-elect, and pardoned them all immediately upon taking office again on January 20, 2025.
He controls the machinery of federal law enforcement. What would happen if, for example, armed ICE agents, not exactly known for their respect for people with Spanish accents who say they’re U.S. citizens, showed up outside polling places in swing-district towns with significant Latino populations?
32BJ is sending volunteer pollwatchers into swing Congressional districts in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. “We don’t know if Trump and his supporters might try to intimidate people, but a crime or disturbance is less likely to happen if people are watching,” says Justin Lashley-Maloney, a night-shift doorman and “proud 32BJ member” for 13 years.
Griffith said the unions are doing pollwatching, helping people understand their rights, and working for a large turnout. He said he hoped “that these races are not close and that the results are clear.”
If ICE interferes with the election, “the labor movement’s going to respond,” he added.
“To the Trump administration and his criminal network: Democracy belongs to all of us. Democracy’s on the line, am I right?” 1199SEIU executive vice president Mike Ashby told the crowd. “This fight is bigger than immigration. This fight is bigger than unions.”
