A Resistance Origin Story: Democracy in the Balance

Alexandrian Melynda Wilcox describes how she came to start a Substack that focuses on down-ballot political campaigns.

About Alexandria welcomes back guest contributor Melynda Wilcox, the founder of Democracy in the Balance, a Substack that highlights opportunities for potential difference-making contributions in closely contested political campaigns.

Melynda Wilcos

Democracy in the Balance can be viewed

Melynda, and Democracy in the Balance, show how we can engage constructively and effectively in our difficult times.

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Shortly after President Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race and Vice-President Kamala Harris was named as his replacement, I knew I had to find a way to become more involved. The late Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis was in my head whispering, “good trouble, get into some good trouble.”

Around the same time I became intrigued by an argument from journalist Matt Yglesias—that the most effective way to defeat the MAGA movement would be to donate to campaigns, particularly those of down-ballot candidates where a little bit of money can have an out-sized impact—and where officeholders have the power to limit healthcare, take away reproductive rights, ban books, decide which version of history our children are taught, put guns in the hands of anyone who wants one, ignore the effects of climate change and more. And I was reminded of being part of a grass roots fundraising effort for down-ballot candidates in the fall of 2020 led by Alex Clemens, a California-based political strategist who published a newsletter called Sawbuck Patriots.

With some printer paper from the front desk at the hotel where I was hibernating at the time—recovering from a mild case of Covid—I put my research and reporting skills to work, sifted through highly-respected sources of political analysis on my iPhone and came up with a makeshift spreadsheet of candidates. My goal was to identify down-ballot candidates in close and consequential races. I aimed to curate the information available on these lower profile races and package it in a way that was easily accessible and actionable for the reader.

Official Democracy in the Balance workpapers.

My husband David and I agreed that we would personally donate to each candidate that I spotlighted.

In the nine weeks between Labor Day and Election Day 2024, I profiled fifty-nine candidates in Democracy in the Balance—the name I gave my Substack column. These were mostly candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, but also candidates for state legislatures, state supreme courts, school boards and even a county recorder election in Arizona. My win-loss record was 24-35.

After Trump was re-elected, I continued to highlight down-ballot candidates in special and off-cycle elections. In addition, I began profiling organizations across the country that are pushing back against anti-democratic forces—and informing readers how to give their financial support to those resistance efforts.

This work has given me hope when it’s easy to feel hopeless. Our nation has an abundance of talented young candidates on the left side of the aisle, including many female candidates and candidates of color, who are ready and willing to lead.

And I’m motivated by the legions of volunteers, such as Alexandria attorney Jamie Conrad, who are using their expertise behind the scenes to safeguard vaccine use, prevent the erasure of government data from agency websites, and represent civil servants who have been wrongfully fired, to cite a few examples.

Each of us can—and must—find our own form of “good trouble.” Our democracy depends on it.