Rising Star Jason Kander’s New Cause: ‘Let America Vote’

By Daniel J. Solomon February 7, 2017

After narrowly losing a Senate race in deep-red Missouri, Jewish politician Jason Kander is heading back to the ballot box, this time as the head of a new group protecting voting rights.

The organization, Let America Vote, will fight so-called “voter identification laws,” passed in red states to fight the almost non-existent problem of voter fraud. Pushed by Republican legislatures, these bills have made it harder for constituencies seen as leaning Democrat, including students, minorities, the poor and the young, to access the polls.

“Voting in our country has never been easy, and unfortunately it’s never been guaranteed for everyone,” Kander said in a statement. “Let America Vote will make the case for voting rights by exposing the real motivations of those who favor voter suppression laws. For the first time, politicians intent on denying certain Americans the right to vote will first have to consider the political consequences.”

Kander, who served previously as Missouri’s secretary of state, will have a board stocked with liberal grandees, including Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, former White House spokesman Josh Earnest and Martin Luther King III. Kander is seen as a rising star within the Democratic Party, due to his youth, military service and ability to appeal to red state voters.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO