Buona sera, Meteor readers,

Before we get into anything, let’s address the elephant in the room. You know exactly what I’m talking about: Mariah Carey officially announced the start of the Christmas season on November 1 (which, for those lost in the space-time continuum, was two days ago). Can we please let November live!? We need to get through Thanksgiving, Mariah. Calm your reindeer.

After all, we’ve still gotta get through Election Day. In today’s newsletter, we’ve got an exclusive interview with Stacey Abrams and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who are running for governor of Georgia and Arizona, respectively. Abrams is up against incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and Hobbs is in a heated showdown with Kari Lake, a Trump-endorsed election denier who recently said she wants a “carbon copy” of Texas’ abortion ban. The stakes are dire.

But first, a little news—and some heroic doctors hanging out in DC.

Not jingling any bells,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Remembering Momen Zandkarimi: Unrest in Iran continues following the death of Mahsa Amini, who is believed to have been killed by Iranian security forces in September. The subsequent protests have led to the deaths of several other women, including Iranian TikToker Hadis Najafi, who was reportedly shot by Iranian police during a protest. And now Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights organization, reports that during a protest held in conjunction with Najafi’s mourning ceremony, another young person was killed. The victim, Momen Zandkarimi, was only 18 years old—and joins the at least 277 protesters whose deaths have been directly caused by Iran’s security forces this fall, according to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).

Instead of seeking justice for the almost 300 lost lives, IHRNGO reports that the Iranian government has arrested dozens of protestors and charged them with “moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) which [both] carry the death penalty.” IHRNGO believes the government will follow through on the death penalty in an effort to suppress further political uprising.

AND:

• Today in Washington D.C., Doctors for Abortion Access brought medical practitioners from across the U.S. together to protect abortion access and demand an end to the current and future criminalization of providers who perform lifesaving abortion care. Their message for lawmakers? Let doctors do their jobs.

DOCTORS FOR ABORTION ACCESS DAY OF ACTION AT THE U.S. CAPITOL. (PHOTO BY KISHA BARI)

• Next week SCOTUS will begin hearing oral arguments on a case that could fundamentally change Medicaid as we know it—and not for the better. Here’s the quick and dirty on Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, from Vox.

• Julie Powell, who changed the world of blogging when she wrote about her experience cooking every recipe in Julia Childs’ cookbook, has died at 49. Her work was the inspiration for the film Julie & Julia.

• The Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York has been renamed and is now the Lena Horne Theatre. This makes Horne, an acclaimed triple threat of film, television, and the stage, the first Black woman in U.S. history to have a Broadway theatre named in her honor.

• And speaking of creative Black trailblazers: Meet Princess Lang, who started the first majorette dance group at a predominantly white institution (USC). Majorette dance, a style created, perfected, and continued at HBCUs, is a lifelong passion for Lang, who came under fire for “appropriating” the art form and bringing it to her university. But her response to her critics in a video for Togethxr is as crisp and cutting as her moves: “We have a right to be Black in any space that we enter, and we also have a right to showcase Black art in any aspect, on any level.”

THE 11TH HOUR INTERVIEW

With Five Days to Go, Two Women Running for Governor Talk to The Meteor

Stacey Abrams and Katie Hobbs on their historic runs: “It’s helpful to have someone who understands what you’re going through.”

BY ASHLEY SPILLANE

THE HONORABLE STACEY ABRAMS. (IMAGE BY MEGAN VARNER VIA GETTY IMAGES)

The people we elect on November 8 will decide the future of voting rights, abortion rights, healthcare, the economy—and so much more. And in many states, protecting key civil rights will come down to the results of a single race: governor.

With five days to go until Election Day, I talked to two candidates I’ve had the privilege to meet through my work in civic engagement: Stacey Abrams, the voting rights champion from Georgia who could become the country’s first Black woman governor, and Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Secretary of State who oversaw the 2020 election administration and now finds herself in a tight race against Kari Lake. Both women are running for the highest office in their state, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Ashley Spillane: You’re both running for governor. Tell me more about why this position matters. 

Stacey Abrams: Governors are the CEOs of the entire state, charged with implementing laws, crafting a budget, and overseeing state operations. Most people think of Washington, DC when they think about who has the greatest impact on policy, but the truth is…governors have the most impact on our lives.

We know it is so important to have women in all kinds of leadership roles; studies have shown [corporate] female CEOs make better political leaders, are better with money, are better collaborators, and care more about others than their male counterparts. Having women serving in the highest state office willing to collectively lead important debates is critical. Over reproductive rights, of course—but also about voting rights, marriage equality, kitchen-table economic issues, and how our democracy as a whole should operate more equitably.

Katie Hobbs: Despite making up over half the U.S. population, women constitute just 24% of the Senate, 28% of the House, and about 30% of all state legislative seats. Since its formation, 116 people have served on the Supreme Court; only six of them have been women, four of whom are serving now. Not to mention that literally every U.S. president who has appointed these judges has been a man.

As for governors, there are only nine women in those roles right now. Many of them are seeking re-election this year. Some [candidates], like me, are running against anti-choice women, and others, like in Stacey’s race, are challenging male incumbents who have vowed not to use their veto pen to protect our rights.

If legislatures pass even more of these cruel laws, governors are the last line of defense to stop them.

ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE, KATIE HOBBS. (IMAGE BY MARIO TAMA VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Governors’ races seem more hotly contested this year. Why now?

Katie: We’re at a crossroads for our democracy, and everyone’s realized the importance of state officials in protecting (or killing) it. I’m running against someone who denies the 2020 election results and has not said if she will accept the results if she or her party lose in the future. There are people running for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general across the country who are actively undermining our democracy and working to overturn the will of the people for their own political gain.

Stacey: As the Supreme Court removes federal protections and devolves them to the states, governors will also serve as a last line of defense for your hard-fought rights. In this post-Dobbs, post-January 6 era, with voting rights and civil liberties at stake, women governors are positioned to lead a nationwide effort to take back the decisions that should be ours alone. Little girls growing up in this era, particularly little girls of color, are counting on women leaders.

ONE MORE THING

Have you bought your tickets for Meet the Moment at the Brooklyn Museum on November 12? Yesterday we shared a taste of the amazing line up, and we’ve got everyone from Tarana Burke to Maysoon Zayid. Grab a ticket today! They’re only $35 and existing museum members can attend for $30.

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