How the Left Can Take Back States’ Rights

How the Left Can Take Back States’ Rights

From Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams by Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams

June 2, 2026 · 1h 3m · Episode 85

About this episode

Stacey Abrams discusses the importance of state governments and their role in democracy with guests Joanna McClinton and Daniel Squadron.

Why are state governments more important than ever? While the Trump administration has been busy gutting and remaking the federal government, it’s critical to remember that the power in Washington was given to it by…the states. This week, Stacey is joined by Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton and Daniel Squadron, cofounder of The States Project and author of The Fourth Branch. They talk about the biggest lessons from their own time as elected officials, the critical ways that state legislatures impact peoples’ lives, share stories of their biggest victories, and argue that the states can be a powerful tool in the fight for Democracy. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here . For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date. Learn & Do More: Be Curious: Pick up a copy of Daniel’s book, The Fourth Branch: How State Government Can Save Our Union , to learn more about the power of state government and check out the chapters at the end on how to take action at home. Solve Problems: We need more people who care about their communities running for state and local…

People in this episode

Host: Stacey Abrams

Guests: Joanna McClinton, Daniel Squadron

Topics covered

  • state governments
  • Democracy
  • elected officials
  • state legislatures
  • political engagement

Keywords

  • states' rights
  • federal government
  • politics
  • elections
  • community engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The States Project, Run for Something, Emerge, Emily’s List, New American Leaders, States Win

Books & works: The Fourth Branch

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