We All Need To Be Braver
There are 7,386 state legislative seats in the U.S., from just 49 in Nebraska, the only state with a unicameral legislature, to a massive 424 in New Hampshire, where each House member represents, on average, something like 3,500 people, making it possible for the Representatives to talk to each voter who wants to talk with them! At any given time, about half the members of Congress were previously members of their state legislatures. Some of Congress’ most productive members cut their teeth in their state legislatures, like Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ), Judy Chu (D-CA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and— drum roll, please— Jamie Raskin (D-MD).