With help from Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz

POLITICO Illustration/Photo by Getty Images

What up Recast family! Congress marks the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, but most Republicans were noticeably absent from the commemorations on the Hill. The Labor Department released its lackluster report with just 199,000 jobs added in December due to the surge in Omicron cases. And you can blame Omicron for the postponement of the Grammys, too.

Nsé Ufot says her confidence is shaken by what she’s seen over the course of the last year.

Her mission though remains the same: register as many voters as possible and legally overwhelm the system, making it clear what direction Georgians want to take in what’s become the most important swing state in the nation.

The Peach State has been in a perpetual tug of war between the two political parties since the 2020 election cycle. A year ago this week, Democrats pulled off a stunning victory, ousting two GOP incumbents and sending the state’s first Black and first Jewish senators to Washington.

Months later, Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature enacted stricter voting laws which critics argue make it much harder for people of color to vote. The law also gives Republican officials new powers to investigate and replace local election administrators.

Meanwhile, in December, the state’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law the state’s new redistricting map. It would give the GOP one more congressional seat, despite the latest census figures showing 1 million new residents moved to the state in the last decade who are overwhelmingly from marginalized populations, which typically vote blue.

That brings us back to Ufot.

She is CEO of the New Georgia Project, the Stacey Abrams-founded grassroots organization built to cultivate and engage voters, particularly those who are younger and people of color.

We chop it up about how the rules of engagement have changed in the battleground of Georgia in the past year, whether she is hopeful about the Senate passing voting rights legislation — and what she wants from President Biden and Vice President Harris during their visit to Atlanta next week.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

THE RECAST: I want to get your thoughts on President Biden and Vice President Harris heading to the ATL next week to highlight voting rights legislation, when many say Democrats haven’t done as much as they could on this issue.

UFOT: I think there is a recognition: The attacks that are happening in Atlanta are representative of the attacks that are happening around the country.

I think that the president and the vice president know how important it is. And it’s an opportunity for them to show Americans they’re not asleep at the wheel, that they’re ready to fight to defend democracy and defend our ability to participate in elections.

And so coming to Georgia, coming to Atlanta totally makes sense — it’s the cradle of the civil rights movement. And there are a number of pesky, annoying, community organizers down here who won’t shut up about voting and voting rights. (She chuckles.)

But I will say this: We are beyond the time for spicy, fiery rhetoric. I am the child of a Nigerian poet and a Nigerian pastor so I will always be here for a fiery speech and a clever turn of phrase. But the time has passed where that is sufficient, and that we are looking for clarity.

We’re looking for a plan that says how they plan to get rid of the filibuster and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and set a federal standard for elections.

Nsé Ufot: "Anything short of that is a rhetorical exercise and a low-key waste of time."

THE RECAST: Getting federal voting rights legislation passed is a top priority for Democrats in Washington. President Biden has said he supports a filibuster carve-out for voting rights, but not all Senate Democrats have been on board with that. How confident are you that something will be enacted before the midterms later this year?

UFOT: If it’s a matter of confidence, I feel like that’s been shaken over the past year. We’ve seen how Congress has responded to the attacks in our democracy, from Jan. 6 to the [more than] 400 anti-voting bills that have been introduced in almost all 50 states.

If I’m just relying on the past as prologue, I will say that I’m not super confident. But what I also know is that there’s a clarity that we witnessed towards the end of the year and the sort of reality of the midterms and upcoming elections and how consequential they are. I think that is inspiring a sort of urgency and a quickening among congressional leaders. And so while I might not be super confident, I know that it is absolutely necessary and important that something happens — and that something happens soon — or we are in trouble.

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THE RECAST: Is the clarity you refer to about last year’s elections in Virginia and Democrats losing control of the governor’s mansion and the House of Delegates?

UFOT: The clarity that I’m referring to is the idea that we’re starting to see glimpses of the powers that state GOP legislators have given themselves to overturn elections, to unilaterally remove county election officials.

There were nearly 2,000 municipal elections in Georgia [last year] so we had a small-scale opportunity to see what the potential impact was. And they have demonstrated that they will use it, that the Republicans, in this moment, have not stuttered.

There is also a clarity in their communications, that they are coming for elections, that they are going to hold on to power by hook or by crook, and in this instance, it is all by crook. And they are daring us to say something about it.

Nsé Ufot speaks at a rally

Nsé Ufot is the executive director of the New Georgia Project, a grassroots organization that focuses on engaging young voters and voters of color. | Courtesy of Nsé Ufot

THE RECAST: Well, let’s talk about your state. Just before the New Year, Gov. Brian Kemp signed off on the GOP-backed redistricting map. There are lawsuits challenging its legality, but if it stands it’ll cement Republican control of the state Legislature for the next decade and likely ensure Republicans retain their edge over Democrats in how many congressional seats they hold. Knowing that the landscape in battleground Georgia has changed, how have you had to adjust for 2022?

UFOT: I think the priorities are two things.

One: that we are very deliberate and intentional about combating misinformation and disinformation.

There were people that were born in 2003, born in 2004 that will be voting for the first time in our elections [later this year]. And they are looking for reliable sources of information about how to evaluate candidates, about what their rights are, about how to vote, how to participate. And we have witnessed up to this point, the GOP and bad actors trying to poison the information wells.

So we are going to be competing for narrative space, and competing for different facts and the truth as it relates to our elections. That is a priority for the New Georgia Project.

Two: We work to change the rules of engagement back to something that respects voters and their participation in our elections. We don’t have that environment, we don’t have that set of laws right now. And so what we do have is the ability to mobilize an overwhelming and historic number of voters so that we can overwhelm or overcome all of these voter suppression attempts.

The one way that I know of to guarantee that the will of the people is reflected in the results of our elections is to make sure that any and everybody that is eligible turns up to vote in the primaries, and in the November general, so that these elections are not won at the margins.

Nsé Ufot speaks to people as she organizes

Nsé Ufot told The Recast that through organizing, she wants to make sure elections are not won at the margins. | Courtesy of Nsé Ufot

THE RECAST: The New Georgia Project’s mission is to identify and register voters, particularly young folks and those of color. But it’s also got to help keep them engaged once they are registered.

Obviously Georgia was a key state in the 2020 election. Voters returned to the polls several weeks later on Jan. 5 2021 to settle the two U.S. Senate seat runoffs. Voters came back multiple times in 2021 for municipal primaries, general election and runoffs. And Georgians may have to do it all again in congressional elections later this year.

How do you fight against voter fatigue like, “Damn, I gotta vote again and again?”

UFOT: I will say that we are our own focus group. We recognize that voter fatigue is real.

Nsé Ufot: "Ultimately, what we're trying to do is change the culture of our democracy, the culture of democratic participation, and how people think about government and elections.”

We’ve been successful up to this point. And I will point to an example … After a long, brutal, presidential election cycle, we were able to get young people and people of color and Democrats to show up … and send Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate.

What we are seeing is that folks are clear about the things they are voting for. There is nothing that focuses the mind like the credible threat of death. We have nearly a million Americans that are no longer here with us, there’s an additional variant and we have leaders, particularly Republican leaders, that have abandoned us, abandoned their responsibility to protect the safety and the welfare of our communities.

We want and need elected officials who will govern with the people who will go to Atlanta, who will go to Washington, D.C., to do the people’s work. That is the message that we’ve been beating for the past eight years as the New Georgia Project has been in existence. We do not exist to elect Democrats period. We never have, we never will.

THE RECAST: You said you’re not in the business of electing Democrats, but Democrats are the base of the folks you are supporting, right? That’s an accurate statement?

UFOT: It is accurate that in instances where our affiliate [New Georgia Project Action Fund] has endorsed candidates that yes, they have been Democrats, or Democratic socialists.

Nsé Ufot at a Glamour event

Voting rights activist Nsé Ufot attends the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York on Nov. 8. | Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

THE RECAST: So my broader question is, since Georgia is now firmly a purple state, how do you pick off these independents? How do you get Republicans to cross the aisle and support candidates or causes New Georgia Project endorses?

UFOT: You beat them. You beat them up so thoroughly, and so soundly. They are replaced by people who you don’t have to convince that the Constitution is a document worthy of protection.

You don’t create space for this misinformation and disinformation and these anti-American, anti-democratic sentiments to continue to flourish. While we’re not in the business of electing Democrats, I’m also not in the business of coddling Republicans, and pretending like they are good actors in this moment. I’m not in the business of pretending like they are anything but a criminal enterprise that is intent on attacking our democracy and our country and our government from the inside.

How do we combat that? How do we address that? We beat them. We retire them.

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Happy Friday y’all! We’ve made it to the first full week of the New Year … so why does it feel it’s been a whole month? Just me? Anyhoo, cheers to the freakin’ weekend. Here are some quick pop items to get it jump-started.

Barack Obama and Sidney Poitier are pictured.

Then-President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sidney Poitier during ceremonies in the East Room at the White House. | J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP Photo

Sidney Poitier is peerless. The dashing actor/director/civil rights activist — the first Black man to win an Oscar — is known for his trailblazing roles including those tackling race relations in films like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “To Sir, with Love” all released in 1967. He was awarded the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009. He died today at 94.

This week, the nation marked the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. You can find some of POLITICO’s coverage here.

We also want all your hot takes on the “Hamilton” cast’s taped rendition of “Dear Theodosia” played during a remembrance of the events in the Capitol. Did it hit the right note? Or was it tone deaf? Hit us up at [email protected].

Also new information uncovered by POLITICO’s Betsy Woodruff Swan, Christopher Cadelago and Kyle Cheney: a pipe bomb was discovered outside the DNC the day of the insurrection — while the then VP-elect Kamala Harris was inside the building.

It’s official, the son of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez Jr., announces he’s running for a New Jersey congressional seat to replace the retiring Rep. Albio Sires (D). POLITICO’s Matt Friedman has this fun fact: the senior Menendez held the seat prior to Sires.

And in California, conservative talk show host Larry Elder, the GOP gubernatorial nominee who bested a field of candidates vying to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall election last year, says he will NOT make another go at the office, reports POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White.

Larry Elder

Larry Elder speaks to supporters during a campaign stop in Norwalk, Calif., on July 13. | Marcio Jose Sanchez, File/AP Photo

New year, new byline: This perspective from Washington Post Operations Editor Marian Chia-Ming Liu is a must-read. She talks about reclaiming her Chinese name in an era of increased anti-Asian violence and discrimination.

FKA Twigs has a new mixtape.

“Search Party,” Alia Shawkat’s bitingly funny mystery satire is back for its final season, and we are so here for it.

TikTok of the Day: Privilege? Activated.

@yjmoonie

dreams really do come true

♬ Don’t Stop Believin’ (Re-Recorded) – Journey