Under Barack Obama, Democrats lost over 1,000 seats nationwide. While Republican obstructionism was most visible in Congress, the GOP proved most dangerous on a state level. By winning local with school boards, city councils, and state legislative seats alongside governorships and state constitutional offices, the Republican Party has enacted its agenda for nearly a decade without even needing the White House. In red, purple, and blue states alike, a mixture of factors including voter suppression, low Democratic turnout, and effective conservative organizing has given Republicans the power to cut taxes on the wealthy, criminalize protest, restrict reproductive freedom, attack LGBTQ rights, and altogether tear apart any remaining vestiges of democracy that impede their power.

The most prominent example is perhaps with our electoral system itself. Since the GOP achieved massive victories with state legislatures and governorships in 2010, they controlled the decennial restricting process, gerrymandering states into oblivion and cementing supermajorities that could be maintained even with popular vote losses. To matter matters worse, after the Supreme Court dismantled the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Republicans did everything in their power to restrict ballot access for demographics that predominantly vote Democratic, particularly people of color and young people.

The stakes right now couldn’t be higher. If Democrats don’t win big on a state and local level in 2018 and 2020, the GOP will yet again have power over the decennial redistributing process, which could solidify conservative control for decades to come, if not longer.

But electing Democrats in and of itself is not enough. Centrist Democratic governors and legislators have proven susceptible to GOP schemes, with self-styled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo approving a GOP gerrymander that gives conservatives a majority in the state senate to this day. If we are to truly combat the dangerous agenda of Trump and congressional Republicans, we need to elect true blue progressives to state and local office.

And that’s precisely what LaunchProgress is working to do. Founded in 2014, the PAC aims to bolster “a bench of future progressive leaders” by supporting bold young candidates from diverse backgrounds. They have already helped nearly 20 candidates win their first-ever campaign, and are currently supporting candidates in Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina.

We spoke with Arielle Swernoff, the Executive DirectorLaunchProgress, about the importance of building progressive power on a local level, the lessons we can learn from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s grassroots success in NY-14, and the potential of state and local government to save us from a 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Listen on iTunes or in your browser below: