There’s no question about it: nonpartisan organizations defending human rights, providing direct services, and uniting communities – along with funders who keep their staff paid – represent some of the strongest safeguards protecting vulnerable Americans in our increasingly authoritarian landscape. In addition to these organizations, we’re depending on a crucial set of politicians and policies to fight back. We all know that politicians and policymakers who are doing things because we are holding them accountable are not as effective as those who are actually aligned with us and doing those things based on their own values.

Too often, nonpartisan funders comfort themselves by saying “elections can’t save us.” By saying this we discredit the very real work that is being done. That the last 100+ days have not been improved by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James slowing Trump’s machinations down by suing him left and right, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber refuting Trump’s lies about voting systems, and Los Angeles Karen Bass pushing back on Trump. It’s not hard to imagine that incoming Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee will also be an important bulwark against looming fascism.

And if those examples don’t sway you, all of us who were disappointed at California Governor Newsom uncritically platforming fascists like Charlie Kirk or watching Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and New York City Mayor Eric Adams acquiescing to Trump have certainly experienced the reality that elections do indeed make a difference.

The truth is: Nothing siloed can save us.