Why Voting Rights Are at the Center of One Battleground House Race

“It’s not enough, I think, to say, the Jan. 6 insurrection was terrible — of course it was terrible,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio. “We also have to tend to this democracy of ours.”

Chris Deluzio

Rep. Chris Deluzio has introduced a Defend Democracy Agenda. Matt Rourke/AP

A first-term Democrat in Congress is banking his future on something many members of his party in similarly competitive races are largely underplaying: defending democracy and promoting voting rights.

There’s been minimal legislative attention on voting access from Democrats since 2021, when the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the House but died in the Senate. But that hasn’t stopped Rep. Chris Deluzio from making this the centerpiece of his highly competitive reelection campaign in western Pennsylvania.

Deluzio, perhaps more than any other vulnerable Democrat, is set up to focus on the message. After serving six years as a naval officer, including a tour in Iraq, Deluzio then focused on voting rights and election security law as an attorney, before running for Congress.