Central Westchester Indivisible
Newsletter #13 - April 17, 2026
Lots of bad stuff happening everyday and it’s easy to get discouraged, but sometimes we should celebrate some really good news. The good news this week is from Hungary. Ezra Levin, Indivisible’s Co-Executive Director, did a great job in his April 13 Indivisible Updates and Actions describing the significance and lessons of democracy’s triumph there last week
I’m going to ask you to focus on some good news. I know, I know -- the bad stuff demands my attention too. How could it not? Last week, Trump threatened genocide against Iran, then we got a fake ceasefire, then Israel immediately broke it, and now we’re more or less back to where we were: on the precipice of disaster, or headed into just another week where everything might break.
Without taking away from the urgency of that reality, I want to argue that it’s important to proactively look for light in this darkness. And I’ve got a couple bright spots to share.
Pro-democracy forces beat the fascists in Hungary. Viktor Orbán, newly defeated Prime Minister of Hungary, is not just any authoritarian leader. He is the inspiration for today’s Trumpism.
Kevin Roberts, a lead architect of Project 2025, said “Modern Hungary is not just a model for conservative statecraft, but the model.” Vance once said, “I think Orbán made smart decisions that we could learn from in the US.” Trump himself called Orbán “a very great leader, a very strong man.”
All those quotes come from a terrifyingly prescient October 2024 report by the European Council on Foreign Relations: The Orbanisation of America: Hungary’s lessons for Donald Trump. In short, it details how a second term Trump would likely “adapt many of Orbán’s techniques” to dismantle American democracy as Orbán sought to dismantle Hungarian democracy -- capturing courts, rigging elections, controlling media, crushing civil society.
All kings fall. So all eyes were on Sunday's Hungarian national election. The Trump regime even got Vance off the couch and sent him to campaign for Orbán in Budapest. Leah and I have been in touch with pro-democracy organizers in Hungary who were worried about the tricks Orbán might pull in a close election. Some anti-authoritarian experts feared the worst -- a straight Orbán victory, a messy split government, or outright sabotage or coup by the regime.
But the Hungarian people had other plans. On the eve of the election, more than 100,000 Hungarians showed up at a pro-democracy megaconcert. It was joyful and powerful and loud -- an urgent display of nonviolent, organized, people power insisting on democracy.
Then we all held our breath.
Orbán lost. And he didn't just lose -- his regime was electorally crushed with record-breaking turnout. The opposition party won 138 of 199 parliamentary seats. Turnout hit nearly 80% -- a record in post-communist Hungarian history. The opposition now has the supermajority needed to amend their constitution and dismantle Orbán's 16 years of authoritarian consolidation.
The voters’ message in this election was unambiguous: No kings.
Hungary’s lessons for all of us. The outcome of the Hungarian election makes one thing very clear: Organized, massive, nonviolent people power can defeat an Orbán-style authoritarian, even in a weakened democracy. Those who say our midterms are already lost are in effect arguing that American democracy is weaker than Hungarian democracy after 16 years of Orbán’s rule. I don’t buy it. I refuse to forfeit the power Trump wants us to just hand him. And I know I’m not alone.
New polling shows we're the growing majority. If No Kings were a politician, it would be the most popular politician in America.
Indivisible just released a national poll we commissioned to better understand how big No Kings 3 was, what motivated participants, and how it was received by the nation. You can read toplines here (and full cross-tabs if you really want to nerd out); I’ll give you some highlights:
ATTENDANCE: An astronomically high 7% of all US voters say they attended No Kings in person, and 16% more said they wanted to but couldn’t. Do I think 20 million Americans actually attended No Kings 3? No -- that’s clearly inflated -- but these responses reflect how damn much people wanted to be part of it. People want to be with the winners, and No Kings is clearly where the winners are.
POPULARITY: By a spread of 10 points across all voters (including Republicans), American voters support No Kings. Moderates supported it by a margin of 22 points! No Kings has higher approvals than disapprovals among every demographic subgroup, with the highest net favorables coming from Black voters and young voters.
GROWTH: Thirty-two percent of protestors were first timers. 27% of all voters said they want to come next time. Read that again: More than a quarter of Americans would like to go to the next pro-democracy protest.
None of this means our work here is done. America is America, not Hungary; Trump is Trump, not Orbán. But this is our democracy. If Hungarians can organize their way to a nonviolent electoral obliteration of their authoritarian regime, we can do the same to our weakened, declining executive and his sycophantic Congress. We just have to do the work.
In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible
Need more inspiration? Just listen to Bruce Springsteen’s powerful introduction and cover of Edwin Starr’s anti-war anthem “War” in Minneapolis on March 31, 2026.
Events
CWI Sunday rallies in Hartsdale, Richard Presser Park 1 PM
Anti-ICE student rally hosted by students from Edgemont High School on April 24 at 3:30 at the Hartsdale train station. We encourage all members who can to please attend.
We're also working with Indivisible and other national organizations on two major events. First, on April 25 you can join allies around the country for the Communities Not Cages National Day of Action, non-violent and peaceful local actions supporting immigrants. In addition, plans are developing quickly for the major May Day Strong events on May Day. We’ll be providing more information on May Day Strong in future newsletters.
Please tell us which issues you think are most important and how you think Central Westchester Indivisible should address those issues. Join us as we use our new committees to discuss priorities and address various federal, state and local issues. You can reach us at cwindivisible@gmail.com. Or, join us at our local rally this Sunday at 1:00 at Richard Presser Park in Hartsdale. Please bring signs that tell the community what you’re angry about and what you think should be different, and talk to members of CWI and others about what we can all do.
As usual, see the Other Opportunities section below. And, if you are not a CWI member yet, and want to join us, please click here.
Other Opportunities
Looking for other opportunities to keep building momentum. See the following:
Campaign for Public Health - Help pass the New York Health Act
Immigration - State and Federal Legislation
Webcast with Congressman George Latimer on April 21
Did we miss anything? As usual, we request that you provide us with information to include in future newsletters. You can do so by sending an email with the pertinent information to our email account cwindivisible@gmail.com. Please include the word "Event" in the email subject, so we know what to expect.
Finally, if you want to contribute to CWI, we’ve made it easy for you. Just click here to contribute to our work organizing right here in Central Westchester and make it possible for us to make a difference on state and federal issues.
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU’RE ALREADY DOING. LET’S CONTINUE TO STAND TOGETHER TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!
Central Westchester Indivisible