160 Comments
User's avatar
ArcticStones's avatar

I don’t have a small enough violin to post for Darrell Issa.

anonymouse's avatar

PPP/DSCC internal has Talarico up 1 over Cornyn (44-43), up 2 on Paxton (47-45).

https://punchbowl.news/wp-content/uploads/Texas-poll.pdf

Kildere53's avatar

Trying to imagine what a 2-point Talarico victory would look like. Talarico will probably win South Texas but not do as well as Beto did there, so he'll have to make up his margins elsewhere. I'm thinking 80% in Travis, 55% in Williamson, and 62-63% in both Hays and Bexar. He'll need to win both Denton and Collin, and get at least 53-54 percent in Tarrant. He'll certainly need to break 60% in Harris and get close to that in Fort Bend.

Is any of that possible? Until Taylor Rehmet's impressive special election victory, I probably would've said no. Now? Maybe.

Conor Gallogly's avatar

Do you think that having Hinojosa at the top and a candidate in every seat will give Talarico a benefit that Beto didn’t have against Cruz?

ArcticStones's avatar

Hopefully also vice versa!

alienalias's avatar

If Hinojosa is a stronger campaigner than Lupe Valdez was.

Corey Olomon's avatar

It would be VERY hard to be worse than Valdez was!

Conor Gallogly's avatar

I don’t know anything about that race. Actually I know little about Hinojosa, I only watched her launch video.

Morgan Whitacre's avatar

See, I am of the belief that South Texas will bounce back towards us in a pretty dramatic way.

anonymouse's avatar

Even with that, south Texas isn’t enough to generate a huge swing. It’s not very populated compared to the rest of the state. A 30-point swing in the RGV nets you like 2-3 points statewide. That helps, but getting to a double digit win in places like Tarrant and Williamson County while getting over 60% in Harris County and Bexar County are probably prerequisites. That’s where all the people are. Probably flipping Collin and Denton counties too.

Morgan Whitacre's avatar

Completely agree with the suburban strategy - I just think that the RGV will be lucrative as well.

Mark's avatar

I'll believe it when I see it. It's pretty rare to see huge PVI snapbacks after a pattern of going the other direction. I could see the majority of the RGV counties going blue but with margins much closer to 2020 than 2012 or 2016.

anonymouse's avatar

There’s reason to believe it in Hispanic areas after what we saw in November across the country. Probably because they don’t like masked men terrorizing them in the streets. Just a thought.

Mark's avatar

Yet also those who live in an area where the largest employer would be the Border Patrol. Pretty big qualifying factor.

JoeyJoeJoe1980's avatar

The only examples that come to mind are the Cuban voters in Miami and voters in the Midwest and plains who moved significantly to the left in the mid to late 80s and moved back in the 90s.

Deep South voters moved significantly from 1972 to 1976 but that was a pretty unusual situation

Mark's avatar

I would think he'd probably need better than 55% in Williamson to meet the benchmarks. He'd definitely need Collin and probably Denton.

anonymouse's avatar

I got to a narrow D win by making Dallas D+39, Tarrant D+12, Travis D+60, Williamson D+15, Collin D+4, Denton D+1, Bexar D+27, Harris D+22, Ellis R+9, Kaufman R+10, Rockwall R+15, and Hays D+25. Otherwise, keep all turnout and Biden-Trump margins the same. RGV movement and swings in other urban/suburban counties like Bell, McLennan, Montgomery, Brazoria, and Guadalupe would provide more buffer.

https://elections-daily.com/election-shuffler-2-0-archive/

John Carr's avatar

Remember when we thought that a Dem winning Tarrant at all would get a win statewide?

axlee's avatar

No need to that monster margin in Travis.

Something like the same rural margin, same or slightly better in the smaller metros and along the border, 6-7 pt better in margin in the four largest metros, would do. So about 75% in Travis.

MPC's avatar

I'm so glad voters showed Phil Berger the door -- and he seems like he's uninterested in seeking a recount.

He's probably going to go scorched earth as a lame duck, as well as those three conservadems who voted to override Stein's vetoes on Berger's red-meat legislation.

alienalias's avatar

It's always a bit surprising to me that the JDL assassination plot to kill Issa in his first year in Congress, just a couple months after 9/11, is seldom mentioned.

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/13/us/2-held-in-plot-to-attack-mosque-and-congressman.html

alienalias's avatar

Kind of a pain for Nabilah Parkes to switch from the frontrunner to challenge the insurance commissioner to the LG primary. Does that make Keisha Waites the likely nominee?

anonymouse's avatar

Yeah, that’s really annoying when both her and McLaurin could’ve had pretty clear paths to the general.

D S's avatar

Keisha Waites winning anything would be a surprise, she managed to fumble the public serve commission primary in 2025

alienalias's avatar

All I know is that she's at least the only former elected in the insurance commissioner primary. The others are Clarence Blalock (who switched from the labor commissioner primary), Thomas Dean, AJ Jain and Deandre Mathis.

https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/qualifying-candidate-information?electionYear=2026&election=a0pcs00000J6e6HAAR&party=null&contestType=null&contest=null&county=null&electiondatename=5%2F19%2F2026%20-%20MAY%2019%2C%202026%20-%20GENERAL%20PRIMARY%20ELECTION

dragonfire5004's avatar

Kind of important to have the actual numbers, not just the margins. That makes a huge difference.

Dem Primary:

Platner 43

Mills 38

General:

Collins 45

Mills 43

Platner 49

Collins 42

RL Miller's avatar

not familiar with this pollster... reliable poll? because it's drastically different from the Collins 55/Platner 41 type polls I was seeing (NRSC or Mills-related) last month.

Paleo's avatar

Relatively new. Had some success in national polling in 2024. But only recently started delving into state polling.

Miguel Parreno's avatar

Really wish we had a better candidate than either of them but if I’m gonna roll the dice on someone… I’d go with Platner.

Politics and Economiks's avatar

https://x.com/RepOgles/status/2031002097135599717

Ogles really taking the mask off here. Unbelievable that a sitting US rep would say/write something like this publicly, but here we are.... too bad this asshat is in a +17 district. Any chance of this being a reach seat?

Henrik's avatar

One of the most odious Congressmen, which is saying a lot

Diogenes's avatar

Trying to keep up with Randy Fine.

MPC's avatar

Fine is a special kind of vile. Be nice if the blue tsunami washed that beluga whale out as well.

Brad Warren's avatar

Is it bad that I laughed out loud at "beluga whale"?

MPC's avatar

No, not at all!

Kildere53's avatar

While both statements in that tweet are insane and ridiculous, the second is actually far more dangerous, since it targets not just Muslims but literally anyone who isn't a white Christian.

And if people like him get their way, thinking they will stop after just Muslims is delusional. Jews, African-Americans, and Hispanics (documented and otherwise) will be next.

FeingoldFan's avatar

And the craziest ones have issues even with plenty of the white Christians, people like Eric Schmitt don’t consider anyone who came to the US after the 1840s - the Italians, the Irish, the Poles, the Greeks, etc. to be real Americans.

Brad Warren's avatar

That's why MAGA Italian-Americans piss me off to no end. (I'm of Italian-American descent.)

Guy Cohen's avatar

Luckily he won't be getting his way. There's way more of us then there are of them.

Corey Olomon's avatar

The Nazis never got more than 44%. I'm not entirely sure that less than 44% of Americans either supports this or at least don't care enough to fight it!

Guy Cohen's avatar

The Nazis ruled over a smaller country with fewer checks and balances, and a lot of people who didn't vote for them were willing to get behind them when they took power.

The same can't be said for the MAGA GOP.

Paleo's avatar

Open season for bigots and racists.

Buckeye73's avatar

It has been ever since an orange asshole came down the escalator in 2015.

Mr. Rochester's avatar

Probably not, though I think it increases the chances that Republicans concede a Nashville-based seat in 3031, especially if TN gains a district.

Kildere53's avatar

I appreciate your optimism that America will still exist in 3031!

That's a long time to wait for a Nashville-based district though.

Guy Cohen's avatar

Do you not have that optimism?

michaelflutist's avatar

The U.S. is unlikely to exist as a democracy even in 2131, even if the human race does.

Guy Cohen's avatar

Didn’t notice it said “3031”..

alienalias's avatar

Reapportionment will be in 2033. Or 3033.

brendan fka HoosierD42's avatar

Well the reapportioned Congress will take office in 2033 (or 3033), but the actual apportionment would happen in 2031 (or 3031)

Guy Cohen's avatar

Trump+17 so a reach but definitely not entirely out of the question.

Mark's avatar

When you're already at "Somalis are garbage" out of the mouth of the leader of the party, it's a pretty short trip for a guy like Ogles to go where he did.

Toiler On the Sea's avatar

Imagine if Omar made a similar tweet about fundamentalist Pentacostals. She wouldn't last another day in Congress. The playing field is just not stacked fairly at all.

Guy Cohen's avatar

Omar would still be in congress if she said that. The votes are not there to expel her.

dragonfire5004's avatar

Isn’t Chaz Molder running for this seat? The mayor of one of the large population centres in the district? I’m pretty sure he outraised Ogles too. Though, like most commenters below, I still doubt we can win this seat even with a decent candidate and campaign, barring a blue tsunami.

Philip's avatar

Probably not, unfortunately, my mom lives in the Nashville section of this district which is pretty decently blue and gives us a base, but the rest is just so red.

dragonfire5004's avatar

I don’t think we’re yet understanding just how bad the political ramifications are for Republicans barring a TACO moment.

https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/2030779281861759061

The

@WSJ

calls it “the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s.” ⛽️

https://wsj.com/world/middle-east/persian-gulf-oil-squeeze-d9a39190

“In the whole written history of the strait, it has never been closed, ever,” said JPMorgan Chase analyst Natasha Kaneva. “To me, it was not just the worst-case scenario. It was an unthinkable scenario.”

DM's avatar

Diesel prices have spiked way more than gasoline. I'm out in the California desert this morning and have seen diesel as high as $6.79 gallon, although other places are almost $2 cheaper on Indian reservation.

JanusIanitos's avatar

Crude oil has gone up ~50% already, while Iraq is being forced to cap wells as it has basically no storage available. As I understand it, uncapping an oil well is not a quick or trivial process -- even if hostilities ended today it would still be some time before production returned to normal. Realistically it's too late for TACO to save them from the consequences of this come November. These types of problems are too time consuming to fix.

Oil prices are going to keep going up. Brent crude is about $100 right now, it was $65 before. When Russia launched it's invasion of Ukraine, it peaked around $120. I suspect it's going to exceed that.

I'd start to get a bit more hopeful about our chances of winning some of those four senate reach seats in particular; this is going to get ugly.

Guy Cohen's avatar

We actually have more spare supply to offset than we had in 2022, so that could keep prices below the levels seen then.

JanusIanitos's avatar

The US is impacted by global prices even if we're 100% self-sufficient on oil. Our "spare supply" only helps the oil companies make a bigger profit right now. It doesn't save us from the economic impacts of oil prices going up globally.

Marcus Graly's avatar

Being a "net exporter" of oil doesn't mean we can be totally self-sufficient. Different kinds of oil are refined into different products. And existing pipelines and distribution networks are hard to reroute.

JanusIanitos's avatar

That's another factor too!

As I understand it, our oil wells produce a petroleum of one grade and our refineries primarily process petroleum of a different grade. A large amount of the oil we use is imported even though we produce more than we use in more basic terms.

The US economy is very exposed to oil price shocks. If only we had continued to invest in renewables and electrification of transportation, we'd be accelerating the de-risking process.

Henrik's avatar

Problem with that is that East Asian economies are highly reliant on oil but especially LNG from the Gulf. If that spice ain’t flowing to the big Tiger economies and Japan, or to China, then we have big big problems even if gas prices stateside stay a bit lower

Guy Cohen's avatar

That's why it's possible those countries use their leverage to reopen the strait. Would Iran resist pressure when it's China and India yelling at them rather than the U.S.?

michaelflutist's avatar

Yes, if that's what's needed for the theocratic regime to survive.

Paleo's avatar

Would Shitler back off if China started making noise and moving military assets to the region? Unlikely they would since, unlike the U.S, China historically doesn't go around the world attacking countries left and right.

Henrik's avatar

Iran’s survival is dependent on their leverage. It’s less about China/India intimidating Iran and more about large economies intimidating the USA into finding an off-ramp

Guy Cohen's avatar

What exactly will Iran's conditions be to reopen the strait?

dragonfire5004's avatar

Incoming Congress member Steve Toth endorsed Paxton in the GOP Senate runoff today and Republican anxiety is growing that Trump still hasn’t made his endorsement yet.

Semafor: Delay in Trump’s Texas endorsement raises GOP anxiety

“Republicans are still waiting on President Trump’s endorsement in the Texas Senate race. And every week without him settling it means more costly spending in the GOP runoff battle between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.”

https://www.semafor.com/article/03/09/2026/delay-in-trumps-texas-endorsement-raises-gop-anxiety

Kildere53's avatar

Do we have any Wisconsinites here who can fill us in on how the campaign is going for the Supreme Court election this year? It's taking place in less than a month, and there's still been virtually no polling or news about it.

Mike Johnson's avatar

It's sleepy because conservatives are worried about the fall and the potential for Dems to flip both chambers and retain the Governorship in what is shaping up to be a wave year; the liberal candidate has a 10-to-1 fundraising advantage over the conservative candidate.

Henrik's avatar

A Wisconsin trifecta would be real fun for us as turnabout for the Walker years

MPC's avatar

You know things are bad for Rs when Robin Vos cites a "health condition" as the reason for retirement. No, he's retiring because he doesn't want to be demoted to House Minority Speaker come 2027.

brendan fka HoosierD42's avatar

Losing all the power you've had for a dozen years is bad for Republicans' health

alienalias's avatar

(Minority Leader)

Politics and Economiks's avatar

Is there any chance of Dems being able to take advantage of some sort of existing judicial election infrastructure? Can they build on anything Susan Crawford left behind during her successful campaign?

Mike Johnson's avatar

Judicial elections in Wisconsin are technically fully non-partisan, and there are some strict rules in place about fundraising. Most of the infrastructure is in the state Democratic Party.

RL Miller's avatar

What Mike Johnson said; plus, this is not a swing/ majority-maker seat. If the Repub wins, SCOWI still has a 4-3 Dem lean. My son at ACLU of WI is doing some nominal work on it but they're not treating it as The Most Important Spring Swing Election Ever the way they were the last 2 SCOWI races.

alienalias's avatar

lmao Brian Hagedorn as the only republican left on the court would be so funny, since a good chunk of crazies call him a RINO. I wonder if he'd become more conservative in that scenario.

Philip's avatar

And he’s already the last man on the court. 😆

AnthonySF's avatar

So can those following closer fill us in -- is this liberal court (either with the current case or future one) going to allow a redraw of the Congressional map?

alienalias's avatar

I think they almost certainly will based on the state leg redistricting ruling, but they wanted some space to not immediately appear as partisans (and not animate that oppositional energy against their “ideological”/party allies in future court elections).

D S's avatar
Mar 10Edited

Considering the fact Democrats are now the higher turnout voters, I'm not sure Republicans are going to win a Wisconsin supreme court seat for the foreseeable future, unless the Democrat truly screws up

dragonfire5004's avatar

VA Republicans are upset former Governor Youngkin hasn’t gotten involved in trying to defeat the redistricting amendment.

https://archive.ph/BjtE4

https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/virginia-republicans-air-frustrations-with-gop-star-glenn-youngkin-1cb938ba

A group of House Republicans approached Youngkin in November, shortly before he left office, and implored him to help campaign against the voter referendum, they say. They want to see Youngkin, a former co-chief executive officer of the Carlyle Group, help with fundraising, ad messaging and other efforts to drive their voters to turn out.

But so far, Youngkin hasn’t engaged in raising money or appeared in ads to drive opposition to the Democratic plan.

Some who attended the meeting last year with Youngkin said they came away frustrated, while others characterized it as more an opening salvo in a conversation about getting the former governor on board.

GOP Rep. Rob Wittman, who represents a district near Richmond, said Youngkin was “adamant to say he was not going to get involved” after they asked him for his help. “Glenn is just missing in action,” he said in an interview.

Wittman, who is at risk of losing his seat if the map is redrawn, argued that the lack of support from Youngkin should be considered in whatever job he seeks next. “If you’re not going to fight for your own state, for your own party, that’s pretty poor testament to what you would do if the president were to select you for a position.”

JanusIanitos's avatar

Youngkin, I assume, wants to be president and knows what attaching his name to a failed opposition effort would hurt his standing. Not surprising that he isn't lifting a finger to hurt his image.

dragonfire5004's avatar

Another open seat for Democrats to contest on the top court in WI for 2027.

https://x.com/jrrosswrites/status/2031024064517624261

NEWS: Justice Annette Ziegler announces she will not seek reelection in 2027.

MPC's avatar

Hah! She knows her pouty faced colleague won't be succeeded by a fellow conservative next month.

So, she's taking her ball and going home.

dragonfire5004's avatar

TX State House in play? 🤔

https://x.com/jnewt_maps/status/2031027316097265961

Chaz Nuttycombe reposted

JamesN | jnewt-maps.bsky.social

@jnewt_maps

In the primaries for the Texas House of Representatives last week, more Democrats won the primary vote in 77 districts to the Republicans' 73 districts. #TexasPrimary

Noah's avatar

I doubt it, we’ve got to remember Democratic primary voters tend to be more informed, and Republicans vote downballot better than Democrats.

FeingoldFan's avatar

There’s plenty of time though for things to get worse in the world and for our chances to get better between now and November. This could go from a wave to a tsunami if we get a recession or the war escalates further.

Noah's avatar

I do agree that Virginia 25 showed promising potential for democrats voting better downballot.

stevk's avatar

The use of the term "won" the primary vote leads me to question the utility of this data. That said our sheer dominance in the RGV districts from a Primary turnout standpoint is reassuring...

dragonfire5004's avatar

Normally people like this I wouldn’t post here, because anyone can say anything and they have no verified track record. However, Chaz Nuttycombe’s polling outfit nailed both NJ and VA 2025 when no other pollster came close (especially NJ), so him retweeting it gives it just enough credence to me to warrant posting for discussion/debate. Salt to your own tastes of course on this or any other tweet I post.

Had I seen this post (like I have many other times I didn’t post other users calculations/data even if it matched what I wanted/assumed to be true, there’s a ton of things I skip over because I don’t have anyway to verify credibility of said user/data) randomly without Chaz’s name attached to it, I wouldn’t have made a comment about it. Too much junk out there already for myself to spread it further than it already reaches.

RL Miller's avatar

Minor correction in the CA-06 item: Bera had been representing the 6th, is now running in the neighboring Third (not Sixth) District, which has a similar lean.

Henrik's avatar

We have some long term work to do to solve the fact that it’s Trump’s dismal popularity rather than our own popularity on its merits buffeting us right now

Mike in MD's avatar

Meanwhile Stephen Colbert is the second most popular person or thing they asked about, after Pope Leo. (They were the only two things that registered net positives.)

An out of office party registering poorly isn't unusual, nor does it preclude electoral success soon after. The GOP's all time lowest point in that survey was in fall 2013, a year before a red wave midterm. I do agree that we need to make a more positive case for Democratic leadership and what we can do once the presidential cycle begins, though just "We didn't do that" may well be enough for the midterms.

schwortz's avatar

What's even worse than the Democratic Party and AI? Democratic politicians and leaders that sell out to AI and big tech special interests. Not limited but including, the ever expanding amount of wasteful and harmful AI datacenters displacing neighborhoods, bailouts and tax cuts to AI companies like Amazon warehouses, and of course, bloody age verification, because surely more surveillance will keep the kids safe.