He has been the Democratic sacrifical lamb candidate against Angus King at least once. Never served elected office, basically just Generic Democrat, the person.
That's a little rude. I think it's fine to talk about what other social media platforms say about downballot races on here. They're allowed to have dedicated political communities too.
I disagree with your second sentence. The reason I read The Downballot is because of its coolheaded, analytical approach, which is very rare on the Internet nowadays. I don't want The Downballot to devolve into just another cheerleading, rumor-spreading hellhole, which is what Bluesky and virtually every other political site on the Internet is right now.
Frankly, my dear commenter, I don't give a damn about what people on Bluesky are saying.
Especially when it's something as absurd as thinking Platner isn't going to be the Dem Senate nominee at this point, one week out from the primary. I don't use Bluesky but I'm assuming that's what those posts are referring to, in light of the recent NYT and WSJ articles on Platner's sexting prior to his campaign.
It's really just a euphemism for referring to chatter in leftwing spaces on the internet, which seems at least somewhat relevant to this leftwing space on the internet.
The Downballot is a *Democratic* space on the Internet, not necessarily a left-wing space. This site should be a safe space for all different types of Democrats.
As I said above, I do not want The Downballot to become like Bluesky.
IA-GOV: I went to Zach Lahn's event in Ankeny (a suburb of Des Moines) on Sunday. For anyone who wants to see what this guy's pitch is about, here is the full video.
Rob Sand would need to completely rethink his case if this guy wins the nomination because he is running on a change message and can't be tied to anything enacted by Congress or Iowa's GOP trifecta.
For sure, every Democrat would rather see Sand run against Feenstra.
In fact that has become a central part of Lahn's pitch: Feenstra would lose to Rob Sand but I would beat Rob Sand. It's near the very end of that video I posted to YouTube.
Great article Laura, I will just cross my fingers and hope the Trump endorsement drags Feenstra across the line tomorrow, to give Sand a better chance in the Fall.
In the FL House items, worth pointing out per the lead state house sponsor of a law passed this year on candidate qualification, Allison Tant, that Parnas almost certainly does not qualify to refile as an independent/no party affiliation (NPA).
And as trivia, regarding Moise and Bastien's effots to be the first Haitian-descent member of Congress in 2011, Mia Love took that title in 2015 and then Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was ofc the first Floridian.
Bluesky posts on David Costello for ME-SEN this morning. Besides his website, does anyone know anything about him?
He has been the Democratic sacrifical lamb candidate against Angus King at least once. Never served elected office, basically just Generic Democrat, the person.
Thank you for answering rayspace's question.
We all know that Twitter is not real life, and Bluesky is even less real life than Twitter is.
We don't need to hear about every single little thing that Bluesky is talking about.
That's a little rude. I think it's fine to talk about what other social media platforms say about downballot races on here. They're allowed to have dedicated political communities too.
I disagree with your second sentence. The reason I read The Downballot is because of its coolheaded, analytical approach, which is very rare on the Internet nowadays. I don't want The Downballot to devolve into just another cheerleading, rumor-spreading hellhole, which is what Bluesky and virtually every other political site on the Internet is right now.
Frankly, my dear commenter, I don't give a damn about what people on Bluesky are saying.
This is reasonable, but it's entirely possible the posts about Costello on Bluesky were analytical and coolheaded and we just didn't know.
Either way, his political career will be "gone with the wind" when Platner wins the nomination next week, so it's not a big deal.
Especially when it's something as absurd as thinking Platner isn't going to be the Dem Senate nominee at this point, one week out from the primary. I don't use Bluesky but I'm assuming that's what those posts are referring to, in light of the recent NYT and WSJ articles on Platner's sexting prior to his campaign.
It's really just a euphemism for referring to chatter in leftwing spaces on the internet, which seems at least somewhat relevant to this leftwing space on the internet.
The Downballot is a *Democratic* space on the Internet, not necessarily a left-wing space. This site should be a safe space for all different types of Democrats.
As I said above, I do not want The Downballot to become like Bluesky.
Platner isn't going anywhere; people need to accept it.
IA-GOV: I went to Zach Lahn's event in Ankeny (a suburb of Des Moines) on Sunday. For anyone who wants to see what this guy's pitch is about, here is the full video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc6kl018PRY
Rob Sand would need to completely rethink his case if this guy wins the nomination because he is running on a change message and can't be tied to anything enacted by Congress or Iowa's GOP trifecta.
Since you are on the ground in Iowa and have done a lot of research, do you have any predictions for the key primary races there tomorrow?
I think Turek is favored in IA-Sen due to the massive outside spending by VoteVets.
I don't know about the Republican primary for governor but I wouldn't be surprised if Lahn wins anyway. My full write-up on that is here:
https://laurabelin.substack.com/p/as-feenstra-sinks-gop-establishment
Interesting, so Feenstra might be weaker due to his state and national ties?
For sure, every Democrat would rather see Sand run against Feenstra.
In fact that has become a central part of Lahn's pitch: Feenstra would lose to Rob Sand but I would beat Rob Sand. It's near the very end of that video I posted to YouTube.
Feenstra is also just a terrible candidate on every level.
Great article Laura, I will just cross my fingers and hope the Trump endorsement drags Feenstra across the line tomorrow, to give Sand a better chance in the Fall.
Happy Pride month!
It says "Mazzie" instead of "Mazzei" thrice in paras 7 and 8 of the OK-Gov section.
In the FL House items, worth pointing out per the lead state house sponsor of a law passed this year on candidate qualification, Allison Tant, that Parnas almost certainly does not qualify to refile as an independent/no party affiliation (NPA).
https://x.com/AllisonTantFL/status/2060750208292544575
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/91
And as trivia, regarding Moise and Bastien's effots to be the first Haitian-descent member of Congress in 2011, Mia Love took that title in 2015 and then Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was ofc the first Floridian.