Great news -- Judd Legum of popular information also did really solid work on this. One thing that is curious is what made Griffin stop and not appeal the Federal court ruling?
The arguments made by Myers are pretty damn strong. Perhaps Myers being a Trump appointee made Griffin realize he wouldn’t get a favorable ruling from SCOTUS?
Myers' ruling was BRUTAL. Had Griffin appealed to SCOTUS, they would've either denied hearing it or affirmed his ruling on a 5-4 majority. Barrett would've been the swing vote.
I'm in NC and while I am relieved at the ruling, I am appalled that it went as far as it did and that there were so many GOP judges (including 4 out of 5 GOP Supreme Court Justices) who were willing to play along and let Griffin try and invalidate people's votes after the fact!
Please support the next Democratic justice up for reelection, Justice Anita Earls. It is already shaping up to be a fight.
Hello, new commenter here. Been reading The Downballot since it was Daily Kos Elections, and I just want to say thank you for all the hard work. You provide a valuable service in politics. (Also do note that I am staunchly left-wing, so if I do comment from any sort of bias (which I will try to avoid) I may occasionally write from that perspective.)
Anyway, figured I'd start with some news -- we've got our first GOP candidate in the Georgia U.S. Senate race: Buddy Carter (GA-01).
Additionally, according to the article, some potential GOP candidates for the now-open GA-01 include state Rep. James Burchett and insurance executive Jim Kingston, the son of former Rep. Jack Kingston.
Next, we have another IA-03 candidate: Jennifer Konfrst, the minority leader of the Iowa State House.
She is the second Democrat to announce for the seat, after state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott.
Finally, the open MI-11, a seat vacated by now-U.S. Senate candidate Haley Stevens, has its own first announced candidate. Democratic State Sen. Jeremy Moss is the first candidate to announce.
Buddy Carter is a generic MAGA nut who I can't see having much of a chance against Ossoff in this environment, hope Marjorie joins him in the primary!!
Thank you for the extremely kind words, and I'm very glad you de-lurked! Setting aside our inherent biases and preferences is always a major challenge, but I believe that our efforts to do so are what makes The Downballot so valued—and I speak both of the content we produce as staff and the way this community interacts.
2028 is going to be a massive one for North Carolina, not just President and control of the NC Supreme Court:
- Gov Josh Stein is up for re-election
- Election denier US Senator Ted Budd is up for reelection (could be a pivotal seat that determines whether Dems flip back control of the Senate)
- State auditor Dave Boliek is up for re-election (who controls NC State Board of Elections after NC GOP forced through a last minute power grab from the governor)
- The sore loser Jefferson Griffin will be running for re-election to his NC Court of Appeals seat
This will be Anderson Clayton’s big litmus test after last year and the 2026 midterms.
There's always an argument for generational change in a safe seat primary against someone like Lynch.
But there's also the argument that Democrats like Lynch, Auchincloss, Neal, and Moulton are the reason Democrats completely dominate state and federal elections in Massachusetts.
I think that was true a few decades ago, when some of these guys first came to Congress. With politics so nationalized now, I don't know that any of these D+20 to +30 seats will suddenly become competitive if we stop nominating centrist white guys.
It would be one thing if the US House and Senate had margins like the MA legislature. But focusing time and effort on purging a 9-0 state delegation of any hints of conservatism seems like a waste to me.
People in MA organizing to replace meh incumbents isn't going to take away from effort that would go into electing people in other states. It's not like the guy challenging Lynch would have moved to Pennsylvania and picked a competitive seat to run in if he thought Lynch was doing a good job.
And considering the whole truckloads of money vacuumed up in the past by high profile but very unlikely to win candidates in past campaigns, I won't begrudge the inevitably far, far smaller amounts of money that will be spent trying to improve our caucus.
Democrats accomplished a lot in 2021-2022 despite having razor thin, bare majorities. Not as much as in 2009-2010 when we had huge majorities, but a lot closer than you'd expect from that. The reason is because the party became far more ideologically coherent in the time since. If we had a 50 seat senate in 2009 we'd have struggled to even rename post offices.
Likewise, the dem house has been far more unified in opposing Trump than past house caucuses have been. This forces republicans to actually have their shit together before bringing any legislation to the floor. That ultimately won't stop them, but it will slow them down and result in them needing to leave things on the cutting room floor before the next congress is sworn in.
Better dems means we can do more with less and that republicans can do less.
I tend to be of the, perhaps naive, mindset that we can always strive for better. If we are so safely blue, why can’t we support these kind of challenges that, even if unsuccessful, may push these reps to do better. Lord knows several of them need to do just that.
The three SCONC justices who aided and abetted Griffin are up for re-election in 2028: Paul Newby, Tamara Barringer, Philip Berger Jr. (aka nepo baby Berger).
While there aren't any Republicans up for re-election to the NC Court of Appeals in 2026, two Dem incumbents are: Toby Hampson (who beat Jefferson Griffin in 2018) and John S. Arrowood. The third justice, Allegra Collins, a Democrat who was also elected in 2018, isn't running for re-election -- so her seat is open.
However, FOUR Republican NC Court of Appeals justices are up for re-election in 2028. Jeff Carpenter, April Wood, Fred Gore (part of the 2-1 panel to throw out 65K votes), and the sore loser Jefferson Griffin.
A 180? She says she won't sign a full repeal. So does that mean she will sign a full repeal or veto any repeal? Or maybe just sign a partial partial repeal?
I expect her to sign a full repeal of so called "right to work" should all those mini predictions come true. It's for the same reason Jimmy Carter sucked up to George Wallace and segregationists when he ran for Governor of Georgia in 1970, political necessity. Keep in mind the Commonwealth of Virginia is the ONLY state in the nation where Governors are not permitted consecutive terms so she loses nothing by acting as I prescribed.
Most Virginia politicians seem to think it is, or at least was. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both supported RTW in their runs for statewide office in the 2000s. I imagine public opinion in Virginia has shifted on this issue as the state has shifted further left over the years, and I would like to see a poll that asks this question. In order for this poll to be reliable, however, it needs to clarify to respondents what RTW laws actually entail. Without that clarification, many poll respondents will mistakenly assume that these laws are about whether or not people have the right to get a job - something that's not in question by anyone.
Sadly yes. You have to keep in mind that even when Virginia was a solid southern Democratic state, it was NEVER one where left populism was popular. Even today, left populism here goes to die in statewide elections. A major reason for that is due to the fact that urban power has always been tempted here. The largest city here is Virginia Beach, which is still dominated by Republicans and where Pat Robertson had his home base.
The ONLY reason why Virginia has moved in our direction is due to the fact that we now dominate in the suburbs of DC and Richmond. Something that was far from given just two decades ago. The Old Dominion may HATE Falwell/Robertson style social conservatism, but neither are they won over by Bernie Sanders style "progressivism." Far from it. This remains a pro business AND anti tax Commonwealth. The fact that Glenn Youngkin made repeal of the grocery tax a centerpiece of his campaign in 2021 just as Jim Gilmore did the same with the car tax in 1997 speaks for itself.
Because most people who call themselves progressives today are actually populists. They have a LOT more in common with William Jennings Bryan than Theodore Roosevelt. Progressivism and populism are two separate ideologies.
She may also have Tim Kaine's Senate seat in mind. If Spanberger wins the Governor's race this year, then her term will end in January 2030. She'll then be in a good position to run for that Senate seat if Kaine retires in 2030.
I would say more moderate in tone but not necessarily to the right.
Spanberger’s been a reliable vote for the Democratic Party’s agenda. However, it’s the Defund the Police agenda that Spanberger pointed out was a problem for her constituents to stomach. Her answer in addressing this issue seems to be more rooted in common sense than anything.
Getting rid of excessive military influence on the police when it’s not needed, yes.
However, you cannot spin the Defund the Police narrative to those who are just looking to shop, eat out and avoid being victims of crimes such as car break-ins or thefts.
Agreed. I’m from Mpls and when the George Floyd protests turned into “defund the police”, I was like oh fuck, ya’ll just ruined this.
It’s why I love Spanberger. I don’t think she’s a moderate, I think she’s realistic about politics and how to win over voters. It’s a huge lesson to learn that being right doesn’t equal winning.
Frankly, "defunding the police" is primarily a Republican goal. They’re gutting the federal government’s regulatory, policing and enforcement agencies. From the EPA and the IRS to the DOJ and the CFPB, and many more. (Of course it’s never called "defunding the police" when they do it.)
Johnson County, largely suburban and the most populous county is Kansas is included in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The county has the highest median household income at $107,261 in 2019-2023 and the highest per-capita income in Kansas, with the 19th highest median household income in 2000 and the 46th highest per-capita income in 2005. - Wikipedia
Seems to be the perfect example of the kind of places that have shifted blue since 2016.
On first glance, he seems Francis-esque (pro-migrant, anti-female clergy, etc.), and Francis had him in charge of selecting new bishops for the past two years.
He did say we should go forward, men and women, so he believes in a respected role of some kind for them, but I believe I also heard in his Italian-language address the word "tradizione" (tradition). At least the part of his speech that I heard was all about unity, about the church being open to all, about meetings, and about going forward without fear in peace, unity, and charity and for justice, but I didn't hear anything more concrete than that. It was a good, vigorous speech. We'll find out more about the directions he wants to go in as Pope soon, but I was very surprised how quickly they picked him.
I would expect Leo XIV to be a more moderate pope than either Francis or Benedict XIV.
Of course, having an American Pope is going to be extremely controversial for the Catholic Church, because of who the current President of the United States is (although Leo XIV was critical of Trump and his ilk on some issues, notably immigration, before becoming Pope), as well as because of U.S. foreign policy being controversial to varying degrees in much of the world and the fact that, in a rigid two-party system, neither of the major U.S. political parties come close to lining up with Catholic teachings.
Biden was on The View today. When Ana Navarro mentioned that last week was Trump's first 100 days back in office, she and Joe did the sign of the cross at the same time. Well timed and hilarious.
Very interesting that an American was chosen, as the entire world turns against Trump's America. One might have thought it would be fashionable to pick anyone but an American out of protest. But if you wanted to maximize your influence as Trump creates a tsunami of suffering around the planet, this might be your best bet. To be clear, I don't think an American Pope will influence Trump and MAGA any more than a Nigerian one would. But I do think an American Pope may be better positioned to criticize the Trump regime, not only to an audience of American Catholic voters but also globally, perhaps helping to preserve some of our dignity on the global stage. It's also highly possible none of this had anything to do with his selection and it was merely about maintaining the ideology of the Pope who appointed most of them.
I'm very hopeful that this will help preserve our political dominance in New England. New England Catholics have felt increasingly isolated from the larger American church, causing many of them to drift rightward politically to maintain their connection. This would have been far more pronounced with a more traditional, less-MAGA GOP and without Francis enlarging social issues beyond abortion and LGBT+. With a pope that will hopefully continue to do so and is even more demographically similar to them, I'm optimistic he'll help in NE as well in the restoration of a politically moderate church in the rest of the country.
I'm more surprised an American was chosen because it has seemed like an unwritten rule that an American shouldn't be Pope. It seemed to be for similar reasons as for why there has never been an American Secretary-General of the UN.
I don't think residents of the Security Council nations are allowed to be Secretary-General. Even if they were, recommendations come from the Council, and there's no way China or Russia would allow an American or vice-versa. Actually, America probably would allow a Russian now.
The very first Secretary-General was actually from the UK but only served in an Acting capacity until the first true Sec-Gen could be appointed.
Also, small- to middle-sized nations have generally been chosen, so it definitely seems there is an effort to avoid giving too much power to nations that already have a lot of power and influence globally (German, Japan, Italy, etc.). South Korea seems to be the largest economy to have had a Sec-Gen. States in near-perpetual conflict with other nations like Israel and India are probably not going to make it either.
He’s spent most of his adult life out of the country and has Peruvian citizenship. And
The last X post from the new pope was April 14, when he shared a post about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, with the questions, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”
All the Popes were Italian for about 450 years, until a Pole was chosen. So the sample size since then is quite small (4: Poland,Germany, Argentina, USA/Peru).
Federal court once again finds Alabama’s 2023 map violates the VRA.
The 2020 redistricting cycle in Alabama — the first cycle in 50 years that Alabama has been free of the strictures of federal preclearance — did not have to turn out this way. We wish it had not, but we have eyes to see the veritable mountain of evidence that it did.
We need to give statehood to PR and DC and pass another voting rights act by gutting the filibuster in 2028. Enough of the structural GOP advantage in all elections. They're against Democracy itself. Democrats need to realise that we will not return to the 1970s or even the 1990s anymore. The nation cannot be united because half of Trump's supporters are total freaks who hate Judges, the rule of law and term limits as they acknowledge in many issue polls. Everybody knew this in 2016 too, Hillary didn't have to say it out loud though.
Trumpflation, firing veterans from government positions and Trump taxes aren't going over well with voters. And in a D-favorable midterm, chances are 50/50 one chamber will flip in AZ.
Biggs will probably repel enough AZ normie Rs from either voting next year or vote an entire blue ticket out of spite.
"Griffin's attack on November's election results—and the willingness of Republican judges to entertain it—shows just how high the stakes will be in these upcoming contests."
That is your takeaway?? How about:
-- it shows just how CORRUPT the NC GOP is - including its JUDGES!!
Four out of the five GOP NC Sumpreme Court justices went along with this unlawful power grab!! And of course this is the same Supreme Court that re-gerrymandered the NC Congressional maps after the prior court outlawed partisan gerrymandering. In 2022, NC had had a 7 - 7 split in the US House. In 2024, it was 10 - 4 in favor of the GOP because of this hyper-partisan Supreme Court. Those 3 seats represent the margin of the GOP majority in the US House.
BTW, that hypocrite, Chief Justice Paul Newby, won his race against Cheri Beasley by LESS than that the margin of victory for Justice Riggs. But of course Cheri Beasley conceded her race after a recount showed that she had lost.
If it were not for DOUBLE STANDARDS, the NC GOP would have no standards whatsoever!!
Great news -- Judd Legum of popular information also did really solid work on this. One thing that is curious is what made Griffin stop and not appeal the Federal court ruling?
The arguments made by Myers are pretty damn strong. Perhaps Myers being a Trump appointee made Griffin realize he wouldn’t get a favorable ruling from SCOTUS?
https://youtu.be/LQCU36pkH7c?si=DPAOr7DNVkQ9PiUW
There was very much of a Billy Madison "Everyone in this room is dumber" vibe coming from Myers.
Myers' ruling was BRUTAL. Had Griffin appealed to SCOTUS, they would've either denied hearing it or affirmed his ruling on a 5-4 majority. Barrett would've been the swing vote.
I suspect they would have declined to hear it, though who knows.
I'm in NC and while I am relieved at the ruling, I am appalled that it went as far as it did and that there were so many GOP judges (including 4 out of 5 GOP Supreme Court Justices) who were willing to play along and let Griffin try and invalidate people's votes after the fact!
Please support the next Democratic justice up for reelection, Justice Anita Earls. It is already shaping up to be a fight.
https://earls4justice.com/
Hello, new commenter here. Been reading The Downballot since it was Daily Kos Elections, and I just want to say thank you for all the hard work. You provide a valuable service in politics. (Also do note that I am staunchly left-wing, so if I do comment from any sort of bias (which I will try to avoid) I may occasionally write from that perspective.)
Anyway, figured I'd start with some news -- we've got our first GOP candidate in the Georgia U.S. Senate race: Buddy Carter (GA-01).
https://www.ajc.com/politics/politically-georgia/buddy-carters-us-senate-campaign-is-the-first-of-many-gop-bids-to-come/72DYVNXXC5G5FLXKFZ32JIUUFI/
Additionally, according to the article, some potential GOP candidates for the now-open GA-01 include state Rep. James Burchett and insurance executive Jim Kingston, the son of former Rep. Jack Kingston.
Next, we have another IA-03 candidate: Jennifer Konfrst, the minority leader of the Iowa State House.
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2025-05-08/democrat-jennifer-konfrst-running-for-congress-iowa-3rd-district
She is the second Democrat to announce for the seat, after state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott.
Finally, the open MI-11, a seat vacated by now-U.S. Senate candidate Haley Stevens, has its own first announced candidate. Democratic State Sen. Jeremy Moss is the first candidate to announce.
https://michiganadvance.com/2025/05/08/jeremy-moss-announces-candidacy-for-congress-says-democrats-need-a-bold-voice-in-trump-era/
Make of all this news what you will.
Between Trone Garriott and Konfrst, who do we believe is the stronger candidate?
Buddy Carter is a generic MAGA nut who I can't see having much of a chance against Ossoff in this environment, hope Marjorie joins him in the primary!!
Moss sounds like an excellent get, especially if McMorrow stays in for Senate
Thank you for the extremely kind words, and I'm very glad you de-lurked! Setting aside our inherent biases and preferences is always a major challenge, but I believe that our efforts to do so are what makes The Downballot so valued—and I speak both of the content we produce as staff and the way this community interacts.
2028 is going to be a massive one for North Carolina, not just President and control of the NC Supreme Court:
- Gov Josh Stein is up for re-election
- Election denier US Senator Ted Budd is up for reelection (could be a pivotal seat that determines whether Dems flip back control of the Senate)
- State auditor Dave Boliek is up for re-election (who controls NC State Board of Elections after NC GOP forced through a last minute power grab from the governor)
- The sore loser Jefferson Griffin will be running for re-election to his NC Court of Appeals seat
This will be Anderson Clayton’s big litmus test after last year and the 2026 midterms.
I initially misread that as: "Ted Bundy is up for reelection."
Either one is pretty despicable.
One is responsible for a lot of death and suffering, and the other is Ted Bundy.
If Ted Bundy was a senator he’d be only the third worst Ted in the Senate.
Ted Cruz is #1, Ted Budd is a close #2.
Could not be more thrilled to see Patrick Roath challenging Lynch. Would love to see someone step up against Auchincloss and Neal next.
And Seth Moulton.
Lynch is by far the highest priority, though, imo.
Auchincloss has been fine since winning his primary - certainly compared to those three
There's always an argument for generational change in a safe seat primary against someone like Lynch.
But there's also the argument that Democrats like Lynch, Auchincloss, Neal, and Moulton are the reason Democrats completely dominate state and federal elections in Massachusetts.
I think that was true a few decades ago, when some of these guys first came to Congress. With politics so nationalized now, I don't know that any of these D+20 to +30 seats will suddenly become competitive if we stop nominating centrist white guys.
It would be one thing if the US House and Senate had margins like the MA legislature. But focusing time and effort on purging a 9-0 state delegation of any hints of conservatism seems like a waste to me.
People in MA organizing to replace meh incumbents isn't going to take away from effort that would go into electing people in other states. It's not like the guy challenging Lynch would have moved to Pennsylvania and picked a competitive seat to run in if he thought Lynch was doing a good job.
And considering the whole truckloads of money vacuumed up in the past by high profile but very unlikely to win candidates in past campaigns, I won't begrudge the inevitably far, far smaller amounts of money that will be spent trying to improve our caucus.
People in MA can do whatever they want and I have no problem with primary challenges.
But it feels like navel gazing to me. What does it really matter that Neman beat Lipinski or Pressley beat Capuono?
It matters.
Democrats accomplished a lot in 2021-2022 despite having razor thin, bare majorities. Not as much as in 2009-2010 when we had huge majorities, but a lot closer than you'd expect from that. The reason is because the party became far more ideologically coherent in the time since. If we had a 50 seat senate in 2009 we'd have struggled to even rename post offices.
Likewise, the dem house has been far more unified in opposing Trump than past house caucuses have been. This forces republicans to actually have their shit together before bringing any legislation to the floor. That ultimately won't stop them, but it will slow them down and result in them needing to leave things on the cutting room floor before the next congress is sworn in.
Better dems means we can do more with less and that republicans can do less.
I tend to be of the, perhaps naive, mindset that we can always strive for better. If we are so safely blue, why can’t we support these kind of challenges that, even if unsuccessful, may push these reps to do better. Lord knows several of them need to do just that.
Lynch is also a NIMBY and got a parking free apartment near transit cancelled recently.
The three SCONC justices who aided and abetted Griffin are up for re-election in 2028: Paul Newby, Tamara Barringer, Philip Berger Jr. (aka nepo baby Berger).
Remember those names.
While there aren't any Republicans up for re-election to the NC Court of Appeals in 2026, two Dem incumbents are: Toby Hampson (who beat Jefferson Griffin in 2018) and John S. Arrowood. The third justice, Allegra Collins, a Democrat who was also elected in 2018, isn't running for re-election -- so her seat is open.
However, FOUR Republican NC Court of Appeals justices are up for re-election in 2028. Jeff Carpenter, April Wood, Fred Gore (part of the 2-1 panel to throw out 65K votes), and the sore loser Jefferson Griffin.
Prediction: should she win the Governorship.......AND we Democrats win all three statewide offices and make gains in the House of Delegates in November, Abigail Spanberger WILL do a 180. The realist in me thinks she has the 2028 Vice Presidency in mind. https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/8news-exclusive-abigail-spanberger-says-she-wont-sign-bill-to-fully-repeal-virginias-right-to-work-law/
A 180? She says she won't sign a full repeal. So does that mean she will sign a full repeal or veto any repeal? Or maybe just sign a partial partial repeal?
I expect her to sign a full repeal of so called "right to work" should all those mini predictions come true. It's for the same reason Jimmy Carter sucked up to George Wallace and segregationists when he ran for Governor of Georgia in 1970, political necessity. Keep in mind the Commonwealth of Virginia is the ONLY state in the nation where Governors are not permitted consecutive terms so she loses nothing by acting as I prescribed.
Is RTW that popular in Virginia?
Most Virginia politicians seem to think it is, or at least was. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both supported RTW in their runs for statewide office in the 2000s. I imagine public opinion in Virginia has shifted on this issue as the state has shifted further left over the years, and I would like to see a poll that asks this question. In order for this poll to be reliable, however, it needs to clarify to respondents what RTW laws actually entail. Without that clarification, many poll respondents will mistakenly assume that these laws are about whether or not people have the right to get a job - something that's not in question by anyone.
Sadly yes. You have to keep in mind that even when Virginia was a solid southern Democratic state, it was NEVER one where left populism was popular. Even today, left populism here goes to die in statewide elections. A major reason for that is due to the fact that urban power has always been tempted here. The largest city here is Virginia Beach, which is still dominated by Republicans and where Pat Robertson had his home base.
The ONLY reason why Virginia has moved in our direction is due to the fact that we now dominate in the suburbs of DC and Richmond. Something that was far from given just two decades ago. The Old Dominion may HATE Falwell/Robertson style social conservatism, but neither are they won over by Bernie Sanders style "progressivism." Far from it. This remains a pro business AND anti tax Commonwealth. The fact that Glenn Youngkin made repeal of the grocery tax a centerpiece of his campaign in 2021 just as Jim Gilmore did the same with the car tax in 1997 speaks for itself.
What's the appeal of "right to work" to non-business execs?
The whole "right of association" thing. Especially in Northern Virginia where there are a lot of libertarian types.
Why progressivism is in quotes? It's a well established ideology now.
Virginia beach and the coast seem to vote hard for Democrats in the presidential and state elections when I pulled up a precinct map.
Because most people who call themselves progressives today are actually populists. They have a LOT more in common with William Jennings Bryan than Theodore Roosevelt. Progressivism and populism are two separate ideologies.
I like the way you think.
She may also have Tim Kaine's Senate seat in mind. If Spanberger wins the Governor's race this year, then her term will end in January 2030. She'll then be in a good position to run for that Senate seat if Kaine retires in 2030.
I'd support her 100% in 2025 & 2030 if that's the case!! 💙🇺🇲
I would hesitate to predict that she doesn't mean what she says. Hasn't she been somewhat toward the right side of the Democratic Party?
I would say more moderate in tone but not necessarily to the right.
Spanberger’s been a reliable vote for the Democratic Party’s agenda. However, it’s the Defund the Police agenda that Spanberger pointed out was a problem for her constituents to stomach. Her answer in addressing this issue seems to be more rooted in common sense than anything.
https://www.ontheissues.org/VA/Abigail_Spanberger.htm
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/20/abigail-spanberger-virginia-policing-message-00026211
I'm not about defunding the police.
Neither am I.
Getting rid of excessive military influence on the police when it’s not needed, yes.
However, you cannot spin the Defund the Police narrative to those who are just looking to shop, eat out and avoid being victims of crimes such as car break-ins or thefts.
Whether we like it or not, one constant concern that people have is crime. The LAST thing people want to hear is "don't be afraid."
Democrats have been painted as “weak on crime” by the GOP for a long time.
It doesn’t need to be this way.
Agreed. I’m from Mpls and when the George Floyd protests turned into “defund the police”, I was like oh fuck, ya’ll just ruined this.
It’s why I love Spanberger. I don’t think she’s a moderate, I think she’s realistic about politics and how to win over voters. It’s a huge lesson to learn that being right doesn’t equal winning.
Frankly, "defunding the police" is primarily a Republican goal. They’re gutting the federal government’s regulatory, policing and enforcement agencies. From the EPA and the IRS to the DOJ and the CFPB, and many more. (Of course it’s never called "defunding the police" when they do it.)
That’s definitely been Grover Norquist’s agenda from the beginning.
She co sponsored the PRO Act in 2021. I stand by my statement that she'll sign a full repeal as Governor.
OK, fair point.
Johnson County, largely suburban and the most populous county is Kansas is included in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The county has the highest median household income at $107,261 in 2019-2023 and the highest per-capita income in Kansas, with the 19th highest median household income in 2000 and the 46th highest per-capita income in 2005. - Wikipedia
Seems to be the perfect example of the kind of places that have shifted blue since 2016.
Since people here have been following it: New pope selected today. An American, which surprised me. Robert Francis Prevost (now Leo XIV).
I don't know anything about him.
He's one of Francis's heir apparents. And a vocal critic of Trump and Vance.
Not Roman Catholic, but I approve.
https://bsky.app/profile/joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3loogumjov22u
If Trump and Vance helped play a role in Prevost getting elected as the new pope, it speaks volumes about their contemptible behavior.
Seems quite significant.
From what I’ve read, the previous Pope stacked the deck in picking Cardinals so the conservatives weren’t ever in contention for this vote.
On first glance, he seems Francis-esque (pro-migrant, anti-female clergy, etc.), and Francis had him in charge of selecting new bishops for the past two years.
He did say we should go forward, men and women, so he believes in a respected role of some kind for them, but I believe I also heard in his Italian-language address the word "tradizione" (tradition). At least the part of his speech that I heard was all about unity, about the church being open to all, about meetings, and about going forward without fear in peace, unity, and charity and for justice, but I didn't hear anything more concrete than that. It was a good, vigorous speech. We'll find out more about the directions he wants to go in as Pope soon, but I was very surprised how quickly they picked him.
Has spent more time out of the U.S., including two decades in Peru. The last Leo was a defender of workers and unions in the late 19th century.
Yeah, he may be American by birth but his associations with the RCC in the US seem fairly slim.
Two popes of the Americas in a row. Prevost seems marginally more moderate than Tagle/Zuppi, but not by much. seems a good choice
I would expect Leo XIV to be a more moderate pope than either Francis or Benedict XIV.
Of course, having an American Pope is going to be extremely controversial for the Catholic Church, because of who the current President of the United States is (although Leo XIV was critical of Trump and his ilk on some issues, notably immigration, before becoming Pope), as well as because of U.S. foreign policy being controversial to varying degrees in much of the world and the fact that, in a rigid two-party system, neither of the major U.S. political parties come close to lining up with Catholic teachings.
Joseph was, in my humble opinion, a great President and devout Catholic.
Joe Biden is a better Catholic than the sorry excuse of a Vice President right now.
JD is a Christianist. That’s got nothing more to do with Christian than Islamist does with Muslim.
Biden was on The View today. When Ana Navarro mentioned that last week was Trump's first 100 days back in office, she and Joe did the sign of the cross at the same time. Well timed and hilarious.
silence spoke a million words!!
Yep.
And I'd have much more respect for his conversion to Catholicism if he hadn't done so with cameras rolling.
I’d have a modicum of respect for his conversion to Catholicism if his “leadership” had not proved so antithetical to basic Christian tenets.
The Beastie Boys are better Catholics than JD Vance is.
fortunately, hopefully, the current potus will be gone long before Leo XIV
Since Leo is only 69 he could be around for a while
He seemed quite energetic and kind of youthful giving his speech today.
Very likely so.
Very interesting that an American was chosen, as the entire world turns against Trump's America. One might have thought it would be fashionable to pick anyone but an American out of protest. But if you wanted to maximize your influence as Trump creates a tsunami of suffering around the planet, this might be your best bet. To be clear, I don't think an American Pope will influence Trump and MAGA any more than a Nigerian one would. But I do think an American Pope may be better positioned to criticize the Trump regime, not only to an audience of American Catholic voters but also globally, perhaps helping to preserve some of our dignity on the global stage. It's also highly possible none of this had anything to do with his selection and it was merely about maintaining the ideology of the Pope who appointed most of them.
I'm very hopeful that this will help preserve our political dominance in New England. New England Catholics have felt increasingly isolated from the larger American church, causing many of them to drift rightward politically to maintain their connection. This would have been far more pronounced with a more traditional, less-MAGA GOP and without Francis enlarging social issues beyond abortion and LGBT+. With a pope that will hopefully continue to do so and is even more demographically similar to them, I'm optimistic he'll help in NE as well in the restoration of a politically moderate church in the rest of the country.
I'm more surprised an American was chosen because it has seemed like an unwritten rule that an American shouldn't be Pope. It seemed to be for similar reasons as for why there has never been an American Secretary-General of the UN.
I disagree on the analogy because the U.N. is in the U.S., and I feel like that's a major reason for that unwritten rule.
I don't think residents of the Security Council nations are allowed to be Secretary-General. Even if they were, recommendations come from the Council, and there's no way China or Russia would allow an American or vice-versa. Actually, America probably would allow a Russian now.
The very first Secretary-General was actually from the UK but only served in an Acting capacity until the first true Sec-Gen could be appointed.
Also, small- to middle-sized nations have generally been chosen, so it definitely seems there is an effort to avoid giving too much power to nations that already have a lot of power and influence globally (German, Japan, Italy, etc.). South Korea seems to be the largest economy to have had a Sec-Gen. States in near-perpetual conflict with other nations like Israel and India are probably not going to make it either.
Well, the two Koreas are at war, with only an armistice and occasional flareups.
They can also meet in Geneva. It doesn't have to be the US. The US being a permanent member of the Security Council is probably the biggest reason.
That's valid.
He’s spent most of his adult life out of the country and has Peruvian citizenship. And
The last X post from the new pope was April 14, when he shared a post about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, with the questions, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5290771-robert-prevost-pope-leo/
All the Popes were Italian for about 450 years, until a Pole was chosen. So the sample size since then is quite small (4: Poland,Germany, Argentina, USA/Peru).
Robert Francis Prevost is the second Pope from the Americas.
(I think that’s a better way of looking at this.)
Yes, I have already corrected a number of murkans who are saying Pope Leo XIV is the first American Pope. USA is important but.....
Thank you!
Federal court once again finds Alabama’s 2023 map violates the VRA.
The 2020 redistricting cycle in Alabama — the first cycle in 50 years that Alabama has been free of the strictures of federal preclearance — did not have to turn out this way. We wish it had not, but we have eyes to see the veritable mountain of evidence that it did.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302.490.0_3.pdf
We just got a 2nd Democratic House Member in AL elected last November and now this news.
We need to give statehood to PR and DC and pass another voting rights act by gutting the filibuster in 2028. Enough of the structural GOP advantage in all elections. They're against Democracy itself. Democrats need to realise that we will not return to the 1970s or even the 1990s anymore. The nation cannot be united because half of Trump's supporters are total freaks who hate Judges, the rule of law and term limits as they acknowledge in many issue polls. Everybody knew this in 2016 too, Hillary didn't have to say it out loud though.
Shout out to Chicagoans: is Pope Leo a Cub or White Sox fan?
Cubs!
Did he ever throw out the first pitch at Wrigley?
A Pope throwing out the first pitch would actually be pretty legit
It would be awesome!
With Biggs leading the GOP top ticket, is it once again time to start hoping for a trifecta in Arizona for Governor Hobbs after 2026? Too optimistic?
I’m not gonna count on it. We were favored to win at least win chamber in 2020 and 2024 and came up short both times.
Trumpflation, firing veterans from government positions and Trump taxes aren't going over well with voters. And in a D-favorable midterm, chances are 50/50 one chamber will flip in AZ.
Biggs will probably repel enough AZ normie Rs from either voting next year or vote an entire blue ticket out of spite.
Absolutely in the realm of possibilities.
"Griffin's attack on November's election results—and the willingness of Republican judges to entertain it—shows just how high the stakes will be in these upcoming contests."
That is your takeaway?? How about:
-- it shows just how CORRUPT the NC GOP is - including its JUDGES!!
Four out of the five GOP NC Sumpreme Court justices went along with this unlawful power grab!! And of course this is the same Supreme Court that re-gerrymandered the NC Congressional maps after the prior court outlawed partisan gerrymandering. In 2022, NC had had a 7 - 7 split in the US House. In 2024, it was 10 - 4 in favor of the GOP because of this hyper-partisan Supreme Court. Those 3 seats represent the margin of the GOP majority in the US House.
BTW, that hypocrite, Chief Justice Paul Newby, won his race against Cheri Beasley by LESS than that the margin of victory for Justice Riggs. But of course Cheri Beasley conceded her race after a recount showed that she had lost.
If it were not for DOUBLE STANDARDS, the NC GOP would have no standards whatsoever!!