Yes, I would have loved to hear more about the exact provenance of the map and the input considered by the mapmakers – such as why CA-22 wasn’t made more Blue at no meaningful risk to Zoe Lofgren’s CA-18. This seems a mistake, as far more could have been done to endanger David Valadao’s (R) reelection.
But as the Digest makes clear, eve nthe DownBallot was unable to extract clear answers. Perhaps we’ll find out a bit more in the coming days?
Someone should have told Lofgren, tough cookies. I'm not usually on the drive them out of town just because their old train but people like her can leave.
I’m concerned about Wahls. Wasn’t he in some kind of controversy involving aides? I believe he got ousted from his State Senate leadership role over it.
The most I can say for Garrity is that she might—and it's only a might—do slightly better than Mastriano's 2022 belly flop (which also helped flip the State House and doom Dr. Oz).
Fun fact: as state treasurer, Garrity is in charge of the Pennsylvania Tax/Rent Rebate program. In 2024 (when she was up for re-election), the refunds were issued as paper checks with her name and signature prominently displayed, rather than as direct deposits as was typically the case prior. Talk about ripping off the Trump playbook...
One thing I've learned is never to assume that we can clearly see the future. We really have no idea how the political scene is going to shake out under a very-unpopular, disintegrating Trump (and then, of course, post-Trump).
I can't quite remember, but wasn't there a movement to centralize elections after Florida's incompetence in 2000? Correct me if I'm wrong. If so, I'm glad it went nowhere. The Founders got it right, even if far from perfect.
I don't know about that. I think there should at least be some minimum Federal standards. I'd support a national law requiring automatic registration of all citizens on their 18th birthdays and ballots sent by mail.
- CA-Gov: Former Rep. Katie Porter easily leads the polls here, and is likely to win the primary (so far).
- IL-Sen: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi leads here as well, although he is the least progressive of the 3 major Dems so it may not be a good sign for progressives. (The author seems to believe Raja will be worse than Durbin too. Make of that what you will.)
- MN-02: State Rep. Kaela Berg is considering a bid here, and has met with Emily’s List — and apparently has progressive roots.
- NV-03: Susie Lee has a primary challenge from what appears to be the left, in the form of cardiologist James Lally.
- DC Council Ward 1: Progressive incumbent Brianne Nadeau is rumored to be considering retirement, and thus a new candidate has emerged here — Aparna Raj, a local progressive organizer.
- LA City Council: The DSA chapter here has made some endorsements — incumbents Eunisses Hernandez and Rocio Rivas (on the LAUSD school board), and challengers Estuardo Mazariegos (a nonprofit leader), who is challenging scandal-laden incumbent Curren Price in District 9, and Faizah Malik (a tenant attorney), who is challenging conservative Dem incumbent Traci Park in District 11.
Bonus: Nick Scutari, president of the NJ Senate and Dem, met with Alina Habba. (From what I’ve heard offhand, an expensive dinner to boot.) Deplorable.
Stratton has been running to his left from the beginning, but the primary is on March 17, so there's very little time--meaning Stratton's completely screwed her campaign up. She spent so much effort muscling Underwood out of the race (who would have been a MUCH stronger opponent to Krishnamoorthi), rather than on finding independent donors beyond Pritzker or on building a relationship with Underwood and/or Kelly (rather than being extremely antagonistic toward the former in partiuclar). She should have used Pritzker money to absolutely blanket the airwaves to boost her own name recognition and land blows against Krisnamoorthi. My guess is Pritzker didn't unlock a ton of funds for her because he wanted to see how capable she would be without his machine, and she's shown she completely isn't, so he's saving his money for a presidential primary. Rather than Durbin being milquetoast but a consummate legislator, and compared to him as the baseline, we're instead going to be stuck Krisnamoorhi who's significantly worse on policy with few principles, immensely self-centered rather than a team-player and an incredibly bad and disliked boss. Stratton's still the best candidate to vote for, but I've lost most hope that she's a strong enough leader to run an aggressive campaign to beat him.
Are you serious?? Dick Durbin has to have been one of the most ineffectual Senate Whips ever! He could and should have found a way to squeeze key votes out of Manchin and Sinema before McConnell & Co, and well-heeled lobbyists, were able to decisively exert their influence.
That said, I will acknowledge that Durbin is a very pleasant fellow and the very manifestation of comity. In other words: well suited for a bygone era.
I don't think it's fair in any way to put Manchin and Sinema down to Durbin and ignore the history of this rest of his record of passing legislation, especially when compared to Krishnamoorthi. Everyone knows Schumer wanted to get them both in one room to negotiate with each other and present a shared package for the rest of the party caucus to agree, and they refused to do that and made everyone go thru the stupidest game of ping-pong in history. Krishnamoorthi isn't just unpleasant but for the moment, he's a shitty person who's owned by corporate interests even more than Durbin and he will be a bad senator.
Unless Pritzker sets up a PAC for her, he can only legally give her campaign $3,500. I haven't seen any indication he's going to use a PAC for her, so outside of his endorsement she's probably on her own.
Obviously this isn't an individual contribution, the vast expectation of Stratton launching a campaign AT ALL was that Pritzker would PAC-spend heavily for her. She wasn't supposed to just get a Pritzker paper endorsement.
Thanks for the link, but this is off base: "it’s now former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter’s race to lose. Porter’s 18% support..."
18% in a California primary isn't remotely enough to make it your race to win, let alone your race to lose. Porter's 18% there is very close to the 17.2% she got in the 2024 Senate primary (and probably mostly the same people) when she didn't even sniff the top 2.
Porter is well-positioned in the race currently, but most Californians have not focused on the gubernatorial race yet. Numbers will be more meaningful next March and onward. The exact lineup in who is actually running (and who has resources to run with) will be clearer by then. I look at the current field and don't see anyone who can dominate the race like Adam Schiff did in the '24 Senate race. Katie has more name recognition than people like Tony Thurmond and Toni Atkins, so that helps in the early polls. It is early...
Thanks very much. They say "Pro-crypto centrist Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi appears well on his way to conning the voters of Illinois into voting for a capitulator" but don't provide evidence to support the idea that he "might actually be a downgrade from disappointing Sen. Dick Durbin" in the most important respect: being an effective fighter against Trump. What's the evidence that he's a capitulator with respect to Trump?
Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, the third Dingell to represent Michigan in Congress in an unbroken line since 1933, announced the happy nuptials of her chief of staff, Meg Makarawicz, to another congressional chief of staff, Mike Rorke. All fine and dandy, right?
Would you like to guess who Mike Rorke is chief of staff to?"
How is it relevant to anyone's appraisal of Dingell who Rorke is Chief of Staff to?
“Her employee marries somebody else’s employee” is not the gotcha they think it is.
Now, Rorke is COS to Tim Walberg, so some skepticism abounds as to Dingell’s staff’s judgment in her private life, but what’s Dingell gonna do, veto her employee’s romantic life?
Yeah, they are both Michigan MOC, I'm sure they work together on a ton of local and consituent issues, let's not disqualify someone based on who they love, that's for the other team
Emerson's CA-Gov poll did not appear to include Republican candidate Kyle Langford, who has made social media posts calling for Auschwitz-style concentration camps a solution to unemployment (an absolutely disgusting idea, to put it very mildly) and has probably gotten the most media attention of any of the Republican candidates.
The IL-Sen poll was an internal poll by a pro-Raja group, although Raja is the only candidate for any office in Illinois running TV ads downstate right now, and running TV ads early and often is usually the most effective way to win a statewide Democratic primary in Illinois. Illinois does not have the grassroots progressive political culture that, for example, Minnesota, Wisconsin, some of the New England states, or even New York to an extent, have.
I'm surprised to read your last sentence. Barack Obama got his start in politics as a community organizer in Chicago. Doesn't any of that infrastructure or tradition still exist? Oh, you mean specifically progressive, as in socialist-adjacent?
The new proposed California congressional district map is so much prettier than the current one!
One correction: Dave Min (CA-47) did not flip his district. It was previously held by Katie Porter (D-CA) who gave it up to run for Senator. The 2024 flip in Orange County was in CA-45, which went from Michelle Steel (R-CA) to Derek Tran (D).
Perhaps Dominion can put that money to good use by purchasing Sinclair Broadcasts TV stations – and transforming them into real fact-based, pro-democracy news media.
The Emerson poll in the Excel file seems to be an outlier. I've not seen a single TPP or Yougov or any other poll since months that gives Trump a positive approval in Texas, let alone +6.5. And the live Daily Kos Civiqs poll puts it at -8 to -10.
Texas Democrats, who had left the state to halt an aggressive redistricting, returned to Texas and ended their two-week walkout on Monday, paving the way for Republicans to pass a redrawn congressional map called for by President Trump.
I maintain Democrats' response to Trump is going to do long-term damage to the party. You can't run around saying he's a fascist and then only engage in performative bullshit. I, personally, believed them and agree with the initial assessment. Why they can't be bothered to exert what little leverage they have outside of Governor Hollywood boggles my mind.
What is your basis for that feeling? Polling reportedly indicates voters are willing to pass it, and I'm already hearing less politically engaged friends here talk about it positively.
I feel cringey admitting this, but Newsom's press release tweets in Trump's style seems to have really broken through to a lot of Millennial and Gen Z voters who otherwise might have tuned out news about a ballot initiative.
It depends on perspective but I'm taking a bit of caution right now even though I am mindful of the polling data you are referencing.
Newsom's popularity isn't perfect to begin with if you talk to voters who are in cities like Dublin, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek. They are already very critical of him and I have a hunch they will likely vote against this proposition accordingly as they see it tied to him, even while he won't be on the ballot next year in the midterms. Most such voters aren't even Republicans or conservatives but more middle of the road voters who could be moderates or independents.
I am not sure yet if anti-Newsom sentiment alone will vote down a proposition in 2026 if this is the case. However, if a CA redistricting passes as a proposition, it's a question of by how much it passes.
It needs to be crystal clear to these voters that voting no on the proposition is a vote for a republican controlled congress and all the garbage that comes with it. Hopefully people will be sympathetic to that argument even if they’re not in love with Newsom.
Fair argument although I’d prefer it to be better sold to skeptical Newsom critics as, “A vote against the proposition is a vote against giving Democrats more options to win back the House.”
That said, I would not hesitate to vote for the proposition. The GOP cannot argue they are for redistricting but against the Democratic Party’s efforts to be for it as well.
And if at some point Democrats controlled the Governor’s mansion and State Legislature in TX and aimed to push for redistricting, the GOP would complain like no tomorrow.
If it doesn’t turn out to be a Trump vs California race where most Democrats and some indies, as well as moderates who hear about Texas, vote in support of the ballot measure, I’d be pretty shocked. I mean they tried to recall him in 2021 and Newsom turned the race into him vs MAGA.
He won by more than he did in his elections. This is where it’s heading in all likelihood imo (though no I’m not saying it’ll win by that same margin, just the mind frame of voters going into it) and I see it very hard to believe the GOP show up more than Democrats = win. Not yet, not immediately, but on election day? Yes, imo.
Yes but I view Newsom defeating the recall election and won re-election mainly because of the demographics and trends heading towards the Democratic Party’s direction for over the last 10+ years in the state. I don’t believe his success had mainly do to with his stature or strength so much as being able to capitalize on CA state voting trends.
Yes, Newsom is a great attack dog and knows how to debate but in the end, what’s it all about if he can’t govern like Jerry Brown or other previous governors who didn’t aim for the attention all the time?
Let’s just say in states like MI or WI Newsom would likely not have had similar success in battling a recall election or running for re-election. I don’t see the image he projects in CA to resonate the same way as if he were to govern in those other two states.
On the other hand, I will compliment Newsom: Outside of anything he’s doing as Governor, he seems to be a brilliant strategist who can shift gears if the political environment changes.
I completely agree, it wasn’t a vote in support of Newsom, but against Elder. That said Newsom and his allies turned the entire race into that (with obvious help from Elder to be sure, he was and is a terrible candidate).
I also would not support Newsom if he ran for the big race. I’m not saying it as some diehard supporter, just stating the obvious with partisanship (basically deciding elections these days) at its peak. I also don’t think he’d do well in middle America because he’s from California (see 2024).
He is a good attack dog, making elections a contest between which is worse: Democrats with our flaws or Trump’s GOP instead of “what I’ve actually governed over and policies I’ve passed. He can not be drawn up any better imo on paper to win this ballot measure approval.
If he can’t, well, let’s just hope a wave forms in 2026.
Who is Ellison? I think you are referring to Larry Elder, who was top GOP candidate in the recall replacement race. Elder is (or was) a rightwing radio commentator, and a "Famous Black Conservative". No relation to either Keith Ellison (MN-AG) or Harlan Ellison (late science fiction author).
I'm a goofy bastard, so I voted NO! on the recall and for Angelyne in the replacement race. At least she was entertaining...
Of course there are pockets of Republicans everywhere in the state. But in fact, the gap between Democrats and Republicans has been widening in recent decades. I can't see Dublin, Pleasanton, and Walnut Creek making much of an impact. All three towns have populations of about 70,000-75,000. Los Angeles alone has 3.879 million.
Durbin, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are examples of where I am seeing anti-Newsom sentiment (even where there’s a Fuck Newsom shirt worn even at Sprouts in Walnut Creek close to the Pleasant Hill BART Station) but they are not unique compared to other cities throughout CA.
This sentiment began in San Francisco decades ago when lots of liberals living in the city knew Newsom was Willie Brown’s handpick to replace District 2 Supervisor Kevin Shelley (who became State Assembly member and eventually was CA Secretary of State) and was cozy to corporate developers all the way back to Brown’s first term as Mayor. It has just evolved since Newsom has been Governor.
I wouldn’t be surprised Newsom is getting critics in staunchly liberal Arcata and Eureka as well as Monterey, Orange County and even San Diego County. Again, not necessarily Republicans or conservative by default. It’s a matter of understanding that Newsom isn’t popular with all political stripes.
Btw, parts of Dublin and the whole city of Pleasanton are represented by Congressman Eric Swalwell. CA-14 has a D+20 rating.
I think it just depends on turnout from progressives. I think liberals/moderates will vote, but I'm worried about them staying on their high horse for this. It's also easy to vote by mail in CA so will the conservative vote be higher than usual in special elections compared to this past year? I am hoping polling stays positive for yes and this also catapults other states to follow suit. I'm also hoping polling stays positive after all that negative money starts pouring in, because it will. Maybe my feeling is more to not jinx anything, scientifically proven to work.
It's not liberals or progressives or centrists here; there are plenty of stupid compromisers and good governance types on this issue in all sides. I hope that this election is framed in a populist tone to drive out the youth turnout who don't care about norms and all, and have turned on Trump.
It'll pass if it gets enough money behind it, and I would expect that money to be there. I think the backers are smart enough to frame it as stopping Trump.
I think the proposition is likely to pass. If it doesn't, Newsom won't ignore the state Supreme Court. He's not lawless.
Republicans are more of a regional party than a state party. They dream big every election, and it doesn't work out. They haven't won a statewide race since Schwarzenegger and Poizner did it in 2006.
I don't know if this is the right forum to ask but how did the DSA go to the left of Sanders? I've heard that before 2016, it was a smaller organization and held social democratic views and authoritarian socialists were banned. What happened after that, like people were inspired by Bernie and joined the group (6k to 100k) but he never held positions like defund the police or seizing the means of production? Please don't discuss any forbidden topic. Politicians like Conyers and Owens were the product of the earlier iteration.
Without dipping into forbidden territory, the Bernie movement from 2015-2020 brought in a lot of people whose personal politics were not completely in sync with the actual Senator’s beliefs. Or evolved/curdled into something very different from the Senator’s beliefs in the intervening years.
Briahna Joy Gray seems like the poster child for this tendency.
And, yes, I’d agree with this analysis broadly. I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’ve never been super impressed by Sanders and my politics are certainly to the right of his, but as a man he seems well-meaning and quite solid, and his ego is no larger or smaller than every other major national politico (in other words, huge!).
His responsibility to police his own supporters imo isn’t very large, but I’m sure he himself would admit that his brand and movement were significantly damaged by fellow travelers he had little control over.
Although I'll at least give them credit for one podcast they did savagely mocking Ben Shapiro's stupid fiction novel. I don't like anything else they've done, but at least they did that.
I think there was too much personality cultishness around him which sometimes obscured the causes and issues he was fighting for. I too respect Bernie, especially over the last several years, but not so all of his supporters, many of whom had/have unrealistic expectations of what he or any potential president can do.
And it's somewhat ironic that after Bernie gave the DSA some mainstream credibility many of its leaders and chapters ruined it with issue stands and tactics that won't attract national majority support.
Chapters in particular. On Bluesky there was discussion of Rhode Island having a particularly insane DSA chapter that apparently voted to separate from the Democratic Party, claimed that, if one gets elected as a progressive Democrat, they will apparently be tempted to become a centrist or something (?), and I suspect played a role in sinking the insurgent progressive movement in Rhode Island.
I dislike the DSA but it is important to note that different chapters have different levels of functionality and sometimes insanity. There's a reason NYC's DSA has had great success (Zohran Mamdani, city council and state legislature victories) and some other chapters have not (RI, as previously mentioned, but special mention goes to the Boston DSA for essentially kicking out State Rep. and stellar progressive Mike Connolly for astonishingly bullshit reasons). Just as the Democratic Party isn't a monolith, so isn't the DSA.
Although I prefer the Working Familes Party anyway -- I'll leave it at that.
From what I remember, a number of progressives managed primary victories in the RI state legislature. Said victories have dissipated recently -- I don't know if there was a particular turning point but I remember Jeanine Calkin was one progressive who lost her primary. (There were also the dual losses of former State Reps. David Segal and Aaron Regunberg in subsequent House primaries.)
That was quite embarassing even then. Honestly it’s been one personality cult after another since at least Regan if not JFK and it only seems to get increasingly worse, with Trump as the culmination thereof
Well, besides Truman and perhaps the Bushes, all the victorious presidential candidates since FDR have had some form of personality cult. Do we think that Eisenhower was more qualified than Stevenson?
What you call a personality cult I call enthusiasm, with the exception of Trump. Which is a cult. But this fits into the Times Magazine article I posted last week. The Democratic “mainstream” is suspicious of candidates who are too “hot,” who generate too much populist enthusiasm and emotional response.
I agree with your take on Sanders. He's not my cup of tea, and certainly to my left, but I think he is a genuine person who is fighting for what he thinks is right for the country.
Most of the other socialist organizations collapsed as Bernie's popularity rose, and the remnants of those organizations decamped for the DSA, which is why you have Social Democrats and revolutionary Marxists in the same organization.
Not really entryism as much as a port of last call/where the energy is. However, this has produced factions that are softly aligned around electoralism and anti-electoralism. Although to be fair, most anti-electoralists don't find elections as crucial as other efforts, such as mutual aid or community organizing. In contrast, some others don't see such things compelling either, with a greater focus on theoretical/intellectual projects.
Valadao’s district could be much better for us, but if we can’t win a Biden +17 district with a generic Democrat running, then we’re doing something very wrong (Tj Cox managed to get elected, I mean come on). Yes Trump won it in 2024 by 2 points and yes Valadao is a strong incumbent, but if 2026 is a blue ripple like 2020 was, we should absolutely still win it. If it’s a wave, he’s toast for sure.
I’m also very encouraged to see other Democratic states considering following California going nuclear in response to Texas, especially grassroots organizing in Colorado, which I had been very concerned they weren’t doing anything in. Our voters are with us, now it’s time for elected leaders to do what it takes to beat the GOP in 2026 and beyond.
In a less enthusiastic note, I think it’s very stupid Texas Democrats caved to Abbot’s redraw, just pure dumbness to wave the white flag so soon. This is also a good reason why I prefer Allred to Talarico and I wouldn’t mind primary challengers to the currently elected Dems in the State House, especially leadership.
Shouldn't the maps take 2028 and not just 2026 into account? It's critical to have a functional trifecta for the Democrats in 2029, as we keep losing fucking time on all sorts of crucial issues of environmental triage, national security, civil rights, civil liberties and voting rights.
And losing time on reversing the Trump and Bush tax cuts! I was so disappointed when Democrats failed to undo the misguided Trump tax cuts early during President Biden’s term. (Yes, I know there was a pandemic.) That revenue could have financed so much good!
After over 29 years, MSNBC will get a new name: My Source News Opinion World, or MS Now in short. CNBC, however, will keep its name, but lose the peacock with it.
This is because of the NBCU/Versant split, where the peacock logo stays with NBCU properties, and this will cause Golf Channel and CNBC to change their logos.
I'm almost convinced that MS NOW (a lot of people on social media are noting that MS is a commonly used acronym for multiple sclerosis, which isn't exactly something you'd want to associate a cable/satellite news and opinion channel with) is a temporary name until Versant can get a trademark for something like NOWtv, NOW24, or something along those lines.
It will be interesting to see if Versant brings back the "swinging-G" logo (or at least a modernized variant of it) that Golf Channel ditched a number of years ago, although, given the logo Versant came up with for MS Now, I'm not optimistic. Versant is going to use the USA Sports branding as a collective branding for both Golf Channel's live golf coverage and USA Network's sports programming.
OK, this is from last year, but I wanted to mention this because what the fuck.
(Not giving the source unless asked -- I really don't want to promote anything associated with Aleksandr Dugin.)
Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney apparently spoke at the "2nd International Russophile Movement". I found a video of an interview she did with them hosted on a website that appears to be sympathetic to Aleksandr Dugin, the Russian fascist and ideologue of the Ukraine slaughter.
I think I remember being angry when she lost her primary to someone who I thought was to the right of her. I adjusted my thinking on things a lot soon after that but ... Woof. I was a sucker.
Another day, another progressive primary challenger. Indigenous Gen Z activist and "member of the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability", according to Wikipedia, Anthony Tamez, is challenging Rep. Mike Quigley from the left. My sister lives in this district -- according to her, it has a bit of a conservative tilt. We'll see where this goes.
This seat is probably going nowhere (possibly unless redistricting lawsuit #2 is a success) but ex-Green Bay school board member Rick Crosson is running as a Dem against Republican incumbent Rep. Tony Wied. Due to a paywall, I can't read more details on this story -- apologies.
Tamez would be the first Native American member of Illinois's congressional delegation in the extremely unlikely event he were to be nominated and elected.
I don’t know if IL-05 has a conservative tilt with a Democrat representing it, but I admit I’m not in the district, so maybe I’m wrong. According to TDB though Harris won here 68-32 in 2024. I’m not too worried if Quigley gets replaced.
If we lose here, we have less than 150 seats (guesstimating), catastrophe far worse than 2010 and in the end this loss hypothetically won’t matter. It’s totally up to the voters whether they want a different representative, the choice is in their capable hands. I’m sure the strongest candidate with the best campaign will win. Let’s see what they decide!
Conservative Dem-leaning, I mean — in contrast with a progressive-leaning area. To use NY as an example of a similar phenomenon, contrast rich parts of Westchester, NY with, say, Astoria.
Precisely the Morning Digest I was hoping to see!
Yes, I would have loved to hear more about the exact provenance of the map and the input considered by the mapmakers – such as why CA-22 wasn’t made more Blue at no meaningful risk to Zoe Lofgren’s CA-18. This seems a mistake, as far more could have been done to endanger David Valadao’s (R) reelection.
But as the Digest makes clear, eve nthe DownBallot was unable to extract clear answers. Perhaps we’ll find out a bit more in the coming days?
Through the grapevine, in passing sentences in publications and rumors, Lofgren asked for her district to not change
Someone should have told Lofgren, tough cookies. I'm not usually on the drive them out of town just because their old train but people like her can leave.
Lots of candidate news this morning:
- Sherrod Brown is officially in for OH-Sen.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/sherrod-brown-vance-campaign-launch-senate-seat-ohio-rcna225277
- JD Scholten is out for IA-Sen (and endorsing Josh Turek).
https://www.kcrg.com/2025/08/18/scholten-ending-us-senate-bid-endorse-rep-turek/
- Stacy Garrity is in for PA-Gov.
https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-governor-stacy-garrity-election-josh-shapiro-e588e4fc326936c4a42344dae26844be
Damn, I liked Scholten. Well, Turek it is. Vote blue no matter who.
State Senator Zach Wahls is still in the race, but Turek might be a stronger GE candidate.
While I personally really like Turek, there are others running too who also deserve due consideration.
I’m concerned about Wahls. Wasn’t he in some kind of controversy involving aides? I believe he got ousted from his State Senate leadership role over it.
He fired two long-time staffers.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/12/zach-wahls-says-firing-longtime-iowa-senate-staffers-reason-for-his-ouster/70314768007/
Huh, interesting about Scholten. I wonder if the polling was better for Turek?
The most I can say for Garrity is that she might—and it's only a might—do slightly better than Mastriano's 2022 belly flop (which also helped flip the State House and doom Dr. Oz).
Fun fact: as state treasurer, Garrity is in charge of the Pennsylvania Tax/Rent Rebate program. In 2024 (when she was up for re-election), the refunds were issued as paper checks with her name and signature prominently displayed, rather than as direct deposits as was typically the case prior. Talk about ripping off the Trump playbook...
Glad to see Sherrod make it official. Maybe he'll get the shock comeback FDJT did and holds on for a full term in 2028.
One thing I've learned is never to assume that we can clearly see the future. We really have no idea how the political scene is going to shake out under a very-unpopular, disintegrating Trump (and then, of course, post-Trump).
The NY Times is reporting today that Trump intends to sign an executive order eliminating mail-in ballots and voting machines. It says he discussed his plans with Vladimir Putin, a world-renowned authority on free and fair elections. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/18/us/trump-news?unlocked_article_code=1.fE8.ipRI.ECYBnvcCRhJP&smid=url-share
How legal is this move? Will it be enforced, or is it performative bullshit?
States run elections. They can be regulated by acts of congress and have to abide by constitutional criteria.
Thanks for the response. Good to know.
I can't quite remember, but wasn't there a movement to centralize elections after Florida's incompetence in 2000? Correct me if I'm wrong. If so, I'm glad it went nowhere. The Founders got it right, even if far from perfect.
I don't know about that. I think there should at least be some minimum Federal standards. I'd support a national law requiring automatic registration of all citizens on their 18th birthdays and ballots sent by mail.
That's the sort of regulation by acts of Congress that the clause can allow.
The latter. He said he will "lead a movement."
A bowel movement, clearly.
The irony of course is that Trump & his entire family vote by mail. They’ll have to go to the polls now just like the plebes. Ha.
That's true of countless MAGA election deniers (and was especially true during the pandemic). Their shame and dignity died in 2016, if not earlier.
https://primaryschool.ghost.io/issue-12/
New Primary School issue out. Some highlights:
- CA-Gov: Former Rep. Katie Porter easily leads the polls here, and is likely to win the primary (so far).
- IL-Sen: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi leads here as well, although he is the least progressive of the 3 major Dems so it may not be a good sign for progressives. (The author seems to believe Raja will be worse than Durbin too. Make of that what you will.)
- MN-02: State Rep. Kaela Berg is considering a bid here, and has met with Emily’s List — and apparently has progressive roots.
- NV-03: Susie Lee has a primary challenge from what appears to be the left, in the form of cardiologist James Lally.
- DC Council Ward 1: Progressive incumbent Brianne Nadeau is rumored to be considering retirement, and thus a new candidate has emerged here — Aparna Raj, a local progressive organizer.
- LA City Council: The DSA chapter here has made some endorsements — incumbents Eunisses Hernandez and Rocio Rivas (on the LAUSD school board), and challengers Estuardo Mazariegos (a nonprofit leader), who is challenging scandal-laden incumbent Curren Price in District 9, and Faizah Malik (a tenant attorney), who is challenging conservative Dem incumbent Traci Park in District 11.
Bonus: Nick Scutari, president of the NJ Senate and Dem, met with Alina Habba. (From what I’ve heard offhand, an expensive dinner to boot.) Deplorable.
More details in the full story.
Krishnamoorthi is apparently very popular in the suburbs.
He's got name rec from his run statewide and his years running for congress in the Chicago area.
Can Pritzker’s money overcome that if Stratton runs to his left?
Stratton has been running to his left from the beginning, but the primary is on March 17, so there's very little time--meaning Stratton's completely screwed her campaign up. She spent so much effort muscling Underwood out of the race (who would have been a MUCH stronger opponent to Krishnamoorthi), rather than on finding independent donors beyond Pritzker or on building a relationship with Underwood and/or Kelly (rather than being extremely antagonistic toward the former in partiuclar). She should have used Pritzker money to absolutely blanket the airwaves to boost her own name recognition and land blows against Krisnamoorthi. My guess is Pritzker didn't unlock a ton of funds for her because he wanted to see how capable she would be without his machine, and she's shown she completely isn't, so he's saving his money for a presidential primary. Rather than Durbin being milquetoast but a consummate legislator, and compared to him as the baseline, we're instead going to be stuck Krisnamoorhi who's significantly worse on policy with few principles, immensely self-centered rather than a team-player and an incredibly bad and disliked boss. Stratton's still the best candidate to vote for, but I've lost most hope that she's a strong enough leader to run an aggressive campaign to beat him.
"Durbin being … a consummate legislator…"
Are you serious?? Dick Durbin has to have been one of the most ineffectual Senate Whips ever! He could and should have found a way to squeeze key votes out of Manchin and Sinema before McConnell & Co, and well-heeled lobbyists, were able to decisively exert their influence.
That said, I will acknowledge that Durbin is a very pleasant fellow and the very manifestation of comity. In other words: well suited for a bygone era.
I don't think it's fair in any way to put Manchin and Sinema down to Durbin and ignore the history of this rest of his record of passing legislation, especially when compared to Krishnamoorthi. Everyone knows Schumer wanted to get them both in one room to negotiate with each other and present a shared package for the rest of the party caucus to agree, and they refused to do that and made everyone go thru the stupidest game of ping-pong in history. Krishnamoorthi isn't just unpleasant but for the moment, he's a shitty person who's owned by corporate interests even more than Durbin and he will be a bad senator.
Unless Pritzker sets up a PAC for her, he can only legally give her campaign $3,500. I haven't seen any indication he's going to use a PAC for her, so outside of his endorsement she's probably on her own.
Obviously this isn't an individual contribution, the vast expectation of Stratton launching a campaign AT ALL was that Pritzker would PAC-spend heavily for her. She wasn't supposed to just get a Pritzker paper endorsement.
Thanks for the link, but this is off base: "it’s now former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter’s race to lose. Porter’s 18% support..."
18% in a California primary isn't remotely enough to make it your race to win, let alone your race to lose. Porter's 18% there is very close to the 17.2% she got in the 2024 Senate primary (and probably mostly the same people) when she didn't even sniff the top 2.
Porter is well-positioned in the race currently, but most Californians have not focused on the gubernatorial race yet. Numbers will be more meaningful next March and onward. The exact lineup in who is actually running (and who has resources to run with) will be clearer by then. I look at the current field and don't see anyone who can dominate the race like Adam Schiff did in the '24 Senate race. Katie has more name recognition than people like Tony Thurmond and Toni Atkins, so that helps in the early polls. It is early...
Thanks very much. They say "Pro-crypto centrist Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi appears well on his way to conning the voters of Illinois into voting for a capitulator" but don't provide evidence to support the idea that he "might actually be a downgrade from disappointing Sen. Dick Durbin" in the most important respect: being an effective fighter against Trump. What's the evidence that he's a capitulator with respect to Trump?
About this:
"It’s all a fucking game to these people.
Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, the third Dingell to represent Michigan in Congress in an unbroken line since 1933, announced the happy nuptials of her chief of staff, Meg Makarawicz, to another congressional chief of staff, Mike Rorke. All fine and dandy, right?
Would you like to guess who Mike Rorke is chief of staff to?"
How is it relevant to anyone's appraisal of Dingell who Rorke is Chief of Staff to?
“Her employee marries somebody else’s employee” is not the gotcha they think it is.
Now, Rorke is COS to Tim Walberg, so some skepticism abounds as to Dingell’s staff’s judgment in her private life, but what’s Dingell gonna do, veto her employee’s romantic life?
Exactly.
Yeah, they are both Michigan MOC, I'm sure they work together on a ton of local and consituent issues, let's not disqualify someone based on who they love, that's for the other team
Emerson's CA-Gov poll did not appear to include Republican candidate Kyle Langford, who has made social media posts calling for Auschwitz-style concentration camps a solution to unemployment (an absolutely disgusting idea, to put it very mildly) and has probably gotten the most media attention of any of the Republican candidates.
The IL-Sen poll was an internal poll by a pro-Raja group, although Raja is the only candidate for any office in Illinois running TV ads downstate right now, and running TV ads early and often is usually the most effective way to win a statewide Democratic primary in Illinois. Illinois does not have the grassroots progressive political culture that, for example, Minnesota, Wisconsin, some of the New England states, or even New York to an extent, have.
I'm surprised to read your last sentence. Barack Obama got his start in politics as a community organizer in Chicago. Doesn't any of that infrastructure or tradition still exist? Oh, you mean specifically progressive, as in socialist-adjacent?
The latter. Socialist-adjacent, but not nuts.
The new proposed California congressional district map is so much prettier than the current one!
One correction: Dave Min (CA-47) did not flip his district. It was previously held by Katie Porter (D-CA) who gave it up to run for Senator. The 2024 flip in Orange County was in CA-45, which went from Michelle Steel (R-CA) to Derek Tran (D).
Thank you for the catch! We've corrected.
"I’m still in that group that clings on to childish delusions and is ready to hand the country over to fascists." - NJ's Vin Gopal
Another right-wing cable station has settled with Dominion. Though for about $700 million less than Fox since its worth a lot less.
https://bsky.app/profile/forbes.com/post/3lwoocbejwe2l
Perhaps Dominion can put that money to good use by purchasing Sinclair Broadcasts TV stations – and transforming them into real fact-based, pro-democracy news media.
I think the internet is a far more destructive force than TV (or over-the-air radio) these days.
Agreed. But somewhat different audiences – all three are important.
The Emerson poll in the Excel file seems to be an outlier. I've not seen a single TPP or Yougov or any other poll since months that gives Trump a positive approval in Texas, let alone +6.5. And the live Daily Kos Civiqs poll puts it at -8 to -10.
Texas Democrats, who had left the state to halt an aggressive redistricting, returned to Texas and ended their two-week walkout on Monday, paving the way for Republicans to pass a redrawn congressional map called for by President Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/us/politics/redistricting-texas-maps.html
Wimps! I'm so glad I didn't waste any of my hard-earned money by sending any of it to them.
I maintain Democrats' response to Trump is going to do long-term damage to the party. You can't run around saying he's a fascist and then only engage in performative bullshit. I, personally, believed them and agree with the initial assessment. Why they can't be bothered to exert what little leverage they have outside of Governor Hollywood boggles my mind.
I have a feeling CA voters won't pass this. And if they don't I wonder if Newsome has it in him to just go nuclear and ignore the State SC.
What is your basis for that feeling? Polling reportedly indicates voters are willing to pass it, and I'm already hearing less politically engaged friends here talk about it positively.
I feel cringey admitting this, but Newsom's press release tweets in Trump's style seems to have really broken through to a lot of Millennial and Gen Z voters who otherwise might have tuned out news about a ballot initiative.
The context as to why this has to be done needs to be made perfectly clear to the voters.
It depends on perspective but I'm taking a bit of caution right now even though I am mindful of the polling data you are referencing.
Newsom's popularity isn't perfect to begin with if you talk to voters who are in cities like Dublin, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek. They are already very critical of him and I have a hunch they will likely vote against this proposition accordingly as they see it tied to him, even while he won't be on the ballot next year in the midterms. Most such voters aren't even Republicans or conservatives but more middle of the road voters who could be moderates or independents.
I am not sure yet if anti-Newsom sentiment alone will vote down a proposition in 2026 if this is the case. However, if a CA redistricting passes as a proposition, it's a question of by how much it passes.
It needs to be crystal clear to these voters that voting no on the proposition is a vote for a republican controlled congress and all the garbage that comes with it. Hopefully people will be sympathetic to that argument even if they’re not in love with Newsom.
Fair argument although I’d prefer it to be better sold to skeptical Newsom critics as, “A vote against the proposition is a vote against giving Democrats more options to win back the House.”
That said, I would not hesitate to vote for the proposition. The GOP cannot argue they are for redistricting but against the Democratic Party’s efforts to be for it as well.
They wouldn't. They would say some bullshit like they are Californians and don't answer for what happens in Texas but oppose gerrymandering.
And if at some point Democrats controlled the Governor’s mansion and State Legislature in TX and aimed to push for redistricting, the GOP would complain like no tomorrow.
If it doesn’t turn out to be a Trump vs California race where most Democrats and some indies, as well as moderates who hear about Texas, vote in support of the ballot measure, I’d be pretty shocked. I mean they tried to recall him in 2021 and Newsom turned the race into him vs MAGA.
He won by more than he did in his elections. This is where it’s heading in all likelihood imo (though no I’m not saying it’ll win by that same margin, just the mind frame of voters going into it) and I see it very hard to believe the GOP show up more than Democrats = win. Not yet, not immediately, but on election day? Yes, imo.
Yes but I view Newsom defeating the recall election and won re-election mainly because of the demographics and trends heading towards the Democratic Party’s direction for over the last 10+ years in the state. I don’t believe his success had mainly do to with his stature or strength so much as being able to capitalize on CA state voting trends.
Yes, Newsom is a great attack dog and knows how to debate but in the end, what’s it all about if he can’t govern like Jerry Brown or other previous governors who didn’t aim for the attention all the time?
Let’s just say in states like MI or WI Newsom would likely not have had similar success in battling a recall election or running for re-election. I don’t see the image he projects in CA to resonate the same way as if he were to govern in those other two states.
On the other hand, I will compliment Newsom: Outside of anything he’s doing as Governor, he seems to be a brilliant strategist who can shift gears if the political environment changes.
I completely agree, it wasn’t a vote in support of Newsom, but against Elder. That said Newsom and his allies turned the entire race into that (with obvious help from Elder to be sure, he was and is a terrible candidate).
I also would not support Newsom if he ran for the big race. I’m not saying it as some diehard supporter, just stating the obvious with partisanship (basically deciding elections these days) at its peak. I also don’t think he’d do well in middle America because he’s from California (see 2024).
He is a good attack dog, making elections a contest between which is worse: Democrats with our flaws or Trump’s GOP instead of “what I’ve actually governed over and policies I’ve passed. He can not be drawn up any better imo on paper to win this ballot measure approval.
If he can’t, well, let’s just hope a wave forms in 2026.
Who is Ellison? I think you are referring to Larry Elder, who was top GOP candidate in the recall replacement race. Elder is (or was) a rightwing radio commentator, and a "Famous Black Conservative". No relation to either Keith Ellison (MN-AG) or Harlan Ellison (late science fiction author).
I'm a goofy bastard, so I voted NO! on the recall and for Angelyne in the replacement race. At least she was entertaining...
Right now, because we have 2026 coming up, I prefer being on the side of Newsom as it relates to helping Democrats win the midterms.
Anything else is better addressed after the midterms.
Of course there are pockets of Republicans everywhere in the state. But in fact, the gap between Democrats and Republicans has been widening in recent decades. I can't see Dublin, Pleasanton, and Walnut Creek making much of an impact. All three towns have populations of about 70,000-75,000. Los Angeles alone has 3.879 million.
Durbin, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are examples of where I am seeing anti-Newsom sentiment (even where there’s a Fuck Newsom shirt worn even at Sprouts in Walnut Creek close to the Pleasant Hill BART Station) but they are not unique compared to other cities throughout CA.
This sentiment began in San Francisco decades ago when lots of liberals living in the city knew Newsom was Willie Brown’s handpick to replace District 2 Supervisor Kevin Shelley (who became State Assembly member and eventually was CA Secretary of State) and was cozy to corporate developers all the way back to Brown’s first term as Mayor. It has just evolved since Newsom has been Governor.
I wouldn’t be surprised Newsom is getting critics in staunchly liberal Arcata and Eureka as well as Monterey, Orange County and even San Diego County. Again, not necessarily Republicans or conservative by default. It’s a matter of understanding that Newsom isn’t popular with all political stripes.
Btw, parts of Dublin and the whole city of Pleasanton are represented by Congressman Eric Swalwell. CA-14 has a D+20 rating.
I think it just depends on turnout from progressives. I think liberals/moderates will vote, but I'm worried about them staying on their high horse for this. It's also easy to vote by mail in CA so will the conservative vote be higher than usual in special elections compared to this past year? I am hoping polling stays positive for yes and this also catapults other states to follow suit. I'm also hoping polling stays positive after all that negative money starts pouring in, because it will. Maybe my feeling is more to not jinx anything, scientifically proven to work.
It's not liberals or progressives or centrists here; there are plenty of stupid compromisers and good governance types on this issue in all sides. I hope that this election is framed in a populist tone to drive out the youth turnout who don't care about norms and all, and have turned on Trump.
Polling, what little we've seen, varies on wording but support and opposition start at low levels.
I want to see polling asking Texans if they would support a fair maps commission
I think voters in every state would vote for it.
It'll pass if it gets enough money behind it, and I would expect that money to be there. I think the backers are smart enough to frame it as stopping Trump.
I think the proposition is likely to pass. If it doesn't, Newsom won't ignore the state Supreme Court. He's not lawless.
Republicans are more of a regional party than a state party. They dream big every election, and it doesn't work out. They haven't won a statewide race since Schwarzenegger and Poizner did it in 2006.
Excellent, glad to support your work.
(the redrawing of CA-01 is kinda funny, CA-22 is a puzzlement, and CA-48 is "willkommen and bienvenue, welcome!")
I don't know if this is the right forum to ask but how did the DSA go to the left of Sanders? I've heard that before 2016, it was a smaller organization and held social democratic views and authoritarian socialists were banned. What happened after that, like people were inspired by Bernie and joined the group (6k to 100k) but he never held positions like defund the police or seizing the means of production? Please don't discuss any forbidden topic. Politicians like Conyers and Owens were the product of the earlier iteration.
Without dipping into forbidden territory, the Bernie movement from 2015-2020 brought in a lot of people whose personal politics were not completely in sync with the actual Senator’s beliefs. Or evolved/curdled into something very different from the Senator’s beliefs in the intervening years.
Every Paul stan I knew was a Bernie guy before long
You could give me a little more info without dipping into foreign policy. :)
Briahna Joy Gray seems like the poster child for this tendency.
And, yes, I’d agree with this analysis broadly. I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’ve never been super impressed by Sanders and my politics are certainly to the right of his, but as a man he seems well-meaning and quite solid, and his ego is no larger or smaller than every other major national politico (in other words, huge!).
His responsibility to police his own supporters imo isn’t very large, but I’m sure he himself would admit that his brand and movement were significantly damaged by fellow travelers he had little control over.
And I’ll leave it that
Don't forget Nina Turner too. And the cretins at the Trapo Chap House podcast.
I never heard of that podcast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapo_Trap_House
You are not missing out.
Although I'll at least give them credit for one podcast they did savagely mocking Ben Shapiro's stupid fiction novel. I don't like anything else they've done, but at least they did that.
Worth noting that Nina Turner is in hot water with some progressives right now for opposing the redistricting efforts in CA.
I think there was too much personality cultishness around him which sometimes obscured the causes and issues he was fighting for. I too respect Bernie, especially over the last several years, but not so all of his supporters, many of whom had/have unrealistic expectations of what he or any potential president can do.
And it's somewhat ironic that after Bernie gave the DSA some mainstream credibility many of its leaders and chapters ruined it with issue stands and tactics that won't attract national majority support.
That really IS ironic.
Chapters in particular. On Bluesky there was discussion of Rhode Island having a particularly insane DSA chapter that apparently voted to separate from the Democratic Party, claimed that, if one gets elected as a progressive Democrat, they will apparently be tempted to become a centrist or something (?), and I suspect played a role in sinking the insurgent progressive movement in Rhode Island.
I dislike the DSA but it is important to note that different chapters have different levels of functionality and sometimes insanity. There's a reason NYC's DSA has had great success (Zohran Mamdani, city council and state legislature victories) and some other chapters have not (RI, as previously mentioned, but special mention goes to the Boston DSA for essentially kicking out State Rep. and stellar progressive Mike Connolly for astonishingly bullshit reasons). Just as the Democratic Party isn't a monolith, so isn't the DSA.
Although I prefer the Working Familes Party anyway -- I'll leave it at that.
What was Rhode Island's progressive movement and whose defeat marked its failure?
From what I remember, a number of progressives managed primary victories in the RI state legislature. Said victories have dissipated recently -- I don't know if there was a particular turning point but I remember Jeanine Calkin was one progressive who lost her primary. (There were also the dual losses of former State Reps. David Segal and Aaron Regunberg in subsequent House primaries.)
I'm not an expert here though so don't quote me.
Even James Talarico who calls himself a Bernie supporter complained about the cult of personality around figures like him and Trump on Rogan.
So, complaining about Bernie on Rogan's show. I don't like that.
In fairness to Bernie, I can recall people fainting at Obama rallies in 2008, even before he was the nominee.
That was quite embarassing even then. Honestly it’s been one personality cult after another since at least Regan if not JFK and it only seems to get increasingly worse, with Trump as the culmination thereof
Well, besides Truman and perhaps the Bushes, all the victorious presidential candidates since FDR have had some form of personality cult. Do we think that Eisenhower was more qualified than Stevenson?
What you call a personality cult I call enthusiasm, with the exception of Trump. Which is a cult. But this fits into the Times Magazine article I posted last week. The Democratic “mainstream” is suspicious of candidates who are too “hot,” who generate too much populist enthusiasm and emotional response.
I agree with your take on Sanders. He's not my cup of tea, and certainly to my left, but I think he is a genuine person who is fighting for what he thinks is right for the country.
That's fair. (He's not to my left, overall, but I respect your appraisal.)
Most of the other socialist organizations collapsed as Bernie's popularity rose, and the remnants of those organizations decamped for the DSA, which is why you have Social Democrats and revolutionary Marxists in the same organization.
So in short, a classic case of Entryism?
Not really entryism as much as a port of last call/where the energy is. However, this has produced factions that are softly aligned around electoralism and anti-electoralism. Although to be fair, most anti-electoralists don't find elections as crucial as other efforts, such as mutual aid or community organizing. In contrast, some others don't see such things compelling either, with a greater focus on theoretical/intellectual projects.
Breaking News: Bernie Sanders isn’t really a Socialist, despite what he calls himself. He is a good ole’ Social Democrat.
Also, that.
Valadao’s district could be much better for us, but if we can’t win a Biden +17 district with a generic Democrat running, then we’re doing something very wrong (Tj Cox managed to get elected, I mean come on). Yes Trump won it in 2024 by 2 points and yes Valadao is a strong incumbent, but if 2026 is a blue ripple like 2020 was, we should absolutely still win it. If it’s a wave, he’s toast for sure.
I’m also very encouraged to see other Democratic states considering following California going nuclear in response to Texas, especially grassroots organizing in Colorado, which I had been very concerned they weren’t doing anything in. Our voters are with us, now it’s time for elected leaders to do what it takes to beat the GOP in 2026 and beyond.
In a less enthusiastic note, I think it’s very stupid Texas Democrats caved to Abbot’s redraw, just pure dumbness to wave the white flag so soon. This is also a good reason why I prefer Allred to Talarico and I wouldn’t mind primary challengers to the currently elected Dems in the State House, especially leadership.
Shouldn't the maps take 2028 and not just 2026 into account? It's critical to have a functional trifecta for the Democrats in 2029, as we keep losing fucking time on all sorts of crucial issues of environmental triage, national security, civil rights, civil liberties and voting rights.
And losing time on reversing the Trump and Bush tax cuts! I was so disappointed when Democrats failed to undo the misguided Trump tax cuts early during President Biden’s term. (Yes, I know there was a pandemic.) That revenue could have financed so much good!
After over 29 years, MSNBC will get a new name: My Source News Opinion World, or MS Now in short. CNBC, however, will keep its name, but lose the peacock with it.
This is because of the NBCU/Versant split, where the peacock logo stays with NBCU properties, and this will cause Golf Channel and CNBC to change their logos.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/msnbc-change-name-ms-now-spinoff-nbcuniversal-rcna225563
People on Bluesky were saying it sounds like a bootleg product sold on Amazon.
As long as the network itself stays high-quality, I'm fine.
Hopefully they get rid of John Kasich (ugh).
I'm almost convinced that MS NOW (a lot of people on social media are noting that MS is a commonly used acronym for multiple sclerosis, which isn't exactly something you'd want to associate a cable/satellite news and opinion channel with) is a temporary name until Versant can get a trademark for something like NOWtv, NOW24, or something along those lines.
It will be interesting to see if Versant brings back the "swinging-G" logo (or at least a modernized variant of it) that Golf Channel ditched a number of years ago, although, given the logo Versant came up with for MS Now, I'm not optimistic. Versant is going to use the USA Sports branding as a collective branding for both Golf Channel's live golf coverage and USA Network's sports programming.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/08/18/golf-channel-to-get-new-logo-as-part-of-versant-shakeup/
MS Now – not to be confused with Democracy Now.
/s
Where Are They Now?:
OK, this is from last year, but I wanted to mention this because what the fuck.
(Not giving the source unless asked -- I really don't want to promote anything associated with Aleksandr Dugin.)
Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney apparently spoke at the "2nd International Russophile Movement". I found a video of an interview she did with them hosted on a website that appears to be sympathetic to Aleksandr Dugin, the Russian fascist and ideologue of the Ukraine slaughter.
I have no words.
She was a bit of a wacko even 20 years ago in office but, damn, talk about a STEEP descent into kookland
She accused the government of using the chaos of Hurricane Katrina to shoot dead 5000 prisoners and dumping them in a mass grave for petes sake.
I am tempted to ask: "For the sake of which Pete? And how so?"
But I recognize American/English idioms can be mighty peculiar.
I think I remember being angry when she lost her primary to someone who I thought was to the right of her. I adjusted my thinking on things a lot soon after that but ... Woof. I was a sucker.
Not all (alleged) left-wingers are worthy of support.
If it's any consolation, Denise Majette was kind of an oddball, too (she said she voted for Alan Keyes!).
I was thinking of Hank Johnson.
She was always a few french fries short of a Happy Meal.
Some more news:
IL-05:
https://ictnews.org/news/oji-cree-and-lakota-man-announces-run-for-illinois-congress-seat/
Another day, another progressive primary challenger. Indigenous Gen Z activist and "member of the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability", according to Wikipedia, Anthony Tamez, is challenging Rep. Mike Quigley from the left. My sister lives in this district -- according to her, it has a bit of a conservative tilt. We'll see where this goes.
WI-08:
https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/18/rick-crosson-announces-run-for-congress-as-democrat-against-tony-wied/85710973007/
This seat is probably going nowhere (possibly unless redistricting lawsuit #2 is a success) but ex-Green Bay school board member Rick Crosson is running as a Dem against Republican incumbent Rep. Tony Wied. Due to a paywall, I can't read more details on this story -- apologies.
NY-22:
https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2025/08/ny-legislator-jumps-into-race-to-unseat-us-rep-john-mannion-in-2026.html
Another Republican is challenging Democratic Rep. John Mannion -- State Assemblyman John Lemondes. Don't know much about him -- could he be a threat?
Mannion won pretty comfortably in 2024 against an incumbent, and 2026 is highly unlikely to be a worse environment.
Tamez would be the first Native American member of Illinois's congressional delegation in the extremely unlikely event he were to be nominated and elected.
I don’t know if IL-05 has a conservative tilt with a Democrat representing it, but I admit I’m not in the district, so maybe I’m wrong. According to TDB though Harris won here 68-32 in 2024. I’m not too worried if Quigley gets replaced.
If we lose here, we have less than 150 seats (guesstimating), catastrophe far worse than 2010 and in the end this loss hypothetically won’t matter. It’s totally up to the voters whether they want a different representative, the choice is in their capable hands. I’m sure the strongest candidate with the best campaign will win. Let’s see what they decide!
Conservative Dem-leaning, I mean — in contrast with a progressive-leaning area. To use NY as an example of a similar phenomenon, contrast rich parts of Westchester, NY with, say, Astoria.