That's all well and good but honestly I don't care about anything except who has the best chance to beat Collins. We can figure everything else out later...
It struck me that Collins' seniority pitch won't work with Platner since could serve for a long long time and build it up while Mills would only be able to serve for a single term.
It's frustrating that it took five months to fill Donald Payne's seat last year and the NJ legislature hasn't moved on this bill that would speed up the process for Sherrill's seat. It looks like the state senate is still in session and could pass ti in theory, but the state assembly is out until after the November election so I don't know even if they get it thru then if it could apply retroactively to Sherrill's seat.
Assuming Sherrill wins (I'm not jinxing anything), wouldn't her resignation not occur until January? Shouldn't that be enough time for a law passed in November/December of the prior year to take effect?
Is there any news on the re-election bids of Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)? I expect both of them will run but they are the only 2 senators up next year that have not a. declared candidacy or b. expressed interest in running for re-election
I expect both will run for re-election. Incumbents who feel pretty good about their re-election prospects for 2026 usually announce late this year or early next.
Far better if Tom Steyer invests in news media – for example purchasing channels owned by Sinclair Broadcast and turning them into real and reliable news media. Ditto with a few other non-MAGA billionaires. It’s high time they step up to defend American democracy!
I would like to see Tom Steyer buy Univision. It was downright tragic that this was sold to right-wing owners! I suspect this and Spanish-language MAGA radio pundits played an outsized role in Trump’s inroads amongst Hispanic/Latino voters.
There are many independent outlets on Substack, he should probably buy a stake in one and scale it. The Soon-Shiong family heiress is doing the same with DropSite News.
Please say more about that. Who are the Soon-Shiong family, and what is she doing with DropSite News, an organization I'm hearing about for the first time?
Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill founded Dropsite as something of a successor to The Intercept. The Soon-Shiong family (worth over $12 billion) owns the LA Times, and Kira Soon-Shiong, the heiress to the family empire, is of a more progressive bent.
You know what Michael, you just broke the trend here in America among our citizenry of not investigating in depth any subject concerning our political existence. Congratulations Michael.
To the list of big spenders who lost races in California should be added Michael Huffington, who spent $24 million in a losing bid to keep Dianne Feinstein from returning to the Senate in 1994.
Which primary race would have been hypothetically easier for Platner:
Platner (40) vs. Mills (77),
or
Platner vs. Attorney General Aaron Frey (46) vs. "pragmatic progressive" Speaker Ryan Fecteau (33), who were both widely reported to be ready to jump in if Mills decided not to run?
Hard to know. Platner vs Mills gives him the best contrast to work with for his campaign, but institutional support for her will be substantial. The other two would not be as great a foil to the style of campaign he's running, but would also lack the extent of insider support.
Not knowing who is easier to defeat, I think for him it is better to be opposed by Mills, even if it might not work out for him. The primary campaign he would run against her would smoothly transition into a general election campaign against Collins.
“Ex-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has told his inner circle to start working on putting an Ohio gubernatorial campaign plan together, though he still hasn’t decided whether to enter the race, according to the Democrat’s communications adviser.”
Though I despise identity politics, I believe Ryan, as a moderate Democrat and a straight, white Catholic, would be the strongest candidate to take on the radical techno-fascist libertarian Vivek Ramaswamy. In contrast, Amy Acton could be easily branded by MAGA Republicans as "Ohio's Dr. Fauci" or a "Soros puppet," making her a more vulnerable target. It's also worth noting that Sherrod Brown is backing Acton, which could complicate the dynamics of the primary. There are few pols I hate more than Ramaswamy.
I wanted Sherrod Brown himself to run against Ramaswamy, who is an insufferable chode. (The governorship is more winnable for Democrats in Ohio than a Senate seat, IMO.)
And though they all intentionally remained mum on the topic I wouldn't be surprised if last year was the breaking point and Dubs, Murkowski, and Romney all decided to hold their noses and vote for Harris last year. All 3 are in the same vein as the Cheneys, as well as former Reps. Comstock (VA-10) and Kinzinger (IL-16) who were of course more vocal about their Harris support last year
Also, it’s so very, very interesting that Ted Cruz went after Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries because of attacks on his wife only then to vote for Trump because of his intent to nominate super conservative Supreme Court justices.
And now as of recently, Cruz is defending Jimmy Kimmel’s right to free speech over the pressure to fire him. Apparently he will have more concern about this constitutional right than his own wife!
That and senate seats are vastly more important. Having the governorship of Ohio would be great, but I'd happily take a 20% shot at the senate seat over a 60% shot at the governor's office.
Agreed...particularly since he'd have to win re-election in 2030 to be able to impact redistricting. I also think Ryan is a pretty decent candidate for Governor...
It could, but it's tough to have that happen. It will, by definition, be too late for the 2026 elections. If republicans do not do a re-gerrymander for next year it's unlikely they will do so for 2028+2030. Then to have an effect on the 2032-2040 maps, he would need to be reelected in 2030.
Still, that does play into why I'd say it would be great to hold the office. Senate seats are just so valuable that the value of a red state governor's office pales in comparison. Not because the latter lacks value. It has a lot of value. Instead because the senate seat is simply so valuable.
Don’t Republicans need just 3/5ths in Ohio to override a veto? Gonna be almost impossible to get Republicans below that threshold under the current state legislative maps.
Ohio redistricting process is extremely convoluted, but a Dem governor would both flip one of the 7 seats on the redistricting commission which kicks in if they can’t get half of both parties in the legislature, and also raise the bar from majority to 3/5ths for the GOP legislature if the commission doesn’t pass a map. Best case scenario we’d win 2/3 of Gov, SoS, or Auditor and control the commission.
Ryan would be the strongest out of a very short list of Democrats, but if he wanted to run especially after all the self-puffing up of his hypothetical candidacy he's been doing he would have announced he was running months ago.
In Ohio specifically, Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown both won statewide office after losing previously. In Brown's case, the previous statewide loss before being Senator was for reelection as Secretary of State which is lower, but still it didn't keep him down, and he's trying again even after losing his Senate seat.
Tim Ryan's 2022 defeat wasn't overwhelming, though it was also against a less than optimal opponent. That can be balanced against the fact that 2026 is likely to be a better year overall against an opponent that may be even worse.
We dont need more billionaires in office, we need more loyalnaires that love our country, its citizens and our freedoms. Weed more people that believe each citizen has representation at the table and is valued as a human being, regardless of their wealth or status. Too many republicans have forgotten they are Americans, long noted for high standards of equality and obeying our laws. We do not believe in wealth gained at the expense of others and only want to protect their wealth and status. AMERICA WAKE UP AND TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE TREASONOUS FORCES THAT ARE DESTROYING OUR DEMOCRACY RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree, but the article was speaking about a billionaire trumper entering the poitical arena. I am in favor of accepting any MAGA defectors that have come to their senses and want to oust trumpian traitors. I would hate to think that Bill Gates. with his fortune, had decided to join the trumpian maggots. Bill has proved his loyalty many times and most of his adult working life and is an ethical person. I regret my answer made you judge me as slamming billionaires. We need more billionaires, with common sense and good judgement, than the ones that think only about more wealth and power gained by any law breaking means and will destroy anyone or anything that gets in their way.
I posted in the weekend open thread about the breakup of the ruling coalition in Japan which has upended the race for a new prime minister.
Komeito withdrew from its coalition the the LDP over the issue of stronger campaign finance laws and because Senae Takaichi (the new LDP president and PM-designate) appointed an LDP figure involved in a slush fund scandal to a senior post. Komeito also seemed to have issues with Takaichi's conservative politics and her visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
Now the main opposition CDP is talking with 2 center-right parties, the DPP and Ishin, about putting forward an unified opposition candidate. The leader of the CDP has named drop the leader of the DPP, Yuichiro Tamaki, and one of the co-leaders of Ishin, Fumitake Fujita.
To be elected PM, a candidate needs 233 votes. The LDP currently as 196 seats. If united the CDP, DPP, Ishin, and Komeito would have a bare majority of 234. Komeito said it wouldn't vote for anyone in the first round, but could potentially vote for a unified opposition candidate in the runoff.
Newfoundland and Labrador. There's an election tomorrow night in the Canadian province. Three new polls conducted last week all put the incumbent Liberals in the lead, but disagree on the lead; either +3, +8, or +20.
NC is going to redraw its map AGAIN likely to draw out Don Davis. There is some talk and movement in Kansas & Nebraska as well to take out Dem seats and Indiana is 50/50 right now. Its frankly ridiculous Cali is the only blue state that has decided to respond to this. Illinois & Maryland can squeeze out a additional Dem seats but their delegations are unwilling.
Illinois is doable it just takes incumbents willing to sacrifice its also the one state out of the two where there's no chance of legal challenges. Underwood publicly shut down the prospects of redistricting and I assume her seat would be heavily impacted by it.
Some just hate the idea of running slightly more competitive seats. The reason Valadao still sits in a Trump seat if Prop 50 passes is Lofgren didn't want to shed some of her blue areas for I'm sure some selfish reason.
I really, REALLY despise Berger. He is so fucking corrupt and brazen in these power grabbing schemes. His dear son and the fellow Republican majority in the SCONC signed off on gerrymandering in early 2023. And they're doing it AGAIN.
I hope this backfires. Not only will I work my ass off to get Roy Cooper elected to the Senate and get Anita Earls another 8 years on SCONC next year, I'm going to work super hard to make sure his son Berger Jr. and the other two corrupt SCONC justices up for reelection in 2028 lose their seats.
Dems in both states lack the supermajorities to pass constitutional amendments to set their commissions aside. What Colorado Dems can do is collect signatures and put a Prop 50 like measure on the ballot next year with maps ready to go for people to vote on.
Our predilection for unnecessarily roundabout solutions to political problems is frustrating. Same idea with Ohio's anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative from a decade ago. They created an overly complex solution that didn't work at all, rather than a straightforward effective solution.
There is a group of _very new_ activists trying to qualify an amendment in CO. It's such a difficult task even for seasoned folks, but it's good that they're trying!
The Louisiana Senate Race is low hanging fruit for Democrats options in 2026 anyway.
Quite frankly, pinning hopes for high profile Democrats like John Bel Edwards doesn’t help.
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu could be a decent candidate but his sister Mary Landrieu happened to have lost re-election to the Senate by Senator Bill Cassidy back in 2014.
The American voters must stop voting for billionaires and mega millionaires. They have no understanding of our plight under depreciating wages, corporate induced inflation, and unemployment that keads to bankruptcy and homelessness under extreme poverty. It's our obligation to find working class Progressives willing to run for our public servants. Then promote them to the ballot by any means possible.
What do you think Wall Street and corporate ownership billionaires and millionaires are. Yep, they are the ones behind the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 through their donorship. The Foundation right the policies of not just the Trump Regime, but Congress and SCOTUS as well. It has been going on in recent history since 1971 and the Lewis Powell Memo in collusion with the US Chamber of Commerce.
There was another Businessmans attempted coup in 1934 that was shut down by a small group of congressmen and Smedley D Butler who the Coup leadership made the mistake of enlisting. Butler was to raise an army consisting of 100,000 disgruntled WWl veterans. He came to Congress and went undercover. You can find the details at the Library of Congress online. These days it can be difficult having a knowledge of US History, when it keeps repeating itself in our 21st century. Peace and Tranquility Michael.
FDR was also a very wealthy man, as for example were RFK and Teddy Kennedy, and Speyer is no fascist. My awareness of most of the history you refer to and even my socialism don't cause me to tar all rich individuals with the same brush.
This is what I wanna see from every single Democratic Candidate for Office. I wonder where Janet Mills stands on this.
https://bsky.app/profile/grahamformaine.bsky.social/post/3m2z5iukivc2a
Probably triangulating with Schumer on this issue.
We will... Write a strongly worded letter to Kristi Noem about this issue and wait for a response to our letter.
Damn! Platner comes across as a real fighter not afraid to speak his mind.
That's all well and good but honestly I don't care about anything except who has the best chance to beat Collins. We can figure everything else out later...
Agreed although it remains to be seen how the Senate Primary race plays out.
It struck me that Collins' seniority pitch won't work with Platner since could serve for a long long time and build it up while Mills would only be able to serve for a single term.
It's frustrating that it took five months to fill Donald Payne's seat last year and the NJ legislature hasn't moved on this bill that would speed up the process for Sherrill's seat. It looks like the state senate is still in session and could pass ti in theory, but the state assembly is out until after the November election so I don't know even if they get it thru then if it could apply retroactively to Sherrill's seat.
https://newjerseymonitor.com/2025/05/30/n-j-lawmakers-consider-shortening-timeline-to-fill-house-vacancies/
Assuming Sherrill wins (I'm not jinxing anything), wouldn't her resignation not occur until January? Shouldn't that be enough time for a law passed in November/December of the prior year to take effect?
Yes, there wouldn’t be a retroactivity problem. But knowing the NJ Legislature, they’ll keep it as it is and have it coincide with the June primary
Is there any news on the re-election bids of Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)? I expect both of them will run but they are the only 2 senators up next year that have not a. declared candidacy or b. expressed interest in running for re-election
I expect both will run for re-election. Incumbents who feel pretty good about their re-election prospects for 2026 usually announce late this year or early next.
Far better if Tom Steyer invests in news media – for example purchasing channels owned by Sinclair Broadcast and turning them into real and reliable news media. Ditto with a few other non-MAGA billionaires. It’s high time they step up to defend American democracy!
Tom Steyer should buy some of the Spanish language radio stations in Miami-Dade County in FL and fire the local MAGA radio pundits.
I would like to see Tom Steyer buy Univision. It was downright tragic that this was sold to right-wing owners! I suspect this and Spanish-language MAGA radio pundits played an outsized role in Trump’s inroads amongst Hispanic/Latino voters.
There are many independent outlets on Substack, he should probably buy a stake in one and scale it. The Soon-Shiong family heiress is doing the same with DropSite News.
Please say more about that. Who are the Soon-Shiong family, and what is she doing with DropSite News, an organization I'm hearing about for the first time?
Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill founded Dropsite as something of a successor to The Intercept. The Soon-Shiong family (worth over $12 billion) owns the LA Times, and Kira Soon-Shiong, the heiress to the family empire, is of a more progressive bent.
You know what Michael, you just broke the trend here in America among our citizenry of not investigating in depth any subject concerning our political existence. Congratulations Michael.
?
Apparently we need our own billionaires to buy voting systems as well.
?
Dominion voting was recently sold to some right-wing hack who has been winking at election deniers: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/11/nx-s1-5570868/analyzing-dominion-voting-systems-sale-to-firm-run-by-ex-republican-elections-official
Oh, that's really horrible and dangerous!
To the list of big spenders who lost races in California should be added Michael Huffington, who spent $24 million in a losing bid to keep Dianne Feinstein from returning to the Senate in 1994.
Wasn't Huffington considered kind of a hotshot back then? The primary beneficiary of his brief time in electoral politics seems to be his ex-wife.
Yes, exactly.
Which primary race would have been hypothetically easier for Platner:
Platner (40) vs. Mills (77),
or
Platner vs. Attorney General Aaron Frey (46) vs. "pragmatic progressive" Speaker Ryan Fecteau (33), who were both widely reported to be ready to jump in if Mills decided not to run?
Hard to know. Platner vs Mills gives him the best contrast to work with for his campaign, but institutional support for her will be substantial. The other two would not be as great a foil to the style of campaign he's running, but would also lack the extent of insider support.
Not knowing who is easier to defeat, I think for him it is better to be opposed by Mills, even if it might not work out for him. The primary campaign he would run against her would smoothly transition into a general election campaign against Collins.
I also think that Mills provides the ideal contrast that would be lacking with the other two candidates:
Outsider vs. Insider
Progressive vs. Moderate
Working-class man vs. longtime officeholder
Young vs Old
an Oyster farmer vs the Governor herself.
“Ex-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has told his inner circle to start working on putting an Ohio gubernatorial campaign plan together, though he still hasn’t decided whether to enter the race, according to the Democrat’s communications adviser.”
https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/1977745677246439712
https://archive.ph/6859j
Though I despise identity politics, I believe Ryan, as a moderate Democrat and a straight, white Catholic, would be the strongest candidate to take on the radical techno-fascist libertarian Vivek Ramaswamy. In contrast, Amy Acton could be easily branded by MAGA Republicans as "Ohio's Dr. Fauci" or a "Soros puppet," making her a more vulnerable target. It's also worth noting that Sherrod Brown is backing Acton, which could complicate the dynamics of the primary. There are few pols I hate more than Ramaswamy.
I wanted Sherrod Brown himself to run against Ramaswamy, who is an insufferable chode. (The governorship is more winnable for Democrats in Ohio than a Senate seat, IMO.)
I have a feeling Governor Mike DeWine could endorse Sherrod Brown if he ran for Governor as he’s as disassociated with Ramaswamy as he can be in OH.
On the other hand, Brown back in 2006 unseated DeWine when he served in the Senate.
DeWine will never endorse *any* Democrat.
Well, the Cheney family went in for Kamala Harris last year, as did Arnold Schwarzenegger.
DeWine is also a classic old school Bush type of Republican.
George HW Bush voted for Hillary Clinton while Dubya was reported to have been privately backing Colin Allred.
Imagine voting for the wife of the man who defeated you, this is how far right the GOP has gone.
And though they all intentionally remained mum on the topic I wouldn't be surprised if last year was the breaking point and Dubs, Murkowski, and Romney all decided to hold their noses and vote for Harris last year. All 3 are in the same vein as the Cheneys, as well as former Reps. Comstock (VA-10) and Kinzinger (IL-16) who were of course more vocal about their Harris support last year
Yeah, really!
Also, it’s so very, very interesting that Ted Cruz went after Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries because of attacks on his wife only then to vote for Trump because of his intent to nominate super conservative Supreme Court justices.
And now as of recently, Cruz is defending Jimmy Kimmel’s right to free speech over the pressure to fire him. Apparently he will have more concern about this constitutional right than his own wife!
But Brown has a more natural claim to and track record for the Senate seat so I'm glad it's working out as it did.
That and senate seats are vastly more important. Having the governorship of Ohio would be great, but I'd happily take a 20% shot at the senate seat over a 60% shot at the governor's office.
Agreed...particularly since he'd have to win re-election in 2030 to be able to impact redistricting. I also think Ryan is a pretty decent candidate for Governor...
The OH-Gov could potentially have a salutary impact on US House redistricting.
It could, but it's tough to have that happen. It will, by definition, be too late for the 2026 elections. If republicans do not do a re-gerrymander for next year it's unlikely they will do so for 2028+2030. Then to have an effect on the 2032-2040 maps, he would need to be reelected in 2030.
Still, that does play into why I'd say it would be great to hold the office. Senate seats are just so valuable that the value of a red state governor's office pales in comparison. Not because the latter lacks value. It has a lot of value. Instead because the senate seat is simply so valuable.
Don’t Republicans need just 3/5ths in Ohio to override a veto? Gonna be almost impossible to get Republicans below that threshold under the current state legislative maps.
Ohio redistricting process is extremely convoluted, but a Dem governor would both flip one of the 7 seats on the redistricting commission which kicks in if they can’t get half of both parties in the legislature, and also raise the bar from majority to 3/5ths for the GOP legislature if the commission doesn’t pass a map. Best case scenario we’d win 2/3 of Gov, SoS, or Auditor and control the commission.
Ryan would be the strongest out of a very short list of Democrats, but if he wanted to run especially after all the self-puffing up of his hypothetical candidacy he's been doing he would have announced he was running months ago.
I don't think he's been puffing himself up; he has always been a shitposter.
He's already lost statewide before, and previous losers rarely make compelling candidates because the electorate has already said no before.
He lost by 6 points to Vance when there was a red wave across Ohio.
6-point losses and 16-point losses count the same.
Not so much when it comes to choosing challengers for a rematch. Tim Ryan would be a better also-ran than Ed FitzGerald, no?
Scrutinizing the margins, not just the W-L standings, is central to The Downballot theory of change!
Fair, although I'm a bit traumatized by the Russ Feingold back-to-back Senate losses, admittedly.
In Ohio specifically, Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown both won statewide office after losing previously. In Brown's case, the previous statewide loss before being Senator was for reelection as Secretary of State which is lower, but still it didn't keep him down, and he's trying again even after losing his Senate seat.
Tim Ryan's 2022 defeat wasn't overwhelming, though it was also against a less than optimal opponent. That can be balanced against the fact that 2026 is likely to be a better year overall against an opponent that may be even worse.
We dont need more billionaires in office, we need more loyalnaires that love our country, its citizens and our freedoms. Weed more people that believe each citizen has representation at the table and is valued as a human being, regardless of their wealth or status. Too many republicans have forgotten they are Americans, long noted for high standards of equality and obeying our laws. We do not believe in wealth gained at the expense of others and only want to protect their wealth and status. AMERICA WAKE UP AND TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE TREASONOUS FORCES THAT ARE DESTROYING OUR DEMOCRACY RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At this time, any billionaire who helps fund fights against dictatorship is helpful.
I agree, but the article was speaking about a billionaire trumper entering the poitical arena. I am in favor of accepting any MAGA defectors that have come to their senses and want to oust trumpian traitors. I would hate to think that Bill Gates. with his fortune, had decided to join the trumpian maggots. Bill has proved his loyalty many times and most of his adult working life and is an ethical person. I regret my answer made you judge me as slamming billionaires. We need more billionaires, with common sense and good judgement, than the ones that think only about more wealth and power gained by any law breaking means and will destroy anyone or anything that gets in their way.
Tom Steyer had been the billionaire who was the main topic of discussion in this thread, I thought.
Steyer, whatever his faults, is a Democrat.
I posted in the weekend open thread about the breakup of the ruling coalition in Japan which has upended the race for a new prime minister.
Komeito withdrew from its coalition the the LDP over the issue of stronger campaign finance laws and because Senae Takaichi (the new LDP president and PM-designate) appointed an LDP figure involved in a slush fund scandal to a senior post. Komeito also seemed to have issues with Takaichi's conservative politics and her visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
Now the main opposition CDP is talking with 2 center-right parties, the DPP and Ishin, about putting forward an unified opposition candidate. The leader of the CDP has named drop the leader of the DPP, Yuichiro Tamaki, and one of the co-leaders of Ishin, Fumitake Fujita.
To be elected PM, a candidate needs 233 votes. The LDP currently as 196 seats. If united the CDP, DPP, Ishin, and Komeito would have a bare majority of 234. Komeito said it wouldn't vote for anyone in the first round, but could potentially vote for a unified opposition candidate in the runoff.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/11/japan/politics/ldp-komeito-coalition-collapse-focus/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/12/japan/politics/japan-pm-vote-uncertain/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/13/japan/dpp-cdp-prime-minister-nomination/
Newfoundland and Labrador. There's an election tomorrow night in the Canadian province. Three new polls conducted last week all put the incumbent Liberals in the lead, but disagree on the lead; either +3, +8, or +20.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/elex-pc-liberal-oct-11-9.6936034
https://x.com/SenatorBerger/status/1977814117483429968
NC is going to redraw its map AGAIN likely to draw out Don Davis. There is some talk and movement in Kansas & Nebraska as well to take out Dem seats and Indiana is 50/50 right now. Its frankly ridiculous Cali is the only blue state that has decided to respond to this. Illinois & Maryland can squeeze out a additional Dem seats but their delegations are unwilling.
Maryland is incredibly easy. Illinois is a bit tougher. New York is where Dems need to be looking, at least for 2028 if they can’t do it for 2026.
Illinois is doable it just takes incumbents willing to sacrifice its also the one state out of the two where there's no chance of legal challenges. Underwood publicly shut down the prospects of redistricting and I assume her seat would be heavily impacted by it.
Wouldn't Underwood still win her seat by a comfortable margin?
Some just hate the idea of running slightly more competitive seats. The reason Valadao still sits in a Trump seat if Prop 50 passes is Lofgren didn't want to shed some of her blue areas for I'm sure some selfish reason.
There were rumors that speaker rivas involved, planning to run for the seat when Lofgren retires. I haven't found any reporting though
It would be stupid to make Underwood’s seat any more Republican. It’s the 7th district at 81-17 Harris that can be unpacked.
If anything I'd expect Underwood's seat to be either no change or made more blue if we did anything with the Illinois maps.
Maryland needs to move now.
I really, REALLY despise Berger. He is so fucking corrupt and brazen in these power grabbing schemes. His dear son and the fellow Republican majority in the SCONC signed off on gerrymandering in early 2023. And they're doing it AGAIN.
I hope this backfires. Not only will I work my ass off to get Roy Cooper elected to the Senate and get Anita Earls another 8 years on SCONC next year, I'm going to work super hard to make sure his son Berger Jr. and the other two corrupt SCONC justices up for reelection in 2028 lose their seats.
Any chance to undo the commissions in WA & CO? There are seats on the table for us there... It also sounds like MD is somewhat willing.
Dems in both states lack the supermajorities to pass constitutional amendments to set their commissions aside. What Colorado Dems can do is collect signatures and put a Prop 50 like measure on the ballot next year with maps ready to go for people to vote on.
Yeah, WA is harder because their system has been around longer. CO definitely is more doable from where I stand.
Oregon is a better target if your looking for an extra seat. A 6-0 is possible and can be done right now the only issue is the GOP quorum busting.
I'm still mad that OR Dems never pushed to change the quorum requirement to simple majority. Their Byzantine alternative is so dumb
Our predilection for unnecessarily roundabout solutions to political problems is frustrating. Same idea with Ohio's anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative from a decade ago. They created an overly complex solution that didn't work at all, rather than a straightforward effective solution.
I thought they did. They made it so they can remove members who do that.
There is a group of _very new_ activists trying to qualify an amendment in CO. It's such a difficult task even for seasoned folks, but it's good that they're trying!
Austin Beutner, former deputy mayor under Villaraigosa and LA schools superintendent under Garcetti is challenging Bass for mayor next year.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/13/austin-beutner-launches-bid-to-unseat-karen-bass-in-la-mayoral-race-00606207
Beutner is personally rich, $115M, (though he's no Rick Caruso with a $5.3B net worth). So he has the funds to start a serious challenge to Bass.
Good.
"John Bel Edwards won't run for U.S. Senate, dashing Louisiana Democrats' hopes"
https://www.nola.com/news/politics/john-bel-edwards-wont-run-for-us-senate-in-louisiana/article_53519e46-47de-4a24-921c-2a73706bdce7.html?
Had <1% chance of winning; he knew it.
Yeah, he wasn’t getting within single digits in a federal statewide race in Louisiana.
The Louisiana Senate Race is low hanging fruit for Democrats options in 2026 anyway.
Quite frankly, pinning hopes for high profile Democrats like John Bel Edwards doesn’t help.
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu could be a decent candidate but his sister Mary Landrieu happened to have lost re-election to the Senate by Senator Bill Cassidy back in 2014.
The American voters must stop voting for billionaires and mega millionaires. They have no understanding of our plight under depreciating wages, corporate induced inflation, and unemployment that keads to bankruptcy and homelessness under extreme poverty. It's our obligation to find working class Progressives willing to run for our public servants. Then promote them to the ballot by any means possible.
That's not our biggest problem when people are voting for convicted criminal scammers...
What do you think Wall Street and corporate ownership billionaires and millionaires are. Yep, they are the ones behind the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 through their donorship. The Foundation right the policies of not just the Trump Regime, but Congress and SCOTUS as well. It has been going on in recent history since 1971 and the Lewis Powell Memo in collusion with the US Chamber of Commerce.
There was another Businessmans attempted coup in 1934 that was shut down by a small group of congressmen and Smedley D Butler who the Coup leadership made the mistake of enlisting. Butler was to raise an army consisting of 100,000 disgruntled WWl veterans. He came to Congress and went undercover. You can find the details at the Library of Congress online. These days it can be difficult having a knowledge of US History, when it keeps repeating itself in our 21st century. Peace and Tranquility Michael.
FDR was also a very wealthy man, as for example were RFK and Teddy Kennedy, and Speyer is no fascist. My awareness of most of the history you refer to and even my socialism don't cause me to tar all rich individuals with the same brush.