MS Gov. Tate Reeves (R) calls a special session to the legislature relating to congressional redistricting. Depending on the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the legislature may be inclined to dismantle the 2nd district, a majority Black seat long held by Democrat Bennie Thompson.
However, primary elections in Mississippi have already occurred, meaning a threat to the only Democratic member of the delegation won't come until 2028, when Reeves happens to leave office.
Potentially, but it's not hard to draw 4 non-competitive R districts in MS if you remove VRA restrictions. Here's one where all 4 seats are over 60% Trump 2024.
If Mississippi becomes more of a light-red state (this would require the GOP to not gain more support among Black voters compared to 2024 and the Dem share of the White vote to increase significantly from 2024), any attempt at an all-GOP map would have dummymander potential. If Mississippi remains as stubbornly Republican as it has been in recent decades, then there would be little dummymander potential if Section 2 of the VRA gets struck down.
I disagree - it would be pretty trivial to draw 4 Solid R districts there if the VRA were dismantled. Ditto for SC and LA (although I'd say a 5-1 is more likely there).
My top focus is the California primary. I filled out my sample ballot last night, researching the 2 votes for judges, and the OC Dem party recommended who I was planning on voting for. Even though I'm in a swing district, I believe my Democratic incumbent US Rep, OC BOS, and Assembly member are fairly safe. I don't have the opportunity to get rid of my Republican state senator nor city councilman.
Given the governor's race, I will hold my ballot until June 1 and drop in a drop box by my library.
Well, I'm glad she'll never be a Senator. I just wish Maine had a better alternative. I like Platner's positions I just wish he wasn't such a... problematic character.
This isn't the first time Mills has angered her own party with her veto pen. Maine has a red flag gun control law after voters approved it in a statewide referendum after Mills vetoed that bill.
Stuff like this always makes we wonder which lobbyist is whispering in the politician's ear. Remember how Kyrsten Sinema was so obstructionist in the Senate?
Well, there is the artificial intelligence PAC (which I believe goes by the abbreviation similar to AIPAC, which is not the same PAC) and I’m sure they are emboldened in this case. More building of data centers empowers the efforts of AI “innovation.”
As usual, a large number of races are on my watchlist. I'm going to spin a literal wheel again, like last time, via WheelDecide and list my results that way. Here's what the wheel decided upon for elaboration:
- NY-Gov: Hochul had a close call in 2022, polls aren't looking good against Blakeman last I checked, and the climate bill shootdown did not help her goodwill with some voters. Could she be vulnerable again? Or is Blakeman being a shitty candidate going to help us?
- CA-48: Who is favored in the Dem primary? Will PAC spending help Marni von Wilpert against Ammar Campa-Najjar, or does Ammar have a good shot?
- Senate appointments: Specifically Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota. With Michael Bennet, Marsha Blackburn, and Amy Klobuchar favored to win their gubernatorial races, who might be appointed to replace them in the Senate? Jason Crow or Joe Neguse in CO, or someone else? Who in TN? Will Angie Craig be appointed in MN if/when she loses the Senate race, or will they go with someone else -- and if so, who? Are there other possible situations like this I'm missing?
- CA-1: Mike McGuire seems heavily favored here -- or is he? Audrey Denney has attracted some progressive support, and has Emily's List behind her too. Will it be enough?
- CA-11: Who is favored here? It seemed like Scott Wiener, but Saikat Chakrabarti is gaining. Will there be a runoff? If so, who is favored? If Saikat makes the runoff, where will Connie Chan's supporters go?
CA uses Top 2. So it is highly likely one of Chakrabarti or Chan will be in the general election. Not versed in SF politics so I'll leave the rest of the CA-11 question for someone else.
I don't recall seeing any problematic polls for Hochul. My thinking is that the scenario of her losing this cycle would be a bigger upset than Talarico winning.
She won by, what, 6-8 points?, in 2022. That's not a good win by NY-dem standards but it is a solid, undeniable win in and of itself. In a neutral/slightly bad cycle. The environment this year could be 10+ points to the left of 2022. Is Hochul 15-20 points weaker this year than 2022? No.
I wouldn't call 47-34 a bad poll for her. That's a 13 point lead, and she only needs 16% of undecided voters in that sample to back her in order to win.
NY'er here. 2022 was a neutral in much of the country but it was a BAD cycle in much of New York, especially Long Island, where Lee Zeldin had coattails that elevated some down ballot candidates in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The focus on crime, including in ad about crime in her opponent's home neighborhood, caught Governor Hochul's campaign a little flat footed in 2022 and the Democratic Party was not really geared up for a tough statewide race. She was running for the first time in her own right statewide and had only become governor 15 months prior...
NONE of that is true in 2026. She is doing well in the polls, the issues are much more favorable to a Democrat and she has established herself as a governor in the last four years. Trump is deeply unpopular here and she has a record of standing up to him. Her opponent is largely unknown outside of his home county, and while he should pick up the usual Republican areas, Gov. Hochul should sail to reelection this year.
Bennet I could see trying to get brownie points by appointing a woman as his replacement - I don’t believe Colorado has ever had a woman senator after all
Chakrabarti could defeat Weiner in the general election although not necessarily by double digits. It would be on par with the difference in margin back when Weiner defeated Jane Kim in the State Senate race (reverse of course for Chakrabarti if he defeats Weiner).
Quite honestly, there are more things Chakrabarti and Chan have in common in terms of ideas on affordable housing and less emphasis on market rate housing. It’s Weiner that Chan supporters are less likely to gravitate towards as he’s too tied to the establishment wing and is not as community driven as Chan is.
To understand more about the demographics of San Francisco, there are lots of liberals and progressives but center left, moderates, etc. also carry plenty of weight in the city. Corporate developers and tech donors have a big influence on the city but not enough to prevent Chan or Chakrabarti from winning in the general election.
That really isn’t the read I’ve gotten on the race, though I’m not there so I’m not too familiar. What I’d generally understood is that both Weiner and Chan have more community ties than Chakrabarti and that Chan generally is seen as the NIMBY candidate.
Chan does have community ties, namely as District 1 Supervisor. However, Weiner’s community ties are questionable. He has a habit of making an ass out of himself and accusing someone line former San Francisco District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin (probably the most powerful legislator in city government) of leading the recall of Joe Engardio when there was no evidence he did. He has had better community relations as State Senator but that’s largely due to his staff.
Chakrabarti I don’t know about his specific community ties. He and Chan though do have commonality in relations on affordable housing. Not so much with Weiner.
As for Chan being the NIMBY candidate, this whole “NIMBY” label of her is typical of what YIMBYs throw at those who don’t fall 100% in line with their views. The reality is that she’s not a NIMBY and has been able to get affordable housing done in her own district.
There are real concerns neighborhood residents have with upzoning and changes in their community that could potentially gentrify and shut down businesses in the process. This is not the same conversation where NIMBYs have tried to stop development at all costs no matter what the idea is.
This is the kind of thing I'm talking about in regards to Chan, it sounds like she has pretty consistently worked to stop the expansion of public transit and has prioritized car-centric infrastructure. I really don't see the logic behind prioritizing parking spaces over bus lanes and trying to allow cars back onto car-free roads.
I'm usually quick to respond to these - was traveling throughout the weekend, my apologies.
NY-Gov: Blakeman isn't necessarily a shitty candidate and Hochul isn't necessarily vulnerable. In a blue wave year, New York of all places isn't flipping. I expect Hochul to win by at least double digits, maybe with over 60%.
CA-48: Campa-Najjar is probably a Democratic frontrunner, given his connections to the establishment (currently dating rising star Rep. Sara Jacobs). Wilpert may have a lot of outside spending, but Brandon Riker could counteract that through self-funding.
Senate: Knox County mayor Glenn Jacobs and Reps. Diana Harshbarger and Tim Burchett have been floated as Blackburn replacements, with Jacobs and Harshbarger actively jockeying for the seat with early endorsements of Blackburn. Crow has been discussed favorably by Bennet, and Neguse has generally been seen to prefer rising the ranks in House leadership to the Senate, so I'd say Crow is a safe pick here. Craig probably won't be appointed in Minnesota - I imagine a prominent state legislator as either a caretaker or someone who will serve a full term. My picks are Erin Murphy and Melisa Lopez Franzen. All other possible appointments in the near future probably have to do with 2028 presidential candidates, so I won't elaborate.
CA-1: Denney is probably favored to make it to the top 2 primary in the *special*, not the general, since McGuire doesn't live in the current iteration of the 1st, and she does. As for the full term, McGuire will probably win, and defeat an incumbent Rep. James Gallagher.
CA-11: Wiener and Chakrabarti will probably make it to November, with Chan's supporters splitting between the two.
In this environment, we don't need to waste a second of time worrying about NY-Gov. It's Safe D, regardless of opponent. Frankly, even in a red wave environment, it would be Lean D at worst. What concerning polls are you referring to?
Apparently Hasan Piker did an event with Oliver Larkin (the leftist challenger to Rep. Jared Moskowitz) and raised $65,000+ for him in the process. Thoughts? Does this mean anything?
Probably not. I live in the Boca area of Moskowitz district and he’s basically invisible here. Our local Democratic club has tried repeatedly to get him to a meeting and he ignores us. I think he’s vulnerable to the right GOP’er.
Could be although Moskowitz did get a similar margin of victory in 2024 vs 2022 by 4+% points. That means he could hold stronger vs a Democratic challenger more to the left of him.
Until Trump is out of office and no longer a factor in elections, Moskowitz may be the best Democrats can get in FL-23. Of course, I am also not discounting the issues you are bringing up about him since you live in his district.
Probably the worst type of seat for a progressive challenger backed by Hasan. FL 23 has a high Jewish population and the district went from Biden +13 to Harris +3 and likely a top target in redistricting. Not sure why Moskowitz is being challenged and who thinks it’s a good idea.
I happen to agree -- Moskowitz is a conservative Democrat who has, if I recall correctly, done and said a number of things progressives aren't happy about, but we aren't getting much better at the moment in the seat he holds.
He at least pretends to hate Trump and be somewhat of a fighter on a few issues, and often comes after administration officials, so I can respect that. He lacks charisma but clearly thinks he doesn't, though.
The issue that made me annoyed about Moskowitz (along with plenty of elected FL Democratic office holders and statewide party leaders) was the prisoner release deal President Biden made with Cuba only days before leaving office. Given this the Catholic Church was involved, it was a big deal. Moskowitz along with FL Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and Annette Taddeo complained, saying they were blindsided by this and were critical of Cuba and its government.
I am not worked up about this as I used to be but it should be emphasized that Cuba since Raul Castro took over brother Fidel’s rein had started to move away from being less restrictive of a country as it used to be. President Obama did start to normalize relations with the country in his 2nd term. Anything the U.S. can do to improve its relations with Cuba is a good thing.
The Dem state senator for that same area pulled a Manchin/Sinema after 2024, defecting from the party as Independent (and is now running for governor).
Dems also won the Boca Raton mayor's race by only 1 vote, (and recent FL specials still show Dems running behind 2020 numbers), so long way to go before this could be considered safe territory for a more left-leaning representative.
Let's just say that there are some people who would rather lose a district to a Republican than to elect a Democrat who they disagree with on the forbidden issue.
I'm okay with political candidates being interviewed by podcasters/streamers like Piker, but actually inviting someone like Piker, who is an alleged animal abuser (among other controversies), to campaign for you is not something I'd recommend, even in constituencies that are more amenable to voting for progressive Democrats than FL-23 is.
Also, Piker campaigned for Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan U.S. Senate race, and I remember seeing a photo of Piker from that event where he was wearing a barncoat (or something similar) over a suit, which was extremely awkward.
I would stay away from Hasan Piker. He tends to reference news on social media a lot and not do enough real objective journalism even while he is ideologically closer to Team Blue in views.
Besides, how much credence should be given to someone who is just another internet influencer?
Better choice would be to get interviewed by Andrew Callaghan of Channel 9 News. He’s left wing but also does a better job at actual real reporting.
For the record, I don't actually follow Piker. This post was actually reposted and commented on by Kevin/Nick Tagliaferro (former Primary School author), which was how I found it -- I follow him on Bsky. I thought it might be relevant as Piker is quite popular among younger voters.
I also just found out that Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks is Piker’s uncle. Piker also worked at TYT at one point.
However, by contrast, Uygur exercises more civility, especially with his relations with the late Charlie Kirk.
Poker also was quick to support Luigi Mangione, even while the late United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson did not do anything to Mangione nor was Mangione even proven to be subscriber to United Healthcare. Raising awareness about the state of the healthcare industry and insurance’s stranglehold yes. Giving a pass to an accused over the crime he has been charged with is very dangerous and not at all liberal or progressive in values.
What crime did Brian Thompson really commit before he was gunned down? As far as I’m concerned, United Healthcare is the one responsible but accusing Thompson of “social murder” risks defamation and undermines any true investigation as to what’s going on in the company and other health insurance companies. Sure, Piker is followed by many centennials but is he being the right spokesperson?
Oh I get what you are talking about and knew you were making a post referencing him accordingly.
But my original comment was originally written as a heads up about Piker as it related to your original question. I probably should have directly answered by saying I think the impact of Piker’d involvement in this campaign will be l limited. Not the best use of his energy and focus.
Things happened pretty fast with her resignation. I'm going to withhold judgment until she takes any concrete steps to run again. One way or the other, I doubt it matters. I can't see her doing well fundraising or in the field.
TDB recently reported that Young Kim has started a $3.5 million ad buy for CA 40. She running 2 ads on LA TV ad nauseum, one promoting that she 100% on everything Trump and has his support and one attacking Ken Calvert for corruption. While I believe the ads will help her snag a spot in the top 2, I believe the being so pro Trump and could haunt her in the general in SoCal where Trump is despised, even in normally Republican leaning areas such as CD 40.
That's my thought. In a normal cycle this district would be hard to win, but tying yourself to Trump like a barnacle on his ass may not work when his approval is dropping to 30%.
Interestingly, Jane Fonda has started running ads for Tom Steyer. While at first they seem strange bedfellows, he has paid attention to some of her liberal pet projects.
While Republican Hank Grover may have led in the early returns, conservative Democrat Dolph Briscoe ultimately prevailed by a 48-45 margin, with 6% going to LRU.
Briscoe was reelected in 1974 to the state's first four year gubernatorial term, but then was defeated in the 1978 primary by the more liberal John Hill who then lost the general to Republican Bill Clements.
That's a good question, but I believe California could be unique. We just temporarily overturned redistricting by commission and have been subjected to a sheriff running for governor seizing ballots as a political stunt. On redistricting, Newsom moved strong support to the redistricting by commission to overwhelming support for prop 50. When we are polling even Steven on voter id, a Democratic campaign that this is just Republicans pulling another political stunt should sell.
I'm hoping we get propositions on the ballot to permanently overturn the redistricting commission and getting rid of top two because the time is right to get rid of Republican nonsense.
Sure, but the one in Maine did a lot more than just voter ID, and its opponents focused on the much more unpopular stuff like limiting absentee voting.
First, I am wondering about prospective Democratic gains in state legislatures across the country. Where do we have a good chance to new trifectas, or at least legislative control? Also, where can we eliminate Republican supermajorities? Are we running candidates almost everywhere? How many seats are we leaving unchallenged?
(NB. I would love to see this vital topic get over-arching attention in some future DownBallot Digests!)
Second, I am wondering how many and which states’ Congressional delegations will likely be majority-Dem, majority-GOP, or split? Any chance Democrats will finally control more state delegations than Republicans do?
It may be a big ask for the authors of The Downballot, but I’d love to see a spotlight on some individual state legislative races. On top of all the competitive ones, some primaries present interesting stories — for example, NY is undergoing a number of left vs center primaries in the wake of Mamdani’s win that could present an early test for him. (Jenifer Rajkumar’s Assembly primary is a particularly crazy story.) NJ is also undergoing an internal civil war between the machine and anti-machine Dem challengers.
If the authors are too busy I totally get it, there’s a lot to possibly cover. I just think it’d be cool to discuss.
First, have to mention May 5 special election for Michigan State Senate, Harris +1 district (Saginaw, Bay City, Midland).
Michigan Senate 38 seats: D 19, R 18. Democratic candidate Chedrick Greene.
Michigan 110-seat state house: D 52, R 58.
Democrats can regain a trifecta by gaining 4 seats in state house, holding Michigan State Senate, and open Governor’s office.
Some good opportunities in the state house overlap
the 3 most flippable R-held US House seats: MI-04, MI-07, MI-10.
In Rochester Hills, MI, on the same ballot voters can replace Republicans in the State House (MI-H-55) state senate (MI-S-09) and US House (MI-10) (a Super Swing District).
Michigan filing closed earlier this week; Democrats have candidates for all state house, state senate, and US House seats.
Will follow up re other state legislative elections
My state house rep, an R, has been in office 10 years and NEVER faced opposition, either in primary or general, despite being a district held by a D 4 years before him. There is a D this year.
Doesn’t get said often enough, but the number of politicians that are running for each party gives a good sense of what they expect to happen in the coming election. That Democrats are running in seats not competed in for decades in multiple different states says exactly what our party leaders on the ground, in their communities, think will happen in the midterms. Politicians can sense political opportunity far better than any polling or pundit can, so that’s the first sign to look for in a wave election and that factor definitely points to one coming.
Good point but the D challenger in our statehouse seat isn't a politician. She holds no local office. She's a psychologist who works with teens and she's fed up with how poorly our state (SC) supports youth, mental health, education, and women. She's been running since last August
Republicans hold 5 WI-A seats Harris carried; one D holds a seat she lost.
State Senate: D 15-18 R, need 2 for majority.
Only half seats up this year; of those Republicans hold 3 seats Harris carried; two of those Republicans have decided to retire.
Wisconsin nests 3 State Assembly districts in each state senate seat.
Some overlap of flippable Assembly, Senate, and US House seats.
Arizona:
30 Legislative districts (LD) each elects 2 State Representatives and 1 State Senator.
Assembly 27-33, need 4
Senate 13-17, need 3
Only 1 LD with no D for state senate, 1 with no D for state house.
Both Democrats and Republicans sometimes choose to run only 1 candidate for the 2 state house seats (someone else will have to explain the “single shot strategy”)
Key flippable LDs overlap most competitive R-held AZ US House seats.
Gallego carried 4 R-held AZ State Senate seats, 5 R-held contests AZ State House seats.
Feels like we've got a very real shot (maybe even favored) for trifectas in WI, MI & AZ, assuming the current political environment holds. Does anyone have any insight on our ability to grab the MN trifecta too? What about PA?
Trump has accrued an uprecedented political war chest totaling more than half a billion dollars. I’m wondering how he will use it? Or will his grift be stronger than his desire to hold onto power? I found it stunning that Trump didn’t spend a dime against Virginia’s redistricting referendum!
And then there is the question of PACs and dark money. Given the crypto-industry’s investment for/against candidates: to what extent are we seeing blatant foreign financial meddling in American elections? With crypto’s rise, is there really any way to protect against this?
I am wondering about judicial races throughout the country – especially state supreme courts. Where might Democrats/liberals/progressives make inroads or further progress? Where does this matter most?
And I get extremely concerned when I read about the instances of Dems failing to even run a judicial candidate. We need to put a stop to such egregious political malpractice!
Once again, the ever-watchful Daniel Nichanian (Taniel) and his Bolts Magazine has an excellent overview!
“Abortion, redistricting, and ballot access remain heated issues as voters face dozens of supreme court races across 32 states this year.
“Two states already resolved their contests—conservatives won in Arkansas, and liberals in Wisconsin. But plenty of major showdowns remain, with Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas standing out at this juncture as having the clearest ideological or partisan stakes.
“Nineteen states are holding regular elections for their supreme courts this year, meaning races where candidates can challenge incumbent judges or run for an open seat. How those work is straightforward; think of what you’re used to seeing for Congress or governor.
“But 13 states are holding retention elections, which are simple up-or-down votes, with no challengers, where voters decide if a judge who is already on the court should stay in office.”
If the two Democrats win the nonpartisan races for the GA Supreme Court next month, that would be very significant. Three seats would be up for grabs in 2028 (like the NC Supreme Court), meaning that if Dems won the two seats and the three in 2028, they would flip control of the SCOGA.
If Democrats were to flip both courts in 2028, they would be able to implement fair maps for state and Congressional districts in time for the 2030 census.
I am interested in May 7th UK local elections, now less than two weeks away. The UK has a complex range of local authorities and local election structures. So a seemingly random selection of the country is up on any given year. This year, 5,066 local government seats are up for election (out of 19,107). This includes London and much of the so-called Red Wall in the North of England, so Labour has a lot to lose. In by-elections, a significant number of Labour and Tory voters have been defecting to Reform. Greens and Liberal Dems have also made gains. The aggregate by-election results are nicely summarised here:
On a more local level, we have a very exciting election coming up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I live. For decades, the city has been Labour dominated, with the Liberal Democrats being the main opposition party, winning in the more affluent wards. The Lib Dems wrested power from Labour for a few years in the 2000s, but that quickly evaporated with the national party went into coalition with the Tories after 2008. This Labour majority was maintained through the last election in 2024. However, under the Starmer government, many of the left-leaning Labour councilors left the party and either became independents or Greens. As a result, we are now a "no-overall-control" council. And with Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, and Reform all making an all out push, the result is highly unpredictable. Newcastle has never supported conservatives and the Tories usually get a tiny fraction of the vote. But there is a real threat of the left being split three ways and Reform sneaking in. What's more, they redrew the boundaries this year (I think finally implementing the last census, but I'm not entirely sure). As a result every ward is electing three councilors rather than the normal 1. (Our system is that we elect 1/3 of the council each year to 3 year terms.)
On the most local level, my ward has being closely contested between Labour and Lib Dems for as long as I lived here, with some results being as close as 20 votes. The boundary change did add some territory that should be friendly to Labour, but with the now four-way contest, this is no sure thing. Furthermore, two of the four sitting Green councillors are running in the ward, and there's a real possibility of a Green sweep. We've mostly received literature from Greens and Lib Dems. Labour seems missing in action (I think most of the foot soldiers went over to the Greens). But it will be very interesting to see what comes of it.
WY-Sen: Sam Mead, part of the family that spawned former Gov. Matt Mead and Sen. Cliff Hansen, will challenge Rep. Harriet Hageman in the Republican Senate primary.
Wasn't Raj Goyle the closest thing to a serious challenger to DiNapoli anyway?
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/24/ms-gov-reeves-calls-special-session-for-redistricting/89769748007/
MS Gov. Tate Reeves (R) calls a special session to the legislature relating to congressional redistricting. Depending on the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the legislature may be inclined to dismantle the 2nd district, a majority Black seat long held by Democrat Bennie Thompson.
However, primary elections in Mississippi have already occurred, meaning a threat to the only Democratic member of the delegation won't come until 2028, when Reeves happens to leave office.
Wouldn't such a move have dummymander potential?
Potentially, but it's not hard to draw 4 non-competitive R districts in MS if you remove VRA restrictions. Here's one where all 4 seats are over 60% Trump 2024.
https://davesredistricting.org/join/49c46941-ef95-4e97-bf0b-588fb92058e2
If Mississippi becomes more of a light-red state (this would require the GOP to not gain more support among Black voters compared to 2024 and the Dem share of the White vote to increase significantly from 2024), any attempt at an all-GOP map would have dummymander potential. If Mississippi remains as stubbornly Republican as it has been in recent decades, then there would be little dummymander potential if Section 2 of the VRA gets struck down.
I disagree - it would be pretty trivial to draw 4 Solid R districts there if the VRA were dismantled. Ditto for SC and LA (although I'd say a 5-1 is more likely there).
The Callais ruling hasn't happened yet. Maybe this means they think they'll rule to kill the VRA?
This is only for the State Supreme Court districts, which have been in limbo for months.
My top focus is the California primary. I filled out my sample ballot last night, researching the 2 votes for judges, and the OC Dem party recommended who I was planning on voting for. Even though I'm in a swing district, I believe my Democratic incumbent US Rep, OC BOS, and Assembly member are fairly safe. I don't have the opportunity to get rid of my Republican state senator nor city councilman.
Given the governor's race, I will hold my ballot until June 1 and drop in a drop box by my library.
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/24/janet-mills-vetoes-temporary-data-center-ban-2/
Maine Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would create a moratorium for data centers until 2027, which had a lot of support from legislators.
I'm tired of her centrist bullshit. We want a fighter in the Senate, not whatever this is.
Oh FFS. Democracy Now just had a whole story yesterday speculating on if she'd do it, and she did. Pathetic.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/22/maine_ai_data_center_ban_melanie
Mills would lose to Collins.
In this environment...probably not.
Well, I'm glad she'll never be a Senator. I just wish Maine had a better alternative. I like Platner's positions I just wish he wasn't such a... problematic character.
This isn't the first time Mills has angered her own party with her veto pen. Maine has a red flag gun control law after voters approved it in a statewide referendum after Mills vetoed that bill.
Stuff like this always makes we wonder which lobbyist is whispering in the politician's ear. Remember how Kyrsten Sinema was so obstructionist in the Senate?
The amount of money in politics is obscene!
Well, there is the artificial intelligence PAC (which I believe goes by the abbreviation similar to AIPAC, which is not the same PAC) and I’m sure they are emboldened in this case. More building of data centers empowers the efforts of AI “innovation.”
As usual, a large number of races are on my watchlist. I'm going to spin a literal wheel again, like last time, via WheelDecide and list my results that way. Here's what the wheel decided upon for elaboration:
- NY-Gov: Hochul had a close call in 2022, polls aren't looking good against Blakeman last I checked, and the climate bill shootdown did not help her goodwill with some voters. Could she be vulnerable again? Or is Blakeman being a shitty candidate going to help us?
- CA-48: Who is favored in the Dem primary? Will PAC spending help Marni von Wilpert against Ammar Campa-Najjar, or does Ammar have a good shot?
- Senate appointments: Specifically Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota. With Michael Bennet, Marsha Blackburn, and Amy Klobuchar favored to win their gubernatorial races, who might be appointed to replace them in the Senate? Jason Crow or Joe Neguse in CO, or someone else? Who in TN? Will Angie Craig be appointed in MN if/when she loses the Senate race, or will they go with someone else -- and if so, who? Are there other possible situations like this I'm missing?
- CA-1: Mike McGuire seems heavily favored here -- or is he? Audrey Denney has attracted some progressive support, and has Emily's List behind her too. Will it be enough?
- CA-11: Who is favored here? It seemed like Scott Wiener, but Saikat Chakrabarti is gaining. Will there be a runoff? If so, who is favored? If Saikat makes the runoff, where will Connie Chan's supporters go?
Thoughts?
CA uses Top 2. So it is highly likely one of Chakrabarti or Chan will be in the general election. Not versed in SF politics so I'll leave the rest of the CA-11 question for someone else.
That's what I meant, sorry.
I don't recall seeing any problematic polls for Hochul. My thinking is that the scenario of her losing this cycle would be a bigger upset than Talarico winning.
She won by, what, 6-8 points?, in 2022. That's not a good win by NY-dem standards but it is a solid, undeniable win in and of itself. In a neutral/slightly bad cycle. The environment this year could be 10+ points to the left of 2022. Is Hochul 15-20 points weaker this year than 2022? No.
https://sri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/SNY-March-2026-Poll-Release-3-31-26-FINAL.pdf
It was a Siena College poll. I do agree this environment is looking better.
I wouldn't call 47-34 a bad poll for her. That's a 13 point lead, and she only needs 16% of undecided voters in that sample to back her in order to win.
The concern was that it was a decrease from prior polls. Again, though, I do think she'll win -- and Blakeman's an awful candidate.
In 2022, she was a drag on the whole ticket. Hopefully, this year, she will at least be a neutral force on the ticket
In the likely environment we will have Hochul would have to shoot a nun on live tv to lose the general election.
NY'er here. 2022 was a neutral in much of the country but it was a BAD cycle in much of New York, especially Long Island, where Lee Zeldin had coattails that elevated some down ballot candidates in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The focus on crime, including in ad about crime in her opponent's home neighborhood, caught Governor Hochul's campaign a little flat footed in 2022 and the Democratic Party was not really geared up for a tough statewide race. She was running for the first time in her own right statewide and had only become governor 15 months prior...
NONE of that is true in 2026. She is doing well in the polls, the issues are much more favorable to a Democrat and she has established herself as a governor in the last four years. Trump is deeply unpopular here and she has a record of standing up to him. Her opponent is largely unknown outside of his home county, and while he should pick up the usual Republican areas, Gov. Hochul should sail to reelection this year.
For the senate appointments Crow and Neguse seem like the obvious top two for CO, but Pettersen is also a name to look out for.
For TN, Harshbarger, Burchett, and Ogles seem like names to watch.
In MN if not Angie Craig, than perhaps Steve Simon?
Bennet I could see trying to get brownie points by appointing a woman as his replacement - I don’t believe Colorado has ever had a woman senator after all
CA-11:
Being a Chan supporter myself,
Chakrabarti could defeat Weiner in the general election although not necessarily by double digits. It would be on par with the difference in margin back when Weiner defeated Jane Kim in the State Senate race (reverse of course for Chakrabarti if he defeats Weiner).
Quite honestly, there are more things Chakrabarti and Chan have in common in terms of ideas on affordable housing and less emphasis on market rate housing. It’s Weiner that Chan supporters are less likely to gravitate towards as he’s too tied to the establishment wing and is not as community driven as Chan is.
To understand more about the demographics of San Francisco, there are lots of liberals and progressives but center left, moderates, etc. also carry plenty of weight in the city. Corporate developers and tech donors have a big influence on the city but not enough to prevent Chan or Chakrabarti from winning in the general election.
It’s the mayoral races which are much harder.
That really isn’t the read I’ve gotten on the race, though I’m not there so I’m not too familiar. What I’d generally understood is that both Weiner and Chan have more community ties than Chakrabarti and that Chan generally is seen as the NIMBY candidate.
Chan does have community ties, namely as District 1 Supervisor. However, Weiner’s community ties are questionable. He has a habit of making an ass out of himself and accusing someone line former San Francisco District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin (probably the most powerful legislator in city government) of leading the recall of Joe Engardio when there was no evidence he did. He has had better community relations as State Senator but that’s largely due to his staff.
Chakrabarti I don’t know about his specific community ties. He and Chan though do have commonality in relations on affordable housing. Not so much with Weiner.
As for Chan being the NIMBY candidate, this whole “NIMBY” label of her is typical of what YIMBYs throw at those who don’t fall 100% in line with their views. The reality is that she’s not a NIMBY and has been able to get affordable housing done in her own district.
There are real concerns neighborhood residents have with upzoning and changes in their community that could potentially gentrify and shut down businesses in the process. This is not the same conversation where NIMBYs have tried to stop development at all costs no matter what the idea is.
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/politics/sf-supervisor-connie-chan-sparks-debate-with-transit-stances/article_5c5535ea-32de-11ee-83d7-bfbab33902bb.html
This is the kind of thing I'm talking about in regards to Chan, it sounds like she has pretty consistently worked to stop the expansion of public transit and has prioritized car-centric infrastructure. I really don't see the logic behind prioritizing parking spaces over bus lanes and trying to allow cars back onto car-free roads.
I'm usually quick to respond to these - was traveling throughout the weekend, my apologies.
NY-Gov: Blakeman isn't necessarily a shitty candidate and Hochul isn't necessarily vulnerable. In a blue wave year, New York of all places isn't flipping. I expect Hochul to win by at least double digits, maybe with over 60%.
CA-48: Campa-Najjar is probably a Democratic frontrunner, given his connections to the establishment (currently dating rising star Rep. Sara Jacobs). Wilpert may have a lot of outside spending, but Brandon Riker could counteract that through self-funding.
Senate: Knox County mayor Glenn Jacobs and Reps. Diana Harshbarger and Tim Burchett have been floated as Blackburn replacements, with Jacobs and Harshbarger actively jockeying for the seat with early endorsements of Blackburn. Crow has been discussed favorably by Bennet, and Neguse has generally been seen to prefer rising the ranks in House leadership to the Senate, so I'd say Crow is a safe pick here. Craig probably won't be appointed in Minnesota - I imagine a prominent state legislator as either a caretaker or someone who will serve a full term. My picks are Erin Murphy and Melisa Lopez Franzen. All other possible appointments in the near future probably have to do with 2028 presidential candidates, so I won't elaborate.
CA-1: Denney is probably favored to make it to the top 2 primary in the *special*, not the general, since McGuire doesn't live in the current iteration of the 1st, and she does. As for the full term, McGuire will probably win, and defeat an incumbent Rep. James Gallagher.
CA-11: Wiener and Chakrabarti will probably make it to November, with Chan's supporters splitting between the two.
In this environment, we don't need to waste a second of time worrying about NY-Gov. It's Safe D, regardless of opponent. Frankly, even in a red wave environment, it would be Lean D at worst. What concerning polls are you referring to?
FL-23:
https://bsky.app/profile/oliveralarkin.bsky.social/post/3mkbec5qpct2y
Apparently Hasan Piker did an event with Oliver Larkin (the leftist challenger to Rep. Jared Moskowitz) and raised $65,000+ for him in the process. Thoughts? Does this mean anything?
Doubtful it means much. Larkin won't win
Probably not. I live in the Boca area of Moskowitz district and he’s basically invisible here. Our local Democratic club has tried repeatedly to get him to a meeting and he ignores us. I think he’s vulnerable to the right GOP’er.
Could be although Moskowitz did get a similar margin of victory in 2024 vs 2022 by 4+% points. That means he could hold stronger vs a Democratic challenger more to the left of him.
Until Trump is out of office and no longer a factor in elections, Moskowitz may be the best Democrats can get in FL-23. Of course, I am also not discounting the issues you are bringing up about him since you live in his district.
Probably the worst type of seat for a progressive challenger backed by Hasan. FL 23 has a high Jewish population and the district went from Biden +13 to Harris +3 and likely a top target in redistricting. Not sure why Moskowitz is being challenged and who thinks it’s a good idea.
I happen to agree -- Moskowitz is a conservative Democrat who has, if I recall correctly, done and said a number of things progressives aren't happy about, but we aren't getting much better at the moment in the seat he holds.
He at least pretends to hate Trump and be somewhat of a fighter on a few issues, and often comes after administration officials, so I can respect that. He lacks charisma but clearly thinks he doesn't, though.
Pretends?? I do think that insinuation, even with your caveat, is uncalled for.
The issue that made me annoyed about Moskowitz (along with plenty of elected FL Democratic office holders and statewide party leaders) was the prisoner release deal President Biden made with Cuba only days before leaving office. Given this the Catholic Church was involved, it was a big deal. Moskowitz along with FL Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and Annette Taddeo complained, saying they were blindsided by this and were critical of Cuba and its government.
I am not worked up about this as I used to be but it should be emphasized that Cuba since Raul Castro took over brother Fidel’s rein had started to move away from being less restrictive of a country as it used to be. President Obama did start to normalize relations with the country in his 2nd term. Anything the U.S. can do to improve its relations with Cuba is a good thing.
The Dem state senator for that same area pulled a Manchin/Sinema after 2024, defecting from the party as Independent (and is now running for governor).
Dems also won the Boca Raton mayor's race by only 1 vote, (and recent FL specials still show Dems running behind 2020 numbers), so long way to go before this could be considered safe territory for a more left-leaning representative.
Jason Pizzo isn't actually running for governor, but he thought about it.
Let's just say that there are some people who would rather lose a district to a Republican than to elect a Democrat who they disagree with on the forbidden issue.
I guess it means Larkin doesn't much like dogs.
I'm okay with political candidates being interviewed by podcasters/streamers like Piker, but actually inviting someone like Piker, who is an alleged animal abuser (among other controversies), to campaign for you is not something I'd recommend, even in constituencies that are more amenable to voting for progressive Democrats than FL-23 is.
Also, Piker campaigned for Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan U.S. Senate race, and I remember seeing a photo of Piker from that event where he was wearing a barncoat (or something similar) over a suit, which was extremely awkward.
I would stay away from Hasan Piker. He tends to reference news on social media a lot and not do enough real objective journalism even while he is ideologically closer to Team Blue in views.
Besides, how much credence should be given to someone who is just another internet influencer?
Better choice would be to get interviewed by Andrew Callaghan of Channel 9 News. He’s left wing but also does a better job at actual real reporting.
For the record, I don't actually follow Piker. This post was actually reposted and commented on by Kevin/Nick Tagliaferro (former Primary School author), which was how I found it -- I follow him on Bsky. I thought it might be relevant as Piker is quite popular among younger voters.
I also just found out that Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks is Piker’s uncle. Piker also worked at TYT at one point.
However, by contrast, Uygur exercises more civility, especially with his relations with the late Charlie Kirk.
Poker also was quick to support Luigi Mangione, even while the late United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson did not do anything to Mangione nor was Mangione even proven to be subscriber to United Healthcare. Raising awareness about the state of the healthcare industry and insurance’s stranglehold yes. Giving a pass to an accused over the crime he has been charged with is very dangerous and not at all liberal or progressive in values.
What crime did Brian Thompson really commit before he was gunned down? As far as I’m concerned, United Healthcare is the one responsible but accusing Thompson of “social murder” risks defamation and undermines any true investigation as to what’s going on in the company and other health insurance companies. Sure, Piker is followed by many centennials but is he being the right spokesperson?
I’m not defending him. I was posting this in the event his involvement is at all relevant in this race, irrespective of my own thoughts on him.
Oh I get what you are talking about and knew you were making a post referencing him accordingly.
But my original comment was originally written as a heads up about Piker as it related to your original question. I probably should have directly answered by saying I think the impact of Piker’d involvement in this campaign will be l limited. Not the best use of his energy and focus.
https://x.com/kadiagoba/status/2047802890207601058?s=46
Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned but apparently is not dropping out of this year's re-election race.
Phil Gramm did so after switching parties while in the House, though the reasons are totally different.
Things happened pretty fast with her resignation. I'm going to withhold judgment until she takes any concrete steps to run again. One way or the other, I doubt it matters. I can't see her doing well fundraising or in the field.
She needs to be behind bars, not trying to get in office again.
TDB recently reported that Young Kim has started a $3.5 million ad buy for CA 40. She running 2 ads on LA TV ad nauseum, one promoting that she 100% on everything Trump and has his support and one attacking Ken Calvert for corruption. While I believe the ads will help her snag a spot in the top 2, I believe the being so pro Trump and could haunt her in the general in SoCal where Trump is despised, even in normally Republican leaning areas such as CD 40.
I wonder if that may give Esther Kim Varet an opening.
That's my thought. In a normal cycle this district would be hard to win, but tying yourself to Trump like a barnacle on his ass may not work when his approval is dropping to 30%.
I would say Ken Calvert has a better record in supporting Trump than Young Kim.
However, Kim has to defeat Calvert in order to win her House seat. What else will she be able to do?
Interestingly, Jane Fonda has started running ads for Tom Steyer. While at first they seem strange bedfellows, he has paid attention to some of her liberal pet projects.
Random trivia: in the 1972 Texas Senate race, where Republican John Tower was re-elected, Flores Amaya of the La Raza Unida party won Zavala County.
Here’s an apparently free NYT article on election night 1972 in Texas:
https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/08/archives/senator-tower-winner-in-texas-grover-ahead-for-governor-republicans.html
While Republican Hank Grover may have led in the early returns, conservative Democrat Dolph Briscoe ultimately prevailed by a 48-45 margin, with 6% going to LRU.
Briscoe was reelected in 1974 to the state's first four year gubernatorial term, but then was defeated in the 1978 primary by the more liberal John Hill who then lost the general to Republican Bill Clements.
In November, California will be voting on a voter id requirement for both in person and mail in voting.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/24/voter-id-measure-qualifies-ballot-00891249
Polling is showing fairly even for and against. Given this is a Republican proposition we should be able to convince enough undecideds to defeat it.
Has any similar referendum ever failed in the U.S.?
That's a good question, but I believe California could be unique. We just temporarily overturned redistricting by commission and have been subjected to a sheriff running for governor seizing ballots as a political stunt. On redistricting, Newsom moved strong support to the redistricting by commission to overwhelming support for prop 50. When we are polling even Steven on voter id, a Democratic campaign that this is just Republicans pulling another political stunt should sell.
I'm hoping we get propositions on the ballot to permanently overturn the redistricting commission and getting rid of top two because the time is right to get rid of Republican nonsense.
The one in Maine did last year.
Sure, but the one in Maine did a lot more than just voter ID, and its opponents focused on the much more unpopular stuff like limiting absentee voting.
First, I am wondering about prospective Democratic gains in state legislatures across the country. Where do we have a good chance to new trifectas, or at least legislative control? Also, where can we eliminate Republican supermajorities? Are we running candidates almost everywhere? How many seats are we leaving unchallenged?
(NB. I would love to see this vital topic get over-arching attention in some future DownBallot Digests!)
Second, I am wondering how many and which states’ Congressional delegations will likely be majority-Dem, majority-GOP, or split? Any chance Democrats will finally control more state delegations than Republicans do?
It may be a big ask for the authors of The Downballot, but I’d love to see a spotlight on some individual state legislative races. On top of all the competitive ones, some primaries present interesting stories — for example, NY is undergoing a number of left vs center primaries in the wake of Mamdani’s win that could present an early test for him. (Jenifer Rajkumar’s Assembly primary is a particularly crazy story.) NJ is also undergoing an internal civil war between the machine and anti-machine Dem challengers.
If the authors are too busy I totally get it, there’s a lot to possibly cover. I just think it’d be cool to discuss.
First, have to mention May 5 special election for Michigan State Senate, Harris +1 district (Saginaw, Bay City, Midland).
Michigan Senate 38 seats: D 19, R 18. Democratic candidate Chedrick Greene.
Michigan 110-seat state house: D 52, R 58.
Democrats can regain a trifecta by gaining 4 seats in state house, holding Michigan State Senate, and open Governor’s office.
Some good opportunities in the state house overlap
the 3 most flippable R-held US House seats: MI-04, MI-07, MI-10.
In Rochester Hills, MI, on the same ballot voters can replace Republicans in the State House (MI-H-55) state senate (MI-S-09) and US House (MI-10) (a Super Swing District).
Michigan filing closed earlier this week; Democrats have candidates for all state house, state senate, and US House seats.
Will follow up re other state legislative elections
Thank you so much for this! Very pleased so see Dems leaving no race unchallenged.
South Carolina Democrats have candidates for all 124 state house districts!
If that doesn’t seem impressive yet, consider:
10 years ago, Democrats ran in only 66 of the 124 state house seats
and less than half the state senate seats (presidential election years only) 18 of 46.
So significant progress!
(This year a candidate withdrew after filing closed, but there's a procedure to add a candidate.)
My state house rep, an R, has been in office 10 years and NEVER faced opposition, either in primary or general, despite being a district held by a D 4 years before him. There is a D this year.
Doesn’t get said often enough, but the number of politicians that are running for each party gives a good sense of what they expect to happen in the coming election. That Democrats are running in seats not competed in for decades in multiple different states says exactly what our party leaders on the ground, in their communities, think will happen in the midterms. Politicians can sense political opportunity far better than any polling or pundit can, so that’s the first sign to look for in a wave election and that factor definitely points to one coming.
Good point but the D challenger in our statehouse seat isn't a politician. She holds no local office. She's a psychologist who works with teens and she's fed up with how poorly our state (SC) supports youth, mental health, education, and women. She's been running since last August
Wisconsin
Assembly: D 45-54 R need 5 for majority.
Republicans hold 5 WI-A seats Harris carried; one D holds a seat she lost.
State Senate: D 15-18 R, need 2 for majority.
Only half seats up this year; of those Republicans hold 3 seats Harris carried; two of those Republicans have decided to retire.
Wisconsin nests 3 State Assembly districts in each state senate seat.
Some overlap of flippable Assembly, Senate, and US House seats.
Arizona:
30 Legislative districts (LD) each elects 2 State Representatives and 1 State Senator.
Assembly 27-33, need 4
Senate 13-17, need 3
Only 1 LD with no D for state senate, 1 with no D for state house.
Both Democrats and Republicans sometimes choose to run only 1 candidate for the 2 state house seats (someone else will have to explain the “single shot strategy”)
Key flippable LDs overlap most competitive R-held AZ US House seats.
Gallego carried 4 R-held AZ State Senate seats, 5 R-held contests AZ State House seats.
Feels like we've got a very real shot (maybe even favored) for trifectas in WI, MI & AZ, assuming the current political environment holds. Does anyone have any insight on our ability to grab the MN trifecta too? What about PA?
Trump has accrued an uprecedented political war chest totaling more than half a billion dollars. I’m wondering how he will use it? Or will his grift be stronger than his desire to hold onto power? I found it stunning that Trump didn’t spend a dime against Virginia’s redistricting referendum!
And then there is the question of PACs and dark money. Given the crypto-industry’s investment for/against candidates: to what extent are we seeing blatant foreign financial meddling in American elections? With crypto’s rise, is there really any way to protect against this?
Good question on crypto
Regulation on tech is the answer.
I am wondering about judicial races throughout the country – especially state supreme courts. Where might Democrats/liberals/progressives make inroads or further progress? Where does this matter most?
And I get extremely concerned when I read about the instances of Dems failing to even run a judicial candidate. We need to put a stop to such egregious political malpractice!
Once again, the ever-watchful Daniel Nichanian (Taniel) and his Bolts Magazine has an excellent overview!
https://boltsmag.org/your-state-by-state-guide-to-the-2026-supreme-court-elections/
From Bolts’ article:
“Abortion, redistricting, and ballot access remain heated issues as voters face dozens of supreme court races across 32 states this year.
“Two states already resolved their contests—conservatives won in Arkansas, and liberals in Wisconsin. But plenty of major showdowns remain, with Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas standing out at this juncture as having the clearest ideological or partisan stakes.
“Nineteen states are holding regular elections for their supreme courts this year, meaning races where candidates can challenge incumbent judges or run for an open seat. How those work is straightforward; think of what you’re used to seeing for Congress or governor.
“But 13 states are holding retention elections, which are simple up-or-down votes, with no challengers, where voters decide if a judge who is already on the court should stay in office.”
(Lots more great details in the linked article!)
If the two Democrats win the nonpartisan races for the GA Supreme Court next month, that would be very significant. Three seats would be up for grabs in 2028 (like the NC Supreme Court), meaning that if Dems won the two seats and the three in 2028, they would flip control of the SCOGA.
If Democrats were to flip both courts in 2028, they would be able to implement fair maps for state and Congressional districts in time for the 2030 census.
NJ-7 - GOP Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. has been absent from the House for an extended period of time due to unspecified health issues:
https://abcnews.com/Politics/republican-lawmaker-missed-month-votes-dealing-health-matter/story?id=132347878
I am interested in May 7th UK local elections, now less than two weeks away. The UK has a complex range of local authorities and local election structures. So a seemingly random selection of the country is up on any given year. This year, 5,066 local government seats are up for election (out of 19,107). This includes London and much of the so-called Red Wall in the North of England, so Labour has a lot to lose. In by-elections, a significant number of Labour and Tory voters have been defecting to Reform. Greens and Liberal Dems have also made gains. The aggregate by-election results are nicely summarised here:
https://electionmaps.uk/council-by-elections
On a more local level, we have a very exciting election coming up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I live. For decades, the city has been Labour dominated, with the Liberal Democrats being the main opposition party, winning in the more affluent wards. The Lib Dems wrested power from Labour for a few years in the 2000s, but that quickly evaporated with the national party went into coalition with the Tories after 2008. This Labour majority was maintained through the last election in 2024. However, under the Starmer government, many of the left-leaning Labour councilors left the party and either became independents or Greens. As a result, we are now a "no-overall-control" council. And with Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, and Reform all making an all out push, the result is highly unpredictable. Newcastle has never supported conservatives and the Tories usually get a tiny fraction of the vote. But there is a real threat of the left being split three ways and Reform sneaking in. What's more, they redrew the boundaries this year (I think finally implementing the last census, but I'm not entirely sure). As a result every ward is electing three councilors rather than the normal 1. (Our system is that we elect 1/3 of the council each year to 3 year terms.)
On the most local level, my ward has being closely contested between Labour and Lib Dems for as long as I lived here, with some results being as close as 20 votes. The boundary change did add some territory that should be friendly to Labour, but with the now four-way contest, this is no sure thing. Furthermore, two of the four sitting Green councillors are running in the ward, and there's a real possibility of a Green sweep. We've mostly received literature from Greens and Lib Dems. Labour seems missing in action (I think most of the foot soldiers went over to the Greens). But it will be very interesting to see what comes of it.
Is it FPTP?
Yes. Though electors get three votes and top three are seated in each ward. So in principle, wards may end up split between parties.
What is your opinion on Starmer and how he has wielded the majority he was handed?
It's been pretty bleak. In my field of higher education, the government is completely missing in action
Starmer is toast after May 7th.
https://wyofile.com/sam-mead-son-of-wyoming-politics-will-run-for-u-s-senate/
WY-Sen: Sam Mead, part of the family that spawned former Gov. Matt Mead and Sen. Cliff Hansen, will challenge Rep. Harriet Hageman in the Republican Senate primary.