Stephen Miller’s cousin 👇🏽

Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.

If the Supreme Court weakens Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting, it could usher in the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress. n.pr/49tevoK

Voters in southeastern Colorado overwhelmingly supported President Trump, who just vetoed a clean drinking water project there. Locals are stunned to be caught up in Trump's crusade against Colorado. @marcsallinger.bsky.social reports from Bent County:

“Some institutions created more hoops for students to jump through, not realizing, again, it would become another barrier. It’s continued to just be a battle every step of the way.” story via @azcir.org

Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"

BALLOT MEASURES: Advocates seeking a Nebraska constitutional amendment making it harder to tweak citizen-initiated laws are gathering signatures for the 2026 ballot. Some say the proposal might go too far. From Zach Wendling: buff.ly/iSem1E2

“They’re going to have to put me in jail if they want this information and have somebody else give it to them because I’m not going to do it.” story via @jimsmall.bsky.social

BREAKING: Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws, including the first U.S. ban on pill abortions.

👀 remarks from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski re: Trump-aligned Sen. Dan Sullivan’s 2026 re-election - one of the nation’s most important races - and the potential candidacy of her friend, former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. alaskabeacon.com/2026/01/06/a...

Looking tough for Kansas Republicans to gerrymander Davids out of her seat. sunflowerstatejournal.com/hawkins-on-r...

Five years ago.

1. Hundreds of corps that pledged to stop donating to members of Congress who voted to overturn the election on 1/6/21 have broken their promise over the last 5 years But we've identified 10 promise keepers: Farmers Airbnb Expedia Nike Clorox Eversource Energy Holland & Hart Qurate Whirlpool Lyft

"In the 5 years since the Capitol was stormed, no new facts have emerged to undermine the fact that many of the rioters acted in the misguided belief, pushed relentlessly by Mr. Trump, that he had been robbed of victory in 2020." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/u...

Utah may hold the key for which party wins control of the U.S. House in November. Pro-democracy advocates there have fought one of the nation’s toughest battles for fair districts. They’re winning, but it’s not over yet. Here’s what to watch for in 2026. utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/01/05/5...

Minnesota has to come first - always. Today, I’m proud of the work we’ve done to make Minnesota the best place to live and raise kids. I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.

I am struggling with what might be a generational experience. The gulf war was pretty politically formative for me. It’s not history so much as memory this time. It is destabilizing to see almost the exact same gameplan but this time without the guardrails that at the time I took for granted.

Watching Trump speak and justify why the US is entitled to invade another country and kidnap the president makes me think that when we started talking about the “post-truth” era, we had no idea of how deeply post-truth it’d become. Perception of reality is now random and optional.

“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:

State supreme courts are a battlefield for pressing issues, from abortion rights to ballot access. But do you know how your court works? Our guide breaks down the structure and procedures of every single state’s highest court.

From the brilliant @sifill.bsky.social, a sobering but hopeful new year’s message. From the rubble of Trump and MAGA’s brutal attacks on American democracy, she charts the path forward. open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

With last night's giant 26-point overperformance by Iowa Democrat Renee Hardman, we end the year with Dems doing 13.9 points better than the 2024 presidential results across 67 special elections. Complete data, including prez numbers, can be found on our Big Board -->

Remember what I’ve been telling you about Iowa? I’m there almost every month to speak to organizers. I see it. They see it. MAGA is in trouble.

They really cut $1 Trillion from Medicaid then put $50 billion back and think we’re all too dumb to notice

A growing body of research indicates that Texas's restrictive abortion bans have negatively impacted the health and lives of Texas women and babies in multiple ways. Across the board, pregnancy outcomes and complications have worsened.

“Construction can’t continue”: South Texas homebuilders say ICE arrests have upended industry.

GOP reversals in this year’s elections, especially in some urban and immigrant communities, are setting off alarm bells for Republicans using redistricting to try to keep control of Congress in next year’s midterms. By @timhenderson.bsky.social @stateline.org

He arrived in Helena as a refugee. As he nears the end of his second term as mayor, he reflects on why he won’t run again, his wins, regrets and the challenges that come with a high-profile post with so little actual power.

A year before Alaska’s U.S. House election, two candidates are emerging as frontrunners, writes @alaska.bsky.social for the @alaskabeacon.com alaskabeacon.com/2025/12/22/a...

As some states engage in an extraordinary redraw of congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, state courts are poised to play a pivotal role. https://stateline.org/2025/12/22/as-supreme-court-pulls-back-on-gerrymandering-state-courts-may-decide-fate-of-maps/

I’m a sports fan that hates taxpayer funded stadiums but it’s not lost on me that Kansas, led by Governor Laura Kelly, a middle-of-the-road Democrat, was able to pull together a deal to lure away the Kansas City Chiefs. Missouri’s MAGA Republican governor and legislature couldn’t get the job done.

Bari Weiss, outspoken opponent of antisemitism, spiked a story about concentration camps. How could she possibly do so? Because her construct is built around self-interested tribalism. Where the goal isn’t to end concentration camps: it’s to ensure you aren’t in one. And if necessary, to run them.

Only a handful of New Hampshire cities and towns made meaningful, pro-housing changes to their zoning codes in the past year, researchers at St. Anselm College have found. From @ethandewitt.bsky.social #NHPolitics

Rick Steves is a gem of a human (and a great European tour guide). This thread finally got me into the Christmas spirit after a tough year. Happy holidays to all and may 2026 be a better year for humanity than this one.

Five big political questions for Georgia going into 2026 georgiarecorder.com/2025/12/18/f...

Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life The Minnesota Speaker’s closest friends and family open up for the first time. Read @stephenrodrick.bsky.social's exclusive: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Read this. Then read it again.

Kansas governor doubtful GOP legislators can pull off congressional redistricting | via @kansascarpenter.bsky.social #ksleg

‘I Didn’t Vote for This’: A Revolt Against DOGE Cuts, Deep in Trump Country Trump administration policies slashing staffing and funding for public lands are waking a sleeping political giant in Montana. Will either party notice?

The anti-machine movement is having a moment in New Jersey

It's finally done, part 1 of my conversation with Graham Platner open.substack.com/pub/shaystew...

Senate Republicans reject Trump's plea for gerrymandered maps indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/12/11/s...

Their closing message to Indiana: change your maps to artificially benefit the President's political party or 'roads will not be paved' as punishment. They are openly saying this. Who would want to live in a country that works like that?

Republicans have repealed an anti-collective bargaining law that threatened to make Utah "the most anti-labor state in America." Republicans backed down after labor groups broke signature records to place a repeal referendum on next year's ballot.

BREAKING: A Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation-owned business landed a federal contract to assist facility design for immigration detention centers. The tribe said the project does not align with its values.

Despite Missouri Republicans creating numerous obstacles to block a petition against their new Trump-approved congressional map, Missourians successfully submitted over 300,000 signatures, exceeding the required amount by 106,000.

"I want to be out here talking to the workers and advocating for them, because nobody’s advocating for them and holding Tyson responsible… Nobody on the top ever takes cuts. It always comes from the bottom. It always comes from the people who help put food on people’s tables every day.”

“This is the year where a lot of voters are going to realize that Trump and Republicans are lying to them.” story via @jerodmacevoy.com

Commentary from @danawormald.bsky.social: "Expansive, policy-driven inequality is the Republican Party’s guiding light, whether you call it Reaganomics, or neoliberalism, or Trumpism, or trickle-down economics." #NHPolitics