Amazing difference 8 years can make

Politics isn’t broken—it’s kayfabe. Faces vs. heels. Heroes vs. villains. Trump is the main event, but the violence is real. 🎭💥 Read more: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

We don’t need “perfect” candidates. We need candidates who fight for people, lead with integrity, and deliver policy that improves lives. Stop chasing ghosts. 👉 open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

Really awesome to hear from Matt about youth voters. Because clearly we need to have a discussion as a party.

When teenage boys mess up, our instinct is to jump down their throats. But I’ve seen how that outrage feeds the pipeline: extremists tell them people will hate you, yell at you, and try to silence you. That anger just proves them right. I talk about it on #JamesPod:

Democrats don’t lose because of words. We lose because we let the Right define our narrative. It’s time to stop chasing “magic words” and start talking like real people. ✊ 📝 New in By the Ballot: It’s All Semantics

We debate bathrooms more than we debate guns in schools. That’s not by accident — it’s a distraction. 🚨 I joined @jamesabrenio.bsky.social on the latest #JamesPod, I to call out how Republicans hijack the narrative & how Democrats should fight back. 🎧 open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

If we could get this kind of investment in community building infrastructure and organizing for Democrats in areas to build a sustained party machine instead of just making meme content, we could see momentum and power that would last much longer than the latest internet fad or viral TikTok sound.

If only we could use this money to do something else instead of paying these influencers to push centrist talking points. Easily can say that this will just create more content for Boomers to share on FB and not bring in any new voters from the next generation. Stop. www.wired.com/story/dark-m...

When are we going to talk about the people who are for” protecting students” and “parents rights to not have their kids be political pawns” and “keeping politics out of schools” are always making their children and others’ into national spectacles and schools into battlegrounds for culture wars?

Similar to what I said about these spammy tactics: the “400% matches”, the negative doom and gloom rhetoric, and donation shaming tactics that Dems have adopted from these Scam PACS are disrespecting our donors at best and taking advantage of digital-illiterate seniors at worst. bit.ly/45Xg2Tn

Did a double take when I saw Wilson Hall in my Bluesky feed. Fellow JMU alumnus @mattroyer.bsky.social wrote a good read about universities in red districts, and how to use them to flip those districts.

College students are literally drawn into districts—but are not always registered to vote there. Want to flip a red district? Start with campus housing. Here’s how it can continue to work in Virginia—and how to copy/paste it nationwide: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

"The fact is, our electoral system is not perfect. We have room to grow to build a democracy that is more representative and reflective of those who live in it. That is why #RankedChoiceVoting should be adopted in the U.S." – @mattroyer.bsky.social

🚨 Democrats: You don’t need a $20M study or your own Joe Rogan to reach young men. You need to show up. Real organizing > influencer content. Conversations > content. Trust > trends. 🧵 New with ‪@gurtling.bsky.social‬. Why Dems keep getting this wrong ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

I had the pleasure of weighing in on @jameswalkinshaw.bsky.social’s win on Saturday with @washingtonpost.com. Suffice it to say, it’s hard to run for office and determine larger voter trends with one of the most informed, policy wonky electorate in the entire country:

Now unlike the statewide primary, this was clearly a scenario where RCV wouldn’t have even mattered, much like the 2021 Gubernatorial primary.

Nothing like getting my vote in at the very last minute! Proudly cast my vote in the 11th CD Democratic Primary at Herndon Fornightly. Now time to count!

Y’all pls, VA-11 Democrats are tired. 30 pieces of mail in like 2 weeks. Okay we’ll vote, just pls

It’s clear: messaging about affordability wins elections. The old guard Democrats throwing millions and support behind an unpopular disgraced sex pest of a former governor who doesn’t run on what voters really want does not.

The only thing that can get Dems out of this national rut is a Mamdani W. Having a young, progressive candidate as the party choice for the most liberal city in the Country bodes well for Dems this year. Strapping in for multiple rounds of tallying but signs are looking up.

seriously, which would you rather have as your statewide ticket heading into November?

This is the exact type of shitty take that sets us back and makes rural folks distrust politicians. People who don’t know anything about or have never travelled to those areas write them off as “ignorant and bigoted” and then claim we’re all just lying if you don’t agree.

Yesterday I commented on the 11th CD mailers, but allow me to continue: Some of y’all need to turn the frequency of your Meta digital ads WAY down. It’s been the same ad every time I open Instagram on my feed or on my stories for the past 24 hours.

From dorm rooms to dirt roads—we win Virginia in 2025 by organizing everywhere. Unite the party. Reach the ignored. Don’t repeat 2021. Here’s the strategy:

What do AOC and MTG have in common (apart from their 3 letter abbreviations)? They’re part of only 0.2% of Congressional members who get the majority of their money from small dollar donors. And your onslaught of texts aren’t getting you into that 0.2%. bytheballot.substack.com/p/i-get-it-n...

I went to my mailbox today. Is there a special election in VA-11? I hadn't noticed.

I have looked VPAP and ELECT maybe 1000 times since last night and I still have not gotten over how close this result is.

Congratulations to @senatorhashmi.bsky.social and Jay Jones for securing the Democratic nominations for Lt. Governor and Attorney General! Young Democrats across the commonwealth are excited to support this ticket and we can’t wait to celebrate on victory night! Let’s fight together for progress!

Congratulations to Senator Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones! So excited to see y'all represent our ticket and win in November. Let's go to work!

I hope that those galvanized by yesterday’s protests will not end there. Advocate for changes in policy. Campaign for better representation up and down the ballot starting with your municpalities and your state legislatures. Hold their feet to the fire and when they don’t, run better candidates.

A man drove into a lawful rally in Culpeper today. Where is the response from Governor Youngkin as he promised condemnation and zero tolerance of violence during protests and political violence? Crickets so far.

If you’re banking on it raining today, you don’t know DC weather.

This is the Governor’s recent lame attempt to straddle the line but we saw that it doesn’t matter the number of peaceful protestors or alleged incidents of violence, the President call in troops and ended up outnumbering the number of demonstrators just like in California.

Padilla: If this is how DHS responds to a senator with a question you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California.

The use of the Royal We gives it extra credibility

We’re just asking for our senators to be more Alex Padilla and less Ted Cruz

Say what you will, but the man said he was creating jobs for Americans and he is delivering!

Never called in the Marines after increased threats to federal law enforcement and federal buildings here:

Just another normal day here in the Commonwealth.

Mind you these two things happened within 24 hours of each other:

After seeing the hundreds of takes and the stories about millions of dollars spent on studying men, I felt compelled (as a Democratic man) to write something down. And while many people come close when they talk about money and financial security: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

Honestly, I love that the DNC is putting this out every day on the widest reaching platform, YouTube. People have been saying that they want the Dems to talk more about what they're doing to the public and what better place to do it in such an easy way to access. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUzE...

You know the old adage: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So it come as no surprise there are a good number of people in the Democratic Party trying to create a “villain-to-ally” arc for Musk. Here's why it won't work: bytheballot.substack.com/p/expanding-...

Any Democrat thinking about welcoming Elon Musk back into the fold is an idiot. Send post.

How can you be an Independent source with "a look inside a broken White House" when you were the literal spokesperson for a Democratic president inside that same White House?

I started a substack and the first post is out at bytheballot.substack.com I know what you’re thinking and don’t worry, I’ve been beating myself over the head. But now we find ourselves back in hectic “unprecedented times” and, well, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get through.

Why is DHS arresting Congressional staff in the Capitol Police’s jurisdiction?

Well there you have it folks, there’s really nothing you can do about rape and incest because it only makes up 1% of abortion and so you have to carry your abuser’s baby. And everyone else no matter the viability or health of your pregnancy, you were asking for it. That’s Winsome’s World.