Under radar story from April!

“Every blue moon I might buy a bag of chips or a soda. I can’t afford much anymore because inflation has decreased the amount of food and supplies I can buy. I spend more to get less,” says Colell Steele, who is incarcerated in a North Carolina prison.

A redistricting expert says the Callais ruling incentivizes partisan gerrymandering in the worst possible way: “The more racist you are as a party, the more insulated you are from Voting Rights Act liability under this decision.”

More elections in just two days, in Nebraska and West Virginia What should you be watching? ➡️ Dem's Senate primary in NE: all about whether the nominee will drop out. ➡️ Two supreme court seats in play in West Virginia. ➡️ Other House + statewide primaries. Details: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

I left off an even more staggering way that Republicans have subverted state Supreme Court elections in Georgia—by canceling them. Republicans already did this in advance of some elections this decade to postpone them by two years, but in theory they could take things even further:

Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. https://scim.ag/4tsDqRr

American Samoans occupy a strange in-between as U.S. nationals but not citizens. They pay taxes, have Social Security numbers, and can join the military—but they can’t vote. A voter fraud case in Alaska highlights their unusual predicament.

The future of democracy may seem bleak atm. But people are still winning fights for fair representation

“The results were the latest in a series of huge swings toward Democratic-backed candidates in heavily Latino districts and precincts elsewhere in the country this year.” Check it out!

Folks, Saturday is a PERFECT time to learn about some of the most important but under-radar elections happening this year. West Virginia is Tuesday; Georgia is in two weeks; and a lot else coming up. Explore and share!

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That’s goddamn right.

we don’t talk enough about how Chicago is the most gorgeous city in the country

And how unready Dems were, for that matter: schemes like California and Virginia sprang up in response to Texas, quite late for Virginia. But it was clear what was going to happen with Callais in June 2025, as soon SCOTUS punted on the prior hearing and ordered expanded one.

Big news out of Utah: A justice announces she's resigning, shortly after GOP launched an investigation into her (for an alleged affair with a lawyer in a redistricting case). The gov will fill the vacancy — just like he's set to fill TWO others because the state GOP just expanded the court.

Great Q&A from @boltsmag.org on the gutted VRA “The Court Interred the Voting Rights Act Without the Dignity of a Funeral” boltsmag.org/scotus-calla...

TN has a statutory ban on mid-decade redistricting, which the GOP sought to repeal during this special session. However, the state constitution forbids the lege from considering matters in special sessions except those named by the gov in his proclamation. Plaintiffs say Bill Lee failed to do that.

Virginia today offers a reminder, for anybody needing one, of the very important role state supreme courts play in shaping democracy. So don’t sleep on Georgia, which is holding elections for two state supreme court seats in just 11 days. @boltsmag.org preview: boltsmag.org/georgia-supr...

Note: Virginia supreme court justices are "re-elected" by state lawmakers, meaning the legislature chooses whether to reappoint them or replace them. Two of the four justices in the majority today against the new congressional map will be "up" by early 2028.

Note: Virginia's supreme court struck down map based on when Dems passed the amendment. This ends use of the map for 2026 for sure. Dems can do it for 2028, tho. They'd "just" have to keep legislature in 2027, pass bill again in January 2028, & then hold+win another April referendum.

The Virginia supreme court's ruling today was 4-3, a reminder of the importance of state supreme court justices. Two seats on the Georgia supreme court are at stake in... 11 days. boltsmag.org/georgia-supr...

Virginia's supreme court overturns the April 21 referendum, and keeps Virginia's status-quo map in place. The new map had shifted four seats Dems' way. Two of the 4 will remain competitive for Dems this fall, tho 2 of them will not. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/u...

This inspires. The GOP city govt refused to oppose ICE, so the Latino community organized, doubled turnout, and swept the GOP out of office.

This story is WILD. Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Honduran ex-president pardoned by Trump for narcotrafficking, seemingly caught on tape in dozens of conversations (if true), discussing plans with GOP and other figures to attack left-wing governments, and saying Israel paid for his pardon from Trump.

Also, one of my mom’s former 5th grade students from SUVA intermediate school won a seat on the city council. First time Whittier has had a Latino majority city council in its 128 year history. As it should!

Interesting, and I live a few blocks from Eastpoint, MI.

“We need to show the next generation that Whittier is a city that has values…” The most impactful organizing work is built on this foundation: core values. A great piece on some really powerful organizing ⬇️

Be sure to follow @pascalsabino.bsky.social who wrote this powerful story on organizing in California

i'm proud Bolts can do real local reporting that's escaping the legacy papers! (this is about our new article: boltsmag.org/california-i...) please don't forget to follow us @boltsmag.org (and support us if you can!)

Fascinating story I haven't seen anywhere. Really worth a read.

Tennessee's governor has now signed into law the new congressional map, which is meant to lock in an all GOP congressional delegation and eliminates the Memphis-based majority-Black district.

"'I don't want to be sarcastic or jaundiced, but we cannot allow a crisis to go to waste, and we are in a crisis here in Whittier.'"

Barack Obama this afternoon endorsed Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, the two liberal attorneys who are running for the Georgia supreme court in the May 19 (general) elections. Learn more about these elections and why they matter: boltsmag.org/georgia-supr...

NEW: In this majority-Latino city in California, the GOP had long maintained an iron grip on local government. But that all changed this spring: Anger toward ICE raids, immigrant organizing, and surging turnout for local elections, it all made for a Dem sweep—& flip. Check out the story:

“I live in constant fear that I will be subjected to further baseless detentions just for going about my daily life." On May 2, Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a Florida-born US citizen, was detained by ICE in Alabama for the third time (!) in the span of a year. And he's suing the federal government.

That constitutional interpretation can be generally apolitical is a floridly political opinion espoused primarily by partisan actors seeking to obfuscate and camouflage their activism.

Alabama Legislature is meeting on redistricting; we are under a tornado watch, and it’s flooding in the building. These metaphors are too on the nose.

Where does Congress go from here on enforcing voting rights, if Dems retake power but still have to get through a hostile SCOTUS? Ideas from Justin Levitt and Brennan's Kareem Crayton: boltsmag.org/scotus-calla...

Did Ramaswamy write this

“This structure that Justice Alito created allows politics and partisanship to outweigh attention to race discrimination. There’s a party for white people, the white man’s party, and there’s everybody else.” boltsmag.org/scotus-calla...

What Western Tennessee looks like in the new GOP map of the state: It splits Shelby County (Memphis) into three to eliminate the majority-Black district that's currently anchored there.

John Roberts has achieved his lifelong goals to make Jim Crow America's legal lodestar.

If you're wondering what to make of last week's Supreme Court ruling on the VRA, check out this Q&A with experts on voting rights & redistricting: boltsmag.org/scotus-calla...

Chicago TV is making a scandal out of Chicago’s former prosecutor discovering errors, helping exonerate people thru the court system — and now the county is on the hook for repairing those errors rather than sweeping them under the rug as the criminal legal system routinely does.

RESULT: Democrats tonight have defended a swing district in Michigan's state Senate. This means they also defended their majority in the chamber. (The GOP could have erased it by winning.) SD35 voted by Harris by just 1% in 2024, but Dem Chedrick Greene appears to have won easily today.

Folks, my usual Election Night plug: if you enjoy Bolts and like how we make it easier (and hopefully interesting and at times fun!) to follow local politics, consider becoming a member or subscriber! We have no paywall but love reader support. boltsmag.org/donate

RESULT: Voters in Ohio's Richland County, a rural conservative of 120K people, just voted to *keep* the ban on solar and wind power projects that local officials approved. Opponents of the ban had put the measure on the ballot, but the ban prevailed has prevailed roughly 53% to 47%.

The incumbent has easily prevailed in this race.

if i have your attention on Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan tonight... ... you do know that there are general elections for the state supreme court in Georgia of all places in 14 days to know about, right? boltsmag.org/georgia-supr...

No surprise in Ohio: Vivek Ramaswamy has won the GOP nomination for governor and will face Democrat Amy Actor in November. Also no surprise in the Senate race, Sherrod Brown easily wins the Democratic primary and will face the appointed Republican incumbent, Jon Husted.