Chris's conviction was overturned & he's been out of Angola since November, but the state is *still* trying to reinstate his guilty verdict & death sentence. The family of the girl he was accused of killing now believes deeply in his innocence & has filed a remarkable amicus brief:

one stunning down-ballot result in TX last night that folks might’ve missed was the ouster of Dallas’ two-term DA, John Creuzot, by Amber Givens, an embattled former judge who previously clashed w/ the DA in her court 

www.keranews.org/elections-20...

Why should you care that Massachusetts transfers so many people with felony convictions to ICE? I tried to answer that question here: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

Yesterday was a banner night for Presbyterians: James Talarico, who clinched the Democratic nomination for Texas Senate, got his M.Div. from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and is heavily involved in his local PC (USA) congregation.

Now that’s what I call investigative reporting

The Massachusetts Department of Correction has been fighting me for months, trying to withhold data about its collaboration with ICE. Yesterday, I won that fight, and obtained records showing that the state has transferred more than 2,000 people into ICE custody since 2009. A quick thread:

this guy challenged a sitting Democratic lawmaker in yesterday's primary, angered by her pro-ICE vote, and he ousted her 70% to 22%. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

SCOTUS was issuing opinions today, but there will be nothing on Callais (the VRA case).

Talarico will be the Democratic nominee in Texas:

She just lost the primary— overwhelmingly— to this guy

A win for conservatives on the Arkansas supreme court, but the margin is tighter than you might expect. Nick Bronni, who was Governor Huckabee Sanders' appointee, worked around a constitutional clause meant to prevent him from seeking a full term, & benefited from a new law to help him, won 55/45.

Dan Crenshaw has been ousted from Congress. The AP called the #TX09 primary for Steve Toth, one of the most far-right members of the Texas House.

What we know, final edition—in 2 parts. 1. Progressives oust 3 Dems who were helping GOP in NC. 2. Dems flip legislative seat in AR. 3. Al Green + Dan Crenshaw down big. 4. #TXSen? Talarico up. GOP runoff. 5. Right holds supreme court seat in AR, but no blowout. 6. TX far-right generally strong.

Folks, if you're trying to catch up about what happened up and down the ballot—we've updated our guide with many results that we know so far, including Democrats' Arkansas flip or those wild results in the North Carolina legislative primaries. Explore! boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

Sheriff Gary McFadden, the Charlotte Dem sheriff who has notoriously clashed with state Republicans & ICE for his longstanding refusal to comply with ICE, but who also is overseeing a jail in poor conditions marred by deaths, barely survives his Democratic primary against a splintered field.

She lost by almost 50 points. That is a statement, a loud and clear statement.

There's been a lot of debate within the Democratic establishment about what rhetoric to use via ICE. Well, an incumbent doesn't lose by 48 percentage points very often—and her vote on collaborating with ICE was the defining issue here.

The two Republicans who are advancing to the runoff for attorney general in Texas are: Chip Roy, one of the most far-right members of the U.S. House, and Mayes Middleton, the state senator who just sponsored the state's anti-trans law last year. They're trying to replace Ken Paxton, so, you know.

What we know, 11:30pm. 1. Progressives oust 3 Dems who were helping GOP in NC. 2. Dems flip legislative seat in AR. 3. Al Green + Crenshaw in big trouble. 4. #TXSen? Talarico up. GOP runoff. 5. Right holds court seat in AR, but no blowout. 6. VERY close races: Berger-Pace in NC, Arkansas SOS.

In the very close GOP primary for secretary of state in Arkansas, the candidate now ahead is the one who's been proudly touting endorsement from national far-right figures and election conspiracists like Mike Lindell.

extraordinary night for state progressives in North Carolina via boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

JUST IN: North Carolina's Dem lawmaker Carla Cunningham gave the GOP the decisive vote to pass a law forcing police to comply with ICE. She said "all cultures are not equal." She just lost reelection BIG in the Dem primary to a progressive pastor & activist, Rodney Sadler. 70% to 22%! Context:

RESULT: Democrats have flipped a state House seat in Arkansas. This is their 2nd flip of a legislative seat so far in 2025 (after a Texas flip in January), & it adds to a tremendous trend that started last year, when they flipped 21% of all GOP-held seats in play: boltsmag.org/legislative-...

An important result from western North Carolina. As we reported at Bolts, Moore seemed to be the establishment Democratic choice—facing a career public defender—but broadly supportive of criminal justice reform & critical of the new state law restricting bail: boltsmag.org/buncombe-cou...

RESULT: Over & over, Democratic lawmaker Shelly Willingham helped the North Carolina GOP override the vetoes of Governor Stein & Cooper. He lost just now to a progressive challenger, 56% to 44%. (And he's likely one of several in this position. Stay tuned.)

One of the tightest races happening right now: as the count nears completion, but not quite yet, North Carolina state Senate President Phil Berger, one of the most powerful Republicans in his state over the last decade, still trails (conservative) Sheriff Sam Page.

While we wait for more results (I promise a bunch of calls are sure to be around the corner), my usual Election Night note: if you find the work we do at Bolts to elevate local politics to be important and valuable... consider becoming a monthly subscriber (or donor)! Easy: boltsmag.org/donate

I know there've been very few final results, folks... but we're on the edge of a lot of major stuff being decided. Stay tuned.

RESULT: Satana Deberry, the reform-aligned DA of Durham, wins reelection in a rematch of her 2022 election. (She wins easily, but less so than four years ago.)

RESULT: Sheriff Terry Johnson survives his GOP primary in North Carolina's Alamance County, 57% to 42%. He may face an independent in the general election—so stay tuned on that.

What we know so far, 9:30pm: 1. Few final results. 2. In NC, 3 Dems who helped GOP trailing. 3. Crenshaw, Al Green in trouble. 4. Dems close to a leg flip in Arkansas. 5. Cornyn & Talarico narrowly ahead. 6. Close Arkansas supreme court, tho redder counties await. 7. Fort Bend County exec ousted.

With 30% of vote reporting in Arkansas, John Adams (the more liberal candidate in the state supreme court race) is ... LEADING 50.8% to 49.2% against the conservative Nick Bronni, who was appointed to the court by Governor Huckabee Sanders. A long way to go—but fascinating so far. Context:

Oh... it's time to start watching Arkansas: Democrats are significantly ahead so far in a special election for a GOP-held legislative seat. If this is confirmed, it'd be Democrats' second flip so far this year.

Valentina Gomez, the far-right influencer who launched her congressional campaign in Texas by burning the Quran, is getting 9% in a very crowded field challenging GOP Rep. John Carter. That's enough for second place, while Carter is just barely above the 50% threshold.

The Senate match-up is now set in North Carolina: Roy Cooper (D) will face Michael Whatley (R) in November. This was very heavily expected, though Whatley had some competition in the GOP primary. (That's also the first result that gets updated in our guide: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...)

Wow: In the early vote, it's a blow-out *so far*. Rodney Sadler, the progessive pastor and activist, leads state Representative Carla Cunningham 75% to 18%. (Stay tuned as we see how the Election Day vote compares, but that's an ominous start for the incumbent.) Context:

Early returns: Rep. Valerie Foushee is up 50% to 48% against Nida Allam, who is challenging her from her left, in the early vote in North Carolina's 4th district. This one could keep us up.

I expect early returns from this race imminently, and it's one I have my eyes glued on. Stay tuned.

The vote-reporting in NC was blocked for an hour by a judge, and that's ending in 5 minutes; I'd expect a lot of info to stream in after that. That's also when polls close in Arkansas, where there are many interesting things — including a state supreme court race & a state House special election.

Folks, we now have the early vote in the GOP primary in Fort Bend County — that's 36K votes. And the incumbent who I wrote about below (KP George) is currently *fifth* in the 5-way race... with 8%. It looks like his time in office is over, days before his trial starts.

Very first results of the night: It's the early vote in Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth. Crockett leads 56% to 43% here, with 121K ballots counted.

Just a few minutes before we get started (though of course we won't know much for a while after). Open and bookmark this page to know what to follow (and to check the results as they're finalized), but otherwise... get some food and drink, and stay on my feed!

Reading some top-notch coverage, you'd think only federal elections exist and are happening today. For instance: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u... I'm happy to know how much more informed @boltsmag.org readers are of breath of political power decided on a day like today, thanks to these resources:

The most absurd sentence is the following one: "This isn't a war. We haven't declared war." Something isn't happening if you don't say it out loud.

The Arkansas constitution forbids officials who were appointed to a position from running to keep it when it next appears on the ballot. Today, two state supreme court justices are working around that – by running for each other’s seats.

As the Virginia Supreme Court remains silent, early voting is set to start everywhere in Virginia on Friday except for one county… cardinalnews.org/2026/03/03/e...

Chaos in Dallas as a switch in how elections are run leaves voters confused: www.dallasnews.com/news/electio...

Polls close at 7:30pm ET in North Carolina. In Arkansas, at 7:30pm local time. (So 8:30pm ET.) In Texas, at 7pm local time. (So 8pm or 9pm in ET.) In New Mexico, also at 7pm local time. (So 9pm ET.) All I'm watching in these states, on one page—and bookmark it as we'll add results!

Just taking note of this: the 3 elections for the Wisconsin court of appeals are all uncontested this spring, just like the 3 in 2025 and the 2 in 2024. So that's a streak of 8 consecutive uncontested elections for Wisconsin's intermediate court.