The Republican attempt to repeal Utah’s anti-gerrymandering law appears likely to fail to qualify for the ballot at this rate

The Virginia legislature this week rejected GOP bills to limit early voting, while approving a Democratic bill to re-join ERIC — the large multistate consortium meant to keep voter rolls secure that conservatives have had conspiracy theories about in recent years. virginiamercury.com/2026/01/21/v...

This is pretty clever lol. (Although some of these aren't actually gerrymandered, like California's old 43d District as the "T")

NEW: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's advisory redistricting commission has recommended a proposed congressional map that would likely turn MD's 7-1 Democratic majority into an 8-0 edge & flip GOP-held District 1 www.wbal.com/maryland-red... Interactive map with data davesredistricting.org/join/06423fc...

Paul's back and he nails it here

This also has the Dem held Supreme Court seat at: 42% GOP 41% Dem This is not a race we can afford to lose so if you’re thinking about races to help instead of helping Roy Cooper help Anita Earls secure.actblue.com/donate/dw_ncsc

NEWS: No one filed to challenge two conservative/Republican justices on the Nevada supreme court who are up for reelection this year. The deadline was a few days ago. They will run for new terms unopposed.

I wrote about how concentration camp regimes evolve and why it's not too late to stop this, even though we are deep in it now.

These are the last three justices we would want to write the Voting Rights Act decision 😬

Governor Spanberger made her first address to the General Assembly today She gave her most clear statement of support for Dems redistricting efforts The fact that voters have to approve it gives her some political cover But the exact map still have to be released

I'm sympathetic to the notion we should have compassionate release policies regarding senior citizens in prison. But Tina Peters is an exceptionally bad way to make that point. She's not special. Or rather, she's special in a way that cuts heavily the other direction:

WHOA This is so important because one of the key challenges to restoring a democracy after considerable autocratization is that of "burrowed loyalists" who've captured institutional checks & abuse them to sabotage a return to democracy. Yet targeting them looks like further democratic erosion!

The labor share of GDP is lower today than it has been at any time since records began being kept in 1947. The share of the nation’s income going to workers has fallen 16 points in that 78-year stretch. The share going to capital has risen by the same amount. prospect.org/2026/01/19/a...

I’ve been studying civil rights protests for 20 years. With new mobilization against Trump’s agenda, I’m sharing a thread summarizing my research on how nonviolent & violent actions by 1960s activists and police influenced media, elites, public opinion & voters. 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals

Americans' economic and political pains mainly stem from unprecedented concentration of our wealth, a few dozen mega-billionaires control 12%. They buy a lot of politicians, media outlets, & influencers to distract from their power by blaming our pain on immigrants, DEI, women's careers...

"Minnesota is under siege. It might not yet be a civil war, but what the White House has dubbed “Operation Metro Surge” is definitely not just — or even primarily — an immigration enforcement operation. It is an occupation designed to punish and terrorize anyone who dares defy this incursion..."

"Expanding candidate standing while continuing to restrict legislative standing appears to be yet another data point for the current Court’s inclination to limit legislative power especially when it’s being invoked in an attempt to rein in the executive branch." New "One First" on #SCOTUS in Bost:

Portugal held its presidential election today. The center-left grabbed the first spot, and moved on to runoff and will be favored. Far-right candidate surged to grab other runoff spot, for the first time. (Outgoing is a mainstream conservative.) www.politico.eu/article/far-...

Logan Lucky was joking about these sequels being delayed 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰

The song is the same everywhere

Gallego ("moderate" Dem) is going with "ICE needs to be totally torn down" (not "reform and retrain"). This is a pivot point for the country on immigration. You have been seeing this in the data for a while, and now officials are snapping to the public opinion www.gelliottmorris.com/p/ice-is-a-7...

This was epitomized by Trump supporters getting angry at NPR when it tweeted the full text of the Declaration of Independence one July 4th

The president -Is occupying a major city with armed paramilitiaries -Is blackmailing treaty allies to hand over their sovereign territory -Is trying to set himself up as chairman for life of a UN rival with $1B fees for permanent membership -Is talking about canceling elections

The constitution’s biggest failing (aside from protecting slavery) was the presidential system and its failure to anticipate that multiple parties are the basis for a stable democracy. Trump almost certainly never would have taken over the executive in a proportionally elected parliamentary system

I’m looking forward to the day when Democrats retake North Carolina’s Supreme Court, strike down the GOP’s gerrymanders, and Dems win back the legislature. Then they can similarly oust all the rich guy Republicans who are undermining public education and academic freedom via the UNC system boards

Utah Republicans have proposed several bills designed to tighten their grip on the judiciary after it ruled against their gerrymanders—including packing the state Supreme Court

This is all — all of it — downstream of malapportionment in democratic systems. The world over, most people vote with their feet by moving to big multicultural cities. And the left-behind rural populations — in big, empty, and declining constituencies — use their vote to complain about it.

This is the president pro tem of Virginia’s state Senate calling out the state’s U.S. senators for not being aggressive enough in countering Republican gerrymandering 😵 (She also turns 82 years old next week!)

If Virginia voters approve this amendment this spring, Democrats could redraw the congressional map in response to mid-decade Republican gerrymanders elsewhere. Here’s an example of how Democrats could target 4 GOP seats to gain a 10-1 majority in November davesredistricting.org/join/5429402...

This is the president pro tem of Virginia’s state Senate calling out the state’s U.S. senators for not being aggressive enough in countering Republican gerrymandering 😵 (She also turns 82 years old next week!)

JUST IN: Virginia's legislature just adopted a constitutional amendment that would end Virginia's rules that ban people from voting for life. Virginia currently is the only state that strips people of voting rights for life for any felony. Youngkin rolled back reforms. Now going to a referendum.

If Virginia voters approve this amendment this spring, Democrats could redraw the congressional map in response to mid-decade Republican gerrymanders elsewhere. Here’s an example of how Democrats could target 4 GOP seats to gain a 10-1 majority in November davesredistricting.org/join/5429402...

Virginia redistricting referendum amendment has officially passed the Virginia General Assembly Still needs a date for the referendum Then voters will need to give it their blessing There also state legal challenges But the process continues to move along

It’s cold comfort right now but, if past is prologue, spectacles of violence committed by the state against sympathetic civilians—especially when captured on camera—were the beginning of the end for Bull Connor and Jim Crow, too.

So she had a pulse. That’s what the doctor on the scene wanted to check. She wasn’t breathing, but she had a pulse. He could have started CPR right away. Instead ICE barred the doctor from attending her and waited 15 mins for EMT to get to her.

A South Korean court has sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison, the first verdict in eight criminal trials for allegations that include his 2024 martial law decree. n.pr/4jG1fBS

I read this is the clearest sign yet that Gov Jared Polis (D) will grant clemency to Tina Peters. Well done by @ryanhasaquestion.bsky.social, asking a new question about deeply-covered topic.

The scale and speed of state censorship of campus really is amazing. More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021. From @penamerica.bsky.social pen.org/report/ameri...

DeSantis appoints a new supreme court justice in Florida — a reliable conservative who, in a lower court, sided with him in the most fight over gerrymandering. jaxtrib.org/2026/01/15/b...

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

The Republican effort to gerrymander New Hampshire’s congressional map and flip a Democratic seat appears to be dead

Trump to Reuters about the midterm elections: "When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election." www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...

Another critical piece of missing context in this story: tax dollars flow from the MSP metro to rural Minnesota. People in the city subsidize the lifestyles of people living in the country minnesotareformer.com/2023/12/04/t...

looks like donald trump used the military to do a smash and grab for his personal benefit

Virginia's legislative session only started yesterday, and it was a very big day. The House already passed four constitutional amendments on Day 1: —protect abortion rights —repeal the same-sex marriage ban —allow mid-decade redistricting —greatly expand voting rights restoration. Next: Senate.

Apologies for being self-referential but

How bad are things? European countries are asking Germany for their military to comin into their countries to protect them from Americans.

BREAKING: Three-judge panel, on a 2-1 vote, refuses to block California from using its mid-decade redistricting map. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...