It’s Election Day tomorrow! 1. Dems favored to win a congressional special in Arizona. 2. A Dem is vying to flip mayorship of Mobile, Alabama; she’d be city’s first Black woman mayor. 3. GOP defends red-leaning state legislative district in Georgia. Details on each: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

Missouri Republicans are asking voters to surrender virtually all their direct democracy power. A major, fascinating ballot issue to watch in 2026.

“Isolating people inside a small, closet-like cell for weeks, months, and even years on end remains common inside this country’s prisons and jails, even though the United Nations defines the practice as torture.” boltsmag.org/designed-to-...

we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased. www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...

Missourians have repeatedly used ballot initiatives to adopt policies that lawmakers in the GOP supermajority refuse to move on: abortion rights, paid sick leave, Medicaid expansion. In response, Missouri Republicans are attempting to make direct democracy impossible: boltsmag.org/missouri-ame...

This article is so good, it truly makes me angry that I didn't write it. Worth your time today.

NEW: Republicans have advanced a constitutional amendment to basically kill direct democracy in Missouri. Since 2020, citizens have used initiatives to increase minimum wage, expand Medicaid, protect abortion. All those measures would have failed under the GOP rules:

Deep dive on what's happening with Maine ballot measure, including funders by @burness.bsky.social at @boltsmag.org boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

For @boltsmag.org & @thenation.com, I went to the farms, livestock sale barns, and roadside bars of Arkansas and the prison towns of Upstate New York to report on how rural communities are changed (or changing) when a prison comes to town. boltsmag.org/arkansas-pri...

“Crackdown” is not an appropriate word for what Trump is doing in DC. Nor is it appropriate to call it a crime-fighting initiative. Media should not carry his water by using this language.

This new, deeply reported @laurengill.bsky.social story on prison construction will open your eyes to a whole lot. Very worth your time: boltsmag.org/arkansas-pri...

Holding local elections off-cycle seriously depresses turnout. A super underrated factor in American politics, and one of our favorite topics at @boltsmag.org. Great new @taniel.bsky.social story out on NYC election timing: boltsmag.org/new-york-cit...

Justin Douglas, the progressive Harrisburg pastor who pulled one of the biggest local election upsets of 2023, has announced he’s running for Congress in PA10. It’s one of the most flippable GOP-held seats in the country. Good time to read this @boltsmag.org profile: boltsmag.org/dauphin-coun...

The U.S. prison labor system has deep historical roots. After the Civil War, states criminalized Black people through "vagrancy laws" and sent them into forced labor through convict leasing. Historian Robert Chase explains:

Analysis by @boltsmag.org shows "how rarely elected prosecutors face any contestation at all—a trend Bolts has covered for years, which neither the rise of “progressive prosecutors” nor any pushback has changed" Only 15 of the 66 prosecutor races we ID'ed are contested! boltsmag.org/2025-prosecu...

Among the proposed changes in this conservative-backed Maine ballot measure: limiting towns/cities to 1 ballot dropbox apiece and banning them covering postage costs for people returning ballots in the mail. Much more here on a measure that deserves your attention: boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

Question 1’s leading backers have openly said that their mission is to elect Republicans. Unclear that this ballot measure would help them do that: many in Maine expect the measure would making voter harder for rural folks and for those 65+, who overwhelmingly (61% last year) prefer to vote by mail.

Essential deep dive into an under-the-radar, but important, election this fall in Maine.

Maine has the oldest population of any state and a high rate of disability. Question 1, on the November ballot, figures to make voting (especially by mail) much harder for many, and particularly for older folks and people with disabilities. New in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

The scariest thing about this @vermontgmg.bsky.social post is how sober and un-hyperbolic it is. All points of fact are supported with links to reporting. No claims are exaggerated or twisted to meet his thesis. He just lays out where we are and what this country looks like right now.

I decided to look at all 66 prosecutor elections this fall. Why? Prosecutors have huge power over sentencing, charging, second chances, and even immigration implications. Here's everything you need to know, from East to West Coast. New from me:

NEW in Bolts: An Alabama teen was shot alongside his friend, then prosecuted for his killing. His case highlights a particularly harsh doctrine in American criminal punishment: felony murder. boltsmag.org/alabama...

I had fun answering questions from @boltsmag.org readers about what is going on in Texas - and Texas’ long history of drawing gerrymandered and racially discriminatory maps. #txlege boltsmag.org/a-new-cycle-...

NEW: July was quiet but election schedule picks up in August! There are four legislative districts that have some potential of flipping in special elections; mayoral elections galore from Detroit to Seattle; a major prosecutor race; and more. My guide to 20 August elections you should know about:

A widespread data-sharing program with ICE supports local and state budgets nationwide—even in so-called sanctuary cities and states that forbid certain law enforcement cooperation and information sharing with ICE. Learn more: boltsmag.org/alameda...

Virginia Democrats, if you haven’t heard, are very proudly contesting every single state House district this year. But the party’s approach to local sheriff races, which are hugely important to immigration enforcement policy and a lot else, could not be more different: boltsmag.org/chesapeake-s...

A wild story, new in @boltsmag.org: In a city of 250K people that Harris and Biden both won, Democrats not only failed to run a candidate for sheriff but are now enthusiastically endorsing “Detain ‘Em Dave Rosado,” who just last month signed a contract with ICE. boltsmag.org/chesapeake-s...

Colorado makes voting much easier than most other places do, but still has big access gaps. For example: 100K+ voters there don’t speak English well, and often can’t get ballots in their native languages. I wrote about the state’s gradual move to close this gap: boltsmag.org/colorado-lan...

Trump has wanted a police state with himself sitting at the top as its undisputed boss since his first administration. The standoff in L.A. shows how truly eager he is to turn America’s vast warmaking powers inward on his domestic foes and critics. Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Facing community outrage at a police killing, the city council in Aurora, Colorado—home to many, many instances of police violence, famously including the killing of Elijah McClain—responds by moving its meetings online and ending public comment. @denverpost.com: www.denverpost.com/2025/06/11/a...

As of June 1, nearly 25% of the people arrested by ICE in the interior and sent to detention had NO CRIMINAL RECORD. Data from the last six years, including 1.5 years of Trump's first term, reveals how this is completely unprecedented. It also helps explain the growing backlash.

Seriously wild story: Louisiana officials called “justices of the peace” can pad their own wallets by allowing evictions to proceed. @delaneynolan.bsky.social mentions one guy who made *$255,000* in a single year mostly off eviction fees. boltsmag.org/louisiana-ju...

In Virginia’s two biggest cities, both of which went for Harris in the fall, Republican sheriffs are running for election right now with no Democratic or independent opponents. This fits into a broad trend and carries particularly high stakes for local-ICE cooperation: boltsmag.org/sheriff-elec...

In Southeast Virginia, a Republican sheriff who calls himself “Detain ’Em Dave” is facing a primary challenge - from the right, by a GOP challenger who wants *more*immigration enforcement. New from @burness.bsky.social: boltsmag.org/sheriff-elec...

Sheriffs are hugely important to Trump’s mass deportation plan. They’ve lately been rushing to partner with ICE. So we really should talk about ways in which Democrats are *not* fighting back against growing sheriff-ICE cooperation. I have a story out today on this: boltsmag.org/sheriff-elec...

I've got a new piece out on the astounding abuse of power from Missouri's AG and GOP lawmakers right now, all to try to undo the abortion rights constitutional amendment voters approved months ago—and also, how this should be a reality check on the tactic of "putting abortion on the ballot":

“Our dream is not more books in confinement but an end to torture, not more programs in prisons and jails but an end to mass incarceration and perpetual punishment.” inquest.org/free-books/

A West Virginia prosecutor says if miscarriage patients want to avoid criminal charges, they should “call 911” “Call your doctor. Call law enforcement, or 911, and just say, ‘I miscarried. I want you to know.’” jessica.substack.com/p/west-virgi...

NEW: Federal judge protects trans care for federal prisoners, blocking Trump order for now. Disputing Trump's oft-repeated "gender ideology" claims, Judge Lamberth wrote that "the plaintiffs do not seem interested in propagating any particular 'ideology.'" This afternoon, at Law Dork —>

It can seem like NYC has "ended solitary confinement" 10x by now, yet the practice persists. This is part language games, part implementation problems, &most recently active stonewalling by Eric Adams, who's for 10months blocked a solitary ban passed by the city council: boltsmag.org/new-york-rik...

The Republican state legislative playbook for many years has been: 1) Gerrymander the districts after taking power 2) Pass burdensome restrictions to suppress voters 3) Restrict ballot initiatives so voters can’t use them to undo 1 and 2 or pass progressive policies

Troopers in Central Florida appear to have been given direction not to wear their name tags during ICE operations.

NEW: The primaries for NYC mayor and New Jersey governor may be grabbing the headlines, but there are dozens of other critical battles in June—from zoning in Virginia to libraries in California. Bolts guides you through the 40 elections to watch. boltsmag.org/whats-o...

The 2022 NYT headline that said Elon Musk’s politics are “not so simple” is understandably dunked on more often, but I’d argue this gem from 2018 has aged about as well.

70% of lawyers have left DOJ Civil Rights Division & voting section down from 30 lawyers to just 3, dropping all major voting rights cases Trump has completely decimated crown jewel of DOJ & now weaponizing it to advance his extreme voter suppression plans www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The Alameda County Sheriff claims a no-contact policy with ICE: "We are not sharing information.” But the sheriff received over $1 million in federal money last year, in exchange for sensitive info on undocumented people held at the jail. My latest @boltsmag.org boltsmag.org/alameda-coun...

This tragedy underscores how local law enforcement cooperation with ICE can really undermine public safety: Many people, including witnesses to or victims of serious crimes, won’t report emergencies for fear of arrest/deportation. www.wsmv.com/2025/05/22/t...

The pro-crime safety-net cuts in the House bill are, as usual, backed by the “tough-on-crime” Republican Party.

Good time to read up on how Medicaid cuts increase crime rates: boltsmag.org/medicaid-cov...