So when folks say they want to see Dems stand up to Trump, I think what they mean is don't succumb to Trump's pressure and grant clemency to an election denier who breached her county's election equipment.

A powerful tribute to Jason Collins, who died this week. by @charlotteclymer.bsky.social

Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen whose prior detentions went viral and were detailed by ProPublica, was recently detained for a third time — and shackled. “I just want to live in peace,” he says. @nicolefoy.bsky.social

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.

Polls have now closed in the Michigan special election: Democrats are defending a state Senate seat, while the GOP is looking to flip it — and if they do they erase Dems' majority in the chamber. Stay tuned.

Will Democrats' over-performance in special elections strike again today in Michigan's 35th? We'll know tonight! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

NEW: Now that the Supreme Court has rendered the last remaining pillar of the VRA toothless, Republicans in eight states are free to gerrymander more than a dozen congressional districts that had been designed to remedy discrimination against Black and Latino voters. We catalog them all here -->

A few weeks ago, Christopher Rufo, of all people, publicly vented his frustration with the increasingly deranged state of today’s Right, bemoaning that its “collective brain is getting melted in a vat of slop, conspiracy, and algorithm-chasing.” He’s right! But also: He bears responsibility.

The Makoka brothers were waiting on the curb of their street to get on their school bus in Diamondhead, Mississippi, last Tuesday. But when their bus arrived to pick them up, 10 unmarked cars suddenly surrounded them, and ICE agents rushed to zip tie them and take them away.

I know we’re all numb to this now but… this is so unhinged.

"women are less likely than men to receive CPR from a bystander (a nonmedical professional who is nearby) in public, and they are less likely to receive defibrillation (shocks that can restart the heart)." via @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

Happy Tax Day! Last year, Tesla reported $5.7 billion in U.S. profits. It paid $0 in federal taxes. As did Citigroup, CVS, Palantir, PayPal, and many others. via @juddlegum.bsky.social

"Coachella is run by... a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation, which is owned by right-wing billionaire Philip Anschutz" who donates to the Republican Governors Association, the Republican AGs Association, the Senate Leadership Fund, & the Congressional Leadership Fund. @juddlegum.bsky.social

This week, Brexit finally killed our family business. We cleared out our warehouse, handed back the keys, paid the final bills and said goodbye to our last employee. What was once a thriving firm died a slow, sad death, all thanks to Farage, Johnson and the gullible idiots they conned. 1/18

The share of Americans who identify as Republican or leaning Republican hit its lowest level since 2015. Via @gelliottmorris.com

Trump poop bags just arrived!

13% of Trump voters regret their vote; 6% of Harris voters regret their vote. Here's how they would vote today. via @gelliottmorris.com

This is an absolute scandal; the United States government is deliberately consolidating all deportation cases of an ethnic minority that the President has called "garbage" in front of a handpicked group of judges and with dramatically accelerated timeline. A lawsuit was filed yesterday against it.

Adding to my podcast library!

For the second year in a row, the gender pay gap has widened. Women working full-time, year-round, now earn 81 cents for every dollar men earn. That's down from 83 cents a year ago, and 84 cents the year prior. We can and must end the gender pay gap & ensure equal pay for equal work. #EqualPayDay

ICE isn’t just the least favorite Federal law enforcement agency, per @gelliottmorris.com , it’s in a category of its own.

Special election flips have offered some hope this year.

📣 New job at Oxford's Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods (CASSM)! 📣 The Departments of Politics & IR (DPIR) and Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) are hiring an Associate Professor of Causal and Experimental Methods. Come work with me and amazing Oxford peeps! Deadline NOON April 27th.

I want to make a point that should have been made by the defendants and that really destroys one of the government’s main arguments. It’s about historical practice of processing asylum seekers at land borders.

Donald Trump called mail-in voting “mail-in cheating” on Monday. That same day, news broke that he just voted by mail in a Florida special election.

The amount of antisemitism on this website is growing incredibly fast. Calling Jews “Zionists.” The unrelenting AIPAC obsession. Someone - seemingly a left-winger - just straight-up called me a Jew as a term of derision. There’s something really bad happening here and we need to put a check on it.

Before Citizens United, the share of billionaire spending on political campaigns was less than 1%. Now? 19%. Via @pivotpod.bsky.social

Dems posted sizable overperformances in two PA specials tonight but ran well behind the top of the ticket in VA. All were very red districts, especially in PA. PA HD-79: 17-pt overperformance PA HD-193: 18-pt over VA HD-97: 10-pt under Our complete Big Board: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Watch Altoona's special election today! www.the-downballot.com/p/morning-di...

Experts… who needs them?

This is not true—driver’s licenses aren’t acceptable under the SAVE Act without additional proof of citizenship. The fact that they keep doing this sleight of hand should make clear that the SAVE Act is not something that “every American gets”

NEW: Believe it or not, it’s that time of year: the Wisconsin Supreme Court election is next month. Liberals have a huge opportunity: if they win, they can lock down the majority of this court thru 2030. That means they’d have it in the next presidential race, a big democracy guardrail. Share:

Kalshi prediction market flips entirely on the TX Rep Senate nominee prediction.

Democrats have more flip opportunities *this month* in New Hampshire and Florida, and arguably Louisiana (that one may be a stretch). More info in the legislative special election section of my guide if you scroll down: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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-...

BREAKING: The Texas Secretary of State DID NOT UPDATE the precinct maps on their website last December. MY GOD @msnowreports.bsky.social

A democratic candidate just won in the *checks notes* Arkansas state house special election. Flip from R to D.

🚩 I am serving on this year's APSA Migration & Citizenship section Career Achievement award selection committee & encourage you to nominate a scholar of migration/citizenship whose career you believe has made outstanding contributions to this field. Deadline extended by a few days. 🚩

“Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital did not share how much Parton donated as part of the naming announcement. But Matt Schaefer, its president and CEO, said her support would ensure ‘every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.’” GOD BLESS DOLLY PARTON

It’s insane this is legal. People around Trump are profiting off war and death. I’m introducing legislation ASAP to ban this.

The richest man owns X. The second and third richest men control Google. The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post. And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?

The Washington Post's description of the bodycam video of his arrest last year, and the translation of Mr. Shah Alam's comments, is gutting. Remember, he was entirely blind in one eye and could only see three feet in the other, and he spoke virtually no English. He spent a year in jail for this.

This is how white nationalism undermines very basic thinking. I interned in a state Medicaid/Medicare audit unit. The idea that states do not do this already is absurd and is only justified if you are incensed that non-white people receive equal benefits that they are entitled to under the law.

Look at the look on the faces of Vance and Johnson. Not just willing, but enthusiastic accomplices and enablers. History will not be kind.

Jay Bhattacharya used to argue for transparency and debate in public health. He now leads the NIH and the CDC. Is he living up to his own standards?

🚨 Please share widely! 🚨 I'm hiring a postdoc (from Aug 1) to help build a new research program on politically sustainable immigration policies at Notre Dame. Looking for a social scientist with strong quant skills, familiarity with new computational tools, and interest in public-facing research.

The President boasts of "no tax on tips", but this expires in 2028. He boasts of "no tax on overtime," but it is taxed, and the break expires in 2028. He boasts of "no tax on social security," but it is taxed, and his break expires in 2028. He also passed tax cuts for the rich. They're permanent.

I really should have watched Heated Rivalry instead.

He sounds bored of his own speech.

Eye-popping margins in the Pennsylvania special elections today: —Democrats won HD94 by 63 points. (Harris won it by 30 in 2024.) —Democrats won HD42 by 35 points. (Harris won it by 17 in 2024.) [The 2024 numbers are via the essential @the-downballot.com].