‪ It's no surprise that it's been a hellish year. Saturday on WCPT 820AM/ @heartlandsignal.bsky.social, we'll take a look back plus look ahead to 2026 with: + @normeisen.bsky.social + @mjtoma.bsky.social + @froomkin.bsky.social + @klasfeldreports.com 🤳Stream 1-4 CT bit.ly/3DAcG8s

Man jailed for Charlie Kirk meme teams up with FIRE to file lawsuit against Tennessee https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/18/man-jailed-for-charlie-kirk-meme-teams-up-with-fire-to-file-lawsuit-against-tennessee/

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) falsely claims that not a single person has gotten cheaper health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. "Find one American that says that their health care is now cheaper today than it was when they passed this disastrous bill. You won't."

County chairs for Ashley Hinson’s Senate campaign have multiple ties to far-right extremists https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/18/county-chairs-for-ashley-hinsons-senate-campaign-have-multiple-ties-to-far-right-extremists/

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signs gun violence executive orders after special session falls through https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/18/minnesota-gov-tim-walz-signs-gun-violence-executive-orders-after-special-session-falls-through/

Heartland Signal's head of research Aaron Kleinman joins WCPT's Joan Esposito to talk about how the struggling economy and affordability crisis is finally pushing some Republicans to see that President Donald Trump is bad for America, and there's "room for it to get worse."

NEW REPORT FINDS MINNESOTA STATE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN PROVIDING INACCURATE SNAP DATA FOR YEARS https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/16/new-report-finds-minnesota-state-government-has-been-providing-inaccurate-snap-data-for-years/

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) says House Republicans have no responsibility to contact the local governments and organizations they just unilaterally blocked $645 million in earmarked work project spending for.

Indiana State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) tells WCPT's Richard Chew and Patti Vasquez that the credit for defeating the GOP's redistricting scheme in the state goes to Hoosiers that got engaged.

Vice President JD Vance doesn't deny White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' claim that he is a conspiracy theorist: "Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true."

Before signing a bill to fund and reform Chicago and Illinois' public transit systems without any new taxes, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) highlights how his state is doing the opposite of what most states do with public transit: defunding it.

U.S. Rep. Quigley (D) says that with Trump's attacks on Hispanic communities across Illinois are facing bigger challenges during the peak of COVID-19. "If they don't have a good holiday season, Chicago will lose a great number of a key component of our economy: our small businesses."

Indiana State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) tells WCPT's Richard Chew and Patti Vasquez that the recent GOP redistricting debate will go down as "one of the saddest chapters in the Indiana General Assembly's history."

Indiana State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) tells WCPT's Patti Vasquez and Richard Chew that he believes most state Senate Republicans voted down the GOP's redistricting scheme because the pressure from constituents outweighed the pressure from the White House.

U.S. Rep. Quigley (D) tells WCPT's Joan Esposito that Ebenezer Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol" is less evil than the Republicans that passed health care, food security and housing cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill. "Scrooge would blush at what we're seeing here, and at least he was redeemable."

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U.S. Rep. @casten.house.gov (D-IL) predicts that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine and anti-science policies could lead to more deaths than World War I. "If RFK Jr. succeeds, he will be responsible for killing more people than all of World War I."

On "The John Fredericks Radio Show," Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) jokingly tells Fredericks it "sounds really gay" when tattoos are called "body art."

Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) appears to criticize State Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) over his age, even though he voted for the GOP's redistricting plan. Beckwith claimed, without evidence, that Alting came from the hospital to vote on Thursday.

Indiana lieutenant governor supports primarying Republicans opposed to redistricting, but new map unlikely before midterms Full story: https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/12/indiana-lieutenant-governor-supports-primarying-republicans-opposed-to-redistricting-but-new-map-unlikely-before-midterms/

U.S. Rep. @casten.house.gov (D-IL) tells WCPT'S Joan Esposito that the Trump administration will likely try to intimidate voters and that Americans wanting to fight back should look to how Black communities mobilized in the face of voter suppression.

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Immediately after CNN's Brianna Keilar notes Indiana State Sen. Michael Bohacek (R) voted against the Trump-led redistricting plan explicitly because of the president's use of an ableist slur, State Rep. Andrew Ireland (R) says he doesn't know why Bohacek voted against it.

Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) tells NewsNation's Blake Burman that he endorses the Trump administration's plan to primary the state senators that voted against a gerrymandering plan. "We’re gonna find some really good America First candidates to run in this next primary season."

Indiana Senate Republicans reject new gerrymandered map. The Indiana state Senate voted down House Bill 1032, which would have allowed Republicans to redistrict mid-decade without new Census data. https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/12/indiana-senate-republicans-reject-new-gerrymandered-map/

Report: Tom Tiffany criticizes campaign finance loophole he voted to enact into law https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/12/report-tom-tiffany-criticizes-campaign-finance-loophole-he-voted-to-enact-into-law/

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) says Democrats will continue their retaliatory national redistricting push: "The reality of the situation is that Republicans may have started this redistricting battle, we as Democrats plan to finish it."

U.S. Rep. @casten.house.gov (D-IL) tells WCPT'S Joan Esposito that even if the White House was to be held accountable for the "double tap" strike ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pam Bondi-led Justice Department would never put Hegseth on trial.

Missouri secretary of state sets off another legal battle over gerrymandering https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/11/missouri-secretary-of-state-sets-off-another-legal-battle-over-gerrymandering/

BREAKING: The push to gerrymander Indiana fails in the state Senate, with some Republicans joining Democrats to vote down new maps by a vote of 19-31.

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Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R) calls a budget rule that allowed Republicans to disapprove $645 million in work project spending with little to no debate "my favorite law." “The law that ... unilaterally kill[s] hundreds of millions of dollars of Democrat pork and waste, fraud and abuse.”

On the same day he voted against lowering health care premiums, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) says the best way to tackle affordability is to earn more. "Look, there are three ways to make things more affordable. Earn more, keep more of what you earn and drive down prices."

Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate @amymcgrath.bsky.social says the Trump administration is not releasing the unedited "double tap" boat strike video because it will hold them accountable. "We know why they're not releasing it: Because they know what happened was wrong."

U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) defends ICE agents and says they're simply following orders from Congress. "So when we villainize ICE agents ... who are simply enforcing the laws that this Congress — or not this Congress, but Congress has passed over the years. This is insane."

Republican Kansas mayor resigns as he faces felony charges, possible deportation over alleged voter fraud https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/10/republican-kansas-mayor-resigns-as-he-faces-felony-charges-possible-deportation-over-alleged-voter-fraud/

Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate @amymcgrath.bsky.social calls out the hypocrisy of President Donald Trump and Republicans defending strikes on alleged drug boats despite pardoning Juan Orlando Hernández, the ex-Honduras president and convicted drug trafficker.

Raja Krishnamoorthi has had a bad week even though it’s Wednesday https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/10/raja-krishnamoorthi-has-had-a-bad-week-even-though-its-wednesday/

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) says that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) would make a good president. "I think there are a lot of governors in this country who would make great presidents, and I think he would be one of them."

People Not Politicians executive director Richard von Glahn explains Missouri's effort to put the GOP's gerrymandered map on the ballot for voter approval.

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Missouri group submits nearly three times as many signatures as needed for gerrymander repeal vote https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/10/missouri-group-submits-nearly-three-times-as-many-signatures-as-needed-for-gerrymander-repeal-vote/

If what happened in Tennessee last week happened across the nation, Democrats would win around 600 new seats across the nation next year. How Tennessee 7th’s 13-point Democratic shift would look across the nation for 2026: https://bit.ly/4s6Ym11

Jasmine Crockett joins Texas U.S. Senate race https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/09/jasmine-crockett-joins-texas-u-s-senate-race/

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Map mix-up sends Missouri Republican spiraling into George Soros rant https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/08/map-mix-up-sends-missouri-republican-spiraling-into-george-soros-rant/

While defending Indiana Republicans' efforts to gerrymander the state, U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) baselessly claims the U.S. Census "manipulated" the population counts for Democratic-run states. "What has happened is that the Census has manipulated the seat amounts per state..."

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Local information moves because YOU move it. Tell us how you share news — it takes a minute — and enter to win a $25 VISA gift card. 🔗: heartlandsignal.com/share