Great panels and intellectual discussions on a quick weekend trip to Vancouver for #APSA2025 @apsa.bsky.social

You might not expect a conversation with an election law expert about gerrymandering and voting rights to be uplifting and even optimistic, but our talk with @justinlevitt.bsky.social on The Downballot podcast this week was genuinely amazing. If you need a break from the gloom, listen here -->

Enjoyed this discussion on the effect of Prop 50's new redistricting map on Asian American voters & more with @caltechlcssp.bsky.social's @rmichaelalvarez.bsky.social & UCLA's Natalie Masuoka - and not just because I was name-checked!🙂 www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3-m...

Enjoyed discussing redistricting wars, voting rights, and communities of interest today at Widener Delaware Law School. As a redistricting nerd, I was energized but the legal audience found the relative lack of national guardrails normatively depressing.

BREAKING NEWS >> Former Republican Governors Bill Weld, @govwhitman.bsky.social, @schwarzenegger.bsky.social, and Marc Racicot call on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters in a Louisiana redistricting case. statesunited.org/louisiana-re...

Quick decision from state supreme court allowing California redistricting ballot measure to continue. If only other courts could make redistricting decisions with this alacrity. bsky.app/profile/rick...

As Indiana is pressured to redistrict by White House, state legislators may recall Davis v. Bandemer (1986). Rs gerrymandered legislature in 1980s but in several seats Dems surprisingly won later due to Rs spreading out R voters across many districts. supreme.justia.com/cases/federa...

Texas state lawmakers gave final approval early Saturday to a new election map that President Trump pushed to help Republicans in next year’s midterms, sending the plan to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature after a weeks-long standoff with Democrats.

Great reporting by @politico.com on how California redistricting went from bluff to ballot reality. And notably, only after Texas acted first. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

This was a great webinar by @BrennanCenter on the state of the Voting Rights Act, redistricting, and more circa 2025. www.youtube.com/live/JApY2D8...

Smart article from @calmatters.org on "gut and amend," which has been used regularly in CA legislature for decades. The CA Supreme Court overturning that procedure would have huge ripple effects on other laws, so this legal challenge is unlikely to prevail. t.co/E2bFUbcbZj

Texas Democrat spends night in state House protesting police shadowing in redistricting battle | Click on the image to read the full story

There's a map for that.

Excited to be part of the Political Economy of Europe Pre-APSA Conference this year! The past years have been a ton of fun 💃

Perfect Sunday seeing @christiangrose.bsky.social in the Styles section alongside other A-listers www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...

READ THE FILING: Gov. Greg Abbott asks the Supreme Court of Texas to find that the chair of the TX House Dem caucus has forfeited his office (a petition for a writ of quo warranto). gov.texas.gov/uploads/file...

FOX News has incorrectly labeled Utah & SC as Democratic gerrymanders (!) even though their states are R trifectas. Utah's congressional map is 4-0 R; and SC 6 R-1 D. #redistricting I think they have mis-read or mis-informationed your data, @samwang.bsky.social

Learn more about the Texas mid-decade redistricting from TX Representative & Chair @genefortexas.bsky.social, followed by a nonpartisan panel discussion of academics & journalists to discuss broader legal, constitutional and political implications in TX & across the nation. Friday webinar!

Texas redistricting and California’s response - includes my thoughts on legal pathways in state elections code, in addition to constraints in CA constitution, that @gavinnewsom.bsky.social is considering. #crazytimes #gerrymandering www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/u...

In the sky above Los Angeles

What is the effect of primary election system reform on legislatures? At #EPSA @Charles III U. in Madrid, @alcocerjj.bsky.social and I theorize and show election reforms increase ideological diversity in legislatures, with findings strongest among Democrats. #EPSA2025

Mobilization has also been nationwide. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some activists are intentionally demonstrating in their local town rather than just traveling to a nearby big city for events.

Today at #ESRA2025, research and practice partnerships with Tonia Tunnell, Keely Varvel (AZ SoS office), Theo Menon & Christian Grose were presented. This @bipartisanpolicy.org-USC-AZSoS partnership was highlighted. Wish I could have been there in person but thanks Tonia and Theo for presenting it!

Join the Bolstering Elections Initiative, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate, & the Robert Dole Institute of Politics for a discussion of funding election administration - includes some of my research too! Wed. June 18 at 12pm ET/9am PT. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Peaceful and quiet evening in Los Angeles. Jacaranda trees blooming with purple leaves at sunset.

Today at 12 p.m. ET, join BPC, @theelectionsgroup.bsky.social, and @christiangrose.bsky.social for a discussion of findings from the program's first year, which has already empowered fellows to launch full-time careers in election administration. 👇 us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

How to inspire the next generation of election professionals? Tues 5/20 9am PT/12 ET, new research I conducted will be released. Research tests a new Election Fellows program in AZ & what role that intervention played in developing career interests in elections. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Photo from this year's USC graduation! 2025 PhD graduates @alcocerjj.bsky.social & @rcenteno.bsky.social alongside 2023 Phd @nicholasnapolio.bsky.social, who was visiting campus! Jose is off to Harvard, Raquel is off to Caltech, and Nico is tenure-track at UC, Riverside! #USCgrad @usc.edu

Very excited to share a new project I've been working on. MCs have a statistically detectable preference for enforcing the separation of powers, but it is rarely big enough to dominate their policy preferences and affect their roll call vote choices. Very early project - open to all feedback!

Congrats to @rcenteno.bsky.social and @alcocerjj.bsky.social on graduating with PhDs today! @usc.edu #USCgrad

These positions are designed for people not currently working in Canada!

Huge congrats to @alcocerjj.bsky.social! Dr. Jose Alcocer successfully defended his PhD dissertation "Three Essays on Race, Gender, & Institutional Constraints Shaping Representation in U.S. Legislatures." Thx @nicduquette.bsky.social, Jeb Barnes & Pablo Barbera! @usc.edu @dornsife.usc.edu

Big congrats to Dr. @rcenteno.bsky.social! Raquel Centeno successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation "The Racial Undercurrents of Partisan Polarization." Thanks Jane Junn, @yesthatabbywood.bsky.social, @efrenpolipsy.bsky.social! @usc.edu @dornsife.usc.edu

Final decision in Milligan v. Allen on Alabama's redistricting plan. The court (Three Republican appointees) finds the Alabama legislature intentionally discriminated against Black voters. This means Alabama is likely to be placed back under DOJ preclearance per "bail in" provisions of the VRA.

The court says it will hold remedial proceedings regarding a new map, though it may simply keep in place the map used last year, which was drawn by a court-appointed expert. That would make sense, since Black voters were able to elect their preferred candidate in #AL02 in 2024, Dem Shomari Figures.

NEW: Federal court issues *final* declaration that the AL legislature's 2023 House map violates federal law. In 2023, the court issued a *preliminary* injunction barring use of that map and imposed a court-drawn map for 2024. It may remain in place for the rest of the decade, but not clear yet.

California poppies on a neighborhood walk.

Why do our legislatures look like they do? I wrote about a surprising answer that came about with new data. goodauthority.org/news/its-202...

It’s a good day to refamiliarize oneself with Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. 539 (1842).

Finally, the long awaited dataset of 2024 presidential results by CD from @the-downballot.com is out! www.the-downballot.com/p/the-downba...

Went out for early morning walk to Pike's Place Market before conference in Seattle.

NEW: Today, NSF "disestablished" most of its scientific advisory committees. These are committees of outside experts convened to help shape NSF programs. Only five statutorily required committees remain, the rest are gone. www.nsf.gov/executive-or...

1/Pairing was done within a party, with few exceptions. Pairing evaporated as fewer partisans took opposite sides on votes and as a nonvoting became an issue in more campaigns.

I’m in town for a conference in Chicago, and there is a huge #HandsOff protest. Themes include protecting science & national parks. View of the street from the hotel.

Wisconsin judicial race: Crawford slightly ahead in Outagamie County, a bellwether county that usually marginally votes Republican. Trump got 54% of the vote in 2024, and Dem judicial candidate ahead slightly with 94% of the vote in.

Here's the scatterplot of the % for Fine (R) in the FL CD6 race against Trump '24, at the precinct level. The uniform swing is -7.3 points.

The FL6 special election is a shocker for the margin. District is about a ~30+ R district, but R won by about 10 points. A 20 point swing toward Ds, and a potential canary in coal mine for Rs in more competitive districts.

Interesting article on an alternative path from tech philanthropists - In praise of Laurene Powell Jobs. www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

Road to the VRA: 60 years ago today, GOP minority leader Everett Dirksen tells reporters that he & Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach are in agreement about broadening the scope of the proposed Voting Rights Act to cover more discrimination and that Dirksen will be submitting revised language.