With help from Manchin and Sinema, a Republican revolution from below is driving national policy

Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country are approving a wave of new voting restrictions on virtually party-line votes that require only a simple majority to pass. The US Supreme Court has likewise decided the key voting rights rulings that helped trigger this surge of state legislation on a party-line, majority-vote […] Read more »

New York State: Hochul Dominating Primary Field; Viewed Most Favorably by Dems

Governor Kathy Hochul is – five months before the primary – the clear favorite among New York Democrats, leading potential primary opponents by more than 30 points. She has the support of 46 percent of Democrats, compared to 12 percent for former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, 11 […] Read more »

Washington State: Economy is top legislative concern for 2022

For the first time in eight years, the economy tops the list of issues Washington voters want the Legislature to address in 2022, eclipsing homelessness and COVID-19 as the leading concerns statewide, according to a new Crosscut/Elway Poll. The new poll, released Thursday, asked 400 registered voters an open-ended question […] Read more »

The coronavirus debate over school closures has hurt Democrats

The battle over whether schools should be closed to in-person learning because of the coronavirus has ramped up with the Omicron surge. Schools in a number of districts in the country have either gone fully to remote learning or have delayed returning after the holidays. It has also pitted teachers’ […] Read more »

‘A hell of a year’: GOP eyes big 2022, but weaknesses remain

This time last year, the Republican Party was hitting bottom. … What a difference 12 months make. Entering a pivotal election year, a resurgent GOP is poised to reclaim one, if not both, chambers of Congress and retain its lock on dozens of state legislatures and governor’s offices. While victory […] Read more »

‘Slow-motion insurrection’: How GOP seizes election power

In the weeks leading up to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, a handful of Americans — well-known politicians, obscure local bureaucrats — stood up to block then-President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attempt to overturn a free and fair vote of the American people. In the year […] Read more »