With the midterm elections only weeks away, the shape of U.S. House districts is again front and center in political conversation. A central question is how much Republican-drawn maps might disadvantage Democratic candidates. To tackle this issue and the debate about redistricting generally, I talked to two scholars: Jonathan Rodden […] Read more »
Is the Rust Belt Still Trump Country?
Democrats are poised to win every Senate and governor’s race throughout the Midwest this November, and they are expected to pick up House seats in the region too. But in their bid to win control of Midwestern state Legislatures — bodies that will have the power to gerrymander congressional, State […] Read more »
A Grim Fall Awaits GOP
For over six months this column has suggested that this election amounts to a Democratic tidal wave crashing against a Republican seawall—the question is which will be stronger. At Labor Day, the traditional beginning of the general-election-campaign season, that continues to be the case, though how that dynamic manifests itself […] Read more »
A Census Question That Could Change How Power Is Divided in America
A citizenship question on the 2020 census has already drawn challenges from states that fear an undercount of immigrants and a loss of federal funds. But demographers say there could be even deeper consequences: The question could generate the data necessary to redefine how political power is apportioned in America. […] Read more »
Obamacare used to be political poison for Democrats. Now they see it as a winning prescription — even in red states
For years Democrats ran from the healthcare issue as though it were a heap of flaming rubble, which, politically speaking, it was. Passage of the Affordable Care Act cost them control of Congress, gave rise to the upstart tea party movement and helped install Donald Trump in the White House. […] Read more »
What the Governor of Massachusetts Tells Us About American Voters
A new WBUR poll of Massachusetts residents confirms that the incumbent governor, Charlie Baker, is overwhelmingly popular and in excellent position to win a second term by a landslide. … What has allowed him to escape the partisan wars that have scarred so many other politicians? Part of the answer […] Read more »