The Downballot

Here’s the downside to comfortably winning year after year: Your campaign skills get rusty in a hurry. As David Nir and guest-host Joe Sudbay discuss on this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, that problem is now in full bloom for Republicans across the country who are suddenly facing competitive elections in states where Democrats have often been an afterthought.The roster of creaky candidates includes the likes of Roger Marshall, Pete Ricketts, and Ken Paxton, all of whom are finding out the hard way that campaigning ain’t easy. But you can even add Susan Collins to the list. After a lifetime of softball media coverage, she’s suddenly scrambling to deal with a major corruption scandal, and she isn’t handling it well.David and Joe also put a bow on the Missouri redistricting saga, which finally came to a close days ago when the Supreme Court smacked down Republicans—and wayward judges—once and for all. But speaking of unprepared, the GOP’s long-running effort to block pro-democracy ballot measures has left them with little time, and even less money, to campaign against them. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

Democrats have blown past Republicans in primary turnout this year, but does it mean anything for November? The answer is a very firm “yes,” as co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explain on this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast. In a groundbreaking special report, our colleague Daniel Donner collected more than a century’s worth of data on primaries that demonstrate a very close correlation with general election results—and it all points toward a potential landslide for Democrats of epic proportions.The Davids also sit down with Sara Kohen, who’s running to serve on the board of directors of the Omaha Public Power District, a major electric utility that serves nearly a million people. As Kohen tells us, the OPPD’s board holds major sway over how power is generated for its customers, including whether to pursue renewable energy over fossil fuels. She also details her conversations with voters, who are particularly concerned about data centers and soaring utility bills. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

Donald Trump just tried to interfere with the midterms in a very baroque way—and swiftly got smacked down by the courts. But what exactly was he trying to do, and how was he trying to do it?On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, election law expert Justin Levitt explains how the U.S. Postal Service tried to issue new rules for mail ballots that would have resulted in many never reaching voters, and how election officials fought back by showing that they would have been impossible to comply with—and almost certainly illegal. Levitt also tells us why he doesn’t think similar gambits are likely to succeed in the future.Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also put a bow on the Missouri redistricting saga, which came to an end just after our last episode went live when the Supreme Court made it clear that the state could not use the GOP’s new gerrymander. The Davids then discuss the belated Republican rescue mission in Texas, where a floundering Ken Paxton is finally getting some help … that may have arrived too late. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

Election Day is still almost two months off, but Republicans have already begun making once-touted recruits walk the plank. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explain why the decision by GOP power players to torpedo one of their own candidates in a New York House race that should be competitive is such a grim moment for Republicans. It may be their first act of triage, but it won’t be the last.The Davids also recap Tuesday’s primaries in New Hampshire, including a Democratic battle in a swingy open seat that, once again, ought to be fiercely contested by Republicans but won’t be. They wrap up with the chaotic situation unfolding in Missouri, where dueling court rulings have ordered election officials to use different congressional maps in November, prompting chaos, confusion, and a massive flurry of legal filings. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

We’ve all been bombarded with those histrionic text messages making over-the-top requests for donations, but they’re more than just annoying—there are hidden victims of these hyper-aggressive fundraising practices.On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, Stanford political scientist Adam Bonica discusses his deep investigation into the ways Democratic organizations and “spam PACs” are deploying these frenzied messages, which end up exploiting many senior citizens—some of whom have responded by donating literally thousands of times.But the harm runs even deeper. As Bonica explains, even as these techniques rake in huge sums from the elderly, they’ve alienated many other donors. That’s created a serious risk of a broader crash in grassroots fundraising that could seriously undermine Democrats, something Republicans have already experienced thanks to their own slash-and-burn approach.Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also recap Tuesday’s primaries in Massachusetts and preview next week’s contests in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Finally, they make sense of the chaos in Alaska, where a deadline for candidates to drop out following the state’s unique top-four primary prompted a reshuffle of the November ballot in all of the top races. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe