Early Returns - Law and Politics with Jan Baran

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Jon Seaton: A Knife Fight in a Phone Booth

2026-09-1635:53

Most voters will not see a single door knocker this fall. A small number will not be able to get anyone to leave them alone. In this episode of Early Returns, host Jan Baran speaks with Republican campaign consultant Jon Seaton about where the 2026 midterms are actually being fought and what that means for the person holding the ballot. Fewer than 40 of the 435 House seats are genuinely in play, with Republicans defending 23 and Democrats 14 according to the Cook Political Report. Seato...

Bob Bauer - A White House Counsel Explains Where Law Ends and Politics Begins

2026-08-2651:27

The hardest question in political law isn’t a case cite or a filing deadline. It’s “Who is the client?” We sit down with Bob Bauer, longtime election lawyer, former Obama White House counsel, and author of The Unraveling, to unpack how that single question drives ethics, privilege, and decision-making at the highest levels of government. We start with the post-Watergate world that built modern campaign finance regulation: contribution limits, disclosure, the creation of the Federal Election ...

Inside the New Redistricting Wars with Richard Pildes and Jason Torchinsky

2026-06-3001:04:37

Congressional maps are being redrawn in the middle of the decade, the Supreme Court has sharply narrowed a core piece of the Voting Rights Act, and both parties are racing to squeeze out every seat they can before 2028. On this episode of Early Returns, host Jan Baran sorts through what is actually happening with two lawyers who have argued these cases: Richard Pildes, professor of law at NYU and former legal advisor to the Obama and Biden campaigns, and Jason Torchinsky, partner at Holtzman ...

Sarah Isgur - Last Branch Standing: Inside the Court That Everyone Gets Wrong

2026-05-1938:59

Jan Baran sits down with Sarah Isgur, author of the New York Times bestseller Last Branch Standing, for a wide-ranging conversation about law, campaigns, and the Supreme Court. Sarah draws on her experience in opposition research, Election Day legal operations for Romney 2012, and her role as deputy campaign manager of the Carly Fiorina campaign to explore what it really means to be a lawyer in politics. She makes the case that a good campaign lawyer's job isn't to say no. It’s to find ...

Charlie Cook: Reading the Midterm Elections

2026-03-2650:41

With eight months until the 2026 midterms and Republicans holding razor-thin margins in both chambers, host Jan Baran welcomes back well-known political analyst Charlie Cook for a wide-ranging assessment of where the country stands heading into a consequential election cycle. Cook reflects on the 2024 race, explaining why the Biden-to-Harris transition was unlikely to change the outcome. The undecided voters had already tuned out, and any nominee from that administration faced the same headwi...

#box-pro-ellipsis-179326152189236{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Early Returns - Law and Politics with Jan Baran

Early Returns - Law and Politics with Jan Baran