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In It to Win It
In It to Win It's Journal
In It to Win It's Journal
May 21, 2026
Trump right now is the weakest he's ever been with the public! Democrats lead the generic ballot! Inflation is high! Gas is expensive! The Iran war is a quagmire and things are likely to get worse before they get better!
And yet: Bill Cassidy just lost his Senate primary for voting to convict Trump after January 6th. Thomas Massie just lost his for being a small thorn in the president's side.
Trump still has total control of the Republican Party and he is using that to insulate himself from accountability.
No Republican Can Survive the Trump Cult of Personality - Jamelle Bouie
Trump right now is the weakest he's ever been with the public! Democrats lead the generic ballot! Inflation is high! Gas is expensive! The Iran war is a quagmire and things are likely to get worse before they get better!
And yet: Bill Cassidy just lost his Senate primary for voting to convict Trump after January 6th. Thomas Massie just lost his for being a small thorn in the president's side.
Trump still has total control of the Republican Party and he is using that to insulate himself from accountability.
May 20, 2026
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit for leaking his tax documents and his own DOJ settled it, creating a $2 billion secret slush fund with no congressional approval and no public oversight. Leah Litman breaks it down with former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer.
Trump's DOJ Just Declared He Can't Be Audited, Sued, or Prosecuted EVER w/ former DOJ Attorney Liz Oyer and Leah Litman
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit for leaking his tax documents and his own DOJ settled it, creating a $2 billion secret slush fund with no congressional approval and no public oversight. Leah Litman breaks it down with former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer.
May 20, 2026
South Carolina House Republicans have passed their new 7-0 congressional gerrymander that targets Jim Clyburn's seat
South Carolina state House Republicans have passed their new 7-0 congressional gerrymander that targets the only Black Democrat, longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn.
— Stephen Wolf (@stephenwolf.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T15:07:45.949Z
The Senate GOP lacked a 2/3 supermajority for a procedural vote last week, but they only need a simple majority this time.
See the map below ⬇ï¸
May 20, 2026
GOP-Backed Justices Prevail in Georgia in Unusually Spirited Supreme Court Elections
https://boltsmag.org/georgia-supreme-court-election-results-2026/Two Georgia Supreme Court justices fended off unusually spirited election challenges from a pair of liberal attorneys on Tuesday, in a setback for Democrats who’d hoped to make inroads on this court in order to advance abortion and voting rights.
One of Tuesday’s two supreme court races was a rout: Justice Sarah Warren led former Democratic state Senator Jen Jordan by about 19 percentage points early Wednesday.
The other contest was much closer: Justice Charlie Bethel, a former Republican state representative, led personal injury attorney Miracle Rankin by roughly 2 points when the Associated Press called the race shortly after midnight.
Results were delayed on Tuesday because gunshots near an elementary school in the morning resulted in an hourslong manhunt and shut down a polling site in the Atlanta suburbs. Voting eventually resumed there, but a judge ordered the site to remain open an extra four hours, which prevented Fulton County from releasing any of its results until after 11 p.m.
Both of Tuesday’s winners were appointed to the bench by former Republican Governor Nathan Deal and endorsed this spring by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, the state GOP, and various conservative groups. Jordan and Rankin ran with the support of former President Barack Obama, the state Democratic Party, and other left-leaning groups. Bethel and Warren each earned six-year terms, as did incumbent Justice Ben Land, who was unopposed on Tuesday.
One of Tuesday’s two supreme court races was a rout: Justice Sarah Warren led former Democratic state Senator Jen Jordan by about 19 percentage points early Wednesday.
The other contest was much closer: Justice Charlie Bethel, a former Republican state representative, led personal injury attorney Miracle Rankin by roughly 2 points when the Associated Press called the race shortly after midnight.
Results were delayed on Tuesday because gunshots near an elementary school in the morning resulted in an hourslong manhunt and shut down a polling site in the Atlanta suburbs. Voting eventually resumed there, but a judge ordered the site to remain open an extra four hours, which prevented Fulton County from releasing any of its results until after 11 p.m.
Both of Tuesday’s winners were appointed to the bench by former Republican Governor Nathan Deal and endorsed this spring by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, the state GOP, and various conservative groups. Jordan and Rankin ran with the support of former President Barack Obama, the state Democratic Party, and other left-leaning groups. Bethel and Warren each earned six-year terms, as did incumbent Justice Ben Land, who was unopposed on Tuesday.
Conservatives won re-election to Georgia’s supreme court, extending a 104-year streak of incumbent victories.
— Alex Burness (@burness.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T04:37:47.656Z
Tonight’s victors voted to ban abortion at six weeks and to effectively kill the Georgia prosecution of Trump for his 2020 “find 11,780 votes†interference. boltsmag.org/georgia-supr...
NEW: Two sitting supreme court justices prevailed in Georgia with GOP support, holding back a pair of liberal attorneys who challenged them & stressed the importance of state courts.
— Taniel (@taniel.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T04:18:41.228Z
The result continues a remarkable streak of no incumbent justice losing reelection in Georgia in 100+ years.
May 20, 2026
DDHQ projects both liberal candidates have lost their races for seats on the Georgia Supreme Court
May 20, 2026
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic nomination for governor in Georgia
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/19/bottoms-wins-georgia-governor-primary-00929086
May 20, 2026
Decision Desk HQ projects Doug Jones wins the AL Governor Democratic Primary
Decision Desk HQ projects Doug Jones wins the AL Governor Democratic Primary
— Decision Desk HQ (@decisiondeskhq.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T01:03:17.965Z
#DecisionMade: 9:02 PM EDT
May 19, 2026
Thomas Massie loses his primary race, projected by Decision DesK HQ
https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/races/2026-05-19/kentucky-us-house-4-republican-primaryDecision Desk HQ projects Ed Gallrein wins the KY US House 4 Republican Primary
— Decision Desk HQ (@decisiondeskhq.bsky.social) 2026-05-19T23:42:01.850Z
#DecisionMade: 7:41 PM EDT
May 19, 2026
We have entered a world of maximum gerrymandering warfare. Any guardrails that once existed, from the Constitution or the courts, have been bulldozed over the last decade – most recently in the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act and made it harder for minorities to challenge racially discriminatory voting maps.
Red and blue states alike have been aggressively trying to redraw their congressional maps in response to all these developments. And there is no sign that will end in 2028; legislatures will just continue trying to tweak their lines to squeeze out advantage for whatever party is in power. And competitive districts in this country – already an endangered species – now teeter on extinction.
That is, unless something dramatic changes.
Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the political reform program at New America. He’s one of the most persistent and thoughtful advocates of selecting House members through proportional representation – a system used in many other countries that would make gerrymandering much more difficult. He's the author of the 2020 book “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America” and writes the newsletter Undercurrent Events.
0:00 Intro
1:44 What is gerrymandering?
5:04 The midcycle redistricting wars
8:38 How SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act
14:21 What this means for the midterms
19:32 Proportional representation, explained
25:53 Why proportional representation can end gerrymandering
32:15 Ending the two-party doom loop
48:04 Global comparisons
1:01:18 Passing reforms
1:06:49 The political path to reform
1:13:27 Book Recommendations
How to End the Gerrymandering Doom Loop Forever - The Ezra Klein Show
We have entered a world of maximum gerrymandering warfare. Any guardrails that once existed, from the Constitution or the courts, have been bulldozed over the last decade – most recently in the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act and made it harder for minorities to challenge racially discriminatory voting maps.
Red and blue states alike have been aggressively trying to redraw their congressional maps in response to all these developments. And there is no sign that will end in 2028; legislatures will just continue trying to tweak their lines to squeeze out advantage for whatever party is in power. And competitive districts in this country – already an endangered species – now teeter on extinction.
That is, unless something dramatic changes.
Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the political reform program at New America. He’s one of the most persistent and thoughtful advocates of selecting House members through proportional representation – a system used in many other countries that would make gerrymandering much more difficult. He's the author of the 2020 book “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America” and writes the newsletter Undercurrent Events.
0:00 Intro
1:44 What is gerrymandering?
5:04 The midcycle redistricting wars
8:38 How SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act
14:21 What this means for the midterms
19:32 Proportional representation, explained
25:53 Why proportional representation can end gerrymandering
32:15 Ending the two-party doom loop
48:04 Global comparisons
1:01:18 Passing reforms
1:06:49 The political path to reform
1:13:27 Book Recommendations
Profile Information
Member since: Sun May 27, 2018, 06:53 PMNumber of posts: 12,828