The Downballot

• Georgia GOP panics after huge Dem flip

  Georgia Democrats didn’t just flip a deep-red seat in a special election on Tuesday. They’ve also sent Republicans into a panic—in the Peach State and across the country. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explore Eric Gisler’s massive upset, what it means for next year’s elections in Georgia, and why the GOP may want to slow its roll on mid-decade redistricting.On that last topic, the Davids also sit down with Richard von Glahn of People Not Politicians Missouri, which just submitted more than 300,000 signatures to put the GOP’s new gerrymander up for a vote next year. Von Glahn gives us the nitty-gritty on how veto referendums work, all the ways Republican officials are trying to thwart the repeal effort, and how organizers are fighting back—in the courts and on the ground. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

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• GOP in disarray after Tennessee special

  Tuesday’s special election in Tennessee’s deeply conservative 7th District yielded two things for Republicans: a win, and widespread panic. On The Downballot podcast this week, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explain why Democrat Aftyn Behn’s 13-point overperformance rightly has the GOP terrified. This was no sleepy, low-turnout affair. Voter participation was at midterm levels, which means that dozens of slightly bluer but still very red Republican seats could be in play next year. Look out!Subscribe to The Downballot!The Davids also chat with Lou Jacobson, the new senior author of one of the most seminal resources in the world of election nerdery: the Almanac of American Politics. Jacobson tells us how this massive, 2,000-page tome gets updated every two years, and how he’s bringing the Almanac into the digital era by offering updates on a new Substack site—including profiles of every freshly gerrymandered district in the country. Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

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• Shock TX ruling dashes GOP gerrymander

  A federal court issued a shock ruling this week barring Texas from using its brand-new GOP gerrymander, but what does it all mean? We explore every nook and cranny of this stunning development on this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, including why Republicans walked into a trap they set for themselves and what might happen on appeal.Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also chat with Patrick Brown, a veteran campaign operative and partner at Novel Strategies who wants Democratic candidates to rethink how they go about communicating with voters. Advocating for a holistic, “voter-centric” approach, Brown explains why it’s critical for campaigns to understand exactly how their target audience consumes media and engage accordingly. He also emphasizes the importance of “building an interesting place to be” for candidates eager to tap into the world of influencers.Subscribe to The Downballot’s daily newsletter for unparalleled coverage of the thousands of elections below the presidency: Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

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• The inside scoop on The Downballot's new polling

  How should Democrats capitalize on their massive success at the ballot box last week as they seek to retake Congress next year? This week on The Downballot podcast, we’re talking with John Ray, senior director of polling at YouGov Blue, about a fascinating polling experiment our two organizations ran that points a way forward: make the midterms a referendum on the GOP. Ray dives deep into the new data to explain why—and homes in on one especially compelling finding about the most persuadable voters.Also joining is political scientist Chris Galdieri, a professor at St. Anselm College and expert on the unusually volatile politics of swingy New Hampshire. Galdieri previews the state’s open Senate race and handicaps the suddenly feisty GOP primary. He also explores the fallout from Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s key role in ending the federal government shutdown—including how it might impact her own daughter’s House bid. And he answers the question, just how dead is the GOP’s push for mid-decade redistricting? Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

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• Holy crap, what an election!

  Voters had their first major chance to deliver a verdict on Donald Trump’s second term on Tuesday night, and they issued a rebuke astonishing in its depth and breadth. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard analyze the election from every angle: Just how far did Latino voters move away from the GOP? Why are regular folks so much more inclined to stand up to Trumpism than elite institutions? What does it mean for 2026? And much, much more! Get full access to The Downballot at www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

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