New empirical paper from David Brockman et al: A prominent literature argues that moderate candidates perform better in general elections, but a competing literature that emphasizes voters’ partisan loyalties contests these predictions. The 2020 Democratic Presidential primary represented an opportunity… Continue reading

From E&E News, an interesting view on how the decline of competitive seats could affect the politics of climate legislation: Democrats have fared better than expected in this year’s redrawing of House districts — but that’s not necessarily good… Continue reading

With the impending nomination and confirmation process for a new Justice, I want to call attention to one of the most detailed, practical set of recommendations for improving the confirmation process. As part of the testimony submitted to President Biden’s… Continue reading

Since I’ve seen some confusion about this on twitter, I wanted to clarify this point. If the Section 5 pre-clearance regime was still in place, the Department of Justice would still have pre-cleared Alabama’s plan — as the Obama administration… Continue reading

Washington Post: President Donald Trump tore up briefings and schedules, articles and letters, memos both sensitive and mundane.He ripped paper into quarters with two big, clean strokes — or occasionally more vigorously, into smaller scraps.He left the detritus on his… Continue reading

NYT: The number of competitive congressional districts is on track to dive near — and possibly below — the lowest level in at least three decades, as Republicans and Democrats draw new political maps designed to ensure that the vast… Continue reading

Ross Douhat at NYT: I also admire Cheney’s direct anti-Trumpism, as I’ve admired it from Mitt Romney, and now even a little from Mike Pence. (Yes, it’s a low bar.) But if you believe, reasonably, that the immediate danger… Continue reading

From Politico Playbook: That storyline started Thursday with news of the impending RNC censure of Reps. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) and ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.) for participating in the Democratic-led House investigation of the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol. Then, it… Continue reading

This isn’t election-law related, but as a point of personal privilege, I want to highlight some parts of this excellent NYTimes Obituary of Yale Kamisar. Yale became my colleague when I began teaching at the University of Michigan Law School.… Continue reading

NYT: Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday offered his most forceful rebuke of Donald Trump, saying that Mr. Trump is “wrong” that Mr. Pence had the legal authority to change the results of the 2020 election and that the… Continue reading

NYT: The Republican Party on Friday officially declared the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and events that led to it “legitimate political discourse,” formally rebuking two lawmakers in the party who have been most outspoken in condemning the… Continue reading