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Good morning and Happy Friday. Thanks for being here today.
One day after the Supreme Court gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Louisiana announced it was “suspending” its congressional primaries, calling its current congressional map “unconstitutional.” So, just to recap, we’ve entered the phase of our democracy where trying to ensure racial minorities are proportionally represented in Congress is being held up as contrary to the US Constitution.
Early voting had been scheduled to begin Saturday for Louisiana’s May 16 primaries. But Republican Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order postponing the U.S. House primary in response to a ruling Wednesday by the court that struck down a majority Black congressional district.
“Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters,” Landry stated. “This executive order ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map.”
Suspending elections until you can assure that more white people can get elected is definitely the kind of thing those on the right side of history do.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is now encouraging other states to redraw their own maps ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
“I think all states who have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully, and I think they should do it before the midterm,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters in Washington.
Trump has already begun pressuring Tennessee to redraw its congressional map, and the Florida legislature passed a new map earlier this week (which is still sitting on Ron DeSantis’s desk), as Republicans go all out to keep their slim majority in the House and Senate. The consequences go far beyond the race of a single candidate or two, though the dilution of the Black vote was one of the main reasons the VRA was enacted in the first place.
This decision will jeopardize maps for congressional seats, state legislatures, city councils, school boards – every level at which communities of color have fought for true representation. Without section 2 as a meaningful protection, legislatures across the country will face far fewer legal constraints on drawing maps that dilute minority voting strength. Fair districts that took decades of litigation – not to mention blood and sweat – to achieve are now at risk. And representation isn’t just symbolic. It is a vote on whether your child’s school gets funded, whether your neighborhood gets flood relief, and whether your community’s healthcare survives the next budget. Erase the district, and erase the power to determine any of it.
If enough red states redraw their maps, Americans are looking at a GOP majority in Congress at least until 2030, and possibly beyond. The bigger picture is that, even if Democrats manage to retake the White House, we’re looking at a long stretch where the GOP controls the Senate, and therefore the fate of every nominee a President puts forward. Remember how Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans stymied President Obama’s attempt to seat Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court? Get ready to see that ad infinitum, for as long as the GOP is able to get away with it.
Think of all the damage SCOTUS has done to our Democracy since 2016. Now imagine how much more they’ll be able to do before some more progressive justices are confirmed to the Court. And who do Democrats have as their main fighters? Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Woof.
Over at the NYT, Nate Cohn has a map of what redistricting in eight southern states, all red, looks like right now, and what it could look like by the time the midterms roll around.
The race now is to see how many states can redistrict before the November midterms, and how many blue states can retaliate in time to erase some of those gains.
Only a few Southern states — including Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee — have a clear path to redistrict before primary voting and without materially endangering Republican incumbents. Those states could yield up to four Republican seats in this year’s midterms.
These potential seats come on top of gains Republicans have already made in the South, including a new map passed by Florida’s Legislature this week. While Republicans could have targeted many of these seats even before the court’s ruling, these new maps were often drawn with a weakened Voting Rights Act in mind.
Making things worse for blue states, many have provisions in their state constitutions limiting gerrymandering. That means that to redraw their congressional maps, they’ll either have to 1) amend their state constitution (like Virginia did) or 2) have a new map approved by voters (like in California). Both of those things take significant time to organize, and there are only six months remaining before the midterms. And things will likely only escalate from there. What will congressional districts look like by the time the 2028 general election rolls around? God only knows.
What a mess.
Speaking of messes, spare a thought for our brave Artemis astronauts, who were clearly forced to do this yesterday:
Meeting the Artemis II astronauts, Trump claimed he’s in top physical condition and could qualify as an astronaut: “I would have had no trouble making it. I’m physically very, very good.” 🤡
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@nothoodlum.bsky.social) 2026-04-29T20:56:34.406Z
Trump then tried to get them to join him in bashing NATO.
In other news: Janet Mills is out of the Senate race in Maine; Todd Blanche says not to worry about your political seashell messages; The SPLC fights back; and The High Note.
Here we go.
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Graham Platner will be the Democratic nominee in Maine
Yesterday, Maine Governor Janet Mills announced that she’s suspending her campaign for the Senate, leaving the inexplicably Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren-backed Graham Platner as the likely candidate in the midterms.
(Mills), the then-77-year-old governor was running for office at a time when many in her party were agitating for generational change. But Mills supporters – including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – thought she could prevail with a pitch for electability based on her statewide name recognition, backing from Senate Democratic leadership and a tidal wave of opposition research on Platner.
They were wrong, and on Thursday, Mills ended her campaign weeks before the June 9 primary.
She cited difficulties raising money, but the decision also revealed how Democrats are spurning traditional politicians in the midterms for untested outsiders who are promising to take a more aggressive stance toward President Donald Trump.
I have a few thoughts here: First, Janet Mills was incredibly brave and principled in standing up to Donald Trump’s campaign of terror against trans kids, and I wish more Democrats would take their cues from her. Secondly, Chuck Schumer shouldn’t be within 100 miles of picking candidates for office, and that’s aside from the fact that Mills is 78 years old and recently vetoed a hugely popular bill that would have imposed a moratorium on data centers in her state. Help us help you, Janet. We don’t need any more octogenarians in Congress than we already have.
But thirdly, in backing a candidate who only recently stopped using the “r-word,” once suggested that women are responsible for their own rapes, and had to get a Nazi tattoo covered up… what are we doing here, Democrats? I get that Platner is ostensibly a salt-of-the-earth guy with military experience and looks great on an oyster boat, but now Democrats have relinquished the high ground on the surprisingly relevent issues of Nazism, ableism, and misogyny. Were Mills and Platner the only two candidates Maine managed to produce? Surely, there is someone who brings Platner’s qualifications to the table without all the Hegseth-adjacent baggage? Maine voters deserve better choices than the Nazi, the 80-year-old centrist, or Susan Collins.
Bernie Sanders has a history of blind spots when it comes to women, but I am shocked and, quite frankly, disappointed that Elizabeth Warren is out there backing Platner. He looks like John Fetterman 2.0 to me. Fool me once, etc.
Don’t worry about your seashell sedition, kids
You’ll surely have heard by now that the DOJ has indicted former FBI Director Jim Comey for posting a photo of a message made out of seashells on social media. The message? “86 47”
Even though the DOJ is arguing that “86 47” was a direct threat to harm Trump, acting AG Todd Blanche doesn’t want you to worry that the DOJ is coming for you.
You see, it’s only a crime when that message is posted by someone Trump already has it out for. You’ll be fine.
BTW, we also learned yesterday that the prosecution of Jim Comey was barely breathing until Trump fired Pam Bondi and installed Todd Blanche in her place. Can’t wait to see what they come up with for Letitia James.
The SPLC hits back at the DOJ
A week after the DOJ announced the prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has been at the forefront of exposing white nationalism since it was founded in 1971 by no less heroic Americans than Julian Bond, Morris Dees, and Joseph J. Levin Jr. The prosecution centers around the SPLC’s use of informants to infiltrate white nationalist groups — something the DOJ used to do back when we all agreed that racism was bad.
Yesterday, the SPLC came out swinging.
Lawyers for the organization filed two motions in court: one seeking disclosures about the grand jury proceedings, and a second asking the court to address “false and prejudicial statements” made by the Trump administration. The second motion specifically calls out Blanche for stating that there was no evidence that the SPLC has ever shared information gathered by its informants with law enforcement.
Here’s what Blanche said on Laura Ingraham’s show (of course):
And here’s what the SPLC had to say about that claim.
The party that holds up Charlie Kirk as an icon claiming that the SPLC was paying informants to “engage in the active promotion of racist groups” is wild.
You can read the entire motion here, but the TL;DR version is that the SPLC has names, dates, and details about meeting with the DOJ specifically to refute their claims long before the indictment came down. If what the SPLC says is true, and, frankly, I am much more likely to believe a longstanding civil rights group than the Trump administration, Blanche is flat-out misrepresenting evidence and tainting the jury pool. Not only is that against DOJ guidelines, it’s an unconstitutional and probably disabarrable offense by Blanche.
I wish I had joined the DC bar solely to file a disciplinary complaint against Todd Blanche, who should never practice law again.
The SPLC has never needed your pennies more than it does right now. If you have any to spare, you can donate here.
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
Remember that there’s a national boycott happening today! The official tagline was “no work, no school, no shopping,” but not everyone can take part in all three prongs. Anything you can do to help — skip your lunchtime Starbucks run, wait a day to do your shopping — is appreciated.
I’ll be celebrating both Beltane and May Day today. Let’s remember all those who fought for better conditions for US workers.
I’m a proud union member. Let’s keep America #UnionStrong!
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Have a great weekend!
