RandySF
RandySF's JournalIndiana lawmakers in state House to convene session with redistricting top of mind
ndiana House members are expected to push forward Monday with redrawing the state’s congressional districts in Republicans’ favor, increasing pressure on their defiant counterparts in the GOP-led Senate to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
Republicans who control the House chamber have said there’s no doubt that redistricting will pass that chamber. But the fate of any proposal to emerge remains uncertain in the Senate. Republicans also control that chamber but members of the caucus have resisted pressure to redistrict for months.
Senate leadership recently backed off from previous intent not to meet at all, agreeing to convene next Monday. But it’s still unclear if enough senators will back a new map.
No official map or legislation had been made public by late Friday.
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-u-s-news/indiana-house-redistricting/
Jersey City runoff tests Democratic machine politics vs. rebel progressives
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — A disgraced former governor is trying to claw his way back to power — only to be blocked by a younger progressive with momentum.
No, it’s not Andrew Cuomo’s failed New York City comeback bid. It’s happening across the Hudson River in Jersey City, where former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey is hitting the same kind of progressive political wall as he tries to become mayor of the state’s second-largest city.
The matchup — a Dec. 2 runoff between 68-year-old McGreevey vs. 41-year-old Councilmember James Solomon — has become the clearest test yet of whether New Jersey Democrats are ready to let an ascendant anti-machine wing topple a once-formidable establishment figure.
Last year, Sen. Andy Kim took down the establishment-backed First Lady Tammy Murphy in a Democratic primary. But it would be an extraordinary turn in Jersey City, a place long synonymous with machine dominance and political corruption — from legendary boss Frank Hague to a mayor in the 1990s who was removed from office, went to prison and then back to work for the city. Even though the city’s local elections are technically nonpartisan, the runoff has become an unmistakable proxy battle between the Democrats’ old guard and a more liberal faction that’s already been reshaping New Jersey politics.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/jersey-city-runoff-tests-democratic-machine-politics-vs-rebel-progressives-00668650
Lawsuits calling for new Wisconsin congressional map are in the hands of 6 county judges. Now what?
At a time when states across the country are locked in redistricting battles aimed at swaying the balance of power in Congress, two lawsuits attempting to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional map are using a process that is anything but ordinary.
The state Supreme Court has formed panels of circuit court judges to hear the map challenges, relying on a law passed by Republicans when they controlled all of state government more than a decade ago.
Here’s a look at how the state arrived at that process, and how it might play out.
When the Wisconsin Supreme Court appointed two, three-judge panels to hear the congressional map lawsuits, liberal justices said they were required by law to follow that process.
https://www.wpr.org/news/lawsuits-new-wisconsin-congressional-map-now-what-redistricting
MI-07, MI-08, MI-10: Out-of-state donors fueling U.S. House campaigns in Michigan swing districts
Washington — Democrat Bridget Brink’s campaign in Lansing got $93,500 last quarter from Utah donors ― an odd infusion for someone running to be the next member of Congress from mid-Michigan.
In a Metro Detroit contest, attorney and Democrat Eric Chung has received 95% of his larger contributions from out of state, with the most coming from California, New York and the District of Columbia, according to itemized records required for donors who have given at least $200.
And in Flint, Republican Amir Hassan, who is aiming to challenge first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet of Bay City, pulled 77% of his itemized haul from outside Michigan, with the most coming from Virginia.
Out-of-state donors are flooding competitive swing district contests for Congress in Michigan, with several candidates hauling in an outsized amount of cash from far-flung donors.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/28/out-of-state-donors-fuel-us-house-campaigns-in-michigan-swing-districts/87445917007/
NJ-07: Cryan (D) will appear at Rebecca Bennett (D) fundraiser
State Sen. Joseph Cryan (D-Union) will headline a fundraiser for Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett on December 9, a move that potentially signals significant support in the Union County portion of New Jersey’s 7th district.
Maggie Moran and Megan Cryan Bell of Moxie Strategies and Laura Matos of MAD Global Strategies are also hosting the fundraiser.
Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, is one of twelve Democrats seeking the chance to take on two-term Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) next year. She joined the race in February and raised over $1.3 million during the first three quarters of 2025.
Union County accounts for 29% of the Democratic primary vote in the 7th district — the largest share among the five counties.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/cryan-will-appear-at-rebecca-bennett-fundraiser/
NJ-11: Gill (D), Beecher (D) file petitions to enter special primary for Sherrill seat
Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) and Zachary Beecher, a retired U.S. Army paratrooper and Iraq War veteran, filed petitions today to seek the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th district as candidates in the February 5 special primary election.
Gill submitted a nominating petition with 1,046 signatures, more than double the 500 needed to get on the ballot.
Beecher filed with 531 signatures – 35 over the required number to get on the ballot – and his campaign manager, Ken Meyer, told the New Jersey Globe the campaign plans to submit more signatures on Monday.
The special election will fill the vacant House seat created on November 20 with the resignation of Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), now New Jersey’s governor-elect.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/gill-beecher-file-petitions-to-enter-nj-11-special-primary-for-sherrill-seat/
Forget Mamdani. New York's real political shift happened everywhere else.
ALBANY, New York — Zohran Mamdani’s decisive win in New York City — along with key victories in New Jersey and Virginia — suggested Democrats are headed into the midterms from a position of strength. But they didn’t capture how deep that strength ran.
Across suburbs, rural counties and small towns in New York, Democrats posted electoral gains that rival — and in many cases surpass — the party’s 2017 “Blue Wave.” In a state with enough competitive House races to decide control of the chamber, the outcome amounts to a wakeup call for already-wary Republicans.
New York Democrats once viewed the 2017 elections as among their best ever. The Blue Wave that year was driven by purple suburbs making a hard shift left. This year in New York, that tilt was felt even more widely — with Democrats in every corner of the state pointing to economic uncertainty exacerbated by President Donald Trump’s policies as voters’ top concern.
“It was about peoples’ anxiety,” said Leslie Berliant, who ousted a Republican incumbent to win a seat in the Otsego County Legislature. “It definitely was a feeling that we don’t feel protected by what’s happening in the federal government, and we need to make sure we have people in place at the local level who care about our needs. Democrats ran on that, and I think it worked.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/28/new-york-upstate-blue-wave-mamdani-00668749
TN-07: Democratic Candidate Aftin Ben Champions Affordability in Tennessee Special Election
Aftin Ben, the Democratic Party candidate in next week’s special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, which typically votes Republican, has made the affordability issue the central message of her campaign – echoing the winning tactics used in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races earlier this month.
The Tuesday elections pose the question: how far can Democrats push this argument in a district that last November backed President Donald Trump by a margin of about 22 points.
Republicans are betting that their edge in the district, combined with Ben’s more progressive profile and recent remarks on policing policy and other issues, could tilt the race back in their direction. Democrats, for their part, hope that public discontent with Washington’s actions will be a factor that allows them to significantly exceed the race’s expected result, in a contest that otherwise would not be as competitive.
The 7th Congressional District, which was vacant earlier this year after the resignation of former Republican congressman Mark Green, covers parts of Nashville and is predominantly rural in character, stretching from the northern part of the state to the Kentucky border in the south.
https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/democratic-candidate-aftin-ben-champions-affordability-in-tennessee-special-election/amp/
TN-07: More than 19,000 early votes in Montgomery County for District 7 Special Election
During early voting, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 26, Montgomery County recorded 19,111 votes, which included more than 5,700 votes this week. The vote tally includes those who voted in-person, by mail, or at their local nursing home.
District 7 encompasses parts of Middle and West Tennessee, with a large portion of voters residing in Montgomery County, Davidson County, and Williamson County.
Districtwide, 84,356 votes have been cast. Here are early voting totals from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, from highest to lowest:
- Davidson 20,951 (Where Nashville sits)
- Montgomery: 19,110
- Williamson: 14,777
- Robertson: 6,823
- Cheatham: 6,241
- Dickson: 5,654
- Hickman: 2,148
- Humphreys: 2,126
- Stewart: 1,610
- Wayne: 1,120
- Decatur: 1,106
- Benton: 1,063
- Houston: 942
- Perry: 6
https://clarksvillenow.com/local/more-than-19000-early-votes-in-montgomery-county-for-district-7-special-election/
TN-07: More than 19,000 early votes in Montgomery County for District 7 Special Election
During early voting, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 26, Montgomery County recorded 19,111 votes, which included more than 5,700 votes this week. The vote tally includes those who voted in-person, by mail, or at their local nursing home.
District 7 encompasses parts of Middle and West Tennessee, with a large portion of voters residing in Montgomery County, Davidson County, and Williamson County.
Districtwide, 84,356 votes have been cast. Here are early voting totals from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, from highest to lowest:
- Davidson 20,951 (Where Nashville sits)
- Montgomery: 19,110
- Williamson: 14,777
- Robertson: 6,823
- Cheatham: 6,241
- Dickson: 5,654
- Hickman: 2,148
- Humphreys: 2,126
- Stewart: 1,610
- Wayne: 1,120
- Decatur: 1,106
- Benton: 1,063
- Houston: 942
- Perry: 6
https://clarksvillenow.com/local/more-than-19000-early-votes-in-montgomery-county-for-district-7-special-election/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 01:53 PM
Number of posts: 80,218