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Taniel

@Taniel

Daniel Nichanian. https://nitter.cf/t.co/vIb1Tme7H9 Editor & founder of @BoltsMag. Local politics, criminal justice, voting rights.

boltsmag.org
Joined July 2008
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@TanielOct 27
NEW: My midterms cheat sheet features 670+ races—up and down the ballot, & why they matter. Now it's in PDF, printable form! Save it, print it, give it to your kids to color the Senate map, & use it your worksheet on election night. Find it here: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ba…
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Huge news out of California: Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted California's entire death row, changing sentences from death to life without parole. California had the largest death row in the nation, with 548 prisoners—now down to 0.
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NEW: For over 20 years, he has been one of the nation's most notoriously xenophobic sheriffs. DOJ investigated him for racial profiling & found he used racist epithets like "taco eaters" to refer to Mexicans. Voters just ousted him in his red-leaning North Carolina county. boltsmag.org/sheriff-johnson…
A Pro-ICE Sheriff, Once Investigated for Racist Slurs, Is Ousted in North Carolina

A Pro-ICE Sheriff, Once Investigated for Racist Slurs, Is Ousted in North Carolina

For over 20 years, Alamance County’s Terry Johnson faced accusations of racial profiling against Latinos. He lost to a Black pastor who pledged to rebuild trust with local immigrants.

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Extraordinarily revealing post by an editor at @SCOTUSblog.
Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons) profile pictureSarah Isgur@whignewtons3h
Alito won't retire in the lame duck and he doesn't need to. Trump can nominate someone to the Supreme Court and the senate can confirm without a vacancy. Then Trump can wait to sign the commission any time in the next two years. The question isn't Alito, its Cornyn/Tillis/Thune.
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Mississippi update: —Scott Colom's lead in the AP count has now expanded to 1,724 votes, or 0.15%. —Colom's lead in the DDHQ count, which appears to include an additional batch of ballots that the AP doesn't have, stands at 1,833 votes, or 0.19%.
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Connecticut results are bon-kers. Republicans are on track to win 3 state senators in a chamber of 36. That's down from winning 18 in 206, 12 in 2022, and 10 in 2024.
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The House is a little less wild, but still. Republicans are on track to win 35 seats out of 151, but that's down from the 53 they won in 2022 and 49 they won in 2024.
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Take Senate District 8. In 2022, Democrat Honig lost by 125 seats. In 2024, he won by 319 votes. On Tuesday, he won 60% to 40%.
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One of the rare GOP bright spots is this probable pick-up in #ME02 for Maine's former governor Paul LePage.
Nathaniel Rakich (@baseballot) profile pictureNathaniel Rakich@baseballot3h
The Maine secretary of state's office has announced that #ME02 is going to ranked-choice tabulations. Paul LePage (R) got a majority of votes in the race, but not a majority of *total ballots cast.* However, this is just a formality; LePage should still win.
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My count in the U.S. House is that Democrats are currently leading in 260 seats (though only 241 have been called). In an additional 21 seats, the GOP leads but the race has not yet been called. Does that match what others have?
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Has there been much talk of #CA23 in the last few days? This wasn't on people's radar but a Republican candidate up 3% with plenty of votes to count in California is surely not safe.
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Man, I was sleeping on the Arizona House races — just wildly tight, uncalled races in deeply conservative territory.
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Stunning win in one of those counties Texas Republicans thought they owned. #Texas #TexasTurnedBlue
Taniel (@Taniel) profile pictureTaniel
@TanielNov 4
You know about Talarico. You know about Hinojosa. Meet Alisa Simmons. Simmons flipped control of Tarrant County, one of the nation's biggest counties, winning the executive election. Dems also flipped control of the county board, and flipped the DA's office. boltsmag.org/tarrant-county-…
In Texas, the GOP’s Last Urban Stronghold Swings Blue

In Texas, the GOP’s Last Urban Stronghold Swings Blue

GOP officials targeted Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth, for mid-decade gerrymandering. A Democrat still won the county executive seat during Texas

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Quick pushback on emerging "GOP redistricting failed!" CW. 1. Evidently nothing GOP cld do in 2026. But if 2028 or 2030 tighter, that's when maps matter; risky for Dems to conclude this isn't issue after all. 2. Super-aggressive gerrymanders are reason Dems didn't win control in NC + GA (& can't undo maps).
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I spoke to @democracynow this morning on how the blue tsunami went (well) beyond Congress. As I said, "there really was nowhere for Republicans to hide to escape voters’ wrath on Tuesday." democracynow.org/2026/11/5/2…
The Country Says “No” to Trump: Not Just Congress, the Blue Tsunami Flips Statehouses Across U.S.

The Country Says “No” to Trump: Not Just Congress, the Blue Tsunami Flips Statehouses Across U.S.

We examine the results of Tuesday’s historic U.S. midterm elections with Daniel Nichanian, editor-in-chief of Bolts. In addition to taking back the House and Senate, Democrats also made major gains...

democracynow.org
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I probably should have added *except for Florida. But seriously—in just a few minutes, it was hard to capture the sheer extent of the GOP devastation in local and state races (wish I'd gotten to talk about sheriffs, or state supreme courts!) but @boltsmag readers will know of course.
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Deserved oh my god
Taniel (@Taniel) profile pictureTaniel
@TanielNov 4
NEW: Missourians rejected the GOP gerrymander. The veto referendum passed by a huge margin. But that's not all. They retained a justice who blocked GOP map in Sept. (GOP wanted revenge.) *And* approved a measure making it trickier for GOP to try again! boltsmag.org/missourians-vet…
Missourians Veto New Gerrymander, and Make It Trickier for GOP to Adopt Another

Missourians Veto New Gerrymander, and Make It Trickier for GOP to Adopt Another

Republicans had tried, unsuccessfully, to dismantle a Kansas City-based district. Voters also retained one of the justices who blocked the new gerrymander from being used this fall.

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The notion that turnout in Jackson beat turnout in a presidential year tells you all you need to know.
Junior_prompt_engineer (@bert_on_spec) profile pictureJunior_prompt_engineer@bert_on_spec12h
Replying to @bert_on_spec
This one is big. WLBT reports the Hinds election commission says turnout beat 2020. Hinds cast about 100,000 votes in 2020. Only about 77,500 are counted now. That's a gap of over 20,000 votes in Colom's best county. wlbt.com/2026/11/04/hinds-co…
Hinds County election results expected to take several days to be certified after historic turnout

Hinds County election results expected to take several days to be certified after historic turnout

Hinds County election officials say it could take several days to complete the review and counting of ballots following historic voter turnout in the Nov. 3 general election.

wlbt.com
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A big local flip: Democrats have flipped the school board in Georgia’s Cobb County. This is important, the second largest school district in the state.
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Anyone who used our Bolts worksheet will know about this; it was on the first page! boltsmag.org/wp-content/uplo…
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The important news
Adam Aaronson (@aaaronson) profile pictureAdam Aaronson
@aaaronson22h
JULIA LETLOW will be the first US senator whose name contains exactly one of each vowel since EDWIN S. BROUSSARD (a 94-year gap)
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