March 4, 2026

Texas, North Carolina Kick off 2026 Primaries

By Jacob Rubashkin and Nathan L. Gonzales Voters in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas officially kicked off the 2026 election cycle with a large and exciting slate of important primaries. The matchup is officially set in one of the marquee Senate races in the country (North Carolina) and a vulnerable incumbent is still alive in […]

February 27, 2026

Podcast Episode 66: The Land of Illinois Primaries w/ Shia Kapos of Politico

Nathan Gonzales, Jacob Rubashkin and Shia Kapos of Politico’s Illinois Playbook dive deep into the upcoming Illinois primaries including the Democratic race to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin and a handful of crowded and competitive House primaries, where as little as 20 percent of the vote could be enough to effectively become a Member of Congress. […]

February 19, 2026

First-Time Candidates Enter the Ring in Key House Race

By Jacob Rubashkin BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI — By the time the main event began, the packed high school gym was almost too hazy to see the fighters in the ring. But for the hundreds of men and handful of women at Brother Rice High School, the boxing at Boxing Night was a secondary attraction at […]

February 19, 2026

Texas: Republicans, Democrats Face Critical Early Primaries

By Patrick Svitek The Texas primary feels bigger than ever. While the November elections are still eight months away, more than a dozen consequential primaries in the Lone Star State are rapidly approaching. At the top of the ticket, a longtime Senate incumbent, Republican John Cornyn, is struggling to win renomination in a primary dominated […]

February 19, 2026

Report Shorts (Feb. 19, 2026)

Arizona Governor. Karrin Taylor Robson suspended her campaign leaving two Republican congressmen, Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, to battle for the GOP nomination. Biggs is regarded as the frontrunner with President Donald Trump’s support. But Schweikert is making the case that his experience in competitive general elections is valuable in trying to knock off Democratic […]

February 12, 2026

Podcast Episode 65: Even Primaries are Big in Texas w/ Gabby Birenbaum of Texas Tribune

Nathan Gonzales, Jacob Rubashkin and Gabby Birenbaum of The Texas Tribune run down the biggest primaries in Texas including the Republican and Democratic Senate primaries and run through the Republican and Democratic House incumbents who might not even get renominated. Also, Jacob can’t stop watching reality TV, Gabby plugs the latest and best political biography […]

February 11, 2026

House: Money Isn’t Enough to Save Incumbents in Wave Elections

By Nathan L. Gonzales Fundraising is a critical part of winning reelection, but sometimes incumbents have political problems that money can’t fix.  When voter sentiment is against you, outspending your opponent isn’t sufficient to survive an electoral wave. This is important context when analyzing campaign fundraising reports. While there can be confusion over what constitutes […]

February 5, 2026

Georgia Senate: Republicans Try to Take Back Ground

A decade ago, Jon Ossoff was a documentary filmmaker tweeting links to his BBC projects and tagging airlines in public posts to get help with booking issues. Today he is the senior senator from Georgia and the top target for Senate Republicans looking to deny Democrats any path back to the majority. Ossoff’s rapid rise […]

February 5, 2026

Pennsylvania 8: Paiging the Incumbent

When Pennsylvania Democrat Matt Cartwright finally lost in 2024, some in his party began to write off his Northeast Pennsylvania district as gone for good. For a decade, Cartwright had defied gravity: a University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics-educated lawyer and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who won six terms in an […]