Democrats keep control of Michigan state Senate after special election win
By Bridget Bowman Democrat Chedrick Greene has won a special state Senate election in Michigan, NBC News projects, ensuring his party will keep control of the closely divided chamber. Greene, a Marine veteran and firefighter, defeated Republican Jason Tunney, a former prosecutor, in the special election to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who resigned from the state Senate after she was elected to Congress in 2024. Greene’s victory means Democrats will hold a 20-18 majority in the Senate. Democrats also control the governorship in Michigan, a key battleground state, while Republicans have a 58-52 edge in the state House. The result continues
What to watch in Tuesday’s elections: Trump seeks payback in Indiana
By Ben Kamisar, Jane C. Timm and Bridget Bowman President Donald Trump’s effort to defeat Republicans who have opposed key priorities turns Tuesday to Indiana’s state Senate primaries, in which he and his allies are trying to unseat seven GOP state senators who voted last year against redrawing the state’s congressional map. Those races are the highest-profile primaries in a slate of contests across Indiana and Ohio, where voters will decide whether those lawmakers should be punished for frustrating Trump’s effort to pad the GOP’s slim margin in the House and also set the stage for key elections this fall. Here’s a look at what to watch
Missouri Legislator Proposes New Funding Plan for the State’s Two HBCUs
Missouri State Representative LaKeySha Bosley recently sponsored a new bill that would increase state funding to Missouri’s two historically Black universities, according to a report from the Columbia Missourian. If passed, House Bill 3416 would create the “Strengthening HBCUs Fund,” which would take 1 percent (totaling some $3.3 million) from the state’s excursion gambling proceeds and another 1 percent (also worth $3.3 million) from the Classroom Trust Fund and split those monies, plus any gifts or donations, between Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis and Lincoln University of Missouri in Jefferson City. “This is a fair, straightforward and necessary piece of
Louisiana will delay House primaries after Supreme Court redistricting ruling
By Ben Kamisar and Melanie Zanona Louisiana is delaying its House primaries that were scheduled for May 16 to give state lawmakers time to redraw congressional maps there, after the Supreme Court struck down the current district lines in a decision with far-reaching consequences for control of Congress in 2026 and beyond. Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced Thursday that while the U.S. House primaries would be “suspended,” all other races, including the state’s hotly contested Senate primary, “will continue as scheduled.” NBC News had reported earlier Thursday that Gov. Jeff Landry had planned to delay the House races in light of Wednesday’s Supreme
Supreme Court sharply limits use of race in redistricting in a win for Republicans
By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court further weakened the Voting Rights Act on Wednesday, ruling that a congressional map in Louisiana was a racial gerrymander even though it was drawn to comply with the landmark law aimed at protecting minority voters. The justices, split 6-3 with the court’s conservatives in the majority, told states they can almost never consider race when they draw maps to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to protect minority voters who long faced discrimination in elections. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said that while there may be extreme
Kamala Harris expected to blame Democrats and Republicans for failed economic policy at state party dinner
By Natasha Korecki and Alexandra Marquez Former Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to call for the “revival of the American dream” and blame Democrats as well as Republicans for failed economic policies in a speech Saturday night, according to excerpts shared with NBC News. “Democrats never bought into trickle-down [economics]. That was Ronald Reagan’s doing. But plenty of Democrats did buy into the flawed assumptions behind it,“ Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024, plans to say at the Arkansas Democratic Party’s annual Fisher Shackelford Dinner. Democrats, Harris will argue, believed “that, if we just trusted the wisdom of the market, working
Virginia voters approve Democrats’ redistricting plan, giving the party a midterm election boost
By Jane C. Timm Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a Democratic redistricting plan that could allow the party to pick up as many as four new seats in the midterm elections, NBC News projects. With 97% of the vote in, the “yes” vote on the ballot referendum held a narrow lead of 3 percentage points. The special election is a major victory for Democrats as they seek to gain control of the narrowly divided House this fall. Democrats have now won statewide votes in California and Virginia to redraw congressional maps as part of a mid-decade redistricting arms race that began last year
Virginia voters to decide whether to allow a new Democratic-drawn map for the midterms
By Adam Edelman Virginia voters on Tuesday will decide the fate of a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for a new congressional map designed to allow Democrats to pick up as many as four seats in this year’s midterm elections. The special election marks the latest fight in the mid-decade redistricting war that has unfolded across the country as both parties vie for control of the narrowly divided House. Under the proposed map in Virginia, Democrats would be in position to hold up to 10 of the state’s 11 districts, rather than the current six. Virginia Democrats have framed their aggressive
Bowie State Alum Jakeya Johnson Could Become Youngest Black Woman Elected to Congress
Jakeya Johnson runs for Congress with more than a campaign launch behind her. The Bowie State alumna is now part of Maryland’s June 23 Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District, where she is challenging incumbent Rep. Glenn Ivey and pitching herself as a younger, movement-built alternative in a deep-blue seat. Her campaign says that if she ultimately wins the seat, Johnson would become the youngest Black woman ever elected to Congress at 31, a mark now associated with Lauren Underwood, who was 32 when she was sworn in. Jakeya Johnson runs for Congress in a crowded primary The race is not a
Democrat Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s House seat
By Owen Auston-Babcock Democrat Analilia Mejia has won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the U.S. House, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway. Mejia, a progressive activist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., entered Thursday’s contest in the 11th Congressional District as the favorite. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by 9 points in the 2024 presidential election, while Sherrill carried it by 15 points in her campaign for governor last year. And Mejia had outraised Hathaway, a Randolph Township Council member, by 2-to-1. Mejia will fill the rest
