Legislators in 19 states are considering changes to state courts that would diminish the role or independence of the judiciary by giving political players more control over judicial selection, judicial decision-making or judicial administration. The roster of such bills was compiled by the progressive Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, which opposes all such efforts.
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Larkin, Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida’ s 23rd district, speaks during an emergency town hall that he held to address Florida Republicans’ newly approved congressional redistricting map on May 4, 2026, in Coral Springs, Florida. Ron DeSantis announced he signed a redistricting bill that could help Republicans pick up four more House seats.
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The Dems need this redistricting battle
May 16, 2026
Over the past six months, Democrats have been more than happy to let President Trump be their best campaign ad. From his ill-advised war in Iran to his ill-advised tariffs, his obvious declining mental acuity to his increasing desire to spend taxpayer money on wasteful vanity projects, Dems know that Politics 101 dictates you never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.
With politicos predicting a midterm election bloodbath for Republicans, Dems were riding high. That is, until Trump unleashed his redistricting wars.
Aware of their inability to win with the current maps, the GOP has been redrawing the country in its image, and potentially marginalizing minority voters in the process. That’s bad — for the left, but more importantly for democracy. Voters should choose their candidates, not the other way around.
But the right’s assault on Black voters in particular may not be the coup they seem to think it is, especially if it unintentionally helps the left shore up one of its most problematic gaps.
In 2016, Donald Trump won his first presidential election largely thanks to white voters, who made up 88% of his coalition. Then, only 1% of his voters were Black.
By 2024, just eight years later, Trump had expanded that coalition considerably, winning 15% of the Black vote, per Pew.
But over on the Democrats’ side, the arrows were moving in the opposite direction. A once-reliable coalition — former President Barack Obama, for example, won 95% of the Black vote in 2008 — has been incrementally leaving the Democratic Party or staying home. In 2024, Kamala Harris won just 83% of the Black vote, down from Joe Biden’s 87% in 2000.
I assume that’s worrisome to the Democratic Party, though we don’t know how worrisome because it has refused to release its 2024 autopsy.
What I do know is Trump and Republicans may have just given them a lifeline they weren’t expecting.
The redistricting forever wars have Republicans carving up predominantly Black majority districts nationwide. On nearly every metaphorical battlefield, the GOP is winning — Trump successfully primaried Indiana state lawmakers who refused to redistrict; the Supreme Court sliced into the Voting Rights Act; Virginia’s supreme court ruled against the Dems’ efforts to redistrict. According to CNN’s redistricting tracker, Republicans could net nine seats in November.
That’s unequivocally bad news for the left, but the unintended consequence of the right’s zeal to rig the maps could send Black voters back to the Dems in numbers a single candidate not named Obama could not.
“Democrats are gonna be able to go into African-American communities and say, ‘Republicans are doing everything they can to take away your political power,’ ” Democratic strategist Ian Russell told Politico. “That’s a really salient message.”
And it could come at a really important time. Turnout among Black voters in the last midterms dropped by nearly 10 percentage points, from 51.7% in 2018 to 42% in 2022, whereas white turnout dropped just 1.5 points. The gap in 2022 was the largest in any election — presidential or midterm — since 2000.
Black voters’ disillusionment with Democrats has been growing, with just 66% self-affiliating with the party in 2023. The Republican war on Black districts could pull them back, at least in the short term.
Looking ahead, Democrats simply don’t have a transformative figure, like an Obama or a Bill Clinton, waiting in the wings to rebuild the Black coalition, but they do have an issue that could motivate it significantly.
If the Dems had a plan to win back this important voting bloc, or the parts of it that left, we don’t know what it was. But the redistricting wars might just be the catalyst they needed, and at the perfect time.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.
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People gather at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on September 8, 2025, in New York City.
Getty Images, Spencer Platt
How 9/11’s Largest Town Hall Offers a Blueprint for Democracy Today
May 15, 2026
After the smoke cleared from the September 11, 2001, attacks, New York City faced the immense task of rebuilding.
Why is this story relevant today?
The question New Yorkers faced after 9/11—who determines our collective future—remains central to the challenges confronting America today.
In the months following the attacks, after the debris was cleared and the initial shock subsided, New Yorkers faced a fundamental dilemma: What should be built at Ground Zero, and who should decide? Some advocated for rebuilding the Twin Towers, while others insisted the site remain a memorial. The conflict was intense, emotional, and appeared irreconcilable.
In response, “THE LOWER MAHATTEN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION” undertook an unprecedented initiative. It convened 5,000 representative New Yorkers for the largest town hall in American history. Expectations were low, with many anticipating discord and disorder.
Instead, a genuine democratic process unfolded.
Despite profound disagreements, New Yorkers listened, deliberated, and ultimately reached consensus on a plan that commemorated the deceased, honored survivors, and reflected the community’s collective will.
This outcome hinged on a single catalytic event: a gathering that united individuals in an unexpected and transformative manner.
The result was both constructive and deeply meaningful. This experience offers a lesson for a nation grappling with division: meaningful democratic outcomes depend on robust democratic processes.
Carolyn Lukensmeyer played a central role in this process as the architect of Listening to the City, the 2002 public forum that empowered thousands of New Yorkers to influence the future of Ground Zero. The event led to significant changes: participant feedback shaped the final design to include both the Memorial and the Museum, guided the integration of green space, and ensured that victims’ families and the broader community were honored throughout the rebuilding process. This initiative not only transformed the physical site but also established a benchmark for public decision-making in cities nationwide. As a nationally recognized leader in democratic innovation and founder of AmericaSpeaks, Carolyn has advised cities, states, federal agencies, and international institutions on effective public engagement.
View the official trailer and consider the following:
What might be possible if towns, cities, and states across America adopted this approach to constructive dialogue in addressing their most challenging issues? For community leaders or individuals seeking to foster collaboration, the following steps are recommended: invite a small, diverse group of community members for an initial discussion; identify a pressing local issue; establish ground rules that promote respectful listening; and seek assistance from a trained facilitator or an organization experienced in open dialogue. The initial step is to gather and listen. Subsequently, partners can be enlisted, a neutral venue secured, and a broader range of participants invited. Even a straightforward, honest conversation can initiate meaningful progress.
On May 21 in Cape May, New Jersey, the Cape May Point Arts and Science Center will present “9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero.” The event will include a full one-hour screening of the documentary, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and leaders in democratic innovation, an audience Q&A session, and a closing reception.
If you are interested in organizing a similar event in your community, please contact Josh Sabey co-founder of Matters Media at js@mattersmedia.orgDavid Nevins is the publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
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Calling Wealthy Benefactors!
May 15, 2026
My housing has been conditional on circumstances beyond my control, and the time is up; the owner is selling.
Securing affordable housing is a stressor for much of the working class. According to recent data, nearly 50% of renters are cost-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their take-home income on housing costs. Rental prices in California are especially high, 35% higher than the national average. Renting is routinely insecure. The lords of land need to renovate, their kids need to move in. They need to sell.
For many of us, particularly in California, buying is not possible. In the Bay Area, one needs to make $400,000 per year to afford a typical home. Nationally, less than one percent of us make $500,000; in the Bay Area, 2 percent of us do. Thus, for most of us, the housing market is cost-prohibitive. Great credit doesn't translate to enough purchasing power. We need higher incomes, intergenerational wealth, or some other revenue stream.
We need multi-millionaires and billionaires, especially those in the top 1% or those with 8 million or more, to step in. We need housing benefactors.
As a sociologist, I know that stable housing is a key social determinant of health and also that who has a secure and affordable home is shaped by power and policy. Historically, many of us have endured the housing struggle. But it doesn't have to be this way. There could be an abundance of housing for all of us.
After all, we are a nation rich in millionaires (at least 23.8 million) and billionaires. Our economy is anchored to the ultrawealthy, and the gap between them and the rest of us is enormous and growing. And, the wealthy, and the wealth of the wealthy, are increasing. Perhaps the ultrarich could be convinced to support our collective wellbeing by taking action to alleviate the housing crisis?
To be sure, our economy does not value the religious, ethical, and moral notions of “caring.” It values bottom lines, competition, and survival of the “fittest.” We are a country that has lacked the political will to sustain affordable housing, that has allowed tax breaks for the wealthy, and that has allowed wealth to accumulate in disproportionate and unsustainable ways. There are those among us who believe that the housing crisis “is what it is.” We “have nots” should have chosen more lucrative career paths. However, this narrative justifies unhealthy behavior. Inequality is harmful to society across a range of measures. Stable housing plays a meaningful role, not only for individual wellbeing, but also for a sustainable society and world.
If you believe people deserve affordable housing and you have the financial resources to be this type of change agent, please understand that there are many ways to show up as a housing benefactor. There are many ways to do so. 1) Buy properties and rent them at a rate that is less than 30% of our monthly income. 2) Buy properties and sell them to us at a price that works within our budget. 3) Buy properties and agree to 100-year private mortgages. When the federal government floated the 50-year mortgage, it read as ludicrous. But it is better than no option. 4) Subsidize our housing. In this market, an extra thousand dollars a month, or $12,000 a year, can be the difference between an additional room. 4) Develop an app to connect caring multi-millionaires and billionaires to those who lack affordable and secure housing. 5) Create your own solution, perhaps a housing foundation that donates to areas where affordable housing is scarce?
If our government won’t do the work to create an economy where we can all thrive, it is to each other we must appeal. Financial elite, I implore you to make caring cool. Put secure and affordable housing within our reach. Can you act now? We need a place.
Megan Thiele Strong is a Sociology professor at San José State University, a Public Voices Fellow at The OpEd Project, and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network.
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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Civic Spirit’s Declaration Project invites communities nationwide to read the Declaration of Independence aloud and renew civic life through shared citizenship, reflection, and democratic engagement.
Getty Images, miodrag ignjatovic
A Civic Practice for America at 250
May 15, 2026
America’s 250th anniversary on July 4 offers more than a milestone. This moment offers us an extraordinary opportunity to revitalize civic life together.
For many Americans, civic life has thinned. We speak often about rights, less about responsibilities. Civic holidays have become days off rather than “days on." The language of our founding is frequently invoked, but less frequently read, studied, or discussed together.
George Washington understood this challenge from the start. Our first president described our form of government as “the great experiment," entrusted to the hands of its citizens, requiring participation, responsibility, and a shared commitment to self-government.
Two hundred fifty years later, that responsibility remains.
The Semiquincentennial offers a rare opportunity not just to look back, but also to act. If we want to renew the habits of citizenship that sustain our democracy, we need more than reflection. We need shared practices that bring people together around the ideas that define our democracy, thereby strengthening our civic bonds.
To elevate the moment just two months away, Civic Spirit is launching “The Declaration Project,” a simple, replicable civic practice for communities across the country. This July 3–4 weekend, we are inviting individuals, families, schools, and organizations to gather and read the Declaration of Independence aloud.
This idea was inspired by a simple but powerful practice of friends who gather each July 4 to read the Declaration together. With each reading, new questions emerge about the founders’ aspirations, grievances, and courage. What begins as a familiar text becomes an active conversation about equality, liberty, and the responsibilities of citizenship.
What happens around one table can reverberate from sea to shining sea. What happens in our houses of worship can inspire homes across the country.
Reading the Declaration aloud is not about nostalgia. It is about civic formation. To read it together is to wrestle with ideals, aspirations, and even conflicts, and to ask what those words require of us today.
At a time of political polarization and distance from one another in the public square, Americans need shared civic experiences that are neither partisan nor superficial. We need opportunities to listen, question, and engage across difference. We need to reawaken the habits that lead to civic bonds.
That is why this effort is intentionally simple. Schools can incorporate it into end-of-year programming. Houses of worship can adapt it as part of communal gatherings. Community organizations, summer camps, and families can make it an annual ritual on the day itself. The goal is not a one-time event, but a practice that can be repeated, deepened, and shared.
Civic renewal will not come from national leaders alone. On July 4, we all have a chance to choose to engage, reflect, and participate in the life of our democracy, grounded through our national sacred writ.
If we want the story of 1776 to shape the citizens of 2026, we need more than celebration and fireworks. The moment demands a practice that rekindles our national fire. This July 4, gather, read, and then enjoy some apple pie!
Rabbi Charles E. Savenor serves as the Executive Director of Civic Spirit, a nonpartisan organization that provides training and resources to faith based schools across the United States.
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