How Virginia Democrats Can Retire the State Supreme Court
In this impromptu Substack Live episode, David Neer and constitutional law professor Quinn Yergin discuss a creative strategy for Virginia Democrats to overturn the state Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating the new congressional map. They focus on a little‑known constitutional provision that lets the legislature set judges' retirement ages, proposing to lower it (e.g., to 70 or even 54) to force a turnover of the bench and allow a rehearing of the case. The conversation highlights the arbitrariness of the current 73‑year retirement age, the legal feasibility of the maneuver, and the broader need for Democrats to employ “constitutional hardball” to protect democratic outcomes.
How Virginia Democrats Can Overturn the Redistricting Ruling: Retire the Supreme Court
Virginia Democrats are seeking to overturn the state Supreme Court’s May 2026 ruling that invalidated a voter‑approved amendment establishing new congressional districts. They propose a legislative fix: lower the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices from 73 to 54,...
Morning Digest: How Oklahoma Democrats Just Helped Sabotage a GOP Plan to Roll Back Medicaid Expansion
Oklahoma Democrats, joined by a handful of Freedom Caucus Republicans, blocked a GOP‑backed emergency clause that would have moved a Medicaid‑expansion repeal vote to the August primary runoff. The GOP now proposes a single November referendum that would strip the...
Americans Still Believe in the Voting Rights Act—And a Plurality Opposes the Supreme Court's Decision Gutting It
A new YouGov Blue poll released exclusively to The Downballot finds that a clear majority of American voters still believe the Voting Rights Act (VRA) is essential, even as the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais weakens the law’s...
With the VRA Gutted, the GOP Could Target over a Dozen Black and Latino House Districts
The Supreme Court’s ruling in *Louisiana v. Callais* effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, removing the primary safeguard against racial vote dilution. As a result, Republicans in eight states can now redraw more than a dozen congressional districts...