Downballot Counts

Hosts Kyle Trygstad and Greg Giroux take questions on the Georgia primaries, whether we'll have more or fewer Republican woman holding office this time next year, and the campaign impact of “Defund The Police” in Downballot Counts' inaugural mailbag episode.

This is the first time in 20 years that a presidential election will be held in the same year as the decennial census, which means that whichever party wins in statehouses this November will have a huge advantage in redrawing legislative districts. Jessica Post, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, talks with hosts Greg Giroux and Kyle Trygstad about her efforts to win state legislative races and set the party up well for the next round of redistricting.

Tuesday marks the start of a big month in congressional primaries. Hosts Kyle Trygstad and Greg Giroux highlight the top primaries to watch, including open-seat contests that will all but decide the next House member and the most challenging nomination fight of Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) career.

A record number of women ran for the House in 2018, but that record has already been broken just two years later. Kelly Dittmar of the Center for American Women and Politics has been tracking the data and explains why Democrats are still fielding far more female candidates than Republicans. Hosts: Greg Giroux and Kyle Trygstad. Producers: David Schultz and Josh Block.

Paul Mitchell, the Sacramento-based vice president of Political Data, Inc., discusses the highly competitive special election in California’s 25th District, north of Los Angeles, and how to read the early ballot returns he’s been tracking.

Hosts: Greg Giroux and Kyle Trygstad. Producers: David Schultz and Josh Block.

View this episode's ad of the week here.

With the elections six months away, hosts Kyle Trygstad and Greg Giroux discuss how the coronavirus pandemic and Trump's re-election prospects affect who will win the majorities in the House and Senate. Producers: David Schultz and Josh Block.

Bloomberg Government’s Emily Wilkins discusses how the lack of retail campaigning thanks to stay-at-home orders has made TV ads more important than ever, despite the fact that they're now becoming more complicated than ever to produce.

First quarter fundraising numbers just came in and they show that vulnerable House Democrats raked in far more than their Republican challengers. Inside Elections’ Nathan Gonzales discusses these numbers and the state of play for control of Congress after more than a month of social distancing.

Hosts: Kyle Trygstad and Greg Giroux

Producers: David Schultz and Josh Block

Watch this episode's featured political ad here.

Hosts Kyle Trygstad and Greg Giroux highlight the states where the four main congressional super PACs recently reserved TV time for the weeks leading up to the general election. Producer: David Schultz.

Watch the campaign ad featured in this episode here.

Wisconsin's head-spinning state primary dynamics, a discussion of this campaign ad airing in Kentucky and later, Senate races talk with Bloomberg Government reporter Nancy Ognanovich.