Political Breakdown

Since retaking office, President Donald Trump has attacked the election system, pushed voter ID laws, raided local election offices and claimed widespread voter fraud. 

As the midterm elections approach, Political Breakdown begins a new series examining election integrity in America. 

Host Marisa Lagos talks with historian Carol Anderson, a professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy.” They take a look at the nation’s history of voting from Reconstruction and Jim Crow to the civil rights era and the recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act. 

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This 4th of July marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Although we often remember the American Revolution as driven by anger over taxation and representation, journalist Rebecca Nagle says the country’s founding was also compelled by a hunger for Indigenous land. Nagle is the host of the new podcast First America, which unveils a history of our country’s founding that most Americans never learned. She joins Marisa to talk about how that history shapes the political moment we’re living through today. 

But first, Marisa and Guy discuss a filmed confrontation from the weekend in which pro-Palestinian activists ran state Sen. Scott Wiener out of the San Francisco Trans March during Pride weekend. The viral video has become a flashpoint for right-wing critics and is signaling how central Israel and Gaza will be to November’s midterm elections. 

Learn more from Rebecca Nagle and the Indigenous scholars featured in First America:

Rebecca Nagle’s This Land and book, By the Fire We Carry.

Ned Blackhawk’s book The Rediscovery of America and scholarship here.

Phil Deloria’s book, Playing Indian and scholarship here.

Maggie Blackhawk’s scholarship and publications here.

Nick Estes hosts The Red Nation Podcast and scholarship here.

Additional resources available in the show notes of each episode on First America.

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The Supreme Court term has come to an end with a flurry of blockbuster rulings. Today, the justices preserved birthright citizenship, striking down the executive order President Trump issued on the first day of his second term seeking to end it. They also ruled that states can bar transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports and loosened campaign finance restrictions by allowing candidates and political parties to coordinate their spending.

In earlier decisions, the court also undercut protections for immigrants and yesterday, it handed the president sweeping power to fire leaders of independent federal agencies.

Marisa sorts through the decisions with Melissa Murray, a law professor at New York University and cohost of the Strict Scrutiny podcast. 

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Californians will vote on 14 ballot measures this November, including a voter ID initiative, two housing affordability bonds and an overhaul of the California Environmental Quality Act. The most dramatic negotiations ahead of the ballot finalization were over a billionaire wealth tax and a measure that will make it harder to pass local taxes. Marisa and Guy talk with Politico’s senior politics correspondent Jeremy B. White to dig into the showdowns in Sacramento that shaped the final ballot. 

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The World Cup is in full swing across North America, and the U.S. men’s team faces Turkey in its final group round appearance on Thursday. But behind the cheering fans and nail biting matches, FIFA's commitment to political neutrality is put to the test. Marisa sits down with Tariq Panja, global sports correspondent at The New York Times. They dig into the politics behind the games, from restrictions on Iran’s team and President Trump’s unusually close relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. 

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The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether states can count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. The decision could dramatically reshape how elections are administered in California and nationwide. Meanwhile, California’s slow vote-counting process continues to draw national criticism. Marisa is joined by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who spent nearly three decades as Santa Cruz County’s chief election official. Pellerin pushes back on criticisms of the state’s process, arguing it is working exactly as it should. 

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The feud between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump escalated this week, with Newsom announcing the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating him and his wife. The decision to announce publicly before any official charges is unusual, but the investigation may help elevate Newsom as he weighs a possible presidential run. KQED’s Lesley McClurg and Guy Marzorati discuss what we know so far about the investigation and how it fits into Trump’s broader weaponization of the DOJ. 

Plus: the race for Los Angeles mayor is headed to a runoff between two Democrats, and some expect it to be a "slugfest." The candidates, Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, share many of the same policy goals, so the battle may be less about ideology and more about Bass' record and Raman's call for change. Lesley is joined by Mike Bonin, a former Los Angeles City Councilmember who now leads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs. 

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Silicon Valley spent big in California’s primaries. Venture capitalists, artificial intelligence executives and tech billionaires poured tens of millions of dollars into races up and down the ballot, trying to influence who will regulate them. For the most part, their preferred candidates fell short, a sign of growing anti-tech sentiment among voters. However, tech-backed super PACs managed to secure some notable victories. 

KQED's Lesley McClurg is joined by Politico's Silicon Valley reporter Christine Mui to assess the impact of Big Tech's big spending.

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Ballot counting in California is nearly complete and November matchups are coming into focus. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton will face off for governor. In Los Angeles, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass will meet progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman in the general election. Scott, Marisa and Guy dig into new endorsements, unpublished poll results and candidates’ paths to victory. 

Track the latest election results here.

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The Democratic Party is still searching for a path forward after losses in the 2024 election. With the November midterms looming, Democrats are trying different strategies to win back the hearts and votes of the electorate. Do they focus on ideology, running more populist, progressive candidates? Or do they make the case that the party needs a generational shift in leadership?

Marisa and Scott are joined by two congressional candidates running on change who have made it through the primaries to take on longtime incumbents. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang is challenging Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui in Sacramento and progressive college professor Randy Villegas is taking on Republican Rep. David Valadao in the Central Valley. 

Track the latest election results here.

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