Governance, Democracy, Congress, Institutions, Elections. Director @BPC_Bipartisan. Fmr @SenatorTomUdall. @UNM Alum. 🏳️🌈 Thoughts=my own, RTs≠endorsements.
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Joined March 2015
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Michael Thorning retweeted
A new memorial in Washington opened for Operation Desert Storm, a reminder “for the nation of a war that for a brief time rallied much of the country,” @ellee_watson reports.
Michael Thorning retweeted
No fan of RCV, but it is tailor-made to deal with the Two Dan Sullivan Problem.
NEW: DOJ is suing to prevent Alaska from certifying its election results until the state investigates whether the other "Dan Sullivan" on the ballot created "voter confusion" to the detriment of incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan.
w/ @G_Svirnovskiy
politico.com/news/2026/10/23…
Much attention has been paid to potential hardball on January 3rd in terms of seating the new House and disputes over election outcomes.
Very little attention has been paid to the Senate, but the new DOJ lawsuit in Alaska raises the specter. Unlike the House, the Senate is a continuing body. 67 of its members will still be in office on January 3rd.
34 currently caucus with Democrats
33 currently caucus with Republicans
BUT, If Brown prevails in Ohio, he will be sworn in in December. Bringing Democrats to 35. Florida is the other special election, but even if Republicans win, they're still at 33, as Moody is already in their column above.
Could get messy very fast, but not clear that Republicans have the advantage on the floor.
Michael Thorning retweeted
Today, a bipartisan group of former government officials from the Trump, Biden, and Obama administrations released a letter calling on Congress to pass the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. The legislation would reform our nation's permitting processes and help ensure reliable, affordable, and clean energy access to Americans nationwide.
Read the letter below ⬇️ and learn more about the bill:
Exclusive: Ex-officials from the Trump, Biden and Obama administrations are warning the U.S. is at risk of losing a technological and industrial race with China—unless it adopts a major energy-permitting bill on.wsj.com/3UwWceZ
Michael Thorning retweeted
A recent poll from Free Press Indiana stated that a majority of Indiana residents would prefer lawmakers pause redistricting efforts until after the 2030 census. fox59.com/indianapolitics/po…
Michael Thorning retweeted
Sure, fine, but Congress should also investigate why it keeps passing bills--like *last month's* Russia sanctions act--giving the president crazy broad discretion to disregard its laws. Either the legislature is serious about wanting to make foreign policy or it wants to gripe about the executive's entirely foreseeable exercise of the loopholes it provided.
Congress Must Investigate Trump’s Aid and Comfort to Putin nationalreview.com/2026/10/c…
If you didn’t write a 2,000 word Substack disavowing “locker her up” in 2016, your Slotkin 2026 take is invalid.
Two words: myopically retrospective.
New MRP estimates from the Strength In Numbers/Wave Polling and Research poll find more Republicans say they're financially worse off than better off in red states with close Senate races. These voters are 3x as likely as other Rs to vote Dem in Nov.
gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-10…
Michael Thorning retweeted
This is going to be a great event! Catch me on the Reforming Oversight panel on the 16th alongside @RepTomGraves, @kevinrkosar, SoRelle Gaynor, Phil Schiliro, and Melanie Anne Egorin
Just 1 day left until our Remodeling Congress Conference! On October 15-16, leading scholars, practitioners, and journalists will explore and advance solutions for reforming Congress.
Register to watch the livestream👇
zurl.co/smwZG
#Congress #elections #vote
ALT Graphic featuring the U.S. Capitol. At the top is the Miller Center at the University of Virginia logo. Prominent white text in the center reads, “1 DAY TO GO UNTIL REMODELING CONGRESS INSIDE AND OUT". A dark blue banner at the bottom displays the event details: "THURS., OCT. 15 - FRI., OCT. 16. ONLINE ONLY"
New piece from @mattrshor @CityJournal looks at electoral participation--partly using new @BPC_Bipartisan & @Jferrer505 data--to weigh whether proportional representation would yield different results in American politics.
PR is the new big idea (open primaries->top two->RCV->PR) everyone is rushing toward. But we need sound evaluation of its possible consequences.
Love how you can tell which one they’re endorsing based on the headline.
Opinion: This career politician has failed Ohioans. That's why The Dispatch endorses his rival for Senate dispatch.com/story/opinion/e…
Michael Thorning retweeted
Well-cited piece on how PR might reduce
responsiveness of gov’t to unconstrained/heterodox voters. It should stimulate discussion.
Michael Thorning retweeted
We went deep on how casework works in an election year — and found some stuff that surprised me, including how offices transfer cases between chambers, and how offices not up for election take on extra work.
New post + a caseload calculator for offices: constituentservice.substack.…
Not proud of it, man enough to say it: the Iran war is not causing (all of) the inflation.
Trump’s tariffs raised prices on more than imports. New York Fed researchers found they also pushed up the cost of American-made goods.
Full story here foxnews.com/politics/america…
