Bolts
@boltsmag
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We cover the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.
Joined January 2022
New Mexico’s parole board granted Jesse Tooker parole for the life sentence he received at 17 years old because of the state’s Second Chance Act, passed in 2023. But they still wouldn’t let him leave prison. “It was just devastating,” his sister says. https://t.co/U4Cg2vnuyg
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State lawmakers banned life without parole for juveniles. But an opinion by the attorney general and parole board decisions could keep some from getting a second chance.
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Pro-ICE sheriffs in competitive counties all over, including Maryland, New York, Montana, and Wisconsin, are up for reelection in 2026. These races will test voters’ appetite for complying with Trump’s deportation agenda. https://t.co/96ruMgYQtV
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With roughly 2,400 elections for prosecutor and sheriff in 2026, Bolts reviews the map and early hotspots that will shape criminal punishment and law enforcement practices.
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“It’s not politically popular to reduce restrictions for people with convictions or who are in the criminal legal system,” says an LGBTQ+ advocate. “But if you are going to have these objections, there needs to be guardrails.” https://t.co/DO84GLBM6f
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Even after years of reforms to state law governing name changes, prosecutors can still object when trans people have charges or prior convictions.
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“I can’t see a rational reason to move inmates that have been compliant in an environment to a more restrictive environment,” says the former president of the American Correctional Association. https://t.co/XCyOyiz4ci
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Trump officials are retaliating by imposing the harshest conditions in the entire federal prison system, including near total isolation.
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A busy stretch of elections is coming up next week. Bolts is watching a legislative primary in Arkansas on Tuesday, a congressional primary in New Jersey on Thursday and then, on Saturday, contests in Louisiana and Texas. https://t.co/Kqbj6fktBX
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Democrats hold the narrowest of majorities in Maine and Pennsylvania’s state Houses. They now need to defend vacant seats to retain their edge in each through the end of the... Read More
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Also on Saturday, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee won a vacant congressional seat in the Houston region, beating a fellow Democrat. These were the final two elections on Bolts’ guide of races to watch in January.
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Welcome to 2026, a busy election cycle that’ll determine control of Congress, thousands of prosecutors and sheriffs, and the governors of most states. That’s all on the horizon, though. Kicking......
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The result builds on Democrats’ successes in 2025. As Bolts has found, they flipped 21 percent of all GOP-held legislative seats at play last year.
boltsmag.org
The party secured strong gains reminiscent of 2017, our annual review of state legislative results shows. They won multiple new seats in New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, and Mississippi.
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Democrats scored a major upset last night in Texas. Taylor Rehmet, a union leader, flipped a state Senate seat in the Fort Worth region. The win is a turnaround for a district that tends to be reliably red and voted for President Trump by a large margin in the fall of 2024.
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Last year, Democrats gained 25 state Senate and House seats held by the GOP, out of 118 that were up for election. That’s a haul reminiscent of 2017, when Dems flipped 20 percent of GOP-held legislative seats in the run-up to the 2018 midterms. https://t.co/ciOvuWKsvF
boltsmag.org
The party secured strong gains reminiscent of 2017, our annual review of state legislative results shows. They won multiple new seats in New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, and Mississippi.
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"What we know from research is, if you don’t have compulsory voting, the people least likely to vote are poorer people, people from new migrant groups, and often the young," says an Australian scholar on what it means that Australia requires voting. https://t.co/rhFCJSYtnu
boltsmag.org
As Australia compels voters to show up at the polls this weekend, a scholar lays out the genesis of
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A widespread data-sharing program with ICE supports local and state budgets nationwide—even in so-called sanctuary cities and states that forbid certain law enforcement cooperation and information sharing with ICE. https://t.co/3HxAB5P6md
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A widespread data-sharing program highlights financial ties between local police and immigration enforcement—and how even sanctuary jurisdictions still feed “the deportation machine.”
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Black sharecroppers in West Tennessee in 1959 were evicted by white landowners when they registered to vote, sparking the encampment known as Freedom Village. Decades later, the battle for fair political power and representation continues in the county. https://t.co/lda6pWqbol
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The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.
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“Over the years, our field has recognized that the current legal system has caused a lot of harm to survivors,” says the policy director of a coalition against domestic violence and sexual assault in Massachusetts. https://t.co/uRBp5VO9oT
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The Massachusetts Survivors Act emulates recent resentencing reforms across the country that allow for reduced sentences for people with convictions related to their abuse.
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Baltimore County last year agreed to share some data collected by local law enforcement with federal immigration agents. The race for county executive this year may reshape the future of that arrangement. https://t.co/96ruMgYQtV
boltsmag.org
With roughly 2,400 elections for prosecutor and sheriff in 2026, Bolts reviews the map and early hotspots that will shape criminal punishment and law enforcement practices.
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A special election in Louisiana next week will fill a legislative seat that was held by a Democrat who left to lead a state agency. The district voted for Trump in 2024, and the contest gives the state GOP a shot at expanding its supermajority. https://t.co/Kqbj6fktBX
boltsmag.org
Democrats hold the narrowest of majorities in Maine and Pennsylvania’s state Houses. They now need to defend vacant seats to retain their edge in each through the end of the... Read More
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Immigrant rights groups in New Jersey have pushed for legislation banning local collaboration with ICE as Governor Mikie Sherrill has not committed to keeping in place a directive blocking this assistance. But Governor Phil Murphy vetoed it on his way out. https://t.co/ICifdn03n6
boltsmag.org
Phil Murphy killed a bill meant to codify restrictions on how sheriffs and police can partner with ICE. Some restrictions remain in place, for now, due to an attorney general directive.
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“I can’t think of a more important time to have a fully functioning seven-person Supreme Court than now, heading into the 2026 midterms,” says a Pennsylvania attorney and the founder of a watchdog organization against court corruption. https://t.co/DRwgfcga9s
boltsmag.org
The GOP mounted an unusual push to oust three supreme court justices and erase Democrats’ majority on the court. All three prevailed easily in Tuesday’s retention elections.
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Voters will settle two special elections in Texas today: They’ll choose between two Democrats for a congressional seat in the Houston region, while the GOP is looking to defend a state Senate seat. https://t.co/GszwxrYU80
boltsmag.org
Welcome to 2026, a busy election cycle that’ll determine control of Congress, thousands of prosecutors and sheriffs, and the governors of most states. That’s all on the horizon, though. Kicking......
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“State constitutionalism makes it easy to consider Roberts Court jurisprudence white noise,” Hawaii Justice Todd Eddins wrote in a recent ruling that assailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority. https://t.co/frOlUsCfDF
boltsmag.org
The justices ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii residents—unlike, they said, the Roberts Court.
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When formerly incarcerated people are able to obtain work, it tends to be a low-paying position, keeping them well below the poverty line. “The No. 1 contributor to recidivism is poverty,” says a spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative. https://t.co/iOYTA990dJ
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The state had recently expanded the novel program for providing one-on-one career coaching, job fairs behind bars, and support for people after release.
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