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Sixteen years ago, the song of the summer was “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, while the news story of the summer was the burgeoning tea party movement and the protests it sparked at congressional town hall meetings across the nation.
Some gatherings grew so heated that punches were thrown, arrests were made and members of Congress were hanged in effigy.
This summer represents a distant echo of those days. Just as they did in August 2009, town hall meetings are giving the president’s detractors an outlet to register their disapproval of his agenda. Then, it was Republicans angry over Barack Obama’s health care overhaul; today, it’s Democrats outraged by Donald Trump’s recently enacted domestic policy bill.
Then, like now, the other side accused well-funded outside groups of fomenting the protests while pretending they were grassroots efforts that sprung up organically.
But there are differences too. For one, social media was in its infancy in 2009; the first iPhone capable of shooting video came on the market in June of that year. These days, footage of town hall protests routinely trend on TikTok.
Also, unlike 2009, few GOP members are even holding town halls during this August recess. One who did, Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood, was confronted by more than 700 angry attendees who jeered and shouted at him for more than an hour at a town hall in Lincoln on Monday.
“I think it’s somewhat cathartic for them to be able to have the opportunity to address their representative government,” Flood told NPR. “And I tell the police before I start … I do not want anybody removed or arrested. I want them to be able to say what they have to say. This part of the deal, this is the way people feel right now. Let’s let them do their thing and keep going.”
Time will tell whether this summer’s town halls will fuel a lasting political realignment. Republicans rode a wave of tea party anger to reclaim control of Congress in 2010, and the movement laid the seeds for Trump’s ascendancy in 2016.
And, hey, maybe time will tell whether 2025 does in fact have a song of the summer after all.
Starting gate
Brawl in the Bluegrass State: The increasingly bitter Republican primary for Kentucky’s open Senate seat features Rep. Andy Barr, a prodigious fundraiser whose House district includes Kentucky’s second-largest city; former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who enjoys broad name recognition after two statewide runs; and businessman Nate Morris, who is positioning himself as a political outsider. But looming over the race are two men who won’t be on the ballot: Trump and retiring longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Redistricting rundown: Texas Democrats stifled Republicans’ efforts to approve a new congressional map this week, but redistricting efforts are also on the table in several other states, which we ran down here.
Blackburn for governor: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn made official on Wednesday what was already widely expected: She’s running for governor of Tennessee. Blackburn immediately becomes the favorite in the race, although she faces a contested primary, with Rep. John W. Rose also in the hunt for the GOP nomination.
Mace for governor: GOP Rep. Nancy Mace came to Congress in 2021 with more moderate views on social issues such as LBGTQ rights and abortion but has since burnished an image as a conservative firebrand. On Monday, she joined the increasingly crowded Republican race for South Carolina governor.
#NCSEN: Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley launched his campaign for North Carolina’s open Senate seat with the support of Trump and top Senate Republicans, setting the stage for a blockbuster general election matchup against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.
#IASEN: Des Moines school board chair Jackie Norris, who was chief of staff to former first lady Michelle Obama, has joined the crowded field of Democrats seeking to challenge GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.
#GASEN: In Georgia, former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is the latest entrant into the Republican primary to challenge vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Dooley reportedly has the backing of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who opted against a Senate run earlier this year.
ICYMI
Tapping the feds: The FBI has agreed to Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s request to track down dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the Lone Star State in recent days as a way to thwart the GOP’s redistricting plan, The New York Times reported.
House launches (Democratic version): Anthony Driver, executive director of the SEIU Illinois State Council, joined the packed Democratic race to succeed retiring Rep. Danny K. Davis in the state’s 7th District. In South Carolina’s 1st District, Coast Guard veteran and attorney Mac Deford is the latest Democrat to seek Mace’s newly opened seat. In New York, Democrat Chris Gallant, an Army veteran and Black Hawk pilot, is challenging Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the Long Island-based 1st District. And in New Jersey, former Agriculture Department climate scientist Megan O’Rourke and attorney Vale Mendoza have joined the crowded Democratic primary to take on GOP Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr.
House launches (Republican version): Nevada state Sen. Carrie Ann Buck is running for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Dina Titus in the 1st District. In New Hampshire, state Rep. Brian Cole has joined the growing Republican primary for the seat that Democrat Chris Pappas is vacating to run for Senate. South Carolina state Sen. Wes Climer has launched a campaign to succeed fellow Republican Ralph Norman, who’s running for governor, in the 5th District. And in Georgia, Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines is seeking the 10th District seat left open by Rep. Mike Collins’ candidacy for Senate.
#OHSEN: Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown has been interviewing prospective campaign managers for a possible Senate comeback bid in Ohio, challenging appointed Republican incumbent Jon Husted in next year’s special election, Axios reported this week.
Perry backs Cornyn: Former Texas Gov. (and former Energy Secretary) Rick Perry has endorsed Republican Sen. John Cornyn for reelection. Writing in the Houston Chronicle, Perry said, “When it comes to results, John Cornyn delivers. He has repeatedly advanced the Lone Star State’s priorities and earned a reputation for steady leadership.” Cornyn is facing a primary challenge from state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Endorsement tracker: Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has picked up new endorsements in her bid for the Democratic Senate nomination, including from former Rep. Bobby L. Rush. Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a DCCC recruitment chair, endorsed Maura Sullivan for the open seat in New Hampshire’s 1st District. EMILY’s List and Elect Democratic Women both endorsed former prosecutor Christina Hines for Michigan’s 10th District, an open seat that Republican John James is vacating to run for governor. Several Democrats are seeking the Detroit-area swing seat, including former Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel and former Commerce Department official Eric Chung, who has picked up endorsements from several sitting House members.
#FLSEN: Josh Weil, the Florida Democrat who gained attention for raising $15 million for an ultimately unsuccessful House special election this year, has dropped his bid for Senate, citing health concerns.
#GAGOV: Former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond has joined the growing Democratic primary to succeed the term-limited Kemp. Meanwhile, former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a noted Trump critic who endorsed Kamala Harris for president last year, has switched to the Democratic Party, an evolution he explained in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed. Duncan, who’s been mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate for governor, told WABE he’s received encouragement to run for higher office and he’s “seriously” considering it.
What we’re reading
Following the money: On Data and Democracy does a deep dive into Democrats’ digital fundraising operation and found that one politically connected firm “extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.”
Allegations raised: The reigning Miss United States has filed a restraining order against Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, according to Drop Site News. Lindsey Langston, who is also a Florida Republican state committeewoman, reported Mills to local and state law enforcement “for harassment, threatening to release sexual videos, and to harm future boyfriends,” the outlet reports.
Blue state gerrymandering: The Boston Globe examined Trump’s claim that Democrats in Massachusetts are denying Republicans congressional districts.
Courting Jewish voters: Derek Dooley, a Republican running for Senate in Georgia, has launched an outreach effort to Jewish voters, Jewish Insider reports. Dooley is one of several GOP contenders hoping to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Unlikely buddies: The Baltimore Sun chronicles the blossoming friendship between two political opposites in the House: Maryland progressive Jamie Raskin and Colorado conservative Lauren Boebert.
Immigration in focus: Hispanic Republicans in the House have concerns that the electoral gains their party made with Latino voters last year could be at risk given the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies, The Washington Post reports.
The count: 24
That’s the number of states where one party controlled the most recent congressional redistricting process before this year.
Republicans had the advantage in 17 of those states, while Democrats owned the remaining seven.
Trump recently defended his push to get Republican-led states to redraw their congressional lines mid-decade, saying, “It is all gerrymandered.”
But of the 428 House seats that were reconfigured, either for the 2022 or the 2024 elections — and not counting the seven states that have at-large districts — 174 districts were drawn by just Republicans and 49 by just Democrats.
The Republican states included Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. This list doesn’t include GOP-controlled Iowa, where the map was drawn by a nonpartisan agency and approved by the legislature, and Alabama and Louisiana, where the lines were redrawn after court challenges.
States where Democrats had mapmaking control included Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Rhode Island.
— By Roll Call’s Ryan Kelly
Coming up
Sen. Bernie Sanders is hitting the country roads again. The Vermont independent’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour takes an August recess swing through West Virginia, with a stop in Wheeling on Friday. He’s got more events in the Mountain State on Saturday before moving on to North Carolina, with stops in Greensboro and Asheville on Sunday.
Photo finish
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The post At the Races: Have we heard this song before? appeared first on Roll Call.
