National
The nationwide redistricting “arms race” that’s been going since August continues to make developments that would certainly affect this year’s midterm elections.
To date, maps for Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, California, and Utah have been redrawn. Efforts in Indiana, New York, Kansas, and Maryland have seen varying hurdles.
In Maryland, Governor Wes Moore’s (D-MD) intentions to fight fire with fire have been met with an interesting extinguisher: State Senate President Bill Ferguson (D). He has been a staunch opponent of mid-decade redistricting at-large and has been the primary obstacle in Annapolis Democrats’ way in drawing out the Old Line State’s sole Republican seat.
MD-01 spans the entire Eastern Shore, the most Republican part of Maryland outside the Panhandle. Congressman Andy Harris (R, MD-01), Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has represented the seat since 2011. Since 2013, he’s been the only Republican in the entire congressional delegation from Maryland. The state also spent the entire 2010s as one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. While a fairer map now, Democrats still hold a 7-1 advantage in the House delegation, with the Panhandle-based MD-06 only competitive in strong Republican environments.
Democrats had passed a map to make Harris’ solid-red seat into a light-blue one during the regular redistricting cycle in 2021, but the map didn’t survive judicial scrutiny.
But Maryland Democrats caught a break last week, as the Maryland House gave preliminary approval to a map that takes away the red Upper Shore from MD-01 and instead draws the district across the Chesapeake Bay to pick up bluer suburban D.C. counties.
Democrats in Annapolis say it’s “standing up” to the Trump Administration, as President Donald Trump (R-FL) pressures on Republican states to redraw their maps mid-decade is what started the snowball over the summer, while Maryland Republicans simply call it “rigged,” according to Maryland Matters.
While the bill seems set to clear the State House, the State Senate is where it will meet the most resistance, as Senate President Ferguson appears to have the majority of his caucus on his side.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Virginia have been handed a tough ruling on the commonwealth’s redistricting plans.
Democrats in Richmond had passed a bill before the 2025 elections for a constitutional amendment that would give them the power to redraw congressional lines mid-decade if another state did so first. Democrats would then gain a trifecta in the Old Dominion with the election of Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) as governor.
Democrats had attempted to pass the legislation before the election so as to pass it again in 2026, putting the referendum before voters in April so that lines could be redrawn before the November elections.
But a Tazewell County circuit judge ruled that Democrats violated legislative rules in how they convened their special session on the matter in the autumn. State law says that for a constitutional amendment to go before voters in Virginia, it must be passed in two sessions of the state legislature.
Richmond Democrats are appealing the decision.
Kansas Republicans have also seen a halting in their own redistricting efforts, as Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R) said that he’s about twenty votes short of being able to overturn a promised veto from Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS).
The Wichita Republican has called redistricting a “priority,” but will not bring it to the floor if the votes aren’t there ahead of time. The Sunflower State features just one Democrat in the entire congressional delegation, Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D, KS-03). Davids flipped her Kansas City-based district in 2018 and has been handily re-elected three times. She’s eying a bid for U.S. Senate, but much of that decision had hinged on whether Topeka Republicans would gerrymander her seat. Davids has kept that speculation alive, however, as she recently announced a cross-state tour.
While Kansas is an ancestrally Republican state, Davids would likely be considered a candidate likely to overperform typical Democratic margins in the state. Kansas as a whole has been drifting gradually to the left since 2016.
Democrats, as expected, retained the Houston-based TX-18 in a special election on Saturday. The area has been devoid of representation for the better part of two years, owing to two passings since 2024. The late Congressman Sylvester Turner (D), and former Houston mayor, was elected to the vacant seat in 2024 but died in early 2025. Two Democrats advanced to the runoff and former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee (D) prevailed with 68% of the vote.
But Texas played host to a particularly shocking special election result. State Senate District 9 is located in Tarrant County and includes portions of Fort Worth. The district had been won by a Republican by a twenty-point margin in 2022, and Trump carried the area by a similar margin in 2024. The seat was resigned by its former Republican senator when he took a post as Acting Texas Comptroller.
Taylor Rehmet (D) not only flipped the open seat but did so with 57% of the vote. The fifteen-point margin represents a near-forty-point shift from its 2024 voting profile.
In non-political news, Canadian-American actress Catherine O’Hara passed away last Friday in her Los Angeles home. She was 71.
O’Hara started her career in sketch comedy with the Canadian hit Second City Television (1976-1984). She would become a staple in the 1980s film scene with appearances in After Hours (1985), Heartburn (1986), and Beetlejuice (1988).
However, her role as Kate McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and its 1992 sequel was probably one of her most well-known and revered roles. She was also known for A Mighty Wind (2003), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020).
State
Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) is looking to end agreements that allow federal law enforcement agencies to deputize local law enforcement to carry out civil deportations. She joins Democratic governors representing blue strongholds like Illinois, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
In response, the Trump Administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from states and cities with sanctuary policies.
Eight counties, including Nassau, allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deputize local law enforcement to assist in deportation and detention efforts. Hochul is pitching the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” that would prevent local jails and police officers from being used by “federal authorities to enable mass ICE operations against innocent civilians,” according to the Governor’s website.
The bill would also “ensure[s] local law enforcement is focused on fighting local crime by preventing resources and officers from doing the job of a federal agency.” It would not prevent local law enforcement or State police from continuing to work with federal partners on criminal investigations.
Governor Hochul is also looking to fast-track State of the State proposals to “protect New Yorkers from constitutional violations and prohibit federal officers from entering sensitive locations, including homes, without a judicial warrant.”
The move from Hochul might bolster Albany Democrats’ legislative prerogative on the matter. A bill that is currently in the Assembly and Senate committees would “prohibit and regulate the discovery and disclosure of immigration status; prohibit police officers, peace officers, school resource officers, probation agencies, State entities, State employees, and municipal corporations from questioning individuals regarding their citizenship or immigration status.”
The Assembly version of the bill (A.3506A) is being sponsored by Assemblywoman Karines Reyes (D-Parkchester) and Suffolk delegation Assembly members Tommy John Schiavoni (D-North Haven), Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood), and Kwani O’Pharrow (D-West Babylon) have joined co-sponsors.
The Senate version of the bill (S.2235A) is being carried by Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-Bay Ridge).
Local
Nassau County Police are mourning the loss of Officer Patricia Espinosa, who lost her life in a violent crash caused by a driver who is now charged with a DWI.
Espinosa, 42, of Elmont, was off-duty at the time of the crash on Saturday morning. It occurred at 6:00a.m. at the corner of NY-347 and Alexander Avenue in Nesconset. Police say the offending driver was traveling northbound on Alexander Avenue when he ran the red light.
Suffolk County Police arrested Matthew Smith, 20, of Hauppauge, and charged him with DWI. He and his 25-year-old passenger survived the crash and were taken to Stony Brook Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Espinosa was pronounced dead at the scene.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R-Atlantic Beach) ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on Monday until her burial.
Espinosa is survived by her husband, Francisco, her two-year-old daughter, Mia, as well as her brothers, Christian and David Almeida. Her husband and brothers also serve as police officers.
“Officer Espinosa was the heart of a true law-enforcement family,” said Nassau PBA President Tommy Shevlin in a statement. “Patricia understood the sacrifices of this profession not just as an officer, but as a wife, a sister, and a mother in blue. That her life was taken in such a senseless act makes this loss even more painful.
