The Hill
Schatz calls for DNC to release 2024 election autopsy report
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who’s poised to become the No. 2 Senate Democrat after the midterms, called for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to release its autopsy report of the 2024 election. “I believe the DNC should release the report because 1) that’s what they said they were going to do 2) this is going...
1 month, 2 weeks ago
| 2 sources
Axios
The senators America searched for most in 2025
<div>Data: Google Trends; Chart: Axios Visuals</div><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/23/bernie-sanders-aoc-2028-presidential-election" target="_blank">Bernie Sanders</a> (I-Vt.) sparked more Google searches than any other senator this year, according to data from Google Trends.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The progressive powerhouse has spent the year loudly protesting President Trump, and stepping into <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/01/virginia-new-jersey-democrats-bernie-sanders-aoc" target="_blank">the vacuum</a> of Democratic leadership created by the disastrous 2024 election for the party.</p><hr /><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Sanders traveled the country for a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour alongside Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/21/aoc-bernie-sanders-progressives-democrats" target="_blank">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (who, spoiler alert, had the most search interest in the House).</p><ul><li>Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) came in second for Google search volume, driven mostly by his own "fight" moment when he broke the record for the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/01/booker-sets-record-for-longest-senate-speech-trump" target="_blank">longest floor speech</a>.</li><li>Searches for Senate Minority Leader <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/07/senate-democrats-proposal-end-government-shutdown" target="_blank">Chuck Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.) spiked most leading up to government shutdown deadlines in March and September, which proved to be high stakes moments for his leadership.</li><li>Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was the most-searched Republican senator on the list, with interest spiking most around his heated June interview with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/18/ted-cruz-tucker-carlson-iran-interview" target="_blank">Tucker Carlson</a>.</li></ul>
1 month, 2 weeks ago
Axios
DNC under fire for hiding autopsy report on 2024 election
<p>Democratic officials and strategists blasted the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/24/democrats-ranked-choice-voting-2028-primaries" target="_blank">Democratic National Committee</a> on Thursday for withholding its autopsy of the party's loss in the 2024 presidential election, despite repeatedly pledging to release it.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Several Democrats — including many advising possible 2028 presidential candidates — said burying the report unfairly helps former Vice President Harris if she runs again, and shields top party consultants by hiding potentially damaging information about their efforts.</p><hr /><ul><li>"Kamala Harris certainly benefits from not having an open discussion" about the 2024 campaign, said Jeff Weaver, Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign manager in 2016 and top adviser in 2020 who's a frequent critic of the DNC.</li><li>Mike Casca, chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a potential 2028 presidential contender, asked whether everyone who worked on the DNC report committed to not working on a 2028 campaign. "Seems like a problem to me," he added.</li><li>A DNC official said withholding the report wasn't aimed at helping or hurting any candidate.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> DNC officials said they're keeping the report private to maintain the party's focus on winning back Congress in the 2026 midterms — and avoid further internal conflict over its chaotic 2024 cycle.</p><ul><li>DNC chair Ken Martin, who launched the autopsy effort earlier this year, said in a statement: "Here's our North Star: Does this help us win? If the answer is no, it's a distraction from the core mission." </li><li>The DNC didn't make him available for an interview.</li></ul><p><strong>Many Democrats </strong>agreed with Martin.</p><ul><li>"Let's stop looking back," former DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa posted on X: "Let's look forward and continue winning" after several election victories this year.</li></ul><p><strong>But several Democratic strategists</strong> — including some advising potential 2028 presidential candidates — want the autopsy released.</p><ul><li>"How are Democrats going to learn from mistakes if we don't have any concept of the depth and breadth of those mistakes?" Rebecca Katz, an adviser to Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), told Axios.</li><li>Lis Smith, a longtime adviser to former<strong> </strong>Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, <a href="https://x.com/Lis_Smith/status/2001717083290153057" target="_blank">posted on X</a>: "I suspect the reasons why this isn't being released are precisely the reasons why it should be released."</li><li>Weaver is an adviser to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a potential 2028 contender. He and the other strategists said they were speaking for themselves and not potential 2028 candidates.</li></ul><p><strong>Hosts of the influential Democrat-friendly podcast</strong> "Pod Save America" also slammed the DNC.</p><ul><li>"This is a very bad decision that reeks of the caution and complacency that brought us to this moment," Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior aide to then-President Obama, <a href="https://x.com/danpfeiffer/status/2001715303584272390?s=20" target="_blank">wrote on X. </a></li><li>Former Obama speechwriter <a href="https://x.com/jonfavs/status/2001718015361257767?s=20" target="_blank">Jon Favreau wrote:</a> "Unreal. The DNC's actual position is that if the public knew more about what Democrats got wrong in the last election, it would hurt the party's chances in the next election."</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> When Martin won the campaign to become DNC chair this year, he pledged to conduct a review of the 2024 election and make it public.</p><ul><li>Even Democrats supportive of his final decision to not release the report believe he mishandled it by taking too long and not having an organized process.</li><li>The DNC interviewed hundreds of people across all 50 states and completed the report. But it abruptly pivoted in recent weeks in choosing not to release it — even a sanitized version for the public.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>A person close to Harris<strong> </strong>said she "was not involved in any decision-making regarding the release of the autopsy, did not ask for it to be withheld. Nor was she aware of or briefed on its contents."</p><ul><li>"She also did not authorize any representatives to do so on her behalf," the source added.</li><li>In his statement, Martin said the DNC "completed a comprehensive review of what happened in 2024 and are already putting our learnings into motion. And we're winning again — even in places that haven't gone blue in decades."</li></ul><p><strong>Some Democrats</strong> said they believe the DNC made the right call from a public relations standpoint — and that it will help unify the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.</p><ul><li>A former Biden administration official argued that Martin's move prevents a giant pre-Christmas fire among Democrats.</li><li>The ex-official added, however, that not publishing the report helps Harris avoid some blame for not being able to defeat Trump in her 107-day campaign after then-President Biden dropped out of the race.</li></ul>
1 month, 2 weeks ago
Axios
Cheers and alarm: 4 takeaways from the GOP's win in Tennessee
<p>Republicans won <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/12/03/tennessee-election-results-trump-van-epps-wins-house-seat" target="_blank">Tennessee's hotly watched special U.S. House election</a> Tuesday, but the single-digit margin in a conservative Nashville-area district was the party's latest warning sign ahead of next year's midterms.</p><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>In a district <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a> won by 22 points last year, Trump-backed Republican Matt Van Epps defeated progressive Democrat Aftyn Behn by just under 9 points, 54% to 45%. The result created an unusual mixed bag of feelings on both sides: </p><hr /><ul><li>Republicans cheered the victory while fretting over the latest evidence that voters are cooling on Trump's agenda and his handling of the economy. </li><li>Democrats were encouraged by what the results could mean in the 2026 midterms for candidates in less conservative districts now represented by Republicans — but wondered whether they could've come closer to winning by running a more moderate Democrat. </li></ul><p><strong>Four takeaways from Tuesday's election:</strong></p><ol><li><strong>A costly GOP win: </strong>Van Epps' victory pushes the Republican majority in the House to 220–214, but required a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to keep the seat former Rep. Mark Green (R) vacated last summer.</li><li>For Republicans, the result echoed the GOP's underperformance in Florida's special House elections earlier this year and came a month after blowouts in New Jersey's and Virginia's races for governor. </li></ol><p><strong>2. Hope — and regret — for progressives. </strong>Behn, who campaigned with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), was hit with millions of dollars' worth of attack ads highlighting past comments like calling herself "radical" and boasting about "bullying the ICE vehicles."</p><ul><li>The GOP's bet that those controversial remarks would activate some of the district's MAGA base in an off-year election was proven right.</li><li>On Tuesday, some moderate Democrats privately and <a href="https://x.com/simon_bazelon/status/1996037487190573323?s=46" target="_blank">publicly</a> argued a more centrist candidate might have won, or come closer to it, reflecting the party's debate over whether to nominate "electable" moderates or progressives who energize young voters.</li></ul><p><strong>3. The "Affordability" light keeps flashing red.</strong></p><ul><li>Taxation was the most-mentioned topic in ads run by both sides, according to data compiled by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.</li><li>Behn made affordability the centerpiece of her campaign like the winning Democratic candidates last month for New Jersey and Virginia governor and New York City mayor.</li></ul><p><strong>As polls have shown</strong> Americans increasingly worried about inflation and affordability, Trump has begun talking more about affordability — begrudgingly.</p><ul><li>He's floated ideas such as handing out $2,000 tariff rebate checks and creating 50-year mortgages — even as he's downplayed worries about prices. </li><li>On Tuesday his frustration was evident as he called concerns about affordability "a Democrat scam" and said his administration had "stopped inflation in its tracks." </li></ul><p><strong>4. Trump's GOP is hyper-focused on 2026.</strong></p><ul><li>The president and his political operation went all-in for Van Epps with telerallies and the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC spending more than $1.5 million.</li><li>Trump's involvement highlights one of his top priorities for the next 11 months: <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/27/trump-5-steps-gop-house-2026" target="_blank">Maintaining</a> the GOP's tenuous House majority — and with it his control of Congress.</li><li>Trump — who faces the threat of impeachment if Democrats take control of the House next year — is backing redistricting in red states to create more GOP-friendly districts, building a billion-dollar political war chest, and backing loyalists in GOP primaries.</li></ul>
2 months ago