The lesson from our victory in Virginia.

April 22, 2026

On Tuesday, Virginia voters approved a set of temporary maps that will likely give Democrats a pickup of four congressional seats in 2026. Virginia’s victory follows California’s voter-approved and Utah’s court-ordered redistricting gains for Democrats, effectively offsetting Republican partisan gerrymandering in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri. Florida’s legislature is still considering a redistricting plan, but the Florida GOP is rightfully concerned about the erosion of support for Trump among Latino voters, so they may decide not to enact last-minute redistricting.

Bottom line: Democrats have likely wrestled Republicans to a draw in the partisan gerrymandering wars of 2026. That is an outstanding result that was not foreseen in the initial panic and doomsday predictions, when Trump convinced the Texas legislature to engage in back-room gerrymandering to award Trump the “five seats” he said he was “owed.”

Fortunately, Democrats did not surrender to panic and doomsaying. Instead, they did something remarkable. In the words of California Governor Gavin Newsom, they decided to “fight fire with fire.” Rather than bemoan the unfairness of Republican mid-census gerrymandering, Democrats embraced partisan gerrymandering to defend democracy! The move was both bold and controversial—but it was a necessary step to protect the fairness of the 2026 midterms.

To their credit, Democrats submitted their redistricting plans to the vote of the people, unlike Republicans, who passed gerrymandered districts in legislatures that were themselves the result of partisan gerrymandering. Moreover, the Democratic changes are temporary, subject to redistricting by non-partisan commissions after the 2030 census.

Here’s the lesson: To preserve democracy, Democrats must be willing to act boldly, breaking norms and overcoming institutional inertia that have prevented meaningful reform for three-quarters of a century.

And here’s the corollary: Do not panic, do not quit, do not surrender to anxiety. We can beat Trump and his enablers at their own game by trusting in the people to get it right. Pessimists and issue spotters will weave their tales of doom at every opportunity. Remember this headline after the Texas Supreme Court upheld the Texas legislature’s redistricting: NPR (12/8/25), Trump, and Republicans head to 2026 with a redistricting edge— Democrats have fewer options to counter.

NPR’s reports of the demise of the Democratic Party turned out to be premature. Not only did Democrats create new “options” by acting in an unconventional, unexpected manner, but Texas’s move looks like it might backfire. Texas based its new gerrymandered maps on Latino support in 2024, a historical anomaly that has disappeared entirely, if 2026 polls are to be believed. See Axios, (12/4/25), “Trump has all but wiped out the historic gains Republicans made with Latino voters in 2024.”

In short, Texas Republicans engaged in a “dummymander” by resorting to such extreme gerrymandering that they imperiled previously safe seats for the privilege of creating new districts that are likewise vulnerable. See American Prospect (7/16/25), Texas Redistricting Maneuver May Harm Republicans More Than It Helps.

The victory in Virginia teaches us that we can affect the future. Not control, but affect. But not if we quit because pundits tell us that “Democrats are out of options.”

Good job, everyone!

US war on Iran: Trump appears to exit the field of battle

The peace talks set for Islamabad on Tuesday were canceled because Iran would not confirm its attendance in the face of Trump’s most recent unhinged threats. On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that “If they don’t sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up.”

In the face of the new threat, Iran chose not to participate in peace negotiations on Tuesday. Trump unilaterally extended the ceasefire indefinitely. See NPR, Trump extends the ceasefire with Iran.

Per NPR,

President Trump has made yet another stunning U-turn when it comes to Iran. Just hours before his threatened deadline to resume bombing, he backed down for the second time in two weeks. And instead, Trump announced he is indefinitely extending the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran until negotiations conclude. But there’s no clarity on what exactly the next moves are.

So, if you are keeping score, the US has unilaterally and indefinitely ceased hostilities against Iran, which retains control of the Strait of Hormuz and possession of its stockpile of enriched uranium. And while Iran has suffered devastating losses to its missile capabilities and air defense systems, the US is reportedly facing a missile shortage. See CNN, US at risk of running out of missiles if another war breaks out after depleting stockpile in Iran operations.

Per CNN,

The US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran and created a “near-term risk” of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments.

In the short term, the US likely maintains enough bombs and missiles to continue combat operations against Iran, in any scenario, should the shaky ceasefire fail to hold. But the number of critical munitions remaining in US stockpiles is no longer sufficient to confront a near-peer adversary, like China, and it will likely take years before the inventory of those weapons returns to pre-war levels, the CSIS analysis concludes.

In sum, Pete Hegseth has impaired the combat readiness of the US military by recklessly ordering excessive attacks in Iran. It has always been the US military’s objective to maintain the capability to fight wars in “two theaters” simultaneously. That capability now seems in question, at least for the next three to five years. See Small Wars Journal, U.S. Missile Stockpiles Are Running Low After Iran War. (“The major risk is not that we’re going to run out for this war, but that the inventories are inadequate for a possible conflict with China,” said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel.”)

A fair description of the current situation is that the US has left the field of battle having obtained neither surrender nor concessions from Iran. Remember when Trump and Hegseth said that the only acceptable outcome of their war was Iran’s “unconditional surrender”? We are about as far from that outcome as possible. A tragic, pointless, and ignominious outcome for everyone involved.

Trump’s vengeance campaign

Multiple media outlets have reported on preparations for a new phase in Trump’s revenge campaign against his perceived “enemies” who investigated Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, prosecuted his two impeachments, and defended the integrity of the 2020 election (which he lost to Joe Biden).

As with Trump’s misguided, self-inflicted wounds in the dummymander of red states, Trump’s revenge campaign is simultaneously reprehensible, dangerous, and bound to hurt him politically. While he may believe that hurting his perceived enemies from a decade ago is important, much of his base has moved on. They are now worried about gas prices and job losses caused by Trump’s AI billionaire friends.

As with previous unsuccessful attempts to prosecute James Comey and Letitia James, the coming indictments should be weak and subject to dismissal. On Tuesday, Trump arranged for the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that made fighting hate crimes and hate groups the centerpiece of its advocacy. See WaPo, DOJ charges Southern Poverty Law Center over paid informants.

Per WaPo, the complaint alleges that the SPLC paid informants to gather information on hate groups without telling donors to the SPLC that their donations were being used for that purpose. Use of paid informants is a widespread practice—one used by the FBI and DOJ.

The FBI itself acknowledges on its website that courts have recognized the government’s use of informants as ‘lawful and often essential to the effectiveness of properly authorized law enforcement investigations.’ See FBI.gov, What is the FBI’s policy on the use of informants?

According to The Intercept, which obtained the FBI’s internal Confidential Human Source Policy Guide, the FBI today runs approximately 15,000 paid confidential informants. The SPLC used informants to gather information on hate groups—especially the Ku Klux Klan. The federal government uses informants to gather information on criminal organizations. The only difference is that the SPLC didn’t use taxpayer money — it used donor funds. As a result, the DOJ is accusing the SPLC of money laundering and wire fraud.

Chris Geidner at Law Dork (Substack) has an excellent discussion of the underlying relationship between the SPLC and the FBI. See Chris Geidner, Law Dork, The SPLC indictment, the Klan history behind it, and the ignominy of Todd Blanche.

As Geidner notes, the SPLC program of infiltrating hate groups has been a known practice for 45 years (referred to as “Klanwatch,” for its focus on the Ku Klux Klan). Indeed, the SPLC shared information it learned from the program with the FBI, and it published the results of many of its investigations based on paid informants.

Todd Blanche and Kash Patel are now attempting to criminalize the efforts of the SPLC to investigate one of the most notorious hate groups ever spawned in America. Among the many despicable things Todd Blanche has done, this is the most despicable. He is clearly trying to secure a nomination as the next Attorney General. He may be nominated, but he will not be confirmed. And odds are that he will be disbarred soon after Trump leaves office--all for the privilege of groveling before the worst president in US history.

The worst president in US history.

A reader sent a note about a newly released book, “Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID.” The book is about the defunding and dismantling of USAID by Trump, Musk, and the DOGE boys. The loss of life resulting from that callous decision is staggering—estimated to be more than 720,00 per year. That incomprehensibly high estimate may be low.

Shortly after I received the note about Into the Woodchipper, another reader sent me a link to an op-ed by Thomas Edsall in the NYTimes, ‘Easily the Worst President in U.S. History’ (Gift article, accessible to all.)

Edsall’s reporting is stunning. He catalogs the many ways that Trump’s policies have led to deaths, illness, damage to the rule of law, financial harm to consumers, destruction of the environment, and more.

Edsall’s reporting is densely packed, but worth every word. There is nothing “new” in Edsall’s essay, but he does a tremendous job of collecting and narrating the damage done by Trump.

Edsall writes, in part,

A study published in The Lancet, the London-based medical journal, found that Trump administration cuts in U.S.A.I.D. funding “would result in approximately 1,776,539 all-age deaths and 689,900 deaths in children younger than 5 years” in 2025 alone.

“Over the remainder of the period,” the study continues, “the complete defunding of U.S.A.I.D. would cause an estimated 2,450,000 all-age deaths annually, leading to a total of 14,051,750 excess all-age deaths and 4,537,157 excess under-5 deaths by 2030.”

Trump’s actions are harming US citizens as well:

In the October 2025 issue of Nature Medicine, Marianne Guenot reported that “at least 148 clinical trials have been impacted, with over 138,000 patients due to be enrolled or already enrolled,” as a result of cancellations. The word “impacted” falls far short of what’s needed to describe the plight of those 138,000 patients.

And on the governmental level, Trump has ignored the Constitution so often and so blatantly that major governmental operations have simply ceased. Edsall writes,

He’s fundamentally undermined the idea of an annual budget process and the concept of a balanced federal budget. These ideas were teetering before his presidency, but the Trump administration gave up on any pretense of seeking balance or an annual spending plan.

There is much more, and I recommend Edsall’s article to everyone—not because I want to frighten or upset you, but because I want to remind all of us why the victory in Virginia was so consequential—and why we must continue to act boldly in reclaiming our democracy and defending the rule of law.

Opportunity for Reader Engagement

Latino Victory sponsors Latino Talks

I’ll be moderating a panel at Latino Talks 2026 in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 14, and I wanted to alert readers who may be interested in joining this in-person event. Hosted by Latino Victory, Latino Talks is an evening of cocktails and conversation that brings together leaders across politics, culture, business, and media to reflect on where the Latino community stands and where it is headed next. This year’s theme is Raíces Fuertes, Corazón Valiente: Honoring Latino Resilience & Empowerment.

The evening will feature a strong and growing lineup of elected officials and public voices, including Rep. Emily Randall, Rep. Gabe Vasquez, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. Rob Menendez, Rep. Lou Correa, Rep. Analilia Mejía, Ambassador Nathalie Rayes, Maria Cardona, and more to be announced.

For those who would like to attend in person, tickets are available here. The organizers are also exploring a virtual option; more information to come.

This event is a fundraiser for Latino Victory, which is doing critical work to engage Latino voters in 2026 and beyond. As a special incentive to readers of Today’s Edition newsletter, if you support the Latino Victory event at the Champion level ($250), I will provide a complimentary one-year “Founding Member” status to Today’s Edition newsletter ($200 per year), which will allow the subscriber to participate in our monthly interactive Zooms in a small-group setting. If you support the Latino Victory event at the Champion level, send me a note with the subject line “Latino Victory.”

CENTRAL VALLEY MATTERS: “SUPPORTING VICTORY” and Flipping CA-22.

California’s Central Valley is ready for change. You can help make that change happen.

Please join iconic organizer Dolores Huerta and other community leaders in CA22. In this Zoom meeting, you will learn how local activists are working tirelessly to engage and energize people who have, for too long, been ignored and exploited. CA22 is rated nationally as a key congressional district that must be flipped if we are going to regain control of the House.

When: Tuesday, April 28 at 5:30pm PDT via zoom

To join the zoom: Mobilize link to sign up

To donate: ACT BLUE link to donate

Concluding Thoughts

I received an email from a reader in Australia that is instructive on many levels. The reader wrote,

I follow you daily for details on the dreadful changes occurring in the U.S., courtesy of the “convenient idiot.” Every Australian citizen is affected. Our vast, thinly spread population relies on transport to sustain them. The price of diesel has doubled. Fortunately, our government has removed the heavy-load road tax, which helps a little.

I give moral support to friends and relatives in Fort Collins, CO, and Austin, TX. They join the roadside protesters. Looking forward to a better future!

The reader’s note reminds us that Trump’s illegal war on Iran is affecting people across the globe. In the vast nation of Australia, “the price of diesel has doubled.” That is one fact in a chain of cascading consequences that will make life in Australia more expensive, less safe, and more challenging.

And yet, the reader from Australia says, “I give moral support” to friends in Colorado and Texas who are standing with roadside protesters! There is still a reservoir of goodwill toward the American people that has somehow managed to survive Trump’s wrecking ball. They see us resisting Trump and know that we are fighting for them as well as for ourselves.

America’s generosity has saved tens of millions of lives through USAID and other programs. America is a nation of vast wealth that can restore those programs as soon as we take control of the government. Our effort to resist Trump transcends local, state, and federal politics. It reaches into every corner of the world. We must not fail!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Pro-democracy protest photos

[Send photos to rbhubbell@gmail.com. Please include city and state.]

I was out with Indivisible North Metro Atlanta’s bannering over GA400 in Sandy Springs, GA, on Saturday.

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Rhode Island. Big Anniversary Celebration for the RI Tuesday Bridge Club! One year! Thru cold and severe heat, we showed up. We figure we have at least 3 more years! And we’re ready for it!

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The Resister Sister's banner drop on the Ethan Allen Overpass in Burlington, VT

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Fox “news” protest. Truth Tuesdays at Fox headquarters New York, NY.

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Portage, Indiana

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Chandler, AZ 🛑 STOP ICE PRISON CAMPS northbound and southbound 101 fwy.

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Tuesday morning, April 21, 2026
Pasadena, CA

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Stuart, Florida

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Our small group of protesters, called West St. Paul Democracy Defenders, have been demonstrating twice a month on our town's busiest intersection since 6/14/25. The photo is of my wife, Cynthia, and me on 1/23/26 when it was 21 degrees below zero with a -45 wind chill.

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Glendale, CA

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Here is a photo from this past Saturday's weekly Southwest Standers protest in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

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Englewood FL