Contrarians, with just two and a half weeks until the midterm elections, it is clear that the American people have had it with Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the skyrocketing cost of living, and this administration’s military actions abroad. There is little doubt the American people will head to the polls in vast numbers to express their frustrations with Trump and his disastrous record — if the elections proceed without interference.
If. That’s where my pro-democracy litigation colleagues and I come in.
As the great David Ignatius explained in his Friday column in the Washington Post, Trump’s “multifront campaign to rewrite the rules for the 2026 midterm elections” is faltering under legal onslaught. Trump “has failed in nearly every phase of his assault” on our elections.
Ignatius credited our legal work for helping achieve those strikeouts. We’ve stopped both of Trump’s anti-voter executive orders in court, fought back against his redistricting schemes across the country (helping limit the theft to a likely net of just two congressional seats stolen), and continue to challenge ballot-seizure efforts from coast to coast. We do that work hand in hand with a nationwide coalition of civil and voting rights advocates, labor allies, and partners across the broader pro-democracy movement.
Our efforts are thanks to our Contrarian paid subscribers. That support helps make the work possible. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you! If you haven’t taken out a paid subscription, please consider doing so.
Your subscription will also help fund our big push that comes next, as described by Ignatius:
“We know the playbook of Trump and the election deniers. We’ve sued them before, and we’ve beaten them before,” Norm Eisen, the head of Democracy Defenders Fund, told me in an interview. His group is organizing a $20 million effort that he calls Project 126, an implicit pledge to double the 63 legal victories that blocked Trump’s push to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Eisen shared a list of 10 midterm election threats his lawyers have mobilized to stop. They include attempts to purge voter rolls of supposed noncitizens, impose new rules for mail-in voting, deploy federal agents to polling places, seize ballots or voting machines and intimidate election officials.
“We’ve been preparing all year,” explained Seth Waxman, a former solicitor general under President Bill Clinton. Waxman is helping Eisen coordinate litigation strategy for volunteer lawyers at his firm, WilmerHale, and a dozen other prominent law firms. They will be ready to file complaints, requests for restraining orders, affidavits and other legal documents if Trump’s allies try to obstruct voting or ballot counting.
On Friday we did just that, with a court filing fighting back against Trump’s effort to deny ballots to tens of thousands of California voters. This latest election sabotage effort began on Tuesday, when the Trump regime sent California elections officials a thumb drive supposedly containing a list of about 20,000 noncitizens registered to vote in the state. Trump had two years to raise this but instead sent a purge list just two days before mail ballots were due to go out — and on Thursday Trump’s DOJ sued the state, demanding action on the list.
We at DDF and the Campaign Legal Center immediately intervened on behalf of our wonderful clients, including two of our nation’s leading civil rights groups, the NAACP and LULAC. The Trump DOJ’s lawsuit is a nakedly unconstitutional and illegal ploy. We will shut down this overreach.
The Trump regime’s election interference this week didn’t stop there, and neither did our work. On Tuesday, we filed a Hatch Act complaint against several administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, regarding the early-morning raid at Rep. Ilhan Omar’s house. There appears to be no legitimate reason for doing this search so close to the midterm elections — the case involves immigration issues dating back decades that have previously been passed over by law enforcement. With election day speeding toward us, the timing of the raid evinces illegal political intent — and we are calling it out.
We also helped lead the way this week in exposing the latest unqualified Trump appointee, now-former White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia. After her disastrous first day, I went on MS NOW to evaluate her catastrophic fail — including her history of holding herself out as a lawyer even though she never passed the bar.
We then submitted letters to the State Bar of California and the state attorney general, asking that they immediately investigate whether she had practiced law without a license in California. As we allege in the complaint, Zacharia served as general counsel to a California nonprofit without a state bar license. No one is above the law, not even those standing at a White House podium (even if you only lasted five days and gave exactly one briefing).
Thanks to the help provided by your paid subscriptions, we are able to protect our elections — and to hold this administration accountable in a myriad of other ways. Of course, that includes through our outstanding Contrarian coverage every day! See for yourself in this week’s round up of the best of the Contrarian.
Midterm Watch
Meet the Democrats’ Working Class Wave
Tim Dickinson looked at the blue-collar vanguard of this year’s blue wave — a group that includes a teacher, an ironworker, a nurse, a logger, a pastor, and urban- and wildland firefighters, all of whom hope to change the fact that only 2 percent of members of Congress have spent any part of their adulthood in the working class. Are these Democrats “the answer to the faux populism of MAGA and Musk?”
What Dems Can Achieve in the States
Jennifer Rubin wrote on the Democrats with a chance to flip governorships from red to blue — including in Iowa, Georgia, Alaska, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and Florida — and what else is up for grabs and at stake in the states. “A patchwork system of civil right enforcement is not ideal, but it is preferable to civil rights deserts.”
Is 2026 the Year That Independents Can Break the Two-Party System?
Natalie Fertig wrote on how Americans are clamoring for more choices on the ballot and why backers of the independent movement say just one or two wins this year will change the game. “These groups feel that Democrats are leaning into a message this year that most will not follow through with long-term.”
How MAGA Is Codifying Voting Oppression
April Ryan spoke with Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King on building Black and Brown political power, midterm turnout, and the fight after November. “We’re literally at the point where oppression is being legislated. [And] we are very focused on activating these young people who have lost their rights.”
The World Stage
Marco Rubio’s Descent into Darkness, and the True Meaning of the West
Tom Malinowski wrote on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent speech at the Parthenon, a commentary on nationalism and “the West” that was less a dog whistle for fascism than a wolf whistle. “Where have we heard such a worldview before?”
Trump’s Strategic Genius on Display Again
Brian O’Neill gave Trump’s proposed deal of an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine less than full marks — on strategy, feasibility, and everything else. “For a president who boasts about his unmatched intellect, negotiating prowess, and singular ability to end wars, Trump continually demonstrates an inability to think more than one move ahead.”
Max Stier did not mince words about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to invite Elon Musk to the Pentagon to help strategize about the future of warfare. “[It’s] akin to inviting Godzilla back to your home after he wrecked it once before.”
Rights Under Threat
How the ACLU Is Safeguarding Immigrants and Elections
On the podcast this week, Jennifer Rubin and I chatted with Mike Zamore about the ACLU’s new report on Trump’s mass deportation agenda and how the ACLU is working to safeguard mail-in voting against the administration’s potential threats to the midterm elections. “When authoritarians are looking to hack a democracy, immigration is their phishing attack.”
Hiding Until After the Mid-Terms Won’t Work
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote that it’s “no surprise” the FDA is waiting to release its “so-called safety review of mifepristone, the drug most often used in medication abortions, until March 2027, when the midterms will be safely in the rearview mirror” — but the reality is that women’s reproductive rights are still very much on the ballot this November.
Fighting Back
Ready, Set, Vote: No Kings 4 Is Here
Find a No Kings event near you today to help mobilize voters and ensure that the midterms are TOO BIG TO RIG! Also in this week’s roundup of actions for democracy: where you can cast your ballot early; how to join “the movement” to end gender-based violence; door-knocking (or dialing) for democracy in Florida; and more.
The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement
This week, we saw protests in Washington, Maryland, Texas, Minnesota, Georgia, and more local actions for democracy nationwide. As always, you can get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and please send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.
Sen. Andy Kim Reveals How He Will Root Out Government Corruption
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) joined Jennifer Rubin to discuss the anti-corruption legislation he has introduced in the Senate and how Americans pay a “corruption tax” every time Trump and Co. profit from illicit financial agreements.
Cartoons, Culture, & Fun Stuff
This week, our cartoonists took on bad strategy (At the Reins, Michael de Adder), bad spin (New and Improved, RJ Matson), a bad deal (Driving the Deal, Michael de Adder), and the worst president (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).
‘30 Rock’ Once Seemed Too Absurd to Be Real. Instead, It Predicted the Future
Meredith Blake wrote on how 30 Rock, which debuted on NBC 20 years ago, imagined a world that seemed too stupid and ludicrous to be real — and ended up just being ahead of its time. “While other sitcoms from the era, like The Office, have lived on via endless rewatches on streaming, 30 Rock has endured in a different way.”
An Inside Look at an Exiled Russian Journalist Targeted as a ‘Foreign Agent’
Meredith also wrote on the documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile, which follows Russian reporters trying to work in exile after the invasion of Ukraine. “You have the consolidation of the media and all these different pressures before journalists start getting thrown in jail,” says the director, Julia Loktev. “But how do you know when that tipping point is?”
Share This Cookie Brittle — and Voting Plans — with Your Neighbors
Marissa Rothkopf offered us her own personal, deliciously cookie-shaped campaign to encourage friends and neighbors to vote.
And last but never least: Meet Waylon!
Bless you, Norm and team at Democracy Defenders! So proud of you, and thankful for all you do. Big hug from SoCal! 🤗 💙
NORM and the amazing legal eagles. Can't thank you enough.