Russell Berman

This @elainejgodfrey dispatch from (where else?) Iowa illuminates so many of dynamics of the midterms, across the Midwest and beyond: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

In North Carolina, the GOP had a 10-4 edge in House seats & reached for 1 more. But they stretched too far: Dems nearly won every single House seat in NC. (They'll still flip several.) More on the GOP's gerrymandering faceplant, w/ @maddiecarlisle2: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

At Trump's direction, Republicans spent a year trying to fortify their House majority through gerrymandering. On Tuesday, the wall they built collapsed into dust. My piece w/@maddiecarlisle2 on how GOP redistricting was no match for a Democratic landslide: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Hochul’s aides cautioned through the fall not to expect a landslide, but she could wind up beating Andrew Cuomo’s blowout win in 2018. I wrote about her improbable comeback last month: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Susan Collins couldn't pull it off one more time. A defeat that Maine Republicans insisted was unfathomable had, by the end of a disastrous night for the GOP, become inevitable. My dispatch from a gloomy watch party in Bangor: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

How far down-ballot could a Democratic wave extend? They’re eyeing “a generational shift in state legislative power,” the DLCC’s @Heather4Dems told me. I went to Wisconsin, where Democrats could win a trifecta for the first time since Obama’s first term. theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Sanders clearly relishes his revival in relevance. Candidates across the Democratic spectrum are campaigning as populists. Medicare for All is polling better than ever. “Maybe,” Sanders told me, “Bernie Sanders has not been all that crazy over the years.” theatlantic.com/politics/202…

This isn’t supposed to be Bernie Sanders’s busy season, but he’s more in-demand as a surrogate during the general election than ever before. My piece on the senator who’s peaking at 85: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

"Saddam might have been a happier, more reasonable dictator if he’d had a Cheesecake Factory nearby." This @elainejgodfrey Cheesecake Factory dispatch is, well, delicious: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Nowhere is the Iran war a bigger midterm issue than in Virginia's 2nd district, a veteran-vs-veteran campaign in an area heavily populated by veterans. Read this great @maddiecarlisle2 piece on a race that could determine the House majority: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Join me on a stroll with Susan Collins through the Fryeburg Fair, where she stepped over cow manure ("Don't make me walk in shit.") and tried to change the subject from Trump to home heating oil and the billions she's brought back to Maine: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

“Anybody who tells you it’s not a tough district doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” a Charleston-based Democratic strategist, told me. But “if there’s a candidate that can win this race right now, it’s Nancy Lacore.” theatlantic.com/politics/202…

How will you know if the midterms are really a blue wave? Watch the race for Nancy Mace's seat in South Carolina. Democrats won the seat in 2018, and now a former Navy Reserve chief fired by Hegseth is trying to flip it back. My report from Charleston: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Mayor Mamdani told me Hochul's "done incredibly well." Ritchie Torres, once a harsh critic, now calls her "the comeback governor of America." Hochul is happy to have the converts. "There’s a long line of people," she told me, "asking for forgiveness." theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Kathy Hochul has earned the respect of a party that dismissed her not long ago. Will voters give her some credit, too? My new profile of the New York governor: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Josh Shapiro is Obama-esque...perhaps too much so. On the once-you-hear-it-you-can't-unhear-it echo and how it could play in 2028: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Ed Markey, 80, is one of 2 sitting members who have served in Congress since Gerald Ford was president. He's easily turned aside a younger challenger once again. “There’s a difference between being old and being part of the old guard,” an adviser told me. theatlantic.com/politics/202…

“We’ve been a laboratory for democracy and a petri dish for conservatism,” @FrancescaHongWI told me. She's now hoping to make Wisconsin the nation's biggest lab for democratic socialism: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Bob La Follette and Joe McCarthy. Russ Feingold and Scott Walker. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson. Wisconsin is America's preeminent battleground, but it's no bastion of moderation. My look at Francesca Hong and a purple state that embraces the extremes: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

And as a bonus, here's me talking about the Michigan Senate race—live (er, filmed) from a hotel room outside Detroit—with Radio Atlantic host extraordinaire @AdamHSays theatlantic.com/podcasts/202…