Charlie Hunt
@charlesrhunt.com
Polisci Prof at Boise State and RI native. Congress, elections, and representation are my things. Dogs are my actual things. I co-host the podcast "Scandalized" on the NPR Network: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1259047598/scandalized
Pinned
Charlie Hunt
@charlesrhunt.com
· Jan 6
This is my favorite slide to open up my U.S. Congress courses with to quantitatively prove to my students how much I unironically care about Congress. It's my daily average heart rate from my Apple Watch over a 5-yr period. The #1 highest day in that period is circled in red.
"The State Board of Elections determined Thursday that those voters should have been given provisional ballots, but poll workers instead told them they weren't eligible to participate at all."
December 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
"The State Board of Elections determined Thursday that those voters should have been given provisional ballots, but poll workers instead told them they weren't eligible to participate at all."
Yes. I have to imagine there's a version of the "Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect" at work here — essentially, that members of underrepresented groups elected as "firsts" are by necessity better legislators than others thanks to the higher bar they had to clear to get there in the first place.
the full speech is something to see & is one of the reasons it is good to have a trans member of congress
youtu.be/5LqVMCW4e0c?...
youtu.be/5LqVMCW4e0c?...
Rep Sarah McBride on the steps of the Capitol
YouTube video by David Steinglass
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Yes. I have to imagine there's a version of the "Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect" at work here — essentially, that members of underrepresented groups elected as "firsts" are by necessity better legislators than others thanks to the higher bar they had to clear to get there in the first place.
GOP departures up to 27, the 3rd-most of either party since 2006. 1 and 2 are the GOP in 2018 and 2020. "Trump is president" really seems to be the highest-powered explanatory variable of the modern era.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
December 17, 2025 at 4:11 PM
GOP departures up to 27, the 3rd-most of either party since 2006. 1 and 2 are the GOP in 2018 and 2020. "Trump is president" really seems to be the highest-powered explanatory variable of the modern era.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
As always, the loudest of shout-outs to @the-downballot.com for the invaluable departure data.
I wasn't sure I'd see a speaker less effective than McCarthy in my lifetime but Johnson is really giving him a run for his money
4 House Republicans have signed the discharge petition for a 3-year extension of health insurance subsidies offered by Democrats. That gives it 218 signatures - and will force a vote probably in January.
December 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I wasn't sure I'd see a speaker less effective than McCarthy in my lifetime but Johnson is really giving him a run for his money
Taps sign
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Taps sign
To wit bsky.app/profile/arib...
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 9:26 PM
To wit bsky.app/profile/arib...
Bro
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
December 11, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Bro
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
One of the most blatantly authoritarian threats in a Trump term full of them
December 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I might be wrong but I think these folks might be underestimating how deeply offensive this is to a not insignificant subset of Republican state legislators, not just in Indiana but anywhere (including Idaho). These people have localized constituencies and are not (always) partisan automatons.
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
Stephen Miller: "If you subtract immigration out of test scores, all of the sudden our test scores skyrocket"
December 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
no wait don't go
Incredible:
"Nancy Mace of South Carolina has told people she is so frustrated... that she is planning to huddle with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia next week to discuss following her lead and retiring early from Congress."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...
"Nancy Mace of South Carolina has told people she is so frustrated... that she is planning to huddle with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia next week to discuss following her lead and retiring early from Congress."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...
December 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
no wait don't go
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
This is honestly a pretty Bluesky-specific problem. It is deathly serious in here at all times and I'll be honest, looking at Bluesky regularly is making me a worse, more hysterical writer, causing my non-Bluesky readers to tune out, and it's just making me an unhappier person.
And it may not just be limited to Bluesky, it seems like this is taking over much of online. Feels like @maxread.info or @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social could go long on the problem.
December 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
This is honestly a pretty Bluesky-specific problem. It is deathly serious in here at all times and I'll be honest, looking at Bluesky regularly is making me a worse, more hysterical writer, causing my non-Bluesky readers to tune out, and it's just making me an unhappier person.
What an embarrassment
Jeffries claims the charges against Cueller were "very thin" and says Trump's pardon was "exactly the right outcome"
December 3, 2025 at 5:42 PM
What an embarrassment
Rick Scott (net worth: $200m) makes this same argument constantly. It really speaks to how their personal life experience informs their policymaking (see @bcburden.bsky.social's classic book). They — not the very few lower-income members — are the most threatened by legislation like this.
December 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Rick Scott (net worth: $200m) makes this same argument constantly. It really speaks to how their personal life experience informs their policymaking (see @bcburden.bsky.social's classic book). They — not the very few lower-income members — are the most threatened by legislation like this.
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...
For my part, I would say that questioning the framing of some Times stories—for example, the highlighting of Trump’s putative emotions or the foregrounding of what he says (even when, as is often the case, what he says is false)—is not an indication that I want my “views validated.”
December 2, 2025 at 4:03 PM
If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
What time do you get in?
Officially moving to Chicago tomorrow. I assume JB Pritzker will be waiting for me at the airport
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
What time do you get in?
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
After you help your boss convert a doc to PDF
November 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
After you help your boss convert a doc to PDF
If I'm reading Georgia's election code correctly, a special election date would be set within 10 days of MTG's resignation, and the election would be held within a month of that announcement. So probably sometime in February — would love @the-downballot.com to set me straight if I'm wrong!
November 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
If I'm reading Georgia's election code correctly, a special election date would be set within 10 days of MTG's resignation, and the election would be held within a month of that announcement. So probably sometime in February — would love @the-downballot.com to set me straight if I'm wrong!
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
“a member of the DSA steering committee came up to me, big DSA member, strong DSA member, tears pouring from his eyes down onto his bright yellow zohran tote bag, and he said to me, he said, sir, labor is the source of all value. and i said, its so true. solidarity, comrade”
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
“a member of the DSA steering committee came up to me, big DSA member, strong DSA member, tears pouring from his eyes down onto his bright yellow zohran tote bag, and he said to me, he said, sir, labor is the source of all value. and i said, its so true. solidarity, comrade”
A total joy to see my @slate.com Political Gabfest pals (who are not literally my pals but I feel like they are after over a decade in my ears) on video for the first time! (@jdickerson.bsky.social @davidplotz.bsky.social)
Is the Department of Justice Collapsing Under Corruption? | Slate Political Gabfest
YouTube video by Slate
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
A total joy to see my @slate.com Political Gabfest pals (who are not literally my pals but I feel like they are after over a decade in my ears) on video for the first time! (@jdickerson.bsky.social @davidplotz.bsky.social)
In case you were wondering what YouTube recommends first when you turn off your watch history/subscriptions and start from scratch
November 19, 2025 at 10:24 PM
In case you were wondering what YouTube recommends first when you turn off your watch history/subscriptions and start from scratch
Let's go let's go let's go
Project Hail Mary is one of my favorite books of the last decade. The movie looks incredible.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYs...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYs...
Project Hail Mary | Official Trailer 2
YouTube video by Amazon MGM Studios
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Let's go let's go let's go
Reposted by Charlie Hunt
mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one
If you need a break from, you know *gestures wildly*, I wrote about the Edmund Fitzgerald because I felt like it.
When the gales of November came early
The enduring musical tribute to the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on the 50th anniversary of its wreck
youarehere.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:50 PM
If you need a break from, you know *gestures wildly*, I wrote about the Edmund Fitzgerald because I felt like it.