Politics

April 9, 2018 - While gerrymandered maps have given Republicans a dramatic advantage in recent elections, court rulings have led to fairer maps in Virginia and other battleground states. Will they even the playing field?

April 6, 2018 - Election watchdogs have accused the British political consulting firm of violating limits on foreign involvement in elections and of facilitating illegal coordination between super PACs and campaigns in its work to elect candidates including U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

March 30, 2018 - Facing the very real threat of cyberattack, state election officials will soon have federal money in hand to shore up defenses. Will it be enough?

March 30, 2018 - In Tennessee, a gun permit is an acceptable form of voter ID but a student ID is not. Students at the state's historically black schools are organizing to change that.   

March 29, 2018 - For years, Southern state legislators have tried to defend racial gerrymandering by claiming that it's required by the Voting Rights Act. Now the Trump administration is pointing to the same law to justify a new census question about citizenship.

March 27, 2018 - President Trump is under fire for his campaign's dealings with the controversial data mining and psy ops firm, but he's not the only politician who worked with the company. Other leading beneficiaries have included U.S. senators and representatives from several Southern states.

March 23, 2018 - Sheriff candidates in some Southern counties are campaigning on a promise to stay out of immigration enforcement, but new state laws could force police and judges to participate in the Trump administration's crackdown.

March 16, 2018 - Gunmakers are leaving their historic roots in the North's "Gun Valley" to set up shop in low-cost Southern states — with tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks and other incentives sweetening the deal.

March 16, 2018 - Nursing homes and other corporations that do not like being sued are pushing state constitutional amendments to limit damages juries can award — the latest move in a long corporate-funded campaign to limit access to civil justice. 

March 15, 2018 - For centuries, Black women battled racism and misogyny as they fought for access to the ballot. Having made enormous political strides in recent decades, they are poised to smash through a key barrier this year — and to do so in a Southern state.