David Nir
@davidnir.com
Publisher, @the-downballot.com. davidnir (at) the-downballot (dot) com
Our site: https://the-downballot.com
Our site: https://the-downballot.com
Pinned
David Nir
@davidnir.com
· Oct 20
Me 'n' @kailigray.bsky.social at No Kings on Oct. 18, 2025. Frogs together strong!
Reposted by David Nir
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Opinion | The Way to Pay for Free Buses Is to End Free Parking
Free buses would be transformative not only for riders, but for the ecosystem of the city as a whole.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Reposted by David Nir
Check out the Kavanaugh FN 4; I think it's pretty clear that the Kavanaugh Stop thing has gotten to him:
December 23, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Check out the Kavanaugh FN 4; I think it's pretty clear that the Kavanaugh Stop thing has gotten to him:
Reposted by David Nir
"bowing to pressure from Congress" is a weird way for an actual legal news account to say this? they released it because there is a law! Congress passing a law isn't pressure from Congress! It's the job of Congress! (yes i know the admin does not follow laws, but that's not the point!)
The US Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to pressure from Congress reut.rs/4p0eLBl
December 20, 2025 at 2:27 AM
"bowing to pressure from Congress" is a weird way for an actual legal news account to say this? they released it because there is a law! Congress passing a law isn't pressure from Congress! It's the job of Congress! (yes i know the admin does not follow laws, but that's not the point!)
Reposted by David Nir
I don't do much looking back at my own writing, but I've been thinking about this piece a lot today. From tenderly protecting Trump from criminal consequences to enthusiastically helping him dismantle the administrative state, Roberts owns it all.
The worst chief justice of all time
Move over, Roger Taney and Melville Fuller.
open.substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
I don't do much looking back at my own writing, but I've been thinking about this piece a lot today. From tenderly protecting Trump from criminal consequences to enthusiastically helping him dismantle the administrative state, Roberts owns it all.
Reposted by David Nir
"We've seen a steady decline in Trump's approval and his numbers on issues where he's supposedly strong, like immigration. That slow change is what you should expect in US politics rather than big overnight shifts"
2025 recap ep of @davidnir.com & Rupar is live: www.publicnotice.co/p/2025-recap...
2025 recap ep of @davidnir.com & Rupar is live: www.publicnotice.co/p/2025-recap...
December 19, 2025 at 10:27 PM
"We've seen a steady decline in Trump's approval and his numbers on issues where he's supposedly strong, like immigration. That slow change is what you should expect in US politics rather than big overnight shifts"
2025 recap ep of @davidnir.com & Rupar is live: www.publicnotice.co/p/2025-recap...
2025 recap ep of @davidnir.com & Rupar is live: www.publicnotice.co/p/2025-recap...
Reposted by David Nir
I think a fair question to ask by now is why the administration wants people to keep talking about Jeffrey Epstein and his files.
December 19, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I think a fair question to ask by now is why the administration wants people to keep talking about Jeffrey Epstein and his files.
The Downballot's Discord server cracking me up right now
![[4:59 PM]l17r: So, did I get that correctly:
DB announces last digest of the year
…
Lummis and Stefanik retire
[4:59 PM]l17r: LOL
[5:00 PM]Nicholas (NC - 4): Maybe announce last digest again...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x7ajfd6mhrii5axlx254vmol/bafkreiaajyv43jfcvx6c2d25mxt55p57ij3jc32agmd5zbbg2cebfbs5kq@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 10:02 PM
The Downballot's Discord server cracking me up right now
Reposted by David Nir
Heads up that @davidnir.com and I will now be going live at 3pm eastern instead of 2 so I can cover Trump's remarks. We'll be looking at the year that was, setting the table for 2026, and also taking questions live from viewers.
Join us:
Join us:
LIVE SOON: 2025 recap: Trump amasses power—and loses the plot
Starting Dec 19 at 2:00 PM EST
open.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Heads up that @davidnir.com and I will now be going live at 3pm eastern instead of 2 so I can cover Trump's remarks. We'll be looking at the year that was, setting the table for 2026, and also taking questions live from viewers.
Join us:
Join us:
Reposted by David Nir
Just once a year, in our final newsletter, we ask our readers to donate to support our work. And it's truly been a dramatic year, one that began in despair for supporters of democracy but has since seen nothing but victories at the ballot box. If our coverage has been helpful, we hope you'll donate.
Morning Digest: It was a huge year at the ballot box. Help us keep going.
As the stakes get even higher in 2026, we'll keep covering every important election, every day
www.the-downballot.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Just once a year, in our final newsletter, we ask our readers to donate to support our work. And it's truly been a dramatic year, one that began in despair for supporters of democracy but has since seen nothing but victories at the ballot box. If our coverage has been helpful, we hope you'll donate.
Reposted by David Nir
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
December 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
Oh yeah well the teevee thinks the NBA cup matters!
December 19, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Oh yeah well the teevee thinks the NBA cup matters!
Reposted by David Nir
Truly shows how judicial elections matter. The new justice, Pamela Goodwine, had the support of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear but still won an officially nonpartisan race for a Trump+6 district in a 77-23 landslide. The win also made her the first Black woman on the court.
A year after upholding a law limiting the power of the Jefferson County school board, the Kentucky Supreme Court struck it down in a new ruling Thursday, thanks to a new justice on the court. #kyga26
Kentucky Supreme Court reverses course, strikes down law limiting JCPS board power
A year after upholding a law limiting the power of the Jefferson County school board, the Kentucky Supreme Court struck it down in a new ruling, thanks to a new member.
www.lpm.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Truly shows how judicial elections matter. The new justice, Pamela Goodwine, had the support of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear but still won an officially nonpartisan race for a Trump+6 district in a 77-23 landslide. The win also made her the first Black woman on the court.
Reposted by David Nir
It's our pleasure to present the Third Annual Downballot Awards! On our final podcast of 2025, we hand out honors for the year's highlights & lowlights, including:
• Funniest Cancellation of a Special Election
• The Lighting Money on Fire Award
• Special Achievement in Stealth Politics
And more!
• Funniest Cancellation of a Special Election
• The Lighting Money on Fire Award
• Special Achievement in Stealth Politics
And more!
Presenting the Third Annual Downballot Awards!
Listen now | We're handing out trophies for everything from Best Campaign to Funniest Cancellation of a Special Election, and much more
www.the-downballot.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
It's our pleasure to present the Third Annual Downballot Awards! On our final podcast of 2025, we hand out honors for the year's highlights & lowlights, including:
• Funniest Cancellation of a Special Election
• The Lighting Money on Fire Award
• Special Achievement in Stealth Politics
And more!
• Funniest Cancellation of a Special Election
• The Lighting Money on Fire Award
• Special Achievement in Stealth Politics
And more!
Reposted by David Nir
Once again, NH Republicans have avoided calling a special election for a state House district they could have lost.
Republican Rep. Matthew Lunney rep'd the town of Meredith, which is run by the GOP. It voted 51-48 for Trump last year. The town gov't decided not to request a special election.
Republican Rep. Matthew Lunney rep'd the town of Meredith, which is run by the GOP. It voted 51-48 for Trump last year. The town gov't decided not to request a special election.
Lunney resigns from Statehouse, served Meredith
MEREDITH — A former first-term state representative resigned his elected position in September.
www.laconiadailysun.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Once again, NH Republicans have avoided calling a special election for a state House district they could have lost.
Republican Rep. Matthew Lunney rep'd the town of Meredith, which is run by the GOP. It voted 51-48 for Trump last year. The town gov't decided not to request a special election.
Republican Rep. Matthew Lunney rep'd the town of Meredith, which is run by the GOP. It voted 51-48 for Trump last year. The town gov't decided not to request a special election.
Reposted by David Nir
Longtime Rep. Bennie Thompson, 77, has always won renomination with ease in Mississippi's only safely Democratic district. A well-connected attorney who is less than half his age is hoping that primary voters want change next year.
Morning Digest: Another senior House Democrat draws a challenge from a much younger opponent
Newcomer laments that the "poorest district in the poorest state" has remained that way for decades
www.the-downballot.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Longtime Rep. Bennie Thompson, 77, has always won renomination with ease in Mississippi's only safely Democratic district. A well-connected attorney who is less than half his age is hoping that primary voters want change next year.
Reposted by David Nir
trump is panicking because democrats have a huge lead on affordability right now www.gelliottmorris.com/p/affordabil...
December 18, 2025 at 2:23 AM
trump is panicking because democrats have a huge lead on affordability right now www.gelliottmorris.com/p/affordabil...
Reposted by David Nir
In response to SSRN's removal of Professor Edwards's "The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses," I have posted "A Response to SSRN's Removal of Jerry Edwards's 'The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses'"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
![On December 11, 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced a pardon for former Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk Tina Peters. A veritable mob of critics emerged to condemn the pardon as unlawful, illegal, not allowed, and fundamentally inconsistent with the narrowly circumscribed powers of the President to “grant pardons and reprieves for Offenses against the United States,” which clearly refers to federal offenses. 1 In response to the hullabaloo, Professor Jerry Edwards bravely “survey[ed] hundreds of years of history in the past few days” and wrote an article “assessing the originalist case.”2 Professor Edwards made the regrettable mistake of posting his article to the Social Science Research Network (“SSRN”), which concluded that his “manuscript [did] not meet the criteria for posting on SSRN” and subsequently removed it3—demonstrating yet another instance of well-documented bias against originalist legal scholarship.4 To the untrained scholar, Professor Edwards’s scholarship may have seemed like he just copied and pasted the lyrics to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”5 into a Word document, which spanned approximately a page and a half, and conducted no originalist analysis. Even if Professor Edwards did just that,6 characterizing this discussion as somehow unfitting of other works in the originalist oeuvre7 is, yet again, anti-originalist bias. In this brief essay, which was rushedly written to ensure that the whole commentariat was aware of the “entire literature that disagrees”8 with the notion that the President cannot pardon state crimes, I analyze the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You Up.” I conclude that it has as direct, helpful, and material a bearing on originalist jurisprudence on the President’s pardon power as any leading originalist scholar could muster.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q3dycka5ce2gybcbau5gfehd/bafkreiciwxwj5gbuomhmhbkn4gncsoy5icfxwyxijxyzm5hw6q5v4xxj3y@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
In response to SSRN's removal of Professor Edwards's "The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses," I have posted "A Response to SSRN's Removal of Jerry Edwards's 'The Originalist Case for the President's Power to Pardon State Offenses'"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by David Nir
I like the rhythm of this paragraph because each sentence is like Sideshow Bob stepping onto a new rake
December 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I like the rhythm of this paragraph because each sentence is like Sideshow Bob stepping onto a new rake
Reposted by David Nir
"People like Susie Wiles are a terrific example of how something as bad as Nazism actually happened."
On the pod, @swin24.bsky.social and me on the darker story behind the Wiles mess: People like her know how lawless the Trump project is but are going along anyway:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
On the pod, @swin24.bsky.social and me on the darker story behind the Wiles mess: People like her know how lawless the Trump project is but are going along anyway:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
December 17, 2025 at 4:33 PM
"People like Susie Wiles are a terrific example of how something as bad as Nazism actually happened."
On the pod, @swin24.bsky.social and me on the darker story behind the Wiles mess: People like her know how lawless the Trump project is but are going along anyway:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
On the pod, @swin24.bsky.social and me on the darker story behind the Wiles mess: People like her know how lawless the Trump project is but are going along anyway:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Reposted by David Nir
NBA Peace Prize is a brilliant term for the NBA Cup, about which everything I’ve learned has been against my will.
Congratulations to the New York Knicks, winners of the NBA Peace Prize!
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
December 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
NBA Peace Prize is a brilliant term for the NBA Cup, about which everything I’ve learned has been against my will.
Congratulations to the New York Knicks, winners of the NBA Peace Prize!
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
December 17, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Congratulations to the New York Knicks, winners of the NBA Peace Prize!
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
Seriously, it was a great game, and what's more, the Knicks not only won and not only didn't blow it, they *came from behind*—in the fourth quarter!—to win. That refusal to give up and avoid getting in your own head is new.
Reposted by David Nir
The Knicks should parade the trophy through the New York New York casino tonight
December 17, 2025 at 4:32 AM
The Knicks should parade the trophy through the New York New York casino tonight
A great thread, now that we know it’s #2
can’t believe that in just a few hours i’ll finally know if the nba cup is a complete waste of time and cynical cash grab (knicks lose) or the most important basketball championship on earth, bigger than the nba finals and olympics combined (knicks win)
December 17, 2025 at 5:44 AM
A great thread, now that we know it’s #2
Reposted by David Nir
“Does the NBA Cup matter?” I don’t know.
Here’s what I know. For the first time in my life something just ended without the Knicks blowing it and now there are no more chances for them to blow it and that’s new for me and I like it a lot.
Here’s what I know. For the first time in my life something just ended without the Knicks blowing it and now there are no more chances for them to blow it and that’s new for me and I like it a lot.
December 17, 2025 at 4:42 AM
“Does the NBA Cup matter?” I don’t know.
Here’s what I know. For the first time in my life something just ended without the Knicks blowing it and now there are no more chances for them to blow it and that’s new for me and I like it a lot.
Here’s what I know. For the first time in my life something just ended without the Knicks blowing it and now there are no more chances for them to blow it and that’s new for me and I like it a lot.
Reposted by David Nir
As a reminder, presidential election results for legislative districts don't grow on trees! If you knew that KY #SD37 went 52-47 for Kamala Harris last year, you very likely learned that from our calculations. If you love special elections, please subscribe/upgrade! www.the-downballot.com/subscribe
Subscribe to The Downballot
Covering every election, from kickoff to call. Click to read The Downballot, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
www.the-downballot.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:38 AM
As a reminder, presidential election results for legislative districts don't grow on trees! If you knew that KY #SD37 went 52-47 for Kamala Harris last year, you very likely learned that from our calculations. If you love special elections, please subscribe/upgrade! www.the-downballot.com/subscribe