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donnermaps.bsky.social
Daniel Donner
@donnermaps.bsky.social
4K followers 790 following 460 posts
Contributor @the-downballot.com. Focusing on data, maps, and demographics. Find our data (and the CD hexmap template!) at https://the-db.co/data
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donnermaps.bsky.social
Daniel Donner @donnermaps.bsky.social · Oct 24
Several blocks in downtown Chicago are not part of *any* congressional district map (new or old). How on earth is this possible? The answer involves billions of dollars, brothels, Abraham Lincoln, and a bit of geomorphology. 1/

New IL map: t.co/QzQX9spFUO
Satellite view of downtown Chicago with congressional district map overlay, showing several block are not included in any district.
donnermaps.bsky.social
We're well into the 2026 election cycle, and special elections are still showing an exceptionally Democratic environment, similar 2018. 1/5
Political environment calculated from special elections for the 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles as a function of time in the election cycle. 2026 shows the most democratic environment along with 2018. 2022 is near zero, 2020 is in the middle, and 2024 ended up between 2020 and 2018 (but started just as high as 2018).
February 12, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
chenoweth.bsky.social
The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.
Map showing tens of thousands of protests across the US between Trump's inauguration last year and January 31, 2026.
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
chenoweth.bsky.social
Overall, we have tallied 4x more protests through Jan 31, 2026 than we had through Jan 31, 2018
Line graph that shows a blue line of # protests since Trump's 2nd inauguration surpassed, showing these to have exceeded 42k by the end of Jan 2026. A green line counts # of protests during the same time period in Trump's first term and just exceeds 10k.
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
I'm still SHOCKED by the obscene rise in billionaire election spending since Citizens United in the NYT piece, despite already knowing that election corruption w/ $ was profound. (Recall that BCRA fought dangerous campaign $ in *2002*)

The article data didn't have a graph, so I made one to show it.
Chart showing billionaire election spending from 2000 thru 2024. 2000: $18 million 2004: $13 million 2008 $16 million 2010: Citizens United supreme court case 2012: $231 million 2016: $682 million 2020: $1.2 billion 2024: $2.6 billion
February 12, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
nadiehbremer.com
📣 NEW! I’ve just released the BIGGEST and perhaps most creative project I’ve ever worked on!

“Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤

A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
February 12, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
justinwolfers.bsky.social
February 11, 2026 at 2:07 PM
donnermaps.bsky.social
Two more Dem overperformances in VA specials tonight, in the most Democratic VA districts to have specials in this cycle.

Typically VA is a hard state for Dems to overperform in for specials... but not this year.

Data: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Graph showing Democratic margins in Virginia special elections compared to 2020 presidential margins. 9 of 11 specials have Dem overperformances for the 2026 cycle, despite mostly taking place in very blue districts. In contrast, only 4 of 12 specials show Dem overperformances for the 2022 and 2024 cycles.
February 11, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
schwanksta.com
Habeas cases filed by immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have taken off to levels we have never seen before. Just look at that chart.

www.propublica.org/article/habe...
A line chart going from Jan 2009 to Jan 2026 showing very few cases until Trump’s second term, where the line takes off nearly vertically, showing more than 6,600 cases in Jan 2026 alone.
February 10, 2026 at 12:15 PM
donnermaps.bsky.social
4 elections on the Big Board tonight, 3 in NY.

We have 27 NY specials logged since '17. In only 12 of 27 was there a dem overperformance compared the last pres elex.

In 10 of 27 the pres margin was > D+60. In *just 1* of those did we see a dem overperformance.
The Downballot's special elections Big Board for the 2025-26 cycle
docs.google.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:16 AM
donnermaps.bsky.social
No matter the obstacle, whether it's winter storms or stormtroopers, Democratic voters are showing up. So far this cycle, 26 R to D flips, 0 D to R flips.
A graph showing Democrats outperforming the 2024 presidential margin in the vast majority of special elections in the 2026 cycle.
February 1, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
astrokatie.com
Also trying to parse all the emails that read like they were written by a concussed golden retriever I think I finally get why these guys are so enthusiastic about getting chatbots to write for them
January 31, 2026 at 5:49 PM
donnermaps.bsky.social
This is a survey of ICE and CBP employees. They are miserable. Compare the 2024 and 2025 columns.

Even ICE wants to abolish ICE.
crampell.bsky.social Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 18d
This survey is conducted every year, so you can see how much worse things have gotten under Trump too. A sampling below; again, morale tanked even before the recent killings of protesters:
January 30, 2026 at 12:06 AM
donnermaps.bsky.social
In this Minnesota special election last night, the Republican's vote share (4%) was just 33% of Trump's 2024 vote share (13%). That's the lowest ratio for R/(last Pres R) we have on record going back to 2017! 1/3
the-downballot.com The Downballot @the-downballot.com · 20d
LOL. Despite this being a Harris+71 seat, Democrat Meg Luger-Nikolai won tonight by a *91-point* margin. Easily one of the wildest overperformances we’ve ever seen, given the district’s deep, deep blue lean.
the-downballot.com The Downballot @the-downballot.com · 20d
Couple of special elections in very blue districts in the Twin Cities area tonight, though only one is contested. It's a +71 Harris seat, so hard for Democrats to overperform when the margins are already so lopsided, but we'll see.

Big Board -->
January 28, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
rooseveltinstitute.org
As we await a Supreme Court ruling on tariff authority, a new @bloomberg.com analysis finds this admin followed through on just 27% of its tariff threats.

Tariffs can be a serious policy tool—when used strategically.

This approach has been anything but.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Pie chart titled “Breaking Down 49 Trump Tariff Threats Since November 2024.” The chart shows six categories: 26.5% “Not yet imposed” (largest slice), 22.4% “Investigation,” 20.4% “Imposed in full,” 16.3% “Withdrawn,” 8.2% “Imposed in part,” and 6.1% “Imposed in full then withdrawn.” Source: Bloomberg Economics.
January 28, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
eileen4ever.bsky.social
Holy moly this chart: Cumulative US measles cases
Cumulative US measles cases As of January 27, there have been more cases than there were by the same week last year. Fairly horizontal lines for 2023 and 2024, a steep diagonal line for 2025, and a vertical line for ytd 2026. 2026 478 cases 2025 2253 cases 2024 283 cases 2023 63 cases Note: Data updated on January 27, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Johns Hopkins University, Center for Outbreak Response Innovation Graphic: Alex Leeds Matthews and Matt Stiles, CNN
January 28, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
davidnir.com
Nope. Son of Holocaust survivor. My father was 11 when the Nazis invaded his hometown in eastern Poland. He survived only by fleeing to a different city with a false baptismal certificate. The comparison is apt. Carry on.
January 28, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
nicolasfulghum.bsky.social
India's electrification shortcut! ⚡️🇮🇳

Solar, wind, batteries, electric vehicles...India's economy has different tools available than the US and China did at the same stage in their economic development.

The result? An early turn away from fossil molecules towards electrons.
January 23, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
rcgssgrc.bsky.social
As interest in the Arctic grows and questions of sovereignty intensify, the RCGS will be sharing articles and research to help our readers deepen their understanding— starting with this map by our cartographer, Chris Brackley.
January 22, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
helenkennedy.bsky.social
This is such a cool illustration of how the Mercator map distorts the size of Greenland, which looks as big as the whole continent of Africa on that map but is actually the size of Mexico.
January 18, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
joemurph.bsky.social
Pitched and landed this story for @NBCNews.com: 24 members of Congress are 80 or older. More than half are running for re-election. #dataViz www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
This chart shows which of Congress’s oldest 24 members are running for re-election (13 members), which aren’t (six members), and which are uncertain (four members). Each politician’s current age is shown, and for those running, the age they would be at the end of the term they could be re-elected for is shown. The party of each member is also shown. All of these politicians are at least 80 years old, most are younger than 84, and one is in his 90s. The uncertain politicians are, on average, the oldest, though there are three politicians at or near 88 who are running for re-election.
January 15, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
windjunky.bsky.social
Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average.
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
January 14, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
pollsandvotes.bsky.social
While a substantial number of members of the House of Representatives are retiring, don’t expect these retirements to produce many flipped seats or shifts in the ideological makeup of either party.

open.substack.com/pub/charlesa...
January 14, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
chadloder.bsky.social
DHS invading Minnesota in winter
Charles Minard's 1869 infographic showing the devastating losses of Napoleon's army in the 1812 Russian campaign. A thick tan band shows the army advancing to Moscow, and a thin black band shows the catastrophic losses during the retreat. A graph below plots the plummeting t: Charles Minard's 1869 data visualization of Napoleon's Russian campaign. The image has two main parts. The top part is a flow map on a stylized geographical background. A wide, tan-colored band begins on the left at the Niemen River and moves right towards Moscow, representing the advance of Napoleon's army. The width of the band is proportional to the number of soldiers. As the army advances, the band slightly narrows, and numbers along the path indicate the decreasing army size. From Moscow, a thin black band shows the army's retreat, moving from right to left. This black band narrows dramatically, becoming a tiny sliver by the time it reaches the starting point, visually representing the catastrophic loss of human life. The bottom part is a line graph connected by vertical lines to the retreat path on the map above. This graph plots the temperature against dates during the retreat. The line shows the temperature consistently dropping far below zero, providing a clear visual explanation for th
January 11, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
gelliottmorris.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Daniel Donner
aman.bh
After weeks of staring at 1890s Survey maps and Victorian railway timetables, I think I've finally mapped how each set of characters moves in the Sherlock Holmes adventure 'The Red-Headed League'. 📊 #maps #booksky

Fancy new blogpost: aman.bh/blog/2026/ma...

Just the map: aman.bh/projects/red...
A website displaying a map of London with red markers plotting key locations for "The Red-Headed League." Sidebars feature the story text and methodology notes. A detailed close-up of the London map focusing on the green expanse of Hyde Park, featuring a red location marker and clearly labeled carriage drives and pathways. A snippet of the 1893 Ordnance Survey map with an orange path tracing a specific character's route, connecting Farringdon Station, Charterhouse Square, and Poppins Court with directional arrows.
January 9, 2026 at 7:26 PM