David J. Toscano

Fights of Our Lives | David J. Toscano | Substack What is happening in state politics and policy-and how it affects our democracy. Click to read Fights of Our Lives, by David J. Toscano, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

President Trump never discussed the costs of tariffs last night--our Governor did.
The Tab Comes Due:
deltoscano.substack.com

Lawmakers confront electricity price hikes as data centers push demand.https://deltoscano.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/188545359/share-center

another inflection point for our country?https://deltoscano.substack.com/p/minneapolis-greenland-and-the-end

I stand with Minneapolis

Midcycle redistricting deepens America’s divide • Virginia Mercury A 19th-century tactic returns — with 21st-century consequences

Redistricting update virginiamercury.com/2026/01/02/m...

Higher Education Under Attack: Federal Firestorms and Statehouse Power Plays

deltoscano.substack.com/p/higher-edu...

Youngkin’s UVA Legacy: A Damaged Institution that Spanberger Must Repair (previously published by the Richmond Times Dispatch and Charlottesville Daily Progress

deltoscano.substack.com/p/youngkins-...

check out new piece on redistricting wars
deltoscano.substack.com/p/redistrict...

Former House Democratic leader: SNAP to it. Youngkin caves to Trump again as Virginians face hunger SNAP has typically been funded during previous shutdowns, using the program’s contingency fund.

cardinalnews.org/2025/11/13/f...

David J. Toscano (@deltoscano) What Texas Republicans and Donald Trump have wrought. Here is one proposed congressional map that gives Democrats a chance to win a huge majority of seats

substack.com/@deltoscano/...

election commentary in this post
deltoscano.substack.com/p/almost-as-...

David Toscano: October has been a month full of surprises in Virginia politics October has lived up to its reputation — a season of change, conflict and surprises. Leaves may fall, but in our politics, the storms just keep coming.

dailyprogress.com/opinion/colu...

Do Mass Protests Make a Difference? Photo credit: Geoff Livingston

Do Mass Protests Make a Difference?, by @deltoscano open.substack.com/pub/deltosca...

Column: Virginia narrowly avoided a Texas-style power grab Virginia’s example shows that having the majority doesn’t mean you have to bulldoze democratic norms, former Del. David J. Toscano writes in a guest column.

Texas Redistricting is not "Business as Usual!"
Column: Virginia narrowly avoided a Texas-style power grab www.pilotonline.com/2025/08/16/c...

David J. Toscano (@deltoscano) Interested in the Virginia legislature. It is the oldest—-and perhaps the most powerful.https://www.governing.com/politics/why-virginias-legislature-holds-all-the-cards

substack.com/@deltoscano/...

Judge temporarily suspends appointees senators rejected from serving on Va. college governing boards • Virginia Mercury A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday granted a temporary injunction suspending eight gubernatorial appointees from serving on governing boards at the University of Virginia, Virginia Milita...

Good news, but not terribly surprising. The legislature has to approve appointments for them to take affect Judge temporarily suspends appointees senators rejected from serving on Va. college governing boards virginiamercury.com/2025/07/29/j...

Why Virginia’s Legislature Holds All the Cards Virginia has the nation’s oldest legislature. It’s also arguably the most powerful.

Elections this fall will matter--not just for Governor but for the legislature
www.governing.com/politics/why...

deltoscano.substack.com/p/red-wave-h.... The battle to protect access to health moves to the states.

richmond.com/opinion/colu...
Just published in RTD. Youngkin's own numbers show negative impact of Trump's so-called big beautiful bill.

New post on nagging questions involving Jim Ryan's resignationhttps://deltoscano.substack.com/p/turning-point

And Then They Came for the Intellectuals, II Jim Ryan and UVA become latest causalities in war on Higher Education

deltoscano.substack.com/p/and-then-t...

CHAOS CONTINUES; RESISTANCE GROWS Charlottesville protest draws thousands opposed to Trump policies, 6.14.25

deltoscano.substack.com/p/chaos-cont...

Another view down 29. And the crowds keep continuing to grow.

Join us for no kings protest at Stone Field. Crowds are growing.

And Then They Came for the Intellectuals “Our colleges [have] become dominated by Marxist Maniacs and lunatics.” Donald J. Trump, July 17, 2023“We need to … aggressively attack the universities in this country; the professors are the enemy.”...

thefulcrum.us/democracy/tr...

NO KINGS CHARLOTTESVILLE · No Kings **In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** NO KINGS is a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allie...

I'm attending No Kings's event, “NO KINGS CHARLOTTESVILLE” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

156. Federalizing the California National Guard President Trump's Saturday night "memorandum" federalizing 2000 California National Guard troops is a tentative step toward abusing authorities for domestic use of the military, but a dangerous one.

156. Federalizing the California National Guard
open.substack.com/pub/stevevla...

And Then They Came for the Intellectuals “Our colleges [have] become dominated by Marxist Maniacs and lunatics.”

my new post
deltoscano.substack.com/p/and-then-t...

Commentary: There is fraud and abuse in Medicaid, but it won't cover $700 billion Yes, there is some waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, just as there is throughout our health care system and in every large organization, public or private. But it is not nearly enough to pay for the...

Commentary: There is fraud and abuse in Medicaid, but it won't cover $700 billion richmond.com/opinion/colu...

Infographic titled “Judges reject Trump at an accelerating pace” with subtitle “Federal district court rulings against the administration.” The first bar chart, labeled “By month, %”, shows the percentage of federal district court rulings against the Trump administration: • February: 53.8% (7 out of 13) • March: 74.3% (26 out of 35) • April: 76.1% (51 out of 67) • May: 96.3% (26 out of 27) The second bar chart, labeled “By appointing party, %”, shows rulings against the Trump administration by the party of the judge’s appointing president: • Republican-appointed judges: 72.2% (26 out of 36) • Democratic-appointed judges: 80.4% (74 out of 92) Source: Bonica, Adam; Sen, Maya, 2025, “Common-space Measures of Judicial Ideology for Federal Judges (2024 update),” https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/CK3EEL Note: Coding scheme details available at data4democracy.substack.com/p/when-judges-become-targets-judicial

Stunning. May was brutal for Trump in federal court: 96% loss rate ⚖️. Even GOP-appointed judges have ruled against the admin 72% of the time. District courts are doing their job defending the Constitution. Soon the Supreme Court may be the only court unwilling to defend the rule of law.