Matt Royer 🤘🏼

I think an underrated part of this hearing was @balint.house.gov yelling “Weak Sauce” over Pam Bondi.

This is a picture that should be published everywhere: Pam Bondi refusing to even look at the Epstein survivors in the eye as they say they've been ignored by the DOJ. Someone who made their pain a political point just months ago. Cowardly and Disgusting.

📷Roberto Schmidt/AFP

On Redistricting We've Seen the Maps, now what

Virginia Democrats finally dropped the 10–1 congressional map.
Politically smart? Maybe.
Electorally risky? Absolutely.

We break down the infighting, the optics problem, and why districts drawn for people are a bad precedent. 👇
www.bytheballot.com/p/on-redistr...

Many of these people work high visibility jobs where these could be seen and I don't know many other historical comparisons that we can draw than to have something that someone needs to permanently wear out in public to identify their status in the country other than this:

Last year, when this was reported as beginning, DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin almost made light of it saying that people could "self deport" if they didn't want to be tagged like animals in the wild:

Many teachers in NoVA--especially those in immigrant heavy communities--have reported their students saying their parents are having to wear these ankle monitors now after confrontations with ICE.

One part of this story that has been under-reported has been the ICE's use of ankle monitors on unlawfully detained individuals. Almost as a catch and release type thing.

My only apprehension with the cleaner map is that it casts rural Democrats into the wind, so giving them a Democratic representative is the ideal choice, but it's hard to see NoVA Democrats, who are more likely to win, representing rural Virginia accurately in DC.

When you compare the two side by side, one is clearly more palatable than the other. There were a lot of egos and personalities that were assuaged by the proposed map. I also know the stakes in even one seat.

But the fact is the electorate still needs to approve it.

When normal everyday voters who are not Election Twitter see this monstrosity of a map, they’re gonna have a visceral reaction, especially when they’ve been hearing nothing except how bad gerrymandering is for the past 6 years at least.

Politically, of course we want a 10-1 map. We need to make every seat count.

Electorally, I still maintain a cleaner, 9-2 map would have been an easier sell to the public on the referendum.

I think what we ended up with here is a horse designed by committee, which is a camel.

There are so many sides to this: electorally and politically

I know Senator Lucas said they’re competitive if you work at it but this kind of set up is a bad look and we need to be inviting people in to put their voice in the fight, not making it look like it’s been decided before the maps are even finalized.

No disrespect to those mentioned but favoring electeds who are helping draw the maps who are not even the nominee yet is not the process we should be taking and discounts the bench of talent we are building here in Virginia.

I’m gonna say something we’re all thinking here:

While I’m excited for us to make maps that are more heavily favored for Dems, having a district seemingly drawn for one particular person is extremely shortsighted and just wrong imo.

The G.O.P. Senator Who Can’t Stop Thinking About the Boy ICE Detained

Honestly, this is all we're asking for. For GOP Elected Officials like Senator Britt to be just as shocked and outraged at what is happening in our country because of the Trump admin and use their position to reason with POTUS. It's that simple.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...

I have tremendous respect for the former VP but this is just not it and continuing along the lines of an issue of consolidation we have been trying to align on in the Democratic Party over the past 6 years

@youngdems.bsky.social, @collegedemocrats.bsky.social, @hsdems.bsky.social , @votersoftomorrow.org, @nextgenamerica.bsky.social, and countless other orgs already exist are doing the work, and make content and need support, why create more redundancy unnecessarily as we head into the Midterms?

So in keeping with the same trend of Youth Engagement within Progressive and Democratic politics, we have made yet another Gen Z oriented organization that needs funding to work parallel to all of the other orgs that already exist and pull from the same funders?

Be serious.

We know ya do, Bubba. We know.

Spanberger Ends agreements between ICE and Virginia law enforcement agencies “These Agreements improperly ceded discretion and authority over Virginia law enforcement to federal authorities,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger said.

This is what I voted for! @abigailspanberger delivering on the promises of her inaugural address and standing up for the dignity of all immigrants in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

ICE needs to be abolished, and here is a necessary step on the state level to start. www.wvtf.org/news/2026-02...

Happy Groundhog Day!

Excited to see what Punxsutawney Phil says when this guy pulls him out

What the Hell is a Gigawatt? Virginia’s AI Data Center Problem and Its Cost to You

Virginia is the world’s data center capital — and your electric bill is paying for it.

AI facilities are draining billions of gallons of water, driving up power costs, and getting billions in tax breaks while families foot the bill.⚡💧https://www.bytheballot.com/p/what-the-hell-is-a-gigawatt

Governor Spanberger gets elected by being way more qualified to lead, actually talking about issues people care about, and winning by 15 point margin. That's how.

But was she…speaking?

The popularity of brainrot Charlie Kirk/Jeffrey Epstein memes on TikTok etc have made me think hard about how much of the perceived shift right of young people was irony-poisoning.

Not 100% of, but a lot of it. Dems were the Be Nice party, Trump was the Shitposts and Memes candidate.

Virginia Tax Revenue Losses to Data Centers Soar to $1.6 Billion for FY25 - Good Jobs First Virginia Tax Revenue Losses to Data Centers Soar to $1.6 Billion for FY25 - Good Jobs First

In FY2025 alone, Taxpayers lost $1.6 billion in revenue to Data Centers as well goodjobsfirst.org/virginia-tax...

It’s interesting that they’re claiming a $2.7 billion surplus because that is the exact same amount of tax exemptions Virginia gave to Data Centers between FY2015 and FY2024 per JLARC.

Just checking in on TikTok after being off it since Oracle and Ellison took over, and the first video on my FYP was a Catholic Priest saying that the Bible tells us to always comply with police orders no matter what.

Yeah that tracks.