Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics, discusses the number of women running in next week’s elections, and what it might — or might not — say about the future of reproductive rights. We go back into the archives for an interview with Bill Salisbury, a longtime reporter with the St. Paul Pioneer Press who covered the political career of Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.  We’re repeating that conversation on the 20th anniversary of Wellstone’s death in a...

Jonathan Tamari of the Philadelphia Inquirer lays out the Pennsylvania Senate race between Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee, and John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate.  Fetterman was thought to have a sizable lead for most of the year but the GOP has come back, nationally and in the Keystone State, by attacking Democrats as soft on crime.  In Pennsylvania, it may be working. And Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections offers up the themes for the 2022 midterm elections. Music in this...

Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the myriad of controversies and alleged scandals surrounding Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker.  The latest — reports that the anti-abortion Republican paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion — would suggest that his challenge to Democratic incumbent Rafael Warnock is in jeopardy.  But Republicans are sticking with the candidate. The two candidates in the closely watched Texas gubernatorial contest, GOP incumbent Greg Abbott...

We talk to our old pal Alan Simpson, the former Wyoming senator, who talks about his long relationship with Liz Cheney, the congresswoman who is in danger of losing her primary on August 16th.  Simpson says that even if she loses, we will not have heard the last from her. PLUS:  The FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago and the political firestorm that erupted in its aftermath. Music in this Episode: Hard Headed Woman by Cat Stevens Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers  

The political future of two well-known Republican women — Liz Cheney and Sarah Palin — will be determined by the voters next month.  The August 16th primaries in Wyoming and Alaska may end the careers of both President Trump’s strongest critic as well as the first and only female GOP running mate in history.  We speak with Rodger McDaniel, a longtime Wyoming Democrat who was his party’s Senate nominee in 1982, and Suzanne Downing, a conservative Republican who edits the website Must Read...

A quick review of the first installment of the January 6th committee’s hearings to learn what exactly happened in the time leading up to the insurrection — what Donald Trump and his co-conspirators knew and did — as well as the motivations of the mob that broke into the Capitol.

A quick look at the primaries at stake on May 17th.  Most eyes will be on Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump has put his weight behind Dr. Mehmet Oz, and in North Carolina, where Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s bizarre behavior may finally be too much for Republican voters.

Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney talks about the power of Donald Trump endorsements, which propels many — but not all — candidates to victory. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sets the stage for the May 24 primaries in Georgia, which is holding key contests for governor, senator and secretary of state.  It’s another state where Trump’s endorsements have become an issue. And Rutgers University professor Ross Baker remembers the late Orrin Hatch, the late Utah...

Journalist Tom Fiedler reports on the latest antic of freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a North Carolina Republican with a history of embellishing stories and staying in the news and who may have gone too far by suggesting that some of his fellow Republicans may have partaken in sex orgies and cocaine snorting.  Despite Donald Trump’s endorsement, he faces a tough fight in the May 17 primary. Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections focuses on the battle for control of the Senate, which is...

Liz Ruskin of Alaska Public Media reports on the death of Rep. Don Young, the senior member of Congress and the longest serving Republican in congressional history. Howard Wilkinson of radio station WVXU recaps the zany Ohio Republican Senate debate that nearly turned into a fistfight and sets up the Ohio 3rd GOP primary for the seat of the retiring Rob Portman (R). Plus, we share our exasperation of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Photo...

Mo Elleithee, a longtime Democratic Party insider and member of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, talks about plans to rewrite the presidential primary calendar for 2024 — a calendar that may dislodge Iowa from its long held leadoff spot. Randy Krehbiel, a political reporter with the Tulsa World, discusses the upcoming resignation of Sen. James Inhofe (R) and who may succeed him.  And no, it won’t be a Democrat. Plus, we discuss the war in Ukraine and the Republican Party’s evolving...

Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune sets up Tuesday’s primaries, the first in the nation.  GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is all but assured of renomination, and will likely face Democrat Beto O’Rourke in November.  But the main battle on March 1st is the Republican primary for state attorney general.  Incumbent Ken Paxton is facing three challengers: former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, Congressman Louie Gohmert, and George P. Bush, the state Land Commissioner, who is betting his political...

With the Senate tied at 50-50 and a crucial Supreme Court confirmation vote coming up, the last thing the Democrats wanted, politically, was to see one of its own, New Mexico’s Ben Ray Lujan, sent to the hospital with a stroke.  New Mexico political blogger Joe Monahan sums up the dilemma facing a party that can’t afford to lose even one of its members. And Joel Goldstein, a preeminent expert on the vice presidency, sums up Mike Pence’s decision to declare Donald Trump “wrong” for thinking...

With Democrats holding on to their Senate majority until the rest of the year, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his resignation this week, subject to the confirmation of his successor.  Robert Barnes, the Court correspondent for the Washington Post, notes the tremendous pressure Breyer was under by liberals to quit, lest the left wind up in the same position they were in 2020 — an elderly liberal justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had been sick with cancer, dying before Donald...

Carl Hulse of the New York Times dissects the decision by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to oppose President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, citing its costs. And we remember Bob Dole, the former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, who died earlier this month at the age of 98.  We have an interview with former Sen. Alan Simpson, who was Dole’s assistant leader for ten years in the Senate, conducted two days after Dole’s passing.  And we are replaying two...

Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, author of the new book, “The Centrist Solution,” argues that the only way to get things done in this bitterly split Congress is for lawmakers of both parties be willing to eschew the extremes and work across party lines to get things done. And Bob Kinzel of Vermont Public Radio lists the highlights of the long career of Patrick Leahy, who announced his retirement this week after nearly 48 years in the Senate.  Bob also sizes up the field to replace...

Jim Galloway, the retired political columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, remembers Max Cleland, the former Georgia Democratic senator who died this week and who was on the receiving end of one of the most controversial TV attack ads in political history. And Paul Steinhauser, a political reporter with Fox News, weighs the decision by New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu not to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan next year, a race many thought Sununu could win. Music on this...

Bob Holsworth, the managing principal at DecideSmart and a leading analyst on Virginia politics, sets up Tuesday’s gubernatorial race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor, and Republican Glenn Youngkin.  Democrats are hoping to make this a referendum on Donald Trump, and McAuliffe is doing everything he can to tie Youngkin to the former president.  But Republicans say McAuliffe is a relic from the past who is being saddled by President Biden’s problems. And with the DNC...

Longtime Republican consultant Stuart Stevens, author of “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump,” talks about what he sees as the Trumpification of the GOP and what if anything can be done to save the party. Anthony Brooks of radio station WBUR sets up next month’s historic Boston mayoral race, where the winner is all but guaranteed to be a woman of color — this, after 200 years of the city electing only white men. And with Colin Powell’s death this week, we replay...

Progressive Democrats trying to help enact President Biden’s agenda are constantly butting heads with Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.  They are especially frustrated with Sinema, who began her political career on the left.  But since she came to the Senate in 2019, she’s been an outspoken opponent of big spending bills and found herself at odds with much of her Democratic colleagues.  Dan Nowicki of the Arizona Republic says that Sinema’s approach is popular...

The decision by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) to retire next year, rather than seek reelection, is a clear victory for Donald Trump and it helps ratify his influence in the Republican Party.  Gonzalez was one of ten House Republicans to vote to impeach the 45th president, and Trump made it clear he would work for his defeat in the 2022 midterm election.  Karen Kasler of Ideastream and WOSU talks about the decision and wonders if other candidates will decide to get in the race. Miriam Pawel,...

John Myers of the Los Angeles Times sets up Tuesday’s recall election aimed at California Gov. Gavin Newsom.  Unlike the recall of 2003, where another Democrat, Gray Davis, was successfully recalled, polls indicate that Newsom is going to survive on Sept. 14th.  But win or lose, Golden State voters are going to go through another gubernatorial contest just 14 months later. And we replay an interview from August 2020 with former Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson III, the son of the Democratic...

The withdrawal from Afghanistan is not going as well as some hoped.  But did anyone ever think that extracting U.S. troops from a 20-year war was going to be easy?  And let the blame game begin. This week’s show is mostly a personal essay about my relationship with Neal Conan, the longtime NPR broadcaster who died of cancer earlier this month.  In addition to being a good friend, he is probably more responsible for the success of the Political Junkie program than anyone else, as he included...

Chris Churchill of the Albany Times-Union reports on the stunning (though expected) toppling of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose alleged history of sexual harassment — as outlined in a report by the state attorney general — left him no way out. Melissa Deckman of Washington College also discusses a theme widely discussed among some Democrats:  Why is it always OUR party (Cuomo, Al Franken) who pays the ultimate sacrifice, and not the Republicans (Trump, Matt Gaetz).  She argues that it’s...

Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune talks about the decision made by Texas House Democrats to flee the state in order to stymie GOP efforts to pass restrictive voting rights bills. Edwin Edwards, the former four-term governor of Louisiana known for his charm and ethical lapses, died last week.  He appeared on the Political Junkie back in 2014 to reminisce about his 1991 gubernatorial contest with former KKK leader David Duke — a campaign that was national headlines at the time.  We replay...