'Atlantic' journalist David Graham describes how President Trump could potentially use troops near polling places, pressure local election workers and have federal agents seize voting machines.Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Patti Smith’s ‘Bread of Angels,’ a prequel/sequel to ‘Just Kids.’ Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Hi, it's Carrie. Our co-host Tanya Mosley and I will be doing an end-of-the-year Fresh Air Plus bonus episode, answering listener questions about the show and about ourselves. You can send the questions now to freshairplus at npr.org, with plus spelled out. That's freshairplus at npr.org.
This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. This week, voters across the country went to the polls for a handful of special and local elections. And the outcome is that Democrats won big and small races in what was seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump.
But while people were looking at governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia and the mayoral race in New York, it was that ballot initiative in California that may have the biggest preview of what's to come leading up to the 2026 midterm elections. Proposition 50 allows California Democrats to redraw congressional maps to potentially win five more seats.
The measure passed by a huge margin, after which Governor Gavin Newsom made it clear what he feels should happen next.
My call tonight, in the spirit of Whitman, who talked about the powerful play, goes on. We all must contribute a verse. And so we need the state of Virginia. We need the state of Maryland. We need our friends in New York, in Illinois, in Colorado.
We need to see other states with their remarkable leaders that have been doing remarkable things meet this moment head on as well to recognize what we're up against in 2026. And let me make this crystal clear. We can de facto end Donald Trump's presidency as we know it. The minute Speaker Jeffries gets sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
It is all on the line, a bright line in 2026.
Even when the ballot is small, the stakes can still feel large, and they're often a preview of what's to come. The health and future of American elections, particularly next year's midterms, are at the center of journalist David Graham's latest reporting for The Atlantic.
In his piece titled, Donald Trump's Plan to Subvert the Midterms is Already Underway, Graham explores how the groundwork is already being laid for the conflict in the 2026 midterms, from new voting restrictions and legal challenges to the ways political leaders are reshaping the systems that govern elections themselves.
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