David Mark
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Managing editor, Washington Examiner Magazine. Past: @politico, @CNNPolitics. Two-time book author and public speaker. dmark@washingtonexaminer.com.
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Articles by David Mark
GOP redistricting scheme goes awry
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) should have listened to his gut feeling. Abbott, in spring 2025, was gearing up for another reelection bid, having first won the governorship in 2014. Per reporting at the time, Abbott balked when President Donald Trump’s political team asked him and Republican lawmakers, who controlled both legislative chambers in Austin, to redraw the Texas congressional map.
Rising Trump administration pressure on Cuba divides Hill Democrats
Intensifying efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to end 67 years of communist rule in Cuba are drawing fierce criticism from many congressional Democrats. But not all. Since Fidel Castro seized power in the 1959 Cuban revolution, the country has been a preeminent cause célèbre for the global Left. In this view, the island nation of about 10 million people, 90 miles from Key West, Florida, stands as a symbolic and physical focal point for anti-imperialism.
Could Trump play hardball to prevent an MLB lockout?
LOS ANGELES — For baseball fans, excitement about the World Series is tempered by the increasing likelihood of a work stoppage in the sport soon after. President Donald Trump says he can prevent it. Trump said Sept. 26 at a college football game he would like to stave off a Major League Baseball lockout before the Dec. 1 expiration of the owners’ current collective bargaining agreement with players.
The unlucky 13: States bordering Canada are particularly hard-hit by trade war
MONTREAL — The punditry industrial complex has taken many hard hits over the past 11 years with predictions of President Donald Trump's political demise. Since the self-promoting businessman and reality TV star descended the Trump Tower golden escalator in June 2015, many have said he would soon be finished. First, it was “I like people that weren't captured,” a jab at the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, famously a Vietnam prisoner of war.
The unlucky 13: States bordering Canada are particularly hard-hit by trade war
MONTREAL — The punditry industrial complex has taken many hard hits over the past 11 years with predictions of President Donald Trump’s political demise. Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account Trusted reporting.Unlimited access. Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism. Get Unlimited Access › Already a member? Log in Cancel anytime.
Recalling a political analyst whose insight would have risen above the midterm elections din
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Recalling a political analyst whose insight would have risen above the midterm elections din
A Democratic-sponsored California ballot measure aims to salve a long-festering political wound for Team Blue. Inside Scoop: Wasted midterm opportunity, copying Trump, refusing to debate Inside Scoop: Big Beautiful rebrand, ‘Nixon-maxxing,’ Burnham’s burden Mamdani’s bait-and-switch underscores perils of socialism’s promises Voters in the Nov.
28 for ’28: The open presidential race field could reach more than two dozen candidates
President Donald Trump has dominated national politics for more than 11 years. Through Trump’s upset 2016 win and his two nonconsecutive terms, he has, for better or worse, transformed the tenor and complexion of American politics with a pugilistic, smash-mouth, attention-grabbing approach.
South Carolina GOP primary will end in replacement nominee for late Sen. Lindsey Graham
The Senate campaign landscape got a morbid shakeup with the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). First elected to the Senate in 2002 after eight years as a House member, Graham died July 11 after a “brief and sudden illness,” per his Senate office. DOJ charges Florida House candidate who called for ‘Antichrist’ Trump’s death New York Democrat Pat Ryan pledges to refund AIPAC money.
Could the Nevada governor’s race outcome run through Canada?
LAS VEGAS — Would-be Canadian visitors to Sin City won’t get a vote in Nevada’s gubernatorial election. But they could influence it in a profound way.
Senate seats Democrats had counted on winning now look iffy
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Senate seats Democrats had counted on winning now look iffy
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Defense is crucial to winning in virtually any team sport. The same is true for politics, and it’s a lesson Democrats may learn the hard way in a Michigan Senate race that, until recently, seemed like an easy hold for Team Blue.
With tough midterm elections looming, Trump 2028 GOP revenge list grows
There’s a genre of late-20th-century rock and pop songs that shot up the charts by offering listeners stark musical and lyrical contrasts. The tunes are set to upbeat melodies but explore bleak lyrical subject matters. A political version of this musical cognitive dissonance may be playing out across the 2026 electoral canvas.
Biden Cabinet members seeking high office tout records while working for unpopular president
Since Biden left office, fundraising for his planned presidential library has been sluggish. Some past Democratic donors have said they’re reluctant to give money amid discontent over how Biden left office and helped pave the way for Trump’s presidential comeback. President Joe Biden listens as Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at an event at the White House on Oct. 8, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP) Yet Biden, 83, while hardly a Democratic icon like President John F.
Central Michigan district a bellwether for House majority fight
Freshman Rep. Tom Barrett’s (R-MI) seat in the 7th Congressional District of Michigan, is a top battleground for House control in November. (Paul Sancya/AP) House Republicans effectively have a 220-215 edge, including a few vacant seats that tilt strongly red or blue.
Sanford bets he can withstand likely Trump campaign jabs
For his troubles, Sanford lost the Republican primary in his coastal South Carolina district five years after returning to Congress for his second Capitol Hill stint. Interspersed by eight years as South Carolina governor, in which Sanford became a late-night comic foil over his 2009 jaunt to Argentina for an extramarital affair, covered up by the lie that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.
This senator offered a refreshingly candid explanation for her retirement plans
There’s a familiar rhetorical pattern to retirement announcements by most members of Congress. Whether a Democrat or a Republican, they’ll none-too-humbly brag about the federal largesse brought by them to their state or district. They’ll also praise their own judgment and wisdom, often with a quote from William Shakespeare or the Bible about knowing when to leave.
Republicans have a rare shot at winning the California governorship
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Heading into the 2026 election cycle, predicting a Republican candidate winning the California governorship would have seemed like a sucker’s bet in the heavily Democratic state. Now it’s more of a long shot — still unlikely but increasingly plausible.
Former ICE deputy director seeks GOP nomination in Ohio
An open-seat Ohio congressional race is an early electoral gauge of the voting public’s views on the Trump administration‘s deportation tactics. Madison Sheahan announced Jan. 15 that she was stepping down as deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and seeking the Republican nomination to take on longtime Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH).
Florida MAGA bastion draws comeback from ex-lawmakers
FORT MYERS, Florida — The Sunshine State is famously a place where people go for a fresh start. In the political realm, a looming Florida congressional Republican primary is testing the outer boundaries of that adage. The 12 Republican candidates, so far, for Florida’s 19th Congressional District include a pair of former House members from other states: Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Chris Collins of western New York. Both left office under less-than-ideal circumstances.
Most ex-lawmakers staging comebacks left Congress unhappily
Sherrod Brown isn’t the only former senator with the name abbreviation “S. Brown” seeking a comeback in the 2026 midterm elections. The Ohio Democrat is joined by, among others, former Sen. Scott Brown of New Hampshire, who was, briefly, an Obama-agenda-thwarting Republican hero a dozen years ago. The Browns, along with former Sen. John E. Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican seeking his old Senate seat, face tough historical headwinds in the 2026 midterm election cycle.
The Trump administration’s unfinished business in Gaza
President Donald Trump’s boast about ending the Israel-Hamas war was a bit premature. Trump, on Oct. 13, addressed the Knesset in Jerusalem. The speech to the Israeli legislature marked the implementation of a landmark ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip that the Trump administration helped negotiate, a bit over two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
These members of Congress will leave their jobs (mostly) voluntarily Original
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Donald Trump do not agree on much. In fact, they hate each other. But Pelosi, 85, and Trump, 79, do share one professional characteristic. They each regained jobs at the pinnacles of government power after spells in the political wilderness.
Trump administration balances US support for Saudi Arabia and Israel Original
The original conception of a Saudi Arabia–Israel rapprochement was roughly akin to a blockbuster three-way trade in professional sports, with the United States significantly involved, as well as the oil-rich de facto leader of the Arab world and the Jewish state. Think the epic Feb. 2 NBA deal, when the Utah Jazz got 2025 second-round draft picks from both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, facilitating a historic trade between the two clubs.
Will Trump order US military operations in Nigeria? Original
Venezuela is not the only global hot spot where President Donald Trump is considering launching U.S. military strikes. In early November, Trump said he ordered armed forces leaders to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians. This followed vocal pleas from religious leaders, members of Congress, and others about attacks from the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The likely House GOP California redistricting survivors
California‘s new congressional maps could leave only four of the Golden State’s current nine House Republicans as winners in what’s become a high-stakes game of political musical chairs. Voters in the deep blue state, the nation’s most populous with nearly 40 million people, on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 50, pushed by Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Democrats’ explicit aim is to gain five new House seats, part of a national effort to win the House majority in 2026.
Here comes Santos Claus: Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 10 convicted former GOP House members
George Santos, recently sprung from prison when President Donald Trump cut short his sentence, has plenty of company among former House Republicans. Trump on Oct. 17 commuted the New York Republican’s sentence after the disgraced ex-lawmaker served three months of his seven-year sentence in federal prison, due to his guilty pleas on fraud and identity theft charges. Santos, in the process, became the 10th former House GOP lawmaker to earn a pardon, sentence commutation, or clemency from Trump.
Ex-Iranian hostage crisis captive Kevin Hermening eyes House seat bid
The September 1977 to August 1981 entry on Kevin Hermening’s LinkedIn profile dramatically downplays an event during his early-career military service. “Sergeant, United States Marine Corps,” it reads. “Okinawa, Japan/Tehran, Iran/Milwaukee, WI.” Left out of that middle location is the 444 days Hermening spent in captivity, held by Iranian revolutionaries. The then-20-year-old Hermening was among 66 Americans initially taken hostage on Nov. 4, 1979.
Generational fight in Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary
Fortune favors the bold. Conversely, most high-risk bets don’t pay off. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) will meet one of those contrasting political fates if, as expected, he launches a 2026 primary challenge against Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). A Moulton Senate Democratic primary bid in Massachusetts, tantamount to victory in the deep blue state, would come amid growing voter concern about a growing political gerontocracy.
The Trump waiting game Original
A hundred days into President Donald Trump’s second, nonconsecutive term, an Economist magazine cover was already in countdown mode to its end, with the headline, “Only 1,361 Days To Go.” The accompanying article was a full-throated defense of “neo-liberalism,” with an embrace of free trade, the U.S. dollar as the world’s default currency, and a broadly internationalist foreign policy —basically, a move away from the nationalist-populist push of Trump’s MAGA movement over the past decade.
Rejoining Congress would mean a big pay cut for this top Hill staffer Original
For Tennessee Republican Van Hilleary, winning a House seat after years as a Capitol Hill chief of staff would be a promotion in all ways but one: salary. Hilleary spent more than six years as top aide to Rep. John Rose (R-TN), who represents Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, covering eastern Nashville, the city’s eastern suburbs, and surrounding rural areas. Rose was first elected in 2018, and he took office on Jan. 3, 2019, when Hilleary joined his staff.
House Democrats would represent some of California's reddest realms under redistricting plan Original
ALTURAS, California — Marin and Modoc are both California counties that start with “M,” but that’s about where their similarities end. Marin, on the Golden Gate Bridge’s northern side within sight of San Francisco‘s often fog-swept skyline, was President Donald Trump‘s worst electoral performance in 2024 in California’s 58 counties. Modoc, in California’s rural northeast corner, was Trump’s second-best vote share.
Snowbirds in reverse - Washington Examiner Original
MIAMI — Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage and ex-Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan hardly stood out among Florida residents. The Republican pair had joined many former constituents who bolted those cold-winter states for the Sunshine State’s balmier environs. But political ambition beckoned. So, LePage and Rogers returned to their home states to run for office again. Both lost, LePage in the 2022 Maine governor’s race and Rogers in his 2024 Michigan Senate bid.
Despite being repeatedly rejected by voters, Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke are considering comeback bids Original
For a couple of years or so in the mid-1990s, it seemed like every fourth pop song on the radio was by the Gin Blossoms. The jangly guitar-riffed, post-grunge, alt-rock band scored decent, if not blockbuster, commercial success. Highlighted by the group’s jealous guy breakout tune, “Found Out About You.” That track, sung from the perspective of a scorned lover, and the similarly themed, if more upbeat, “Hey Jealousy,” both peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100 chart.
Congressional short-timers - Washington Examiner
With the 2026 midterm elections about 16 months off, specifics of congressional churn are becoming clearer. Per the chart below, a swath of House members is giving up their seats in bids for statewide offices. So far, only one representative is set to retire after the November 2026 elections, though more lawmakers almost certainly will do so. Senate retirement ranks, however, are a different story. Five senators in the 100-member chamber are set to leave after this election cycle.
Fuzzy Math: Several House seats could be redrawn before 2026 elections Original
It seems clear that House Democrats would need to net at least three seats in the 2026 midterm elections to win a majority in the chamber, which would provide a toehold of power during President Donald Trump‘s final two years in office. If only the math were that simple. House Republicans hold 220 of the chamber’s 435 seats. When three vacancies are filled in heavily blue-leaning districts, Democrats will hold 215 seats.
Lights, camera … tariffs? President tries economic blunt force to keep film production in Hollywood Original
GLENDALE, California — President Donald Trump‘s flair for entertainment and spectacle helped him win the White House twice in three tries. However, whether that flair is enough to stem the filming trend of “runaway production” for movies and television shows outside of the United States remains to be seen.
Long-vacant US ambassadorship may finally get filled Original
NASSAU, The Bahamas — Divers recently captured footage of two whales from a long-hunted species now protected by an international treaty, and, in the United States, the Endangered Species Act. The North Atlantic right whale pair sighting, among an estimated 370 of the 50-foot aquatic creatures remaining in the world, marked the first time any had been seen in the Bahamas. There could be an almost-as-rare sighting in the Bahamas over the next several months: a Senate-confirmed U.S. ambassador.
Would-be 2028 Democratic hopeful falls into a Trump trap Original
LANSING, Michigan — An enduringly popular social media meme depicts a Return of the Jedi rebel alliance leader, squid species Adm. Ackbar, warning of the Galactic Empire’s new-and-improved planet-destroying Death Star. “It’s a trap!” utters Akbar, in a frantic space battle scene from the third and final installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, released in 1983. Gov.
Epic wildfires scramble California 2026 political landscape Original
LOS ANGELES — Devastating. Apocalyptic. Of biblical proportions. Now add a phrase to those apt descriptions of the January fires that ravaged Southern California: Political. It’s a realistic element of the fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed about 12,400 structures — the majority houses and plenty of businesses.
Jimmy Carter, a sometimes outcast in the world’s most exclusive club
Bill Clinton of Arkansas was the nation’s youngest governor after his 1978 election at age 32. Two years later, he was the youngest former governor, having been ousted by voters after a single, two-year term. Clinton long blamed the loss, at least partly, on the top Democrat on the 1980 ballot, President Jimmy Carter, who, much more famously at the time, also lost his reelection bid.
Orange is the new red (almost) Original
HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — Finally, an election result Ronald Reagan would recognize — or at least something close to it. The late Republican president and GOP candidates up and down the ballot once dominated Orange County, California, elections. Reagan won nearly 75% of the vote there during his 1984 reelection landslide, and Republican presidential nominees won California six straight times from 1968 to 1988.
Trump support for his own tax law provision on the rocks with Original
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump may live in Florida now, but he is embracing his New York roots. The Queens born-and-bred 2024 Republican presidential nominee said he agrees with a bipartisan push by members of New York’s congressional delegation to support expanding federal deductions for state and local taxes paid. That is a reversal of his policies and a major boost to high-tax states such as New York.
These members of Congress are getting set to leave Original
Departing Congress members have only over three months left in office. The next Congress is set to take office on Jan. 3, 2025. The list of departing lawmakers is already long but can be expected to grow after the Nov. 5 general election. It’s virtually certain that it will expand shortly after Election Day when Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is heavily favored to win California’s open Senate seat. Because Schiff is also set to win a separate election to fill the final two months of the late Democratic Sen.
Biden’s reelection chances were in the ‘single digits,’ big money ally says Original
CHICAGO — Before President Joe Biden announced he wouldn’t seek a second term, his chances of winning reelection were in the “single digits,” the leader of a big money outside group charged with aiding his campaign said on Monday. Chauncy McLean, head of Future Forward, a super PAC tapped by Biden’s reelection campaign in July 2023 to help reelect him in 2024, painted a grim picture of Biden’s chances against former President Donald Trump.
Will this Chicago DNC be more like disastrous 1968 or celebratory 1996?
CHICAGO — Call it a tale of two Chicago Democratic National Conventions. The 1968 party gathering in Illinois conjures up images of Chicago Police beating up hippies and other Vietnam War protesters in the streets outside of the International Amphitheatre. The divisive affair did little to help then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic presidential nominee who went on to lose narrowly that fall against Republican rival Richard Nixon.
Walz tests anti-elitist message by knocking Vance’s Ivy League degree
CHICAGO, Illinois — Tim Walz is betting his vice presidential rival’s sterling academic credentials won’t impress voters. The Minnesota governor, at a recent rally with his new boss, Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee-designate, mocked the educational achievements of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). Vance, a 2013 Yale Law School graduate, was tapped for the undercard role on the Republican ticket by former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee.
George W. Bush photos appear in Senate campaign ad — of a Democrat - Washington Examiner Original
Former President George W. Bush makes two appearances, via old photos, in a 2024 Michigan Senate race campaign ad. Not for likely GOP nominee Mike Rogers, a House member and strong supporter during Bush’s 2001-09 presidency, but for the probable Democratic Senate nominee, Rep. Elissa Slotkin.
Grudge rematch: First presidential rerun in 68 years set for November
The Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018 beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA championship (the teams squared off four straight times starting in 2015, with Northern California fans getting a trophy in three of those seasons). The Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills in the 1993 and 1994 Super Bowls. The New York Yankees won the 1977 and 1978 World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Nebraska GOP official resigns after Trump allies’ failed push to change electoral rules Original
EXCLUSIVE — A Nebraska Republican Party official resigned over the weekend, days after the failure of a legislative effort to change Electoral College vote rules that helped President Joe Biden in 2020 and could again this year in one of the nation’s otherwise reddest states. Doug Petersen stepped down as 2nd Congressional District chairman after heading the Republican operation in a Greater Omaha area district that has been at the center of an intraparty GOP political firestorm of late.
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