By Madison McVan | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
Progressive Democrats in the U.S. Senate have put up a challenger to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Schumer, 76, has led the caucus for 10 years.
Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan endorsed Van Hollen this morning. She made it clear the day after the election that she would support a leadership change.
Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar still holds her Senate seat, but outgoing senators don’t get a vote in leadership elections, a campaign spokesperson pointed out to me this morning. It’s not clear when Klobuchar will resign her seat or whether her replacement will be appointed before the secret-ballot leadership vote on Dec. 4.
It may not matter in the end: Schumer says he has the votes to remain leader. And, worth remembering: Caucus leaders are heat shields.
A Microsoft outage has continued into another day, though it’s improving, and the company says it hasn’t detected any “malicious activity” related to the incident. (The Reformer staff is unaffected. Unfortunately, my emails are arriving just fine.)
To the Reformer:
Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, speaks at a press conference surrounded by Equal Rights Amendment advocates at the Minnesota Capitol on Nov. 12, 2026. (Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)
By Michelle Griffith
Democratic lawmakers gathered with advocates for an Equal Rights Amendment at the Minnesota Capitol Thursday to launch their latest campaign to add to the state Constitution sweeping protections that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, gender identity, sex and pregnancy — including one’s decision to become pregnant or terminate a pregnancy.
During the last Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta in 2024, the Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment nearly passed but stalled at the last minute because of disagreements among Democrats about the amendment’s language. Democrats will enter the 2027 legislative session with another trifecta — this time with greater margins — and ERA advocates are confident that they will be able to pass legislation next year to put the question before voters.
By Chad Maschke
After seeing Minority Whip Tom Emmer’s latest, racist rant against Somali people Thursday, I told my editor we should write something about his attacks becoming more brazen.
Reformer Emmer correspondent Chad Maschke was already on it. He transcribed Emmer’s recent interviews, which include attacks against his Somali constituents, unfounded accusations of fraud against public officials and conspiracies about our election processes.
Emmer also said he would support a ban on burqas: “I want to know who the heck you are. It’s a matter of safety and security.”
Maschke points out that such a ban would roll back religious liberty protections, and contradicts Emmer’s position on federal agents wearing masks.
By Tim Henderson
Much of the midterm “blue tsunami” came from diverse, enthusiastic young voters with financial struggles who flocked to the polls, and also Trump voters sitting out the election, according to two experts analyzing turnout in a handful of states with detailed results.
“It looks like more Trump voters who didn’t vote Republican stayed home rather than switching (to Democrats),” said Lenny Bronner, founder of Broome Street Labs and a data scientist formerly with the Washington Post, based on his analysis of 13 states with detailed results.
Bronner estimated 75% of Democratic gains came from a turnout gap and about 20% from Republicans switching sides and voting for Democrats.
IN OTHER NEWS
Collections are coming for millions of student loans in default | Reformer via Stateline
US senators demand end to Iran war funding in bill averting shutdown | Reformer via States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau
Trump had urged Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to fight for his job | New York Times
OH BY THE WAY
You may remember that a couple years ago I published a series of stories investigating homeowners’ associations and their property management companies.
So I was chilled by this Washington Sun piece by Michael Brice-Saddler, who was laid off from the Washington Post earlier this year.
A shooter opened fire in the populous Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C, yesterday. He killed one person, then himself, apparently motivated by a longstanding dispute with his condo association and property manager.
Brice-Saddler interviewed the shooter, Matt Lambert, multiple times in late 2025 for an article about how the condo association and management company were refusing to rectify botched repairs that left Lambert’s condo filled with black mold and nearly uninhabitable. But the story never ran because Brice-Saddler was laid off.
The whole piece, “What the Logan Circle shooter told me,” is worth your time.
And, a song for your Friday.
That’s all from me. Have a great weekend!
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