Michael McDonald
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electproject.bsky.social
Michael McDonald
@electproject.bsky.social

Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida specializing in American elections

Michael P. McDonald is an American political scientist. He is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida where he focuses on the United States elections.

Source: Wikipedia
Political science 57%
Economics 20%

Scott Jennings is laughing his ass off
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 5h
CNN reporter denied access to White House and press pass seized as Trump appears to implement ban against the network.
https://cnn.it/4ixu6tH

PR does something similar as it favors turnout over population
CNN @cnn.com · 5h
CNN reporter denied access to White House and press pass seized as Trump appears to implement ban against the network.
https://cnn.it/4ixu6tH

These are mostly overseas and military voters. I don't draw any inferences yet. You're welcome to subscribe to my substack for analysis. My last post covers this in more detail.

#earlyvote update 9/19: Welcome Pennsylvania to the early vote tracker! 1,825 voted as of yesterday 🥳

At least 18,917 people have voted in the 2026 general election
election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2...
» 2026 Early Voting UF Election Lab
election.lab.ufl.edu

Florida is a little complicated programming. I'm pulling data from the Secretary of State and scraping the county websites for their turnout reports. Some counties run ahead of the state reporting numbers, which is why there may be discrepancies on the tracker with the state site

#earlyvote update 9/19: Welcome Florida! 150 people reported voted as of this morning 🥳

At least 17,092 people have voted in the 2026 general election
election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2...
» 2026 Early Voting UF Election Lab
election.lab.ufl.edu

Grok: generate a Converse ad in the style of Musk

I may get the state file today. Fingers crossed. I'm waiting for the data to build the pipeline.

I may get the state file today. Fingers crossed. I'm waiting for the data to build the pipeline.
BREAKING: MS NOW says it has been denied White House access.

#earlyvote update 9/19: at least 16,942 people have voted in the 2026 general election 🥳
election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2...
» 2026 Early Voting UF Election Lab
election.lab.ufl.edu
Heads up: The Russian government has been targeting Americans with covert online disinformation operations seeking to undermine public confidence the midterms — using a familiar playbook in an attempt to inject chaos into the voting season, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections, U.S. Intelligence Finds
The Kremlin is once again seeking to undermine confidence in American democracy with online influence campaigns, U.S. officials said.
www.nytimes.com
A massive group of demonstrators is currently forming a human chain around the Kennedy Center following Trump’s threats against it
All that power; so few jobs

Trump says stories are the easiest reporter beat
The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $8 trillion.

The entire bottom 50% of American households is worth just $4.27 trillion.

Read that back.

Remember: Wealth can’t be separated from power. Power begets wealth and wealth begets power.
President Trump said that Donald Trump Jr. reimbursed a Russian businessman who financed his son’s lavish wedding afterparty in the Bahamas earlier this year. on.wsj.com/3URnQTV
Trump Says His Son Repaid Russian Businessman Who Funded Wedding Afterparty
The two-day post-wedding celebrations in the Bahamas were financed by Umar Kremlev, a businessman with ties to Russian President Putin.
on.wsj.com
Trump says he's "banning the free press"

If you can't take the heat, tear down the kitchen

Very on-brand for Trump

If your news organization is not banned that says something about you

Viewpoint discrimination nicely packaged for a judge in a Trump social media post
I know this won’t happen, but the entire WH press corps should walk out. Trump craves attention and is obsessed with his coverage. Not covering his Oval Office Lie Sessions would hurt him more than just about anything.
I know this won’t happen, but the entire WH press corps should walk out. Trump craves attention and is obsessed with his coverage. Not covering his Oval Office Lie Sessions would hurt him more than just about anything.

Pretty clear in the polling and election data, so not risky at all

Many Republicans are not going to vote at all
Tom Emmer: "Somebody just sent me a meme that said, '$4 gas, $6 diesel -- not acceptable, but it's not gonna get me to vote for a communist'"
Tom Emmer: "Somebody just sent me a meme that said, '$4 gas, $6 diesel -- not acceptable, but it's not gonna get me to vote for a communist'"
NEW: Trump calls his $400 million super PAC “my money that I control.”

Yet federal officeholders are legally barred from directing soft-money groups. A new FEC complaint accuses Trump of violating law.

W/ Maggie Haberman: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/u...
Trump’s Open Claims That He Directs Super PAC Spending Draw Watchdog Complaint
Federal law bars those holding federal office from directing spending decisions for a political organization with no contribution limits.
www.nytimes.com

Dave in particular is fed data and redistricting plans from Republicans and then whitewashes it. For many years their district presidential vote data came from the primary Republican data company. By subscribing to Cook you implicitly subsidized Republican gerrymandering
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Democrats demanded DHS' internal watchdog to investigate new whistleblower claims that agency personnel unlawfully accessed state voting records.

The call comes after agents were allegedly told they wouldn't be held "personally liable" for the legality of the voter fraud searches.
Exclusive: Senate Dems demand watchdog probe into new DHS whistleblower allegations
They said DHS's use of personal data to access voting records is "a political exercise that poses risks to national security."
www.democracydocket.com

You and me both, brother. I’ve been complaining about it for a long time, too. It’s like poll herding for handicappers so they don’t appear too wrong towards Election Day