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2026 Democratic Primary Preview Series
Profiles of Democratic candidates in 2026 state congressional elections.

Latest USRESISTNEWS and Analysis

Civil Rights

Elections & Politics

Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy
US Incursion in Venezuela: Review, Reactions, and What Happens Next (Foreign Policy Brief #226)
In the early hours of Jan. 3, 2026 the United States carried out an attack in Venezuela that saw the removal and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The incursion followed months of military operations in the Caribbean Sea, targeting small boats and oil tankers along the Venezuelan coast. The operation dubbed, Operation Absolute Resolve, saw US forces enter Venezuelan territory, carry out strikes on military sites around the country and in the capital Caracas. Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken by US forces from Fuerte Tiuna, the country’s largest military complex. Maduro was first flown to a US military base and then transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima, which brought Maduro and his wife to a detention centre in New York, where he is being held and indicted on charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States.
The Week That Was: Global News in Review (Foreign Policy Brief #225)
European troops have begun arriving in Greenland last week in a show of support to Denmark, as leaders attempt to respond to President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.
The Week That Was: Global News in Review (Foreign Policy Brief #224)
Latin America’s shift towards the political right has continued following the recent elections in both Chile and Honduras. In Chile the election of the far-right Jose Antonio Kast marked the country’s most significant shift rightward since the former Chilean dictator, Agusto Pinochet. The election of Kast now makes three neighboring South American states formerly at odds, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, firmly in control by the rightwing and all seeking closer relations with the United States. In Honduras the Trump backed candidate, Nasry Asfura has been declared the winner after a more than two week long vote count left those in the small Central American country in suspense. Following the election results, the opposing Liberal Party candidate, Salvador Nasralla refused to concede and alleged interference in the election process by the United States after President Trump conditioned continued aid to the country on whether the right-wing candidate won. Trump also pardoned the former Honduran President found guilty of trafficking drugs to the United States.

Technology

Technology
Trump’s AI Executive Order and the Federal–State Power Struggle (Technology Policy Brief #161)
The Federal-State battle over AI regulation has heated up after President Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 11 that blocks states from enforcing their own regulations on artificial intelligence. The order seeks to create a “single national framework” for AI. However state lawmakers, tech experts, and civil rights organizations are worried about what this means for the country. Many believe that federal regulations could slow down America’s competitiveness in the global AI race and will have serious implications for national security.
Rideshare Drivers Organize As Earnings Decline (Technology Policy Brief #160)
When Uber and Lyft came on the scene, taxi drivers protested vociferously. Now it’s the rideshare drivers protesting, as their earnings go down and the threat of autonomous vehicles looms. Organizing by rideshare drivers has had some success, but how effective hard-won changes will be remains to be seen. Workers scored an apparent victory in securing collective bargaining rights in California. But a similar law in Massachusetts has yet to yield results and the California law was a compromise that included enormous giveaways to the companies.
The Potential Harm Posed to Society Due to the Inaccuracies of AI (Technology Policy Brief #159)
The future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not fully determined, but it will continue to have a significant impact on our society and the way we live. The ways it currently impacts society are through improvements in efficiency, productivity, and accessibility. Self-driving cars relying on AI, AI-powered robots are used to provide aid and assistance in the healthcare system, and AI security systems are used to automate threat detection, among other examples. Although AI creates positive advantages and impacts, it also creates negative effects. The negative effects cover the environment, employment and other fields. These examples are often caused by products that use and incorporate AI, but what (potential) harm is created due to inaccuracies within the actual systems of AI?

Environment

Environment
Is Trump trying to dig up the ocean? And what does the rest of the world think? “Seabed Mining” (Environment Policy Brief #185)
In keeping with the administration’s bull-in-a-China-shop approach to the environment, foreign policy, tariffs, and just about every other domestic and international issue, the Trump team now wants to dig up the bottom of the sea.
A Congressional Bill to Improve the Nation’s Water Infrastructure (Environment Policy Brief #185)
The official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report states that about 240,000 water main breaks occur each year in the United States. This highlights the urgent state of the nation’s water infrastructure. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., introduced the Water Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Act (H.R. 5566) on Sept. 26, 2025. Rep. Carbajal, introduced the bill to modernize the aging water systems across the nation.The bill seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Broad, Dramatic Changes Threaten the Environment as Trump Lifts Protections (Environment Policy Brief #184)
Dolphins in New York Harbor, whales breaching off Lower Manhattan, oysters thriving in the waters around New York City, and the Hudson River—long written off as dead—now supports fishing again. These signs of environmental recovery, while miraculous, all could slam into reverse as the latest Trump administration rollbacks take effect.

Education

Health & Gender

Health & Gender
The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You: A Tribe’s Response to the Measles Outbreak
Seminole, Texas is where I graduated high school, where I met my best friends, where I played football, and where I drank my first beer. Seminole is where I learned to pick myself up by the bootstraps, that no one is better than me, and that hard work coupled with perseverance will get you far. Seminole is where I learned the value of a handshake, that a person is only as good as their word, how to overcome adversity, and that it takes a Tribe to solve our biggest problems.
The Hypocrite in Chief’s War on Women
Trump has been president for under a month, and he is already going to great lengths to restrict a woman’s right to an abortion. At first, after the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court that Trump helped assemble, it appeared that abortion would be left to the states.
The Post-Election State of Abortion
The Post-Election State of Abortion Health & Gender Brief #177 | By: Geoffrey Small | November 26, 2024 Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash __________________________________ Summary As the Republican party seizes control of Congress and The Presidency, abortion...

Immigration

Immigration
A Fear-based Immigration Policy (Immigration Policy Brief #142)
Trump’s mass deportation efforts remain ongoing across the U.S., capturing headlines with the arrests of student activists like Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, and the deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua members/Venezuelans legally here on asylum, not to Venezuela but El Salvador, including a U.S. resident misidentified as a gang member. Despite the high-profile raids and fiery rhetoric, government data shows that deportations under Trump still lag behind levels seen under the Biden administration.
An Update on Trump’s Mass Deportation Efforts (Immigration Policy Brief #141)
As we enter the second month of Donald Trump’s return to office, his stance on immigration remains as hardline as ever—if not more extreme. He has ramped up his rhetoric against so-called “criminals,” but communities across the country are feeling the tangible effects of his deportation policies. Friends, neighbors, workers, and community members are being forcibly removed, leaving behind fractured families and economic instability.
Exploring Different Types of Immigrants & Immigration Realities (Immigration Policy Brief #140)
The Trump administration has recently begun redefining its view on what it sees as the appropriate options for gender in the education system. The newly released Trump executive order on “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” released on January 29 seeks to prohibit federal funding for schools that are teaching gender ideology and critical race theory in the classroom.

Economic Policy

Economic Policy
Danger in Economic Uncertainty: A Lesson From Trump’s Tariff Policies
The dust is still being settled a month after the U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day.” He was never coy about his desire to wield tariffs to achieve his geopolitical goals. Both in his previous administration and on the campaign trail, he promised that they are the way to rebuild American manufacturing and repair trade imbalances.
Climate Change’s Impact on the Ski Industry
Snow is important for the health of Earth. Snow plays a major part in regulating the planet’s temperature. Snow is hyper-reflective and is capable of sending the Sun’s energy back into space which keeps the Earth’s temperatures from rising too much through the year. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, without snow, the ground would absorb about 4-6x the amount of solar energy that it would if there was snow on the ground – leading to warmer temperatures. Less snow could lead to droughts in areas that typically relied on snowpack melting during the warmer months for access to water, or to harvest with the purpose of providing water. It could also lead to species of animals dying that had evolved to survive in a world with snow, such as snowshoe hares (white fur coats to blend into a snowy environment). It could also lead to Indigenous knowledge related to cultural practices that involve snow may disappear, as well.
Impact of Remote Work on Urban Development
Brief #62 – Economic Policy Brief
by: Inijah Quadri
The rise of remote work, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, is reshaping urban landscapes and challenging traditional city planning. As cities adapt to this new reality, the shift presents both opportunities for sustainable development and significant hurdles for local economies reliant on office workers.

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