Civitas News & Politics

Civitas is an automated data platform running on a Raspberry Pi 5 16GB. The Pi fetches US government data nightly and world news hourly. It processes data using deterministic techniques and a local LLM with ollama (no data center here!). More details here: civitas-research.org/about

John Thune (R-S.D.) referred to his fellow Republican senator. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/OH#race-2026-SEN-OH-SPECIAL

Democrat Flanagan leads in Minnesota Senate race by double digits: Poll. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/MN#race-2026-SEN-MN

New: Help for a first visit. Member, president and justice pages now open with one line saying what the page shows, figures explain themselves behind a worded button, and charts that need it carry a How to read this note. https://civitas-research.org/congress/members

DOJ targets Trump foes in flurry of activity in election's shadow. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i26074cc8

Yesterday: Trump says US voter fraud is 'rampant' - evidence suggests it is extremely rare. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i87cfd317

Susan M. Collins (R-ME): Breaks with the party about twice as often as Republicans in states that lean the same way. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/susan-collins

Democrats are preparing for potential election interference after a series of remarks from President Trump and actions from his administration targeting a swath of states. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/AK#race-2026-SEN-AK

Trump defends waiving Russia sanctions, says it keeps Moscow at negotiating table. (Oct 18 · Civitas Action Center) https://civitas-research.org/issue/i762d771d

New: Which sources can be read now. The data page now lists every source the site reads, whether it answered when last asked, its last good read, and since when and why any source can't be read. https://civitas-research.org/about/data#source-health

Yesterday: House Judiciary Democrats want a special counsel to investigate Trump's ties to Epstein. https://civitas-research.org/issue/ibb6d987c

Yesterday: Trump administration charges former FBI Director James Comey for the third time. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i344b7f40

Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1): Gifts of $200 or less made up 6% of the money, close to the House median of 6%. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/suzanne-bonamici

Trump will travel to deep red Mississippi on Monday. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/MS#race-2026-SEN-MS

Trump administration illegally fired James Comey's daughter, judge rules. (Oct 26 · Civitas Action Center) https://civitas-research.org/issue/if7dc8bde

Former diplomats, top foreign affairs experts back Jackson in Maine Senate race. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/ME#race-2026-SEN-ME

New: A page for site owners about the Civitas crawler. The About section now explains the crawler behind the site: the name each request carries, every site it reads and how fast, when it runs, and how to opt out. https://civitas-research.org/about/crawler

Congress, week of October 19–25. The Senate met 2 days and took no record votes. The House met 2 days and took no record votes. Became law: H.R. 1721, H.R. 227, H.R. 2388, H.R. 2481 and 8 more. https://civitas-research.org/congress/week/2026-10-19

Palmer, Mercer face off in Alabama's 6th Congressional District. (via Alabama Reflector) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/AL#race-2026-HOUSE-AL-6

Golden announced he wasn’t seeking reelection. (via Maine Morning Star) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/ME#race-2026-HOUSE-ME-2

Yesterday: Obama, in Midwest, assails 'cruelty' and indecency from Trump and his allies in the midterm campaign. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i7efea51a

Yesterday: Rapper Nicki Minaj joins Trump onstage at Michigan rally. https://civitas-research.org/issue/ie0c72b69

Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1): Of 44 bills sponsored this Congress, 4 passed the House; none has become law. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/buddy-carter

New: Member pages at a glance. Each member page now leads with where the member stands on four measures side by side, then the money, votes, bills, votes with the president and approval at home as boxes, with every detail one tap away under More. https://civitas-research.org/congress/members

Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1): None of the 5 bills sponsored this Congress has moved past introduction. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/richard-neal

Yesterday: Democrats plan to throw the gauntlet at Mullin in the next Congress. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i428fb1b8

Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election. (via BBC World) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/AK#race-2026-SEN-AK

New: Votes with the president on By the numbers. By the numbers now shows how often each member voted the way the president asked, set against the rate expected for the seat, beside party breaks, PAC money, small gifts and bills moved. https://civitas-research.org/congress/members/measures

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8): Breaks with the party about a third as often as Democrats in districts that lean the same way. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/raja-krishnamoorthi

Republican candidate Michael Alfonso supports voucher style system for healthcare. (via Wisconsin Examiner) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/WI#race-2026-HOUSE-WI-7

BREAKING: A former FBI official who briefed Congress on 2020 foreign election interference is charged by the Justice Department, her lawyers say.

New: Larger text for reading. Running text across the site is now larger, and sentences meant to be read, such as findings, notes and box lines, use the reading size instead of the caption size. https://civitas-research.org/

Maine voters are saying about the Collins-Jackson Senate race. (via PBS NewsHour) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/ME#race-2026-SEN-ME

New: Paper disclosures shown page by page. A member's annual financial disclosure filed on paper now appears on the member's own page as the filed pages, one at a time with zoom, instead of only a link to the government site. https://civitas-research.org/politicians

Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI): Of 41 bills sponsored this Congress, 1 got committee action; none has passed the Senate. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/mazie-hirono

Vice President Vance announced a $1.3 billion investment in fertilizer manufacturing while rallying for Republicans in Nebraska on Thursday. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/NE#race-2026-SEN-NE

The judge found the department's field operations to identify noncitizens who voted likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation. n.pr/47yVm4s

Trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit. https://civitas-research.org/issue/ia4583807

BREAKING: President Trump must sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11, a judge orders.

Voters want the next Congress to prioritize costs and ending the Iran war over investigating President Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) faced Democrat Adam Hamilton. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/KS#race-2026-SEN-KS

Former congressman, military veteran make bids for Alabama's 1st Congressional District. (via Alabama Reflector) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/AL#race-2026-HOUSE-AL-1

President Trump's attempts to bring beef prices down has potentially backfired politically in several key states. n.pr/4zEtmbw

Yesterday: Democrats sue Trump administration over 'threats and intimidation' ahead of election. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i0620be56

El-Sayed, Rogers clash in final Michigan Senate face off: 3 takeaways. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/MI#race-2026-SEN-MI

Less than two weeks before the election, Trump continues to crash through barriers that he wouldn't dare cross in his first term. n.pr/4i6obtB

Voter turnout is soaring in many of the states that are expected to decide control of the U.S. Senate, AP analysis shows

Trump will speak at South Carolina midterm rally for Sen. Darline Graham as early voting begins. https://civitas-research.org/issue/i67e944a5

Joe Wilson (R-SC-2): Breaks with the party less often than Republicans in districts that lean the same way. https://civitas-research.org/politicians/joe-wilson

Ohio GOP senator: 'I would not have run' Ramaswamy ad. (via The Hill) https://civitas-research.org/elections/states/OH#race-2026-SEN-OH-SPECIAL

Supreme Court sides with Trump administration in lawsuit seeking records on Elon Musk's DOGE. (Oct 13 · Civitas Action Center) https://civitas-research.org/issue/i30ed55be