Ence Morse

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com. We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans. washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Republican campaigns and PACs have spent nearly $3 million at President Trump’s businesses since he returned to office, according to a Post analysis. Spending at Mar-a-Lago has more than tripled compared with the same period of his first term.

A mom featured in a campaign ad accused a House Democratic candidate of endangering kids because of her votes on transgender issues. Turns out the woman in the ad once pleaded guilty to endangering kids. wapo.st/4ieRiLA

left: In May, Thomas J. Henry, the personal injury attorney whose ads blanket Texas, giving a pro-Paxton super PAC $650K. right: late yesterday, Thomas J. Henry publicly endorsing Talarico

It's the pre-general filing day! First: more crypto money is coming in to help Republicans. America First Digital put another $1.5 million into First Principles Digital, the pro-crypto GOP group, which is backing Mike Rogers in Michigan.

NEW: Democrats have spent at least $1.8 million on ads that invoke Trump’s ballroom project, according to a Post analysis of spending in competitive general election races. Read more of the analysis from @lukejconnors.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

President Trump’s flagship super PAC, MAGA Inc., had about $164 million remaining last week after spending $277 million to boost Republicans in midterm races, according to the latest federal campaign financial disclosures.

NEW from @ence.bsky.social: Trump's flagship super PAC, MAGA Inc., spent $277 million to boost Republicans in midterm races, leaving $164 million in the bank. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

NEW: Last year, the White House told Texas to redraw its congressional map to create five new GOP seats. Now the plan may be backfiring. If voting patterns in South Texas this year look more like the 2018 or 2020 elections, these Trump+10 districts begin looking deep blue. 🎁 link: wapo.st/483AFxs

just amazing quotes from the guy who drew the Texas maps via @jherrerx.bsky.social. in South TX some of these counties split by 30+ points!

Republicans' Texas redistricting could backfire — and take out some rising Latino GOP stars. Read @ence.bsky.social + @jherrerx.bsky.social [gift link]: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Another one of these just came in off the monthly deadline. Here's Affordable Chicago Now!, which spent $4.5 million, sending the last of its cash to the same AIPAC super PAC.

Read lots more about Musk, and the other biggest donors, here: www.washingtonpost.com/elections/in...

NEW: Megadonors have now poured *2.3 billion* into the midterm elections. Leading the pack is Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who is now the biggest individual political donor in American history. Meet all the megadonors, and see who they give to, here: www.washingtonpost.com/elections/in...

Four people including 3 kids were shot and killed in Bend, Oregon yesterday. There have now been 21 mass killings with guns in 2026. @jdharden.bsky.social and @chrishacker.io have updated our tracker, which has now documented 2,733 people who have died in mass shootings since 2006. wapo.st/4yhEB8x

Top donors to the pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising super PAC: - Chris Larsen (Ripple) $1.25M - Susan Sarofim $1.2M - Reed Hastings (Netflix) $1M - Rory Gates $1M - John Pritzker $650K Total raise: about $9.6 million

Exponential fundraising gaps so far tonight: - In Kansas, Adam Hamilton (D) raised $9.8M; incumbent Roger Marshall (R) brought in $870K - In Georgia, Jon Ossoff (D) raised $33M; Mike Collins (R) took in just $2.7M

In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton raised 10 times as much as GOP incumbent Roger Marshall did ($9.8M vs $870K)

Sixty seven donors have given at least $10,000 to Trump's ballroom construction. In all, the administration has collected $333 million from private donors. By Jonathan O'Connell, Sarah Blaskey & @aaronschaffer.com, w/ assist from @kcrowebasspro.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

El-Sayed tripled Mike Rogers' Q3 fundraising. El-Sayed: $33M Rogers: $10M

The first school shooting I wrote about happened 10 years and 17 days ago. First-graders on a playground. Shooter was 14. It lasted 12 seconds. One child died. It faded from front pages by week's end. Those kids and teachers, their families, that town. They're not over it. They'll never be over it.

The George Soros-backed Democracy PACs (Democracies PAC?) were still sitting on the vast majority of their money as of September 31. With a month to go, Democracy PAC II reported $116 million in cash, and the original Democracy PAC had an additional $58 million.

Good grief, here come the Uihleins. The megadonors just put another $67 million into their pro-GOP Restoration of America PAC. Before this, they'd already given over $70 million to back Republicans. docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

Anyone remember Chicago Progressive Partnership, the shell group that spent big to back pro-Israel candidates in Illinois Dem primaries? It just closed up... and transferred its bank balance back to AIPAC's super PAC.

Happy FEC Q3 filing day to all who celebrate 🫡

NEW: @lydiasidhom.bsky.social analyzed over 8,000 ads to find that Social Security is one of the most frequently mentioned economic issues by Republicans in competitive races, with the GOP spending about *seven* times more than Democrats on the topic www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

After unverified claims that Talarico was discharged from a mental health hospital spread on X, right-wing influencers posted about him more frequently on Sunday than at any other point this year

NEW: @lukejconnors.bsky.social analyzed X posts to trace the origins of a viral conspiracy theory about Talarico and found that right wing political influencers posted about him more than ever so far this year www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

i'm going to be piloting a new, free public health newsletter in the coming weeks. if you've been wanting to benefit from my public health news addiction and analytic experience in peace without all the shitposts or tangents in between, this is for you! 😊

The Washington Post's ace data team analyzed what types of voters will have the most sway in deciding competitive House districts. Can you guess? Via @teoarmus.bsky.social @ence.bsky.social @erxclau.me www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

So, ways the gerrymanders could backfire: OH: Now 10 R, 5 D. Tried for 12 seats; could end up with 7, a 3-seat loss. NC: Now 10 R, 4 D. Tried for 11; 6 would be a 4-seat loss. FL: Now 20 R, 8 D. Tried for 24; 16 would be a 4-seat loss. TX: Now 25 R, 13 D. Tried for 30; 24 would be a 1-seat loss.

Always follow Jack for the religion angle (spoiler: There's always a religion angle).

Two mass shootings occurred in the U.S. Friday, including the shooting deaths of 8 people - two of them children - in Erie, Pa. There have now been 20 mass killings with a gun in 2026: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/inter...

This interactive is amaaaazing. Some great SVG animation stuff + good UX. Hurting my brain figuring out how I'd implement that map-to-dotplot animation

Forget the soccer mom. Enter the "overtime mom," or “steel toes and tamales.” We crunched the numbers, and this is what we found on the demographics in battleground House districts: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

This year's battleground districts are also *not* more suburban than the country as a whole. Or more rural. Instead, battleground districts are full of small cities -- like Greeley, CO, where Jen lives -- with high homeownership rates. wapo.st/4idKlLQ

Read Jen's story — and take the beautiful quiz designed by @erxclau.me — here!!! So thrilled this piece is out. Gift link: wapo.st/4idKlLQ

Story from @teoarmus.bsky.social @ence.bsky.social with beautiful quiz/graphics by @erxclau.me. Read Jen's full story and the complete analysis here: wapo.st/4idKlLQ

i’m taking over our team account today! if folks have any campaign finance/redistricting/census/etc qs... send them over 🫡

Breaking news: ICE didn’t know a 5-year-old boy was in the car when an officer fired on Oscar Belgal, a Dominican man in New York, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.

New: Trump is sending emails to millions of Medicare enrollees today to tout $90 payments and his broader health policies. Democrats and advocates have said the move is an inappropriate stunt. with @iarnsdorf.bsky.social

But why now? One Republican pollster, Whit Ayres, called it a "distraction" from other issues: "Focusing on Muslims and sharia is easier than focusing on gas prices and war in Iran. It’s not complicated."

NEW: U.S. states don't have sharia law. So why do politicians keep proposing laws to ban it? www.washingtonpost.com/religion/202...