Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Politics

Polarized politics has changed the dynamics of legislation and policymaking at the state and local level. Political parties with supermajorities are increasingly in control in many states and cities. These stories explain what that means for legislators, governors and mayors and how politicians can navigate this new political landscape.

Urban Democrats and state-level Republicans have long been at odds. Could what’s happening in Charlotte signal a ceasefire?
A half-century ago, a Republican president moved to devolve power from Washington to states and local governments. Today it’s the right that’s trying to turn that around.
Too often it’s our youth who are the targets of racial- and gender-based animus and attacks. Rather than making life harder for children, public officials should be protecting them.
The Florida governor lived in Dunedin from when he was 6 years old until he was 18. But the town has changed since DeSantis lived there, and not everyone is so eager to have him as the town’s most famous son.
Opponents of church-state separation have been emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the growing acceptance of Christian nationalism on the right.
Daniel Cameron was supposed to have the Republican nomination all sewn up at this point, but he, instead, finds himself under attack. Meanwhile, Oklahoma's legislating grinds to a halt and the motivating power of hatred.
Primary elections are where most of those who govern us are chosen. Can making them nonpartisan — or eliminating them altogether — diminish the impact of ideological fringes? What has happened in Louisiana suggests that it can.
A resolution would amend the constitution to allow the state to join the National Popular Vote Compact, which will only become active if states representing 270 electoral college votes join. Only 195 electoral college votes are accounted for so far.
Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen criticized the Danish-inspired town for not reflecting the “genuine warmth and acceptance of pride” in Denmark after Solvang banned pride-themed banners and painted over rainbow sidewalks.
Turner died on Tuesday at age 70, two months into his first congressional term. We are rerunning our 2019 profile of him as mayor.