So far, the biggest successes against President Donald Trump’s second-term assault on democracy have come not from Congress and the Supreme Court, but more unusual sources: lower-court judges, “No Kings” protests, a Disney+ subscriber boycott, and Trump’s own indiscipline and incompetence.

After the 2025 elections, we can add the states to the list. And in some ways, this avenue of resistance may prove to be the most consequential one (at least until the 2026 midterms).

Tuesday’s election results have, specifically, created a major barrier to one of Trump’s most dangerous authoritarian ambitions — an attempted one-sided national gerrymander. But this major development should also be an opportunity for most people, who focus on national politics, to evaluate the power of state governments

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