Jonathan Shorman

Jonathan Shorman

[email protected] https://bsky.app/profile/jonshorman.bsky.social

Jonathan Shorman covers democracy for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Based in Kansas City, his coverage area includes elections and voting rights, fights over state and federal power, civil liberties and more. An alumnus of the University of Kansas, he previously covered politics for The Kansas City Star.

Voters head into a polling site at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
National

Voting rights advocates organize volunteers to track potential intimidation at the polls

Oct 06, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
As President Donald Trump refuses to rule out taking extreme action in the midterm elections, voting rights advocates and civil rights leaders are bolstering their voter protection efforts in anticipation of possible federal interference. The focus by activists comes amid...
President Donald Trump speaks at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama on Oct. 2, 2026, as he campaigns in GOP-leaning states ahead of the midterms. (Photo by Dan Anderson/Alabama Reflector)
National

Trump drops longtime aversion to mail-in voting with GOP trailing in polls

Oct 05, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
President Donald Trump wants to sharply curtail mail ballots. He’s called them “inherently corrupt” and baselessly condemned them as a major source of fraud. But with Republicans falling behind in the polls, the president is now urging his supporters to...
President Donald Trump gestures as he exits the stage during a midterm election rally at the Choctaw Event Center on Oct. 1, 2026, in Durant, Oklahoma. (Photo by Jessica Tobias/For Oklahoma Voice)
National

Anxiety is growing Trump may try to disrupt the midterm elections. States are prepping.

Oct 02, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
When Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin declared in September that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could serve warrants on individuals at polling places this fall, officials in Denver, a liberal city where roughly 14% of residents are foreign-born, quickly sued. “Every...
President Donald Trump appears in a taxpayer-funded public service announcement that critics say is indistinguishable from a 2024 campaign ad. (Screenshot from video posted to Truth Social)
National

Trump TV ads paid for with $20M in Homeland Security funds, Dems find

Sep 29, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
President Donald Trump is tapping $20 million in Homeland Security funding to pay for TV ads that heavily feature him ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats said Tuesday as the promos critics call propaganda come under bipartisan attack. The Trump...
Voters fill out ballots using touch screens during early voting at the Bismarck Event Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
National

Trump thwarted in hunt for rare noncitizen voters as midterms near

Sep 28, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
Five weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s sprawling effort to identify and remove noncitizen voters hasn’t produced the kind of large purges that could meaningfully affect the midterm elections. Even a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision giving states access...
States will shape America’s future as nation confronts a pivotal choice
Stateline

States will shape America’s future as nation confronts a pivotal choice

Jul 07, 2026
Jonathan Shorman Kevin Hardy
A quarter millennium after its founding, the United States faces a stark choice that will define its future. In the years ahead, the country can continue to follow the path blazed by President Donald Trump, who is attempting to bring...
Democrats, Republicans alike focus on states’ rights as a way out of America’s political woes
Stateline

Democrats, Republicans alike focus on states’ rights as a way out of America’s political woes

Jul 02, 2026
Kevin Hardy Jonathan Shorman
Democrats are seizing the mantle of states’ rights to oppose the agenda of President Donald Trump, who has sought to reset Washington’s relationship with the states. While the party out of federal power has always pushed its agenda in statehouses...
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National

US Supreme Court in Virginia case says police need warrants for cellphone location data

Jun 29, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that law enforcement searches for the location history of cellphones near crime scenes are covered by the Fourth Amendment, requiring warrants to obtain the data. But the high court left unsettled when searches for...
Greg Lange of Bismarck, North Dakota, drops off absentee ballots for himself and his wife at the Bismarck Burleigh County Office Building on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
National

US Supreme Court deals blow to Trump, ruling states can accept ballots after Election Day

Jun 29, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, a blow to the Trump administration and some Republican states that had urged the justices to require all ballots to arrive by the...
As President Donald Trump's administration pursues multiple election probes in advance of the midterm elections, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents carried out a raid on Jan. 28, 2026, at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
National

Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling

Jun 29, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters at a Pennsylvania rally June 23 when he made an extraordinary admission about an election a continent away. Trump and his allies had spent several days in June savaging California over its slow...
An election worker processes mail-in ballots for the California state primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on June 05, 2026, in City of Industry, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
National

Trump order limiting voting by mail halted by federal court

Jun 25, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
A federal judge on Thursday blocked major portions of President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, finding he had exceeded his constitutional authority. The decision halts, at least until a nearly certain appeal is heard, efforts by the...
Voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, cast their ballots during the state’s August 2024 primary. (Photo by Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline)
National

Judges block Trump push for Michigan voter info, setting up possible Supreme Court fight

Jun 24, 2026
Jonathan Shorman
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Department of Justice isn’t entitled to access the sensitive personal data of Michigan voters, a setback in President Donald Trump’s push to assert power over state-run elections. The decision moves the country...