Here we are again, another year gone. We wish we could say the country is in a better place than when we published this article a year ago. But, well… yeah.
It was a tough year for democracy and voting rights, but it wasn’t all bad. The November elections offered more than just a glimmer of hope that next year’s midterms will be a major rebuke of President Donald Trump’s second term. As the Democracy Docket team worked this year to cover all aspects of voting rights and democracy and hold the Trump administration accountable, we kept tabs on some of the best and worst moments.
Even when the news seemed terrible and overwhelming, our team always managed to find joy in covering it — whether it was finding the many, many errors that Trump officials made in their legal filings (seriously, it’s embarrassing how many spelling errors we found), or highlighting significant court victories.
Presenting, the best and worst of 2025 – enjoy!
Best Response to DOJ’s Demand for Voter Data: Maine Sec. of State Shenna Bellows (D)
“The Gulf of Maine is awfully cold, but maybe that’s what the DOJ needs to cool down,” Bellows said at a July press conference in response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s demand that she fork over access to her state’s voter rolls: ”So here’s my answer to Trump’s DOJ today: Go jump in the Gulf of Maine.”
Best Knitter: Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon
Under Dhillon’s leadership, the DOJ has pivoted from protecting voting rights to attacking them. And Dhillon’s terminally online habits may be compromising a number of DOJ’s cases.
But when it comes to hand-knit sweaters and hats, she’s got skills.
Best Opinion: Judge Bill Young’s Scathing Rebuke of Trump’s Attacks on the First Amendment
In an extraordinary, 161-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Bill Young — a Reagan appointee — eviscerated the Trump administration for its assault on free speech.
Young’s ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by university professors who alleged that Trump officials intentionally violated First Amendment speech protections to chill pro-Palestine campus speech. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs, finding that the Trump administration explicitly targeted pro-Palestinian student activists for deportation — and sought to “strike fear” into similarly situated non-citizen students and stifle political activity it disagrees with.
In a footnote, Young wrote that intimidating non-citizen students was just one aspect of the Trump administration’s “full-throated assault on the First Amendment across the board under the cover of an unconstitutionally broad definition of Anti-Semitism.” Damn.
Best Election: 2025 State Elections
Pretty much every election this year, across the board. Much better than last year’s elections.
But here at Democracy Docket, we especially enjoyed Maine voters’ convincing rejection of a GOP-backed ballot measure that stealthily tried to restrict mail voting.
Worst Gerrymandering Attempt: Indiana
Trump’s attempt to strongarm red states into mid-decade redistricting to give Republicans a leg up before the 2026 midterms isn’t exactly crushing. Sure, the GOP has picked up some seats in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. But when you factor in California’s counter-move, the net GOP gain could be far less than the president hoped. And a big reason why is Indiana, where 21 Republicans voted against redistricting.
Why? Because Trump couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut. One GOP lawmaker, whose child has Down Syndrome, said he opposed redistricting because of Trump’s repeated use of an ableist slur. Other lawmakers apparently didn’t take kindly to Trump’s bullying and repeated threats to cut funding to the state if they didn’t bend the knee.
Best Happy Ending: Kilmar Abrego Garcia
No story better exemplified the cruelty and callousness of Trump’s brutal immigration policy than that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was illegally deported to El Salvodor earlier this year because of an “administrative error.”
Rather than own up to the mistake, the White House instead tried to slander Garcia as a criminal who was in the country illegally. But Garcia had been granted an immigration status that allowed him to live and work legally in the U.S. Garcia’s story became a flashpoint for Trump’s immigration policy and, as Democratic lawmakers advocated for his return to the U.S., the White House promised he was “never coming back.”
False! A federal judge facilitated Garcia’s return to the U.S. and in early December he was finally released from ICE custody and reunited with his family. We call that a happy ending.
Worst SCOTUS ruling: Callais v. Landry
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stunner at the very end of their term this summer in a major Louisiana redistricting case, Callais v. Landry: They would rehear it next term. That suggests the court’s conservative majority is readying to issue a ruling that strikes down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which would effectively dismantle one of the nation’s most successful civil-rights laws and give states the broad freedom to draw maps that diminish the voting strength of communities of color.
If that happens, the consequences would be devastating. A report from the pro-voting groups Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter warned that without Section 2, the GOP could take control of the House for a generation.
Best DOJ Error: Lindsay Halligan, “Interim United Stated Attorney”
Best Voting Sticker: Ulster County’s Pizza Statue of Liberty Voting Sticker
Each election year, the elections board in Ulster County, New York holds a contest for kids to design an “I Voted” sticker. In 2022, this demented spider won and we absolutely love it. As we do with this year’s winner, the Pizza Statue of Liberty, designed by Sixth Grader Ryker Darmanin.
We love you, Pizza Statue of Liberty Voting Sticker. We really do.
Best Self-Own: DOJ’s Texas Letter
Amid the legal battle over Texas’ egregious mid-decade redistricting — wherein GOP lawmakers passed a gerrymandered map to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House — DOJ found itself with its foot in its mouth. A letter sent by Dhillon told Texas lawmakers to dismantle minority coalition districts to address constitutional concerns.
The letter was basically the smoking gun that the pro-voting plaintiffs used to get a federal court to block Texas’ new map. But it was not to be: SCOTUS reversed the ruling, allowing Texas to use their racially gerrymandered map for the 2026 midterms.
Ugh. That’s the only way to describe the drama that unfolded in the last gasp of 2025 between journalists Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza. To recap: Nuzzi is the former Washington Correspondent for New York Magazine who was involved in a sexting scandal with, uh, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She just put out a book about the scandal, American Canto, and her ex-fiancé, Lizza, published a six-part Substack series detailing a whole bunch of wild allegations — another alleged affair with a politician, running cover for Kennedy, and covering up details of Trump’s assassination attempt.
It’s all so tawdry and, to be honest, makes the whole journalism profession look bad. Let us hope these two fade into obscurity after this.
Best Use of Punctuation in a Ruling: Judge Richard Leon
In issuing a preliminary injunction against Trump’s executive order punishing the law firm WilmerHale, Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, used no less than 25 exclamation points. The judge also used gumbo as a metaphor to explain Trump’s order, which he said “gives the Court heartburn.”
Best Unhinged Dissent: Judge Jerry E. Smith
After a panel of three federal judges blocked Texas’ new gerrymandered map in a 2-1 ruling, the lone dissenting judge, U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith, issued one of the most unhinged dissents the Democracy Docket newsroom has ever read.
“The main winners from Judge Brown’s opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom,” Smith wrote, later claiming without evidence that “George and Alex Soros have their hands all over this.” According to Smith, one of the plaintiffs’ experts “is a paid Soros operative and does not attempt to hide it.”
Smith’s conspiracy-laden dissent went on to personally insult and attack his fellow judges, which is definitely not the norm for the judiciary. We hope Smith is, uh, OK.
Best Resistance Fighters: The ICE Protest Frogs
If you’re going to take to the streets and stand up to ICE’s fascist tactics and attempts to disappear people from your community, you’ve got to dress the part. And that part is an inflatable frog costume. We salute you, ICE Protest Frogs.
Best Photographer: Christopher Anderson
Did you read Vanity Fair’s wild interviews with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles? Did you see the extreme close-up portraits of Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and others that accompany the piece? All we can say is, if you’re ever getting your picture taken by Christopher Anderson, be sure to moisturize thoroughly beforehand.