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Sam Russek

@samrussek.bsky.social
104 followers 42 following 40 posts

reporter-researcher @newrepublic.com | associate editor @orbooks.bsky.social | also @samrussek on X | “some skeptics,” per the NYT | website: samrussek.neocities.org

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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For Houston folks, in my first Substack post I've shared surveys conducted for Mayor Whitmire reflecting, I’d argue, where his team is directing its attention (well, sometimes) But wait... is that majority *support* for removing car lanes to make room for bikes? This & more linked below
Polling results from Zencity showing 45% of respondents "support removing some car lanes or parking spaces to make room for protected bike lanes," with 32% of respondents neutral and 23% opposed. Findings demonstrate: "Support for protected bike lanes outweighs opposition, especially among younger residents and those who bike."
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEW: Texas's biggest cities use an Israeli data firm to monitor residents online—Houston on HPD-ICE collaboration; Austin on residents' feelings about license plate readers like Flock; and Dallas on a range of issues, including reactions to police misconduct. Full docs inside:
srussek.substack.com
These Texas Cities Use an Israeli Data Firm to Monitor Residents Online
Zencity touts its Listen module as an innovative way to “build community trust.” Do the local officials using the tool across Texas have the same aim?
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
One thing about photo desks is they’re gonna give Talarico the Blur™️
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D. A. Denison @daveadenison.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Good reporting and good historical perspective here by the talented @samrussek.bsky.social in TNR. #texaspolitics
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Ok ok I’ll be the one to ask: Can the Texas Democratic Party actually do it this time? For @newrepublic.com I wrote about TDP’s long, long—LONG—road, from political monopoly to near collapse to, perhaps, a future? (My first TNR feature) newrepublic.com/article/2150...
newrepublic.com
Are Texas Democrats Finally Reaching the Mountaintop?
The Texas Democratic Party once owned the state. It even did some good things. Then it collapsed, and boy, has it stayed collapsed. Ah, but if James Talarico wins ...
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 02/09/2026
Top story: If Houston’s problem were only who sat in the mayor’s office, a well-experienced and well-connected pol would be well positioned to reverse the city’s fortunes. So why has the current office holder been so ineffective?
texasobserver.org
The Last Mayor of Houston
As the strong mayor of Texas' largest city, the former dean of the Texas Senate should be able to get his way in Houston. But he faces a shrinking ability to do so without vindictive state…
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
On @texasstandard.bsky.social this morning I spoke about John Whitmire & Houston more broadly. I think it's a mistake when people blame voters for low turnout, as if they got what they deserved for not being locally engaged. The better Q is: Why isn't the strongest mayor in the US more inspiring?
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 01/09/2026
In Houston, the mayor has near-autocratic power the likes of which other "strong-mayor" cities like NY or LA can only dream of, yet its politics are stultifying, its outcomes unremarkable. Here's why Bayou City's mayor is running out of time:
texasobserver.org
The Last Mayor of Houston
As the strong mayor of Texas' largest city, the former dean of the Texas Senate should be able to get his way in Houston. But he faces a shrinking ability to do so without vindictive state…
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 31/08/2026
Out today from @SamRussek.bsky.social: In response to protests, John Whitmire's Houston has resorted to new tactics for monitoring public data and social media posts, including a $620K contract with an AI-powered firm based in Tel Aviv, cofounded by a veteran of Israeli military intelligence.
texasobserver.org
The Last Mayor of Houston
As the strong mayor of Texas' largest city, the former dean of the Texas Senate should be able to get his way in Houston. But he faces a shrinking ability to do so without vindictive state…
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DocBites @nomowoe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
An important and well written read for Houstonians
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Leslie @lesliemullin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Long but a very important read
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Dave @unioncard.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"But work toward what? Increasingly, it seems that even Whitmire’s not sure. While he might remove a bike lane or knock down an abandoned building to perform his authority now and then, real leadership has absconded elsewhere." Solid piece on the mayor-shaped void that is John Whitmire.
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Allen AC @allenac009.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
“Griffith’s comedy of manners betrayed a simple truth: Few Texas Democrats today are as enmeshed with the police lobby as Whitmire. He needed them, but they also needed him.” #Houston
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Justin Miller @byjustinmiller.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
In the cover story for our latest issue, @samrussek.bsky.social delves deep into the tumult of John Whitmire's Houston mayoralty. Worth a read www.texasobserver.org/john-whitmir...
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My first cover story, a deep dive on Houston's mayor and the contradiction at the heart of the city's politics. How did the strongest mayor in America (at least, statutorily) become so weak?
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
FINALLY: I wrote about "the last mayor of Houston," ft. a second office ~5 min from City Hall, an Israeli data firm monitoring public outcry RE: HPD-ICE, and the city's attempts to barter with state Republicans while pressure from below intensifies. www.texasobserver.org/john-whitmir...
texasobserver.org
The Last Mayor of Houston
As the strong mayor of Texas' largest city, the former dean of the Texas Senate should be able to get his way in Houston. But he faces a shrinking ability to do so without vindictive state Republicans...
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 31/08/2026
New, from our magazine, by @samrussek.bsky.docial: John Whitmire is a “strong” mayor with a meager voter mandate, presiding over a once-mighty fiefdom in decline. How, then, did the strongest mayor in America become so weak? And even if Whitmire could get his way, what would that way look like?
texasobserver.org
The Last Mayor of Houston
As the strong mayor of Texas' largest city, the former dean of the Texas Senate should be able to get his way in Houston. But he faces a shrinking ability to do so without vindictive state…
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My first cover story, a deep dive on Houston's mayor and the contradiction at the heart of the city's politics. How did the strongest mayor in America (at least, statutorily) become so weak?
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Update: 8 Texas protesters were sentenced today, following a July 4 noise demo outside an ICE detention center. The maj. were sentenced to 50 years in prison 2 were sentenced to 70 & 100 years, respectively The last, who wasn't even at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years.
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Gus Bova @gusbova.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Great day-after take on the Menefee-Green runoff here from @samrussek.bsky.social www.texasobserver.org/christian-me...
texasobserver.org
Christian Menefee's Win Foreshadows Fights to Come Across the South
Al Green was a fighter past his prime, and Houstonians finally chose a new direction. But a post-Voting Rights Act world means that intraparty fights over Black representation are just beginning.
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University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Read @samrussek.bsky.social's thoughtful review-essay, in @jacobinmag.bsky.social, of Manissa Maharawal's recently released ANTI-EVICTION: "Manissa Maharawal… fills a critical gap in our understanding of how recent history prefigures current struggle.” jacobin.com/2026/04/san-...
jacobin.com
Lessons From San Francisco’s Fight Against Tech Displacement
A new book recounts how San Francisco tenant organizers took on tech-fueled displacement in the 2010s. Their campaigns were brave, media-savvy, and sometimes successful — but the conditions that made ...
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It's Going Down @igd.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
"The outcome of this trial [creates] a weapon with which the Trump administration can bludgeon political opponents—sidestepping the First Amendment—prosecutors effectively concocted a “criminal enterprise” through innuendo and partial truths. " @samrussek.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2078...
newrepublic.com
The Trump Administration Just Won a Terrifying Victory Over Protesters
An appeal is coming, but the conviction of several protesters on charges of providing “material support” for terrorism is a chilling sign.
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Voice4Justice @voices4justice.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
🏴🏴🏴An appeal is coming, but the conviction of several protesters on charges of providing "material support" for terrorism is a chilling sign. By @samrussek.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2072... Authoritarianism is the new Liberalism. Dictatorship is the new Democracy. God help us all. #Resist
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
In #Houston, politics is looking decidedly old. The median age of its city council is roughly 55—two years older than that of Dallas, eight years older than that of Austin, and a whopping 20 years older than that of Houston’s median resident. Will that affect Rep. Al Green's bid for a 12th term?
A screenshot of text which reads: "Right now, Houston-area politics is looking decidedly old. Mayor John Whitmire, age 76, already announced he’s running for reelection in 2028. Annise Parker, the former mayor and current frontrunner to replace Lina Hidalgo as Harris County Judge, is 69. The median age of its city council is roughly 55—two years older than that of Dallas, eight years older than that of Austin, and a whopping 20 years older than that of Houston’s median resident."
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 25/02/2026
New from @samrussek.bsky.social: The Dem primary for the 18th Congressional District pits two generations of politicians—Christian Menefee and Al Green—against each other. How did Green, known for standing up to Trump, end up in a serious fight for his seat?
texasobserver.org
A New Age for Houston Politics?
The Dem primary for the 18th Congressional District pits two generations of politicians—Christian Menefee and Al Green—against each other.
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
ICYMI: There’s an activist in Texas who’s been held in solitary confinement for 23 years. His body is failing. It took a year—and a court order—for him to finally see a *partial* medical diagnosis. He learned that he’d suffered a stroke *and* a heart attack. None of the prison officials had told him
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 06/02/2026
“Xinachtli” Hernandez’s health is failing him. So is the system. trib.al/JumfKSL His worst fall came in the shower with no rails to hold onto—even though 16% of Texas’s prison population is 55+. When it rains his cell floods. He stores his belongings in jars so the rats don't chew through them.
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Alvaro Hernandez, AKA Xinachtli, has been held in solitary confinement for 23 years. Now 73, his body's failing him—he can't walk, lost ~100 lbs, & Texas officials have withheld medical diagnoses. His supporters say this is part of a long history of retaliation for his activism
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Coyle "Barricade Material" Boron @fack.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Bro they got Rachel Maddow posting crimethinc links
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
NEW: Another DFW-area activist, Lucy Fowlkes, was just arrested by the FBI in connection to the Prairieland ICE Detention Center protest last July, bringing the total to 19 defendants. Fowlkes, like ~1/3 of those charged, wasn't at the protest, but in the DOJ's discovery... (🧵)
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Since July, Trump’s DOJ has used a protest outside an ICE facility to justify the roundup of leftwing activists, labeling them an “antifa cell.” For @newrepublic.com I gained access to nearly 6 TB of discovery—CCTV, bodycam, warrants. The DOJ’s story doesn’t add up
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
One of those stories where folks I’d never spoken to before have privately reached out to thank me for reporting it out. Happy to be in @texasobserver.org’s top ten this year
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 11/12/2025
“This is New York’s first portfolio-wide union in recent memory, and surely the first to be built at such dizzying scale: In a matter of months, 40 Pinnacle buildings across three boroughs have formed tenant associations.” mr mayor-elect, sir, please intervene in this bankruptcy auction
newrepublic.com
Zohran Mamdani’s First Big Housing Test Is Already Here
The mayor-elect is about to inherit a messy bankruptcy affecting thousands of rent-stabilized New Yorkers. He’s also inheriting a growing tenants’ movement ready to fight back.
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Autonomous Tenants Union Network @tenantpower.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
"This is New York’s first portfolio-wide union in recent memory, and surely the first to be built at such dizzying scale: In a matter of months, 40 Pinnacle buildings across 3 boroughs have formed tenant associations and joined the union to coordinate their demands." newrepublic.com/article/2042...
newrepublic.com
Zohran Mamdani’s First Big Housing Test Is Already Here
The mayor-elect is about to inherit a messy bankruptcy affecting thousands of rent-stabilized New Yorkers. He’s also inheriting a growing tenants’ movement ready to fight back.
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Jason Linkins @dceiver.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
The Pinnacle bankruptcy has upended the lives of thousands of NYers in rent-stabilized units, a constituency to which Mamdani has pledged himself. But as Sam Russek reports, a fast-growing tenants' union is forming in advance of the change at Gracie Mansion newrepublic.com/article/2042...
newrepublic.com
Zohran Mamdani’s First Big Housing Test Is Already Here
The mayor-elect is about to inherit a messy bankruptcy affecting thousands of rent-stabilized New Yorkers. He’s also inheriting a growing tenants’ movement ready to fight back.
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 11/12/2025
Our top story, @samrussek.bsky.social: As a Latina immigrant elected in her mid-twenties, Lina Hidalgo faced unique headwinds that can’t be ignored when reckoning with her time in office, yet what she did with the power she won must still be judged on its own merits.
texasobserver.org
Lina Hidalgo Had a Vision. Harris County Won’t See It.
Her anti-climactic exit from office caps a saga of waning power and growing discord. But what her rise once promised is worth remembering.
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
What was Lina Hidalgo? When was Lina Hidalgo? Why was Lina Hidalgo? For @texasobserver.org, I appraised Democrats' erstwhile shining star—a beacon of Texas progressivism under Trump 1.0—whose second term will soon end in disappointment. www.texasobserver.org/lina-hidalgo...
texasobserver.org
Lina Hidalgo Had a Vision. Harris County Won’t See It.
Her anti-climactic exit from office caps a saga of waning power and growing discord. But what her rise once promised is worth remembering.
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 08/10/2025
New from @samrussek.bsky.social: While some local Democratic party chapters speak effusively of their partnerships with Texas Majority PAC, others liken it to a bait-and-switch operation that commandeers the grassroots manpower of established county parties & fails to deliver on its lofty promises.
texasobserver.org
Inside the Rift Between Texas Dems and a Soros-Backed PAC
The Texas Majority PAC is the latest deep-pocketed initiative meant to turn Texas blue. But have its dollars just brought more discord?
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
SCOOP: A Soros-backed PAC in Texas expects a massive budget—$20 million a year, each year, until 2032—but the group has been roiled by territorial disputes and allegations of "data falsification" & "systemic" voter outreach fraud. And here come the midterms. In @texasobserver.org: bit.ly/3IYSfdc
bit.ly
Inside the Rift Between Texas Dems and a Soros-Backed PAC
The Texas Majority PAC is the latest deep-pocketed initiative meant to turn Texas blue. But have its dollars just brought more discord?
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Update: Franklin Pena's defense in the Jocelyn Nungaray case just asked the DA's office to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Ogg for misuse of official information, and both the DA and defense are planning to file bar complaints against her.
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Explosive motion just filed in Harris County: DA Sean Teare has asked for the court to revise its rules on extrajudicial statements after his predecessor Kim Ogg went on the local Fox affiliate to leak new info on the Jocelyn Nungaray case. The order doesn't mince words:
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Sam Russek @samrussek.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
ICYMI: A little-known Republican's entry into the race to replace Lina Hidalgo was unremarkable save for one detail: Her campaign's ties to a '24 SuperPAC that used antisemitic tropes to undercut Harris's appeal with Muslims in Michigan. In @newrepublic.com: bit.ly/3SiSWzc
bit.ly
The Texas Judge Race That Republicans Are Suddenly Eyeing
Why is a little-known GOP candidate getting such big-name support in her effort to unseat Harris County’s Lina Hidalgo? It could be a dry run for the party’s next wave of messaging.
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