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Lee Gans

@grumplefish.bsky.social
89 followers 110 following 57 posts

I'm a political data analyst and former neuroscientist. I'm starting a leftist political data blog: leegans.substack.com

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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
@writingthings.bsky.social and I were interviewed about our investigation of how commercial property tax appeals led to the city's revenue shortfall on @wunc.org's Due South! Thanks Leoneda Inge & Cole del Charco for having us on! www.wunc.org/show/due-sou...
wunc.org
Durham's property tax challenge, and a local "Black queer daddy" goes on RuPaul's Drag Race
Plus, why Charlotte soccer fans think the city should host matches in the 2031 Women's World Cup.
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Brighton McConnell @brmcc.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Some truly remarkable and important reporting from Lena. This side of budgeting simply isn't the easiest to explain, but she breaks it down very well. Great visuals help explain the issue as well. As a Durham resident, this is...uh...very concerning to me.
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Charlie Reece ✅ @charliereece.com · 12/06/2026
Some fantastic reporting and analysis by Lena Geller (@writingthings.bsky.social) and Lee Gans (@grumblefish.bsky.social) on a very troubling trend in these property tax appeals cases. It’s worth your time to read this! 😡😡😡
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Dave Rogers @drogersenergy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
This is a small example, compared to how corporations are screwing over the public globally, but some incredible reporting by @indyweek.bsky.social on how corporate property owners are avoiding taxes at the expense of the rest of us in Durham. indyweek.com/news/durham-...
indyweek.com
How $4 Billion Came Off Durham’s Tax Rolls Last Year, Mostly Benefiting Corporate Landlords—and Blowing a Hole in the City Budget
Landlords and national companies won billions in property tax reductions. City leadership, banking on the revenue, didn’t know until April.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
So proud of the work I did with @writingthings.bsky.social to produce this reporting!
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Lena Geller @writingthings.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Much of what we found does not line up with how the tax office has explained the budget deficit. We also found that the tax office didn't telegraph the scale of the cuts until April—well into budget season, forcing city leaders to eliminate jobs and freeze raises to close the gap.
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Lena Geller @writingthings.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
I've spent weeks working with @grumplefish.bsky.social to figure out how $4 billion came off Durham's tax rolls and blew a hole in the city's budget. The gist: in a murky saga, a county board handed corporations tax cuts left & right while the burden stayed on the shoulders of ordinary residents.
indyweek.com
How $4 Billion Came Off Durham’s Tax Rolls Last Year, Mostly Benefiting Corporate Landlords—and Blowing a Hole in the City Budget
Landlords and national companies won billions in property tax reductions. City leadership, banking on the revenue, didn’t know until April.
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Matt Hartman @themhartman.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
incredible work from @writingthings.bsky.social here indyweek.com/news/durham-...
indyweek.com
How $4 Billion Came Off Durham’s Tax Rolls Last Year, Mostly Benefiting Corporate Landlords—and Blowing a Hole in the City Budget
Landlords and national companies won billions in property tax appeals. City leadership, banking on the revenue, didn’t know until April.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Tell Rep. Cunningham (NC HD 106) we stand with immigrants in Charlotte. Comment form: www.carlacunninghamnchouse.com/contact-8 Twitter: x.com/CunninghamNC... Instagram: www.instagram.com/carladcunnin... If she blocks you, let her know that's illegal: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
x.com
Carla Cunningham (@CunninghamNCRep) / X
Carla Cunningham (@CunninghamNCRep) / X
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Charlotte NC House Rep. Carla Cunningham's office seems to be spending more time silencing critics on social media than on protecting her constituents from violence committed by ICE/CBP. open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
Charlotte Rep. Carla Cunningham is violating my First Amendment rights
The extreme, MAGA Democrat representing NC House District 106 is illegally censoring her critics on social media. Meanwhile, CBP is terrorizing families in Charlotte.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Remember y'all, this is every single Republican policy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX92...
youtube.com
Mr. Show: The Devastator
YouTube video by Better Call Bob!
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Indivisible Asheville/WNC @indivisibleavl.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Dem reps Carla Cunningham and Shelly Willingham voted with Republicans in the State Legislature to overturn a veto of SB 266, which allows Duke to raise rates for plants that haven't been built. They are two of Duke's top campaign fund recipients in the entire state. substack.com/home/post/p-...
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Young Democrats of North Carolina @ydnc.org · 01/08/2025
YDNC condemns Rep. Carla Cunningham’s hateful, anti-immigrant remarks. “To Rep. Cunningham: Your override vote was shameful. Your words were abhorrent. And you will be held accountable by your community.” See our statement. ⬇️
This week, following her vote to override Governor Stein’s veto of anti-immigrant legislation, Rep. Carla Cunningham disgraced her office with a hate-filled speech attacking the very immigrant communities she was elected to serve.
To say “all cultures are not equal” is completely disqualifying and has no place in our party. 
Immigration is an unqualified good. Diversity is an unqualified good. These are the very ideals our nation is founded on: that people from every background can come here with nothing and build something beautiful.
At our country’s main port of entry, the Statue of Liberty bears our promise to the world. She doesn’t declare that some cultures are less equal than others. She doesn’t fearmonger about assimilation or a conveyor belt.
Lady Liberty—the United States of America—declares just this:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

We are better because of the immigrant communities who call our country, state, and cities home.
Rep. Cunningham’s constituents deserve better than a representative who rejects this ideal and dehumanizes their neighbors on the House floor.
To Rep. Cunningham:
Your override vote was shameful.
Your words were abhorrent.
And you will be held accountable by your community.

Good luck.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Some constituents informed me Carla Cunningham claimed "everyone is getting PAC money from Duke Energy" at her town hall. If she said that, it's not true: leegans.substack.com/p/lets-keep-...
leegans.substack.com
Carla Cunningham's politics have no place in Charlotte
She doesn't represent the city's politics —and she might not even live there
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krawallkrümel @redpostitnote.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
youtube.com/shorts/S5iws...
youtube.com
ICE can't keep agents, they are quitting in droves.
YouTube video by The Tony Michaels Podcast
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Do you know Democrats who need to be primaried? Republicans in swing districts? Tell me who they are. I’m a political data analyst and I’m taking requests for races to model. open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
Send me requests: Do you know Democrats who need to be primaried? Republicans in swing districts?
I do. Tell me who yours are. Let's kick them out of office together.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Progressive Rodney Pierce knows how to primary corporate Democrats open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
NC House Rep. Rodney Pierce knows how to primary corporate Democrats from the left
He represents the values of rural North Carolina. His opponent, Michael Wray, represents Duke Energy.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
More proof calls to primary Carla Cunningham (D) in NC House District 106 are, in fact, 'organic', booed by her own constituents: www.instagram.com/reel/DNfrMJO...
instagram.com
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Does Carla Cunningham even LIVE in her district? Carla Cunningham is the Democratic NC House Rep. for District 106 in Charlotte. She’s always overriding @ncgovernor.bsky.social 's vetos. She owns this $750k AirBnB in Stanly County. Is this her full-time job? leegans.substack.com/p/lets-keep-...
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NC Newsline @ncnewsline.com · 18/08/2025
Orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to save coal plants from retirement could cost ratepayers more than $3 billion per year, according to a new report ncnewsline.com/2025/08/18/t... @stateline.org #ncpol
ncnewsline.com
Trump’s bid to support coal could cost ratepayers billions, report finds • NC Newsline
Orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to save coal plants from retirement could cost ratepayers more than $3 billion per year, according to a new report.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Charlotte NC: Here's a realistic path for defeating Carla "All Cultures Are Not Equal" Cunningham in House District 106 open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
Let’s keep Duke Energy Democrats out of power in North Carolina: Part II
Duke Energy shill, Carla Cunningham, believes "All cultures are not equal"
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
@abreezeclayton.bsky.social @ncnewsline.com I'm a political data analyst and I modeled what it will take to defeat the Veto Overriders in the NC House of Representatives. Here's proof that progressives can win even in rural communities in the South: open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
Do you know Democrats who need to be primaried? Republicans in swing districts?
I do. Tell me who yours are. Let's kick them out of office together.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Do you know Democrats who need to be primaried? Republicans in swing districts? Tell me who they are. I’m a political data analyst and I’m taking requests for races to model. open.substack.com/pub/leegans/...
open.substack.com
Do you know Democrats who need to be primaried? Republicans in swing districts?
I do. Tell me who yours are. Let's kick them out of office together.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
THANK YOU to @brianturnernc.bsky.social for confirming he will vote nay on S266!!! leegans.substack.com/p/update-rep...
leegans.substack.com
Update: NC House Democrat Brian Turner will uphold Governor's veto on S266
The long-time environmentalist lawmaker is holding true to his values
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
UPDATE: Representative Bryan Cohn has confirmed he will uphold Governor Stein's veto on S266. leegans.substack.com/p/update-nc-...
leegans.substack.com
Update: NC House Democrat Bryan Cohn will uphold Governor's veto on S266
Rep. Cohn, whose swing district is solid purple, also said he'd support converting Duke Energy to a public utility
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
@brianturnernc.bsky.social Can we count on you to vote nay on S266 when it comes up for a veto override vote? I wanted to check where you stand, as your colleague, who has high praise for you, suggested. @pratherfornc.bsky.social leegans.substack.com/p/north-caro...
leegans.substack.com
North Carolina is drowning in high prices and flooding —these 14 Democrats voted for it all
They have a chance to change their votes. Will they double-down or prove they're willing to fight for us?
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Polling USA @usapolling.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
NYC mayoral election: 🔵 Mamdani: 39% 🟢 Cuomo: 21% 🔴 Sliwa: 18% 🟣 Adams: 9% Wick / July 20, 2025
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Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
New study finds that affirming people’s sense of self makes them less likely to engage with politicized conspiracy theories. econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/epdf/10....
econtent.hogrefe.com
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Alessia Galdeman @alessianetwork.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
The Climate TikTok tour stops by Norrköping for @ic2s2.bsky.social 🌱 I presented “Mapping the climate change discussion on TikTok” at the poster session – had fun with my friend and poster buddy @ariannapera.bsky.social next to me. Vote for poster 32 and check out the paper: tinyurl.com/23atjxny
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
I'm a political data analyst in Durham, and I did a deep dive on the funding and electoral considerations for the Democratic House Reps who voted yea/absent on S266: leegans.substack.com/p/north-caro... @newsobserver.com @indyweek.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social @ncnewsline.com
leegans.substack.com
North Carolina is drowning in high prices and flooding —these 14 Democrats voted for it all
They have a chance to change their votes. Will they double-down or prove they're willing to fight for us?
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
14 NC Dems support jacking up our electric bills and endangering our communities. We need to flip their votes NOW: leegans.substack.com/p/north-caro...
leegans.substack.com
North Carolina is drowning in high prices and flooding —these 14 Democrats voted for it all
They have a chance to change their votes. Will they double-down or prove they're willing to fight for us?
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Former neuroscientist explains why Democrats won't do anything about John Fetterman leegans.substack.com/p/do-you-hav...
leegans.substack.com
Do you have a moment for John Fetterman's brain health? Democrats don't
A former neuroscientist grapples with what's going on in Fetterman's head, and with the Democratic Party as a whole
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Congresspeople who have no businsess not endorsing Zohran. substack.com/profile/2158...
substack.com
Lee Gans on Substack
Congresspeople who have no business not endorsing Mamdani: Dan Goldman, Hakeem Jeffries. Also, congresspeople who have no business not endorsing Mamdani: All of them.
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Lee Gans @grumplefish.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Data show Mamdani won on his agenda, not in spite of it. leegans.substack.com/p/data-show-...
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