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Hannah Recht

@hannahrecht.bsky.social
454 followers 250 following 229 posts

Data journalist at AP Elections specializing in geography data. Also Census, health policy, R and open source. www.hrecht.com

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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
just in time for spooky month🎃
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Because of the U.S. House map swap, 59%(!!!!) of the potential voters in Missouri's fifth district for the November general election were in other districts for the August primary, if swap stands. The Repbulican primary was contested, Rick Brattin won with 45%. apnews.com/projects/ele...
apnews.com
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
New data: After a Supreme Court decision, Missouri could run the Nov. general election with different U.S. House districts than were used in the primary, meaning candidate swaps for more than a million potential voters, or nearly 1/4 statewide, according to an AP estimate. apnews.com/article/miss...
Bar chart showing the percent of potential Missouri voters who could be in a different U.S. House district for the general election than they were in for the primary. First district: 6%. Second district: 23%. Third district: 39%. Fourth district: 38%. Fifth district: 59%. Sixth district: 21%.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
hug your neighborhood elections geographers this week
static.klipy.com
Michael Scott's Snip Snap Moment
Alt: Michael Scott from The Office saying "snip snap snip snap snip snap" and making scissor motions
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The Census Bureau seems to have taken down its timeseries Annual Integrated Economic Survey API dataset endpoints and replaced them with individual year endpoints with no documentation or warning that I can find. First removals since I started tracking this last summer.
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Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) @hansilowang.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
SCOOP: A Trump-aligned think tank, America First Policy Institute, has ties to a highly unusual Census Bureau report that the president is using to renew false claims of widespread voting by non-U.S. citizens in 2020, @npr.org has learned www.npr.org/2026/08/19/n...
npr.org
Experts raise alarms over Census Bureau report Trump is touting on noncitizen voting
A Trump-aligned think tank has ties to a highly unusual Census Bureau report that the president is using to renew false claims of widespread voting by non-U.S. citizens in 2020, NPR has learned.
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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 18/08/2026
oh my god having covered this space this is nightmare fuel slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Over 170,000 Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?
When the tech giant retired a popular software grant, years of nonprofit data vanished with it.
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News Media Guild @newsmediaguild.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
AP is planning on laying off 30 video and photo production staffers on August 21 so the company can build a new hub in India. Let’s be clear: Offshoring is not expansion.
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Inflammatory disorders can be brutal. I’d know personally (thanks vasculitis et al). But the misinformation, including on vaccines, is dangerous. A deep dive from me into how MAHA sped up the inflammation panic. New from me at @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The Great Inflammation panic
The wellness world's favorite buzzword has gone federal. For those of us with real inflammatory disorders, the misinformation isn't just annoying—it's harmful.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The DC Rent Registry website took almost a year between launch and posting any usable data. Where it says "Access our raw data via our API" you actually get a series of CSVs, which is more than we had a year ago. bsky.app/profile/hann...
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Open data win: DC's extremely delayed rent control database is a horrible Microsoft BI dashboard, so someone built a much better interactive map from their (poorly documented) CSVs where you can explore the data by building, census tract, ANC or ward. districtjosh.com/rent-registr...
Interactive map of DC Rent Registry showing buildings in DC and their average rent
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 29/06/2026
I don't know if this is a scoop, but I haven't seen it reported elsewhere: flu vaccines expire TOMORROW, with a growing flu outbreak at an Air Force training facility in Texas www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US military races to vaccinate new recruits before flu shots expire
Move comes amid growing outbreak in Texas and after two-month halt on mandatory shots
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Press briefing masterclass right here
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andrew van dam @andrewvandam.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
we've watched federal gender identity and sexual orientation data disappear for the past year and a half. in the wake of callais, could race and ethnicity data be next? big ol' story from @almsnatalie.bsky.social www.notus.org/us-news/trum...
notus.org
Trump Has ‘Almost Completely’ Erased LGBTQ+ Data. Is Race Next?
The Supreme Court has given researchers more reason to fear the loss of race data.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Unclear if we'll have the full set of 2025 American Community Survey data this fall. "The now-mandated way to protect privacy and confidentiality is to reduce the amount of information that’s published...neighborhoods and rural communities which are at most risk of being aggregated or suppressed."
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Joint statement from some of the big statistical and demography groups: Commerce Dept's new ban on common statistical privacy measures means we'll get a lot less data on neighborhoods, counties, rural areas. But the order is "so vague" nobody really knows exactly how it will be carried out yet.
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 16/06/2026
Been waiting for Census to OK our disclosure of new results on a project with the Longitudinal Business Database. RDC administrator just informed us, no disclosure because of new rule. This is gonna mess up a lot of ongoing research & especially job-market candidates. #EconSky
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
it just says "at least 6 months" for me. Nextyear.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
casual 1,200 holds ahead of me 🤪
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Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) @hansilowang.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
NEW: Multiple webpages on the Census Bureau's website are unavailable to the public more than a week after the Trump administration issued a ban on "noise infusion," one of the bureau's main ways of protecting people's privacy when it releases statistics
Screen grab of a page on the Census Bureau's website saying: "404: Page Not Found ... Sorry, the page you requested has either been moved or is no longer available."
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Maddie Poore @maddiepoore.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
totally normal things happening in this AI art mailer. Read a full story about how AI is showing up in DC’s election: 51st.news/dc-election-...
two cartoon hands, one has 6-7 fingers.a crowd of people raising their hands, a arm unattached to a person sticks upright in the crowd, the hand has 6 fingers. more people raising their hands, one blonde woman’s arm melts away into another persons arm. the crowd of people behind them are melting into each other. a cartoon woman in an orange ball cap, where her right arm should be…is an unidentifiable blob that appears to be spurting liquid.
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Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
"States are going to be asked to make a determination using information that doesn’t exist in their systems." Still lots of confusion over whether/how states can automate frailty determinations for Medicaid work requirements. And states don't have the luxury of time for CMS to figure this out.
abcnews.com
Too sick to work, but can they prove it? New Medicaid rule worries patients
Blood cancer survivor DeAnna Brandon worries about new Medicaid work requirements affecting her health coverage
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
DC government website redesign 👀 send in your feedback
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Lisa Charlotte Muth @lisacmuth.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
One of the best parts of my job is coming up with examples for the nice new features that my coworkers at Datawrapper build. I loved playing around with those arrows! 📊
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Christine Zhang @christinezhang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
our L.A. precinct map is now updated with more results!! (~95% of the vote is reflected)
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Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
It took a while, but I finally got the March 31 NPS memo justifying the attempted removal of the 15th Street bike lane between Constitution Avenue and the Tidal Basin. In short: Concerns over traffic for America 250 events, it would "improve the visual quality" of the street.
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Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Did you know that men can get HPV-related cancer, too? HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancers, is also the leading cause of head & neck tumors, which have been rising for years. Treatment can be brutal, but the HPV shot can prevent these cancers. www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papill...
cidrap.umn.edu
‘Something I’d never heard of almost killed me’: Men face rising threat of HPV-related cancers
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I've spent so much time figuring out things like where new State Senate districts are - please, reuse this work instead of hunting down that same info. Spend your time on other things and use our map files! developer.ap.org/ap-elections...
developer.ap.org
AP Elections Map Files
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The Map Files have 7 geography types (AP reporting unit-House district intersections, counties, state leg districts and more!), 2 resolutions, even years from 2012 to today. They have Census FIPS codes, AP reporting unit IDs, clean geography names. Ready to be sliced & diced however you need.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
How many collective news nerd hours are being spent hunting rapidly-changing district boundaries, making base maps, preparing them to join to election results data for live maps? Thrilled to share the AP Elections Map Files 🇺🇸 primed and ready for your results page. developer.ap.org/ap-elections...
developer.ap.org
AP Elections Map Files
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
very curious to find out what will happen if I tell my doctor's office that my preferred language is Klingon 🖖
dropdown with languages beginning with K including Klingon
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Attn: R censusapi users, a new package version is now on Github that handles new API key requirements. As of today, the Census Bureau is requiring keys for accessing both metadata (surprise to me!) and datasets. Get the latest version from Github: devtools::install_github("hrecht/censusapi")
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
The Census Bureau is now requiring an API key to access its metadata (e.g. lists of available datasets, lists of variables), which was unexpected. This means my R censusapi package metadata functions are throwing errors. Trying to find out if Census is going to revert this or not.
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Maanvi Singh @maanvisingh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
ICE arrested the parents of between 27,000 and 32,000 kids during the first seven months of the Trump administration. We sued the government for records and here's what we found... w/ @wcraft.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Revealed: The Trump administration arrested the parents of at least 27,000 kids in seven months
The Guardian analyzed ICE records from January-August 2025, as advocates say the family-separation crisis will lead to generational trauma
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Maybe requiring API keys will help with the frequent outages that the Census APIs have had recently. It's pretty standard to require them. But announcing it only to users on Slack with just 2 work days of notice?? (Please do not send me Github issues when your key-less code fails, thank you.)
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
And if you use the great tidycensus package by @kylewalker.bsky.social good news you can use the same .Renviron Census API key across both packages. tidycensus key instructions: walker-data.com/tidycensus/a...
walker-data.com
Basic usage of tidycensus
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
If you use my censusapi R package to get Census data and aren't already using a key please follow the instructions to get a Census Bureau key and save it to your .Renviron to ensure your code continues to work. www.hrecht.com/censusapi/ar...
hrecht.com
Getting started with censusapi
If you're new to censusapi, start here.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
🚨 The U.S. Census Bureau just announced on Slack that starting on Tuesday, May 12, its APIs will require the use of an API key. This is going to be a big breaking change for anyone who was not already using one, with just 2 full business days of notice.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
well the good news is per the 2020 Census nobody lives in the middle of that road!
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
The portion above the sliver is the same district, different county. Below the sliver is same county, different district. Why?! This does happen on occasion but usually the sliver is not quite so tiny and literally a road.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Extremely sudden mid-decade redistricting means we're getting extra lazy county-district slivers that might have been caught with more time. This tiny part of a county in Florida will be in a different House district than the rest of the county in this area. 4 Census blocks, 0 residents, 1 road.
Map showing a highlighted portion of a road adjacent to commercial and park space
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"When applicants are asked about incarcerated family members, they can click through to a page to add more details. That page visit is sent to TikTok, Meta and other ad tech companies." !!!
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Whiplash week (month? year?) for those of us in the making elections maps business.
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
go futher, line break health care
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Can't stop thinking about the tagline for the journalist turned Real Housewife of Rhode Island: "I used to report the news, but now I’m the headline."
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
hellscare
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Hannah Recht @hannahrecht.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
heal thcare
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 28/04/2026
NEW: A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities whose parents or relatives receive SNAP benefits.
propublica.org
The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families
A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who...
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AP NewsGuild @apnewsguild.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
1/3 “News doesn’t reveal itself from a distance. It has to be witnessed.” AP Executive Editor Julie Pace affirmed the importance of “eyewitness journalism,” while AP is offering buyouts to more than 120 U.S. guild covered employees across multiple formats. How can AP be on the ground without us?
The whole page is a red background with a white border. The top has the logo for AP News Guild. 
Below the logo with white lettering, text reads:
“News doesn’t reveal itself from a distance. It has to be witnessed.” -Julie Pace, Associated Press Executive Editor. 
Then there is a white bar through the page. Below that white text reads: AP Executive Editor Julie Pace affirmed the importance of “being on the ground” and “eyewitness journalism,” at this year’s Overseas Press Club Awards, all while AP guts its news staff by offering buyouts to more than 120 U.S. guild covered employees across multiple formats. How can AP be on the ground without us? Who will witness the news?
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Martin Stabe @martinstabe.ft.com · 23/04/2026
🚨Job🚨 at @data.ft.com: We're hiring a data journalist in the US, based in New York or Washington #ddj: job-boards.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
job-boards.greenhouse.io
US Data Journalist
New York; Washington DC
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