Democratic and Republican lawyers and groups trade sharp legal letters about procedures for counting ballots in tight race Where Trump and Republicans lost the midterms – a visual analysis of the key states Democrat Scott Colom is on the verge of winning a Senate seat in Mississippi in a stunning upset, but ballots are still being…
Page A235From§Eachthe afternoon edition — 11 November 2026
Justice Department's Republican-loss clause fires a second time in three weeks, right on schedule.
As it ran on the front
The crew chief pulls the blueprint back out. On 23 October the order went to the Justice Department: sue to block Alaska's certification, but only if the Republican lost. On 24 October the suit was filed, before a single Alaska vote had been counted, a clause built for one outcome and no other. The Alaska lawyer tasked with defending the result could manage only one line about what the suit asked for: not even possible. That was 31 October.
The planner flips to the next state on the list. By 6 November, lawyers for both sides were trading sharp letters over ballot-counting procedure — the same kind of pre-certification skirmish the Alaska clause was built to host, now running on a second map, against a second trailing Republican.…
…(cont) The tinkerer lays the parts on the table and nobody has to guess what they're for: a legal posture keyed to the loser's party rather than the loser's conduct, a set of lawyers who arrive before the count is final rather than after, a Friday deadline that exists to be argued against rather than met. None of it is new machinery. It is the Alaska kit, reassembled on new ground.
The muscle swings first at the premise, not at a filing nobody has shown yet. No Mississippi suit is in the receipts. What is in the receipts is the shape such a filing would need to take if anyone tried it — the Alaska lawyer's own words describe the fit, not the fact. The frame is sitting there built, reusable, waiting only on a final count that doesn't hand a Republican the seat.
The pilot checks the instruments Cook Political Report logged back on 25 September: Democrats already favored in 208 House seats to the Republicans' 205, a majority tilting before Mississippi's ballots finished landing. By 11 November, 99 percent of those ballots were in, Colom's lead intact, and the lawyers who showed up on 6 November were still standing on the courthouse steps.
The question the crew was hired to answer was never whether a loss-triggered clause like Alaska's gets used once.
“That clause wasn't written for Alaska — it was written for any Republican who loses, and it just found its Mississippi. Same lawyers showing up early, same Friday deadline to run out the clock on, same party building the exit ramp for itself before the race is even over. Watch where it fires next.”
“Nobody's blocking anything in Mississippi — there's no suit, there's just lawyers reviewing procedure, which is their job, standard stuff. And the Alaska filing, that was about ballot irregularities, a totally separate legal — did I say irregularities? There's no irregularities. Forget I said that.”
Earlier in this story
- Justice Department says man who plotted attack on British air base directed it from a New York jail By The Lodgers · the evening edition, 10 November 2026
- A lawsuit written to activate only with a loss is still waiting for one. By Ruth · the afternoon edition, 10 November 2026
- The Justice Department's suit triggered only on a narrow Republican loss; Mississippi's trailing Republican filed second. By The Wrecking Crew · the evening edition, 9 November 2026
- The Justice Department sued to block Alaska's certification before a single vote was counted, naming no ballots, triggered only by a narrow Republican loss. By The Wrecking Crew · the evening edition, 8 November 2026
The receipts
In special elections, Democrats have retained 10 points more of their previous turnout than Republicans Ballotpedia, 26 February 2026
Mississippi Senate race leans Democratic as Colom's lead growsThe Senate race in deep-red Mississippi remains unresolved, as Democrat Scott Colom has mounted a surprisingly competitive challenge to incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Republicans' reconciliation package puts $70 billion into ICE's department NBC News, May 2026
Courts Reject Trump’s Attempt at Deploying ICE to Intimidate VotersA judge ordered Homeland Security to stop sending agents door to door in nine key states to hunt for “voter fraud.”
An attorney for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom said Republican efforts to separate particular ballots are illegal under state law and should not be followed, according to a letter sent to county election commissioners Thursday. The letter comes in reaction to the National Republican Senatorial Committee's request to…
Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom extended his lead against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) in the Senate race, outpacing her by just over 1,800 ballots. Initially, the election was a lot closer, with Colom leading the incumbent by fewer than 100 votes.
The Democrat in Mississippi’s Senate race expanded his narrow lead over the incumbent senator Wednesday, possibly giving Democrats yet another seat to pad their majority. Democrat Scott Colom now leads Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) by just more than 1,800 votes, according to Decision Desk HQ, with a smattering of remaining ballots being…
The Senate midterm race in deep-red Mississippi is leaning toward Democrat Scott Colom as 99% of the vote is in. Colom is in the lead against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, but the clock is on to get those votes counted by Friday. Mark Strassmann reports, and Bruce Mehlman, a founding partner of Mehlman Consulting, has more…
· Cook Political Report projects Democrats will take control of the House as races shift from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026
· ‘Mississippi matters’: Scott Colom aims to turn Mississippi blue from the morgue, 29 Oct 2026
· Obama rolls out ad for Dem Scott Colom in Mississippi Senate race from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026
· Trump ask to set aside ‘Decoy Dan’ Alaska Senate ballots ‘not even possible’: attorneys from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026
· Peltola repeats denial of ballot-stacking reports, stays silent on federal probe from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026
· Trump prosecutions under Biden set precedent for DOJ’s Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ probe, ex-FEC chair says from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026
· Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor from the morgue, 28 Oct 2026
· DOJ sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Alaska Election Gambit Shows Justice Dept. Has Bowed to Trump’s Demands from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Donald Trump challenges Alaska Senate trace from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Trump administration sues to block possible Democratic win in Alaska Senate race from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· The controversy surrounding convicted former election official Tina Peters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Alaska Senate race featuring two Dan Sullivans is ‘blatantly corrupt’: Joe Concha from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Trump officials abandon effort to investigate election threats, experts warn from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Tina Peters turns down job with California county's registrar of voters from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Election deniers stoke Trump-driven ballot security fears before midterms from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026
· Facing an electoral wipeout, Trump goes after the system from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Justice Dept. Demands That California Counties Help Identify Noncitizen Voters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifts Alaska and South Carolina Senate races in favor of Democrats from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026
· Appeals Court Rejects 'Likely Unlawful' Trump Push to Undermine Mail-In Voting as Supreme Court Looms from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· US justice department sues California over alleged noncitizen voting from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026
· Trump knocks Alaska voting system: 'How stupid are we to do this?' from the morgue, 9 Oct 2026
· Corey Lewandowski Always Found His Way Back to Trump. Until Now. from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump announces $6.6bn defense shipyard owned by top Republican donor’s firm from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026
· Companies Backed by Trump Sons Have Scored Over $6 Billion in Pentagon Contracts: Analysis from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026
· DOJ demands that California counties help identify noncitizen voters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· DOJ demands that some California counties set aside alleged noncitizen ballots from the morgue, 25 Oct 2026
· California officials ordered by DoJ to set aside ‘likely’ noncitizen ballots from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· LA feds move to halt ballot counting over 20K suspected noncitizen voters from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump 'Laying the Groundwork for Election Meddling' With DHS Hunt for Noncitizen Voters from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· California has no real safeguards for voting and voter registration from the morgue, 21 Oct 2026
· Federal efforts over alleged noncitizen voting escalate with California arrests from the morgue, 20 Oct 2026
· Federal voter fraud arrests intensify in California days after DOJ warning from the morgue, 19 Oct 2026
· Trump DOJ issues stark warning to California ballot counters after suing state over 20K suspected noncitizen voters from the morgue, 17 Oct 2026
· Intel Democrats on how they'll react if Trump alleges election meddling from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump told DOJ to sue to block Alaska Senate results if Republican narrowly loses from the morgue, 26 Oct 2026
· Trump says he personally ordered DOJ lawsuit intervening in Alaska Senate election from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Ramaswamy accuses Acton of ‘lying’ about attack ad, but court records contradict mother’s claim – live from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026
· DoJ sues to block certification of Alaska Senate results if Republican incumbent loses from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump-Ordered DOJ Lawsuit in Alaska Seen as First Salvo in GOP Effort to Undermine Midterm Elections from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump on the Alaska election lawsuit: 'I'm the one that said, "do it"' from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· DOJ files lawsuit to block results in Alaska Senate race after two Dan Sullivans land on November ballot from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026
· Trump previews trip to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan, ripping into the other Dan Sullivan from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump urges Alaskans to vote for the ‘real’ Dan Sullivan in tight midterms battle from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026
· Sullivan trails Peltola in Alaska Senate contest: AARP poll from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Trump vows to probe other Dan Sullivan in alleged Dem plot to sabotage ‘real’ Alaska GOP senator from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026
· Trump administration sued over plans to send election monitors to voting sites from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026
· AGs v. Trump: How an AWOL Congress made hundreds of lawsuits possible from the morgue, 16 Oct 2026
· The Electoral College meets in the state capitals to officially elect the next President. Joe Biden, the presumptive president-elect, is officially elected president after securing California's 55 ele from the morgue, 14 Dec 2020
· US federal agents raid home of Democratic congresswoman and Trump critic Ilhan Omar from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026
· Ilhan Omar’s Home Raided by DHS Following Trump-GOP Deportation Threats from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026
· Federal Agents Search Home of Rep. Ilhan Omar from the morgue, 13 Oct 2026
· Rep. Ilhan Omar’s residence searched as part of ongoing criminal investigation: DOJ from the morgue, 13 Oct 2026
· Rep. Ilhan Omar's D.C. home searched by Homeland Security investigators from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026
· Rep. Ilhan Omar’s DC home raided by DHS as part of probe into Dem’s immigration paperwork from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026
· Homan confirms 'criminal' investigation involving Ilhan Omar, says he knows 'things are going on’ from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026
· WATCH: Ilhan Omar denies feds have contacted her after border czar Homan confirms 'criminal' investigation from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Could Trump revoke Ilhan Omar's citizenship for alleged brother marriage? Ex federal prosecutor breaks it down from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Did Ilhan Omar marry her own brother? The claims explained from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Russia’s Lavrov blasts US, Western allies as “warmongers’ in fiery UN tirade from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Russia and China unite against US over Iran and Cuba in UN speeches from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· U.S. military lays groundwork for potential action around Cuba from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· The United Nations Security Council has resoundingly rejected a United States bid to extend a global arms embargo on Iran. In a Security Council vote, United States only got support from the Dominican from the morgue, 14 Aug 2020
· U.S. Threatens New Economic War on Iran by Targeting China & Tehran's Other Top Trading Partners from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026
· In Defiant UN Speech, Iranian President Says US and Israel Are the Real Terrorists from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump slams reporting on removal of his endorsements from GOP candidate's website from the morgue, 27 Sep 2026
· Donalds removes several Trump mentions from campaign website from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· GOP hopeful removes ‘Pro-Trump’ mention from campaign slogan in deep-red seat from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Where Trump’s 2026 endorsement record stands after primary season from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· U.N. experts say U.S. may have committed war crimes with 2 Iran strikes from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Trump Says 'Big Decision' Coming on Whether to 'Annihilate' Iran from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategy from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.