We are delighted to wrap up the year with our presentation of the Second Annual Downballot Awards! We honor both the highlights and the lowlights of a wild election cycle.

Who will take home the prize for Most Embarrassing Use of AI? Least Impactful Revenge Tour? Most Humiliating Fall from Grace? But it's not just razzies: Tune in to learn who won Most Impressive Overperformance, the Iron Bladder Award, and the top accolade, Best Campaign!

The most important honor, though, goes to you, our listeners, for your steadfast support all year long. We could not do this without you. We are truly grateful.

As promised, here's a link to the winner of our Best Ad and Worst Ad awards. And if you'd like to contribute to our end-of-year fundraiser on ActBlue, just click here. Thank you!

It's been a good news/bad news week for Democrats and democracy in North Carolina, so we're diving deep into the muck to explain it all on this week's episode of The Downballot podcast. A second recount upheld Democrat Allison Riggs' victory in the ultra-close race for the state Supreme Court, and officials threw out challenges from her Republican opponent seeking to invalidate some 60,000 ballots.

But the GOP also overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's veto to pass an obscene power grab that's as breathtaking as it is blatant. Just one example: They're moving the board of elections from the governor to the state auditor. Why? Simply because Democrats won the former office last month while Republicans won the latter. The rest of the bill is even more atrocious. Co-hosts David Beard and David Nir will tell you all about it.

The last unresolved House race of 2024 is finally in the books, giving Democrats a victory that will narrow the GOP's already precarious margin even further. On this week's episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explore the ramifications of Republicans' tiny majority, which will either result in gridlock or further dependence on Democratic votes. The Davids also discuss Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's decision to abandon the Democratic Party and run for governor as an independent—though it might not prove to be a catastrophe for Democrats.Joining us for our deep dive this week is Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List, a political mainstay that's been devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women for nearly 40 years. Mackler highlights endorsees who overperformed to win tough races, like Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, while noting that vocal support for abortion rights is only one part of a winning campaign. She also looks toward upcoming races EMILYs is focused on and shares some thoughts on top-shelf candidates who could run again after falling just short in 2024.