After her weak win in 2022, Kathy Hochul’s political future looked dicey. Now, though, New York’s governor has a clear ride through the Democratic primary and looks to be in strong shape in the general election, too. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explore Hochul’s remarkable—and remarkably unexpected—bounceback, fueled by her eagerness to go head-to-head with Donald Trump.

The Davids also recap a string of recent elections, including progressive activist Analilia Mejia’s stunning upset in New Jersey, a big win for Louisiana Democrats on rural turf, and another massive overperformance by a Democrat in a deep-red district in Oklahoma.

While Democrats exulted after flipping a deep-red legislative seat in Texas on Saturday night, Republicans started panicking—and they should be. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard go deep to explain the many ways in which Taylor Rehmet’s shocking win is scary for the GOP. The good news for Republicans? There isn’t any.

The Davids also break down the new fourth-quarter fundraising reports that House and Senate hopefuls just filed. On both fronts, Democrats are starting to bring races online that could expand the playing field, while lackadaisical GOP efforts risk doing the exact opposite. You can follow along with our newly published charts featuring data for more than 900 candidates.