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2025 is in the books. And we don’t blame you if you breathed a sigh of relief at midnight instead of doing a champagne toast.
But for those of us in the pro-democracy movement, we can take comfort in the fact that the year ended much better than it started with Trump’s second inauguration.
"I know at the beginning of this year, it was really easy to feel defeatist,” Lincoln Square Executive Editor Susan J. Demas said. “… But we really have had some bright spots for democracy this year. We fought back. Special elections in heavily Republican areas have turned out very badly for them."
David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy, said there’s reason to be hopeful about 2026 and the critical midterm elections.
"We did see sort of a people-driven, after a few months of like, 'Oh my God, this is awful, what do we do about it?' All of a sudden, people started rallying in many different ways," he said.
But, as always, we have to stay on guard. Because Trump and Republicans are still trying to rig the rules of the game, from gerrymandering ploys in red states to new postal rules that could result in your vote being thrown out.
At Lincoln Square, we’re in this fight with you for the long haul. And we’re looking forward to continuing to build our pro-democracy movement in the new year.

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