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Russell Payne

Russell Payne is a staff reporter for Salon. His reporting has previously appeared in The New York Sun and the Finger Lakes Times.

Democratic U.S. House candidate Tom Suozzi speaks following his victory in the special election to replace Republican Rep. George Santos on February 13, 2024 in Woodbury, New York. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Taking on “the language police” and taxing the rich: Tom Suozzi has a vision for moderate Democrats

Russell Payne
J.D. Scholten poses for a portrait in Sioux City, Iowa April 18, 2019. (Joshua Lott for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“A blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup”: One Democrat’s plan for beating Joni Ernst in deep-red Iowa

Russell Payne
A robot using artificial intelligence is displayed at a stand during the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on May 30, 2024. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

“Summoning the demon”: Steve Bannon stokes fear of an AI “apocalypse”

Russell Payne
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., speaks at a press conference endorsing New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang on January 14, 2021 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Do WelcomeFest Democrats even know what’s popular?

Russell Payne
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., speaks during a Planned Parenthood rally at the Rochester Community House on October 27, 2024 in Rochester, Michigan. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“What it means to be a partisan centrist”: At WelcomeFest, a billionaire-backed vision for Democrats

Russell Payne
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to members of the press after testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Rayburn House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Petty, abusive — and popular: Why New York Democrats are afraid to speak out against Andrew Cuomo

Russell Payne
Governor Andrew Cuomo (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“Beholden to Trump”: Under DOJ investigation, Cuomo could be pressured to serve the MAGA agenda

Russell Payne
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott listens to President Donald Trump's address during a tour to an unfinished section of the border wall on June 30, 2021 in Pharr, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The “money for Texas” amendment: GOP budget could reward Greg Abbott for MAGA border stunts

Russell Payne
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) signs the Laken Riley Act during an enrollment ceremony with members of the Georgia delegation in the Speaker's ceremonial office at the U.S. Capitol on January 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A tax cut for the “merely wealthy” finds bipartisan support in Congress

Russell Payne
Damon Thueson shows a holster at a gun concealed carry permit class put on by "USA Firearms Training" on December 19, 2015 in Provo, Utah. Uptick In Interest In Concealed Carry Classes (George Frey/Getty Images)

Republicans want to make it easier to carry a gun almost anywhere

Russell Payne
Pope Leo XIV meets media representatives in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on May 12, 2025. (Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“A pope of the people”: The first American pontiff is no Marxist, but friends say he’s a reformer

Russell Payne
A view of the CoreCivic Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California, United States on February 07, 2025. (Carlos Moreno/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Private prison firm CoreCivic sees Trump’s mass deportation agenda as “catalyst” for growth

Russell Payne
Care advocates attend 24-hour vigil at U.S. Capitol to share stories and urge lawmakers to protect Medicaid on May 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Caring Across Generations)

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there”: Right-wing ads claim that Republicans love Medicaid

Russell Payne
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., speaks during a "Back the Blue," campaign rally in Congers, N.Y., on Friday, October 18, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“No doubt in my mind”: Woman booted from GOP town hall believes she was targeted “to chill dissent”

Russell Payne
A woman holds a sign expressing fear of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, at a "Hands Off!" protest against the Trump administration on April 5, 2025 in Riverside, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

“Medicaid has saved my life multiple times”: Patients explain how GOP cuts could impact their health

Russell Payne
Abdul El-Sayed records videos for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. (Lynsey Addario/Getty Images Reportage)

“The courage to name what people are experiencing”: Abdul El-Sayed says Democrats need to get real

Russell Payne
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol Building on September 29, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“He’s no moderate”: Republican rising star has a rough time at his New York town hall

Russell Payne
A Secret Service member stands outside the perimeter prior to Super Bowl LIX on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. ( Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)

A college student wrote a blog about killing tyrants. The Secret Service had questions

Russell Payne
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is greeted by David Hogg while leaving an event at the Gun Violence Memorial in front of the Washington Monument on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

David Hogg wants Democrats to wake up: “We have to show how our party is going to fight back”

Russell Payne
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk wields a chainsaw as he leaves the stage alongside Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“More and more cheating”: DOGE’s cuts to the IRS may have a big price tag

Russell Payne
A prison officer guards a cell at maximum security penitentiary CECOT (Center for the Compulsory Housing of Terrorism) on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. (Alex Peña/Getty Images)

“Disappear without recourse”: Trump’s defiance of a court order means “any American” could be next

Russell Payne
The Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“He’s just disappeared”: What it’s like to be detained by ICE — and why some prefer to be deported

Russell Payne
Donald Trump and Mike Johnson (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Amid tariff chaos, Republicans plot “massive redistribution” of wealth from workers to the rich

Russell Payne
Kat Abughazaleh (Eliana Melmed)

“You either fight for a future or you don’t”: Progressives get early jump on Democratic primaries

Russell Payne
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