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Russell Payne

Russell Payne is a staff reporter for Salon, covering the right and how it wields power from his base in New York City. His reporting has previously appeared in The New York Sun and the Finger Lakes Times. Follow on Bluesky and send tips on Signal at russellpayne.72.

Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina poses for a portrait in his office on Thursday February 20, 2025 in Laredo, TX. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

GOP candidate pushed to award a donor with a government contract

Russell Payne
Fuel prices are displayed at a gas station in Brooklyn on June 01, 2026. Oil prices around the globe continue to rise as talks drag on between the United States and Iran over the closing of the Straight of Hormuz, causing a surge in the price of oil and a strain on millions of people's finances. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Trump has locked in high gas prices for summer — and maybe longer

Russell Payne
Dancing to summer tunes (Getty)

What Salon’s DJs are spinning this summer

Hanh Nguyen, Melanie McFarland, Amanda Marcotte, Russell Payne
Democratic Mule and Republican Elephant statues. (Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Democratic Party is pushing for more conservative voices — with mixed success

Russell Payne
After a chaotic tenure as Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem was fired by Donald Trump on March 5, 2026 (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Noem faces new legal trouble over jet use

Russell Payne
Chuck Park (Photo Credit: Santiago Pinzon)

Inside NYC’s overlooked primary

Russell Payne
The current Ebola epidemic in the DRC is caused by the Bundibugyo virus for which there are no approved vaccines. (Photo by Michel Lunanga/Getty Images)

Ebola shows how Trump’s health policies are going global — and coming home

Russell Payne
Dark money (Douglas Rissing via Getty Images)

A battle over dark money is brewing in Hawaii and Montana

Russell Payne
Veterans, military family members, and supporters occupy the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill calling upon the Trump administration to end the war on Iran on April 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for About Face: Veterans Against The War)

For some veterans, the Iran war has a silver lining

Russell Payne
US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz high-five as they arrive for a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, August 7, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The DNC autopsy won’t address Democrats’ platform problem

Russell Payne
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (L) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) (Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Chitose Suzuki / The Dallas Morning News)

Texas GOP civil war gives Democrats an opening

Russell Payne
Black Louisiana voters and civil rights advocates call on SCOTUS to uphold a fair and representative congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais at Supreme Court of the United States on March 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Legal Defense Fund)

Supreme Court’s voting rights decision could erase Black representation across the ballot

Russell Payne
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) speaks alongside former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) (R) during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (Heather Diehl / Getty Images)

Massie’s primary isn’t really a test of Trump’s power

Russell Payne
California voters deciding whether to approve Proposition 50, a measure that would replace the state’s current congressional district map with new, legislature-drawn lines from 2026 through 2030. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Gerrymandering can’t fix the GOP’s voter problem

Russell Payne
US President Donald Trump announces the US Navy's new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s $1.5 trillion military budget may be a solution in search of a problem

Russell Payne
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-PA speaks at a press conference in Scranton. (Photo by Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Surprise, “Democrats for Rob Coalition” chaired by GOP elected

Russell Payne
President Donald Trump departs at the White House on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump is bleeding his 2024 voters, but not fast enough for the midterms

Russell Payne
Construction on Trump's enormous ballroom began this week. Not everyone was pleased about it. Even on Fox News. (Salwan Georges / The Washington Post / Getty Images)

Trump’s ballroom ploy might work, security experts say

Russell Payne
The Supreme Court on November 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act in “Jim Crow 2.0” ruling

Russell Payne
A woman casts her ballot during the Maryland state primary election at a polling station in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 14, 2024. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

Centrism is losing popularity, new data shows. Will Democrats listen?

Russell Payne
A drop of petrol falls from the nozzle of a petrol pump at a petrol station in Vélizy-Villacoublay, near Paris, on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

The Iran war is about to hit small businesses — and your wallet

Russell Payne
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters on the House steps after a vote on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

What AOC really told RFK Jr.

Russell Payne
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, President Donald Trump, and media personality Joe Rogan attend an executive order signing regarding psychedelics on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Photo Illustration by Salon / Allison Robbert / For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Why is Trump wooing psychedelics? It’s really about Iran

Russell Payne
President Donald Trump (SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s looming downballot disaster

Russell Payne
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