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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 him on Bluesky and send tips on Signal at russellpayne.72.

Michigan Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

Pro-science PAC backs El-Sayed

Russell Payne
A sign that reads FREE THE PRAIRIELAND DEFENDANTS is taped to a post outside of the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Two judges sentenced seven defendants in the Prairieland Detention Center protest. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

Her brother was convicted of terrorism over a protest he didn’t even attend

Russell Payne
Graham Platner speaks during a May Day rally organized by local unions, on May 1, 2026 outside City Hall in Portland, Maine. (Photo by Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

Maine progressives hold edge in race to replace Graham Platner

Russell Payne
ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside Delaney Hall which is being used as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centeron May 26, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

At Delaney Hall, the struggle persists after cameras left

Russell Payne
An ICE patch and badge are seen on a Department of Homeland Security agent on January 22, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Jim Watson - Pool/Getty Images)

ICE involved in fatal shooting in Maine, lawmaker says

Russell Payne
The View’s Season 28 co-hosts Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Whoopi Goldberg. (L-R) (Illustration by Salon / ABC / JEFF LIPSKY)

Trump’s FCC pressure on “The View” could backfire

Russell Payne
Joe Mitchell, second from right, during Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 2025. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)

Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years

Russell Payne
Reps. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., with California congressional candidate Randy Villegas (front) Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., New York congressional candidate Brad Lander and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (back) (Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Andrew Harnik / Kayla Bartkowski / Andrew Lichtenstein / Nathan Posner / Jon Kopaloff / Tom Williams)

The progressive “Squad” is about to get a lot bigger in Congress

Russell Payne
USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile during operations in support of Operation Epic Fury, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy Photo via Getty Images)

Trump’s weekend war approach to Iran might never end

Russell Payne
Protestors hold up signs with faces of the Prairieland defendants outside of the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

Prairieland sentences brings war on terror home

Russell Payne
Melat Kiros speaks to supporters at an election-night watch party after winning the Colorado primary on June 30, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. Kiros defeated incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Colorado’s socialist sweep could reshape power in the U.S. House

Russell Payne
Activists continue to protest outside of the Delaney Hall Detention Facility, and clash with ICE agents, June 21, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Delaney Hall is reshaping how ICE runs its detention centers

Russell Payne
On election morning, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joins former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander as he campaigns for Congress outside of an election polling center, June 23, 2026 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

New York is already exporting Mamdani-style politics

Russell Payne
Democratic Congressional candidate Brad Lander stands with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after winning the 10th District Democratic primary on June 23, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Lander defeated incumbent Dan Goldman. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Socialist sweep reveals New York City’s rising power centers

Russell Payne
Protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s crackdown on ICE protesters already shows signs of backfiring

Russell Payne
New Yorkers gathered outside the LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York City, U.S., on May 7, 2026, to demand a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How “freeze the rent” really works

Russell Payne
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
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