GOP Redistricting Bust, Lula Wins Brazil Election, Protest Spread In Europe
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Republicans redrew 15 House districts hoping to protect their majority, but most have become competitive races as the party’s redistricting strategy falls short of expectations.
Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection after trailing in the first round, but far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro is demanding the result be thrown out.
Youth-led protest movements are reshaping politics across Europe, from mass demonstrations in France to Serbia, where a student-led movement defeated the longtime ruling party in parliamentary elections.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Tina Kraja, Tara Neill, Mohamad ElBardicy and Olivia Hampton.
It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Kaity Kline.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis.
Our technical director is Zac Coleman.
(0:00) Introduction
(1:57) GOP Redistricting
(5:52) Brazil Election
(9:33) Europe Protests
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NPR Privacy Policy
Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection after trailing in the first round, but far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro is demanding the result be thrown out.
Youth-led protest movements are reshaping politics across Europe, from mass demonstrations in France to Serbia, where a student-led movement defeated the longtime ruling party in parliamentary elections.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Tina Kraja, Tara Neill, Mohamad ElBardicy and Olivia Hampton.
It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Kaity Kline.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis.
Our technical director is Zac Coleman.
(0:00) Introduction
(1:57) GOP Redistricting
(5:52) Brazil Election
(9:33) Europe Protests
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
"We find out soon how redistricting worked out for Republicans." "The party tried to gerrymander its way to an election win. President Trump's party is so unpopular Republicans are having to fight to keep the districts they created." I'm Layla Faldin, that's Stephen Skeep, and this is up first from NPR News. Brazil's president won re-election on Sunday, Luis Inacio Lula de Silva defeated a right-wing challenger. The challenger is the son of a right-wing president who is jailed for trying to overturn an election. And the son claims this election was unfair, too. Also, student-led movements are sweeping across European cities. 400,000 people protested in France over the weekend. Young people are in the streets of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Albania. But how much power are they gaining? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. Support for NPR's 2026 midterm election coverage and the following message come from Made in Cookware. President and co-founder Jay Kalick shares the key ingredients that go into Made in Products. "We try to design products that are going to last you an incredibly long time. And to know that we're making this in places that take the raw materials seriously, take the manufacturing processes seriously, that's ultimately what's going to allow us to sleep better at night selling this product to you." Learn more about Made in Cookware at M-A-D-E-I-N cookware.com This message comes from Mattress Firm. When you share a bed, even the smallest movement can turn into a restless night and leave you feeling less refreshed in the morning. Mattress Firm's sleep experts will match you with a bed designed for uninterrupted sleep, like a temper-pedic made with unique temper material that absorbs motion so you can rest undisturbed and wake refreshed. And right now, you can get a $300 instant gift towards a temper-pedic total sleep solution with Mattress Purchase. They make sleep easy. This message comes from Rosetta Stone, offering an alternative approach to language learning. While relying on traditional memorization, the platform guides users to intuitively think in a second language. More information at rosettostone.com. Reason polling and reason history lean against that result. The President's Party usually suffers in the midterms. Republicans did plan to keep control of the House of Representatives through redistricting, tilting more seats toward the party in power. We have an update this morning on how that plan is working out. NPR's senior political correspondent Tamra Keith has been looking into a tam. Good morning. What did you find in 15 districts drawn specifically to favor Republicans? Well, only five of them are rated by the Cook Political Report as either likely or solid Republican. Most are toss up or lean towards Democrats winning. These are districts that under the new lines would have gone for President Trump by a significant margin in 2024. Trump and his political team put a lot of pressure on Republican-led states to redraw these districts. Here's how Nathan Gonzales of Inside Elections describes the current state of play. Redistricting was supposed to be a firewall for Republicans in this midterm election, and it has just not turned out that way. Instead, these are some of the most expensive and competitive House races in the country. Oh, they're having to spend money to even have a chance at keeping them. So, trucklets. Wow. What does the President's political team make of the idea that redistricting didn't work? A Republican strategist involved with midterm races, but who wasn't authorized to speak publicly pushed back on that characterization saying redistricting creates new battlefields. It doesn't create outcomes. These are certainly battlefields with a positive outcome for Republicans very much in question in two-thirds of the seats drawn to favor the party's candidates. Okay. So, why would gerrymandering not help as much as the people who did it probably expected it would? Yeah. You know, some of these lines
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