Democrats’ chances of winning back control of the House of Representatives in 2024 just got a big boost from the most unlikely of places: the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

At least 15 states still have lingering lawsuits over the reconfiguration of congressional districts based on the 2020 census, which could have a major impact on the 2024 elections as both parties battle for the House majority.

These aren’t the most interesting cases, but they’re essential, nonetheless. The latest case heading to the Supreme Court isn’t grounded in abortion rights, which was the main attraction for the high court this past summer after a draft of the Dobbs opinion was leaked to the press. It set off a flurry of protests, demonstrations outside the homes of the justices, and even assassination attempts. Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade, which led to a litany of hyperbolic segments from the liberal media and left-wing activists about how this decision will kill scores of women.

Republicans got a boost in the race to gain control of the House in this year’s elections because they held on to their advantage in redrawing congressional maps and got some key rulings from courts, experts said.

While both political parties have drawn maps that favor their candidates, experts said Republicans used the redistricting process after the 2020 census to retain a small, but measurable, advantage over Democrats in the midterm election.

In the past, midterm elections have been kind of predictable. The president is slightly unpopular, his party loses some seats and most voters disappear for two years until they turn up in greater numbers for the main show. It’s been a pretty consistent pattern; since 1934, the president’s party has lost in almost every single midterm election, gaining House seats just three times and Senate seats in only six of the 22 midterm votes.

Some may want to see the explosive, racist diatribes of a handful of prominent Los Angeles City Council members as an unfortunate incident that will eventually fade away. They might dismiss the remarks revealed in a leaked audio as isolated and confined to a few Latino leaders.

But the reality is that such prejudice from Latino to Latino and Latino to other racial groups is not so uncommon. Call it anti-Black racism, colorism, classism — it all adds up to a destructive strain that is not so hidden in Latino culture.

The rampant cable news attention seeking and kayfabe committee hearings that characterize politics today have an ideologically diverse set of pundits yearning for a return of the "smoke-filled room." There, the argument goes, politicians could hash out policy in private, frank conversations away from all the bad incentives created by TV cameras and records requests.

"Sometimes," wrote Jonathan Rauch in 2015, "the only thing wrong with smoke-filled rooms is the smoke."

Leaked audio of a conversation between some of Los Angeles' top political players that included racist remarks has cascaded into multiple resignations that came to a head during a rowdy – and at times chaotic – city council meeting Wednesday. 

President Joe Biden said he believes that Democrat and former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez should resign from city council following a leaked audio recording where the councilwoman made racist remarks about a colleague's son.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday during a press briefing that the president has been following the situation in Los Angeles and that he was glad that "one of the participants in that conversation has resigned, but they all should."

President Biden has called on embattled Los Angeles Councilwoman Nury Martinez and other council members present when she made racist remarks to step down, the White House said.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden believes “they all should” resign in light of the Martinez’s comments where she called a colleague’s young black son “that little monkey” in Spanish.