Hello everyone and welcome to the Focus Group podcast. I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the

bulwark, and this week we're diving into one of the major off-year elections of 2025,

the New Jersey governor's race. This race is interesting for a couple of reasons. One, the Democratic

primary features a lot of the key dynamics in the party that we've talked about on this show,

and New Jersey as a whole saw a lot of the key shifts that defined the 2024 election.

My guest today is back for her sixth appearance on the focus group. Amy Walter,

editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report and host of the podcast, The Odd Years, which is no longer

paywold, and so you should definitely check it out. Do I get a jacket? We've talked about this before,

about, like, what I could give you. But the thing is like just nobody's

been on more than you. Like I think you are like our inaugural show. Yeah. I feel very honored.

I have a mug. The focus group back that. We send that to the guests. Yes. Thank you for that.

We could send you a box now a collection. I feel like I haven't had you on for a long time.

But I think it speaks to what a good analyst you are and how much I like talking to you about politics. Also, we should just acknowledge we are like real life friends too. Yes. Okay. So fine. We've got a lot going on. There are a lot of intersections. That's a true thing. Okay. Since you were an odd years expert, just talk us through the macro of how the

odd years matter in the conversation about politics. And I just mean to political nerds like us who are

like, ooh, these are the only things we have to chew on in the odd years, but like how does it affect

the wider political ecosystem vibes, whatever?

Yeah. No, it's a really good question. And I was just talking to somebody about this the other

day about, you know, what does recruiting look like for, say, House and Senate races? And in some

ways, it feels very early because it is. And you've got most states that don't even have

filing deadlines until deep into 2026. But the vibes, the mood, really can be impacted by these

off-year elections. And we certainly saw that in 2021 when the Republicans not only picked up

the Virginia governor's race, but came very close to

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