​When the Unstoppable Activists Met Their Match
An idealistic climate campaign promised to transform the whole conversation in Washington. They ended up chanting “F--- Joe Manchin” in a parking lot. 
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | November 05, 2021
​The Education of Josh Hawley
The subversive senator’s college peers and professors don’t recognize the affable intellectual they once knew. But they do recognize his ambition. 
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA and EMILY CADEI | January 19, 2021
​‘Badasses in Their Own Right’: Meet the Freshwomen of Congress
We’ll soon see the most women ever in the House of Representatives, including the largest number of female Republicans. And the new members have a lot to say.​
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA with photographs by JASON GROW | January 01, 2021
​Why a Civil Rights Veteran Thinks the Protests Are More Like 1963 Than 1968
‘We’re at an early stage of another era of grassroots activism to achieve political change,’ says historian Clayborne Carson in a POLITICO Q&A.​
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | September 03, 2020
​10 Races Poised to Shake Up American Criminal Justice
It's not all about Washington. When it comes to policing, courts and prison, the real action is local. Here are the people and propositions to watch in 2020.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | June 25, 2020
​Who Said It: Mike Bloomberg or Donald Trump?
See how well you can tell the two septuagenarian New York billionaires apart.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA and JORDAN MULLER | February 19, 2020
​Could Higher Turnout Actually Help Trump?
A new study challenges the idea that suppressing the vote hurts Democrats.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | February 19, 2020
​How to Fix Politics: These 5 Places Tried Bold Political Experiments. Did They Work?
The United States: Ranked Choice Voting
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | September 21, 2019
​‘It's Like a Beehive Coming After Me': Portraits From a Political Spectacle
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA with photographs and video by PATRICK CAVAN BROWN | August 16, 2019
​The Sunrise Movement Actually Changed the Democratic Conversation. So What Do You Do For a Sequel?
My weekend at the activist bootcamp trying to reshape the Democratic race.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | June 16, 2019
​‘We Call Ourselves the Badasses': Meet the New Women of Congress
The history-making class of new women on Capitol Hill is here, and its members have a lot to say.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA with photographs by JASON GROW | January 18, 2019
​How Democrats Won Over Older Voters—And Flipped the House
Democrats were victorious because they fought Republicans to a draw among Americans age 50 and up. How they did that is the story of the 2018 election.
By ZACK STANTON, STEVEN SHEPARD and RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | November 13, 2018
For the 2018 ‘POLITICO 50' issue of Politico Magazine, I wrote mini-profiles of:
​‘Abolish ICE' is Just the Tip of a Broader Movement
A growing group of leftists wants to get rid of the entire prison industrial complex in America.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | August 15, 2018
​Steve Bannon's First Pick for President
Before he embraced the mogul from Manhattan, the Breitbart provocateur had his eye on another gifted populist.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | November 25, 2016
269 Photos, 115 Numbers, 26 Tweets and 122 Quotes That Tell The Story of America's Craziest Election
I researched, wrote, and factchecked many of the captions and sidebars that made up this print issue.
​‘Oh Man, I Guess We've Won This Thing'
Eight years ago, a tight-knit group of Obama campaign staffers had a ringside seat as history was made.​
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | November 07, 2016
​Mayors to Trump: Enough With the Hellhole Talk, Already
Two weeks before Election Day, mayors can't get anyone to pay attention to good news. And there really is some.
By BEN WOFFORD and RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | October 24, 2016
​Trump's environmental agenda is crashing into the courts
Pruitt used to sue the EPA. Now he’s being sued for what he’s doing with it.
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | August 11, 2017
​Donald Trump's plan to build a solar border wall, explained with math
We crunched the numbers, because why not?
​By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | July 20, 2017
​Almost 90% of Americans don't know there's scientific consensus on global warming
That's not good.
​By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | July 06, 2017
​The Fourth of July, made in China
How Chinese manufacturers profit off fireworks, grills, and flag sales.
​By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | July 23, 2017
​Trump wants fossil fuels to dominate. Nevada is betting on solar.
Several new laws are reinvigorating renewable energy in the swing state.
​By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | June 30, 2017
​Trump went to Iowa and bashed wind. Iowa gets 37 percent of its energy from wind.
Even Republicans in the state are all in for wind.
​By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA | June 22, 2017
‘Fairly Normal and Routine': 50 Years of Sexual Violence at Stanford
By RUAIRÍ ARRIETA-KENNA and ROXY BONAFONT | January 31, 2018