I’m an award-winning journalist reporting and editing from DC since Bush v. Gore.
My work cuts through the noise. It’s smart. It’s provocative. And it’s centered around topics that have come to define the early 21st century, from presidential investigations and impeachments to climate change and election security.
I’m currently the Congress & Campaigns editor for USA Today.
I’m also the author of love, journalism and the host of The love, journalism Show.
Previously, I oversaw politics and legal coverage as a senior editor at The Messenger, As the pandemic arrived, I started serving as Insider’s first DC bureau chief, leading a team that broke news, won awards and held important people like Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi accountable.
As a reporter for 20 years at Politico and E&E News, I covered the most powerful and important institutions in the United States, including the entire executive branch of the federal government, Congress and the courts.
I was early to the climate, environment and energy beats, covering United Nations negotiations, legislation and policy during the George W. Bush and Obama years.
I had two tours on the White House beat, served as one of Politico’s first senior policy reporters, and launched the ‘shenanigans’ beat amid the chaos of the 2016 presidential campaign.
My career started before the internet and has led me to become an expert on teenage gambling, college football, domestic violence, the Winter Olympics, the Tokyo Deadhead scene, deer hunting, avalanche safety, not getting eaten by bears, salmon fishing, the search for Sasquatch, overcrowding at national parks, the Clean Air Act, post-9/11 homeland security, climate legislation, carbon capture and sequestration, the federal budget, infrastructure, virtual learning and education, cybersecurity, sexual assault in the military, and presidential impeachments, campaigning and criminal trials..
Late night comedy writers love my work. Ask Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Saturday Night Live. For a while during the Trump era, Rudy Giuliani wouldn’t stop butt dialing me.
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Original reporting
My work has appeared in The Messenger, Insider, Politico, E&E News, The Olympian, the Columbia Missourian, The New York Times, Relix Magazine, AAA Magazine and Encyclopedia Britannica.
”It’s sometimes forgotten that before Pence rose to national prominence, he hosted a conservative radio talk show in Indiana.When I was an editor at Politico, during the 2016 campaign we sent a reporter, Darren Samuelsohn, to Indianapolis to dig up old episodes of the show in search of the ‘real Mike Pence.’
Over some late nights and with the help of plenty of caffeine, Samuelsohn plowed through hours of cassette recordings, listening for insights about what was clearly a formative experience for the future vice president. (For Gen Z readers: Cassettes are an ancient form of audio technology that preceded compact discs, MP3 files and Spotify.)” - Blake Hounshell, July 28, 2022, The New York Times
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Media appearances
I’ve made frequent appearances on MSNBC, CBS, NPR, C-SPAN, PBS, the BBC and CBC.
“Darren, I just want to take a second while you're here, just to compliment you on the clarity of your prose when you are covering this complicated stuff. It's good to have you here on the show, but I read everything you write. Your work at Politico, you and Josh [Gerstein] both, has been so so clarifying. Thanks for being here. Thanks for your work.” - Rachel Maddow, March 27, 2019
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Awards & citations
Society of Professional Journalists: Winner, Sunshine Award, for “Conflicted Congress,” 2022; Winner, Dateline Awards for both “The definitive oral history of how Trump took over the GOP” and a searchable database of Trump ex-staffers, 2021; Finalist, beat reporting, 2020.
New York Press Club: Winner, National Political Coverage, Internet, for “The definitive oral history of how Trump took over the GOP,” 2022.
The Drum Awards: Best Campaigning/Investigative Journalism, Highly Commended, for “Conflicted Congress,” 2022.
The 14th Annual Shorty Awards: Winner, Data Visualization, for “Conflicted Congress,” 2022.
Editor & Publishing Eppy Award: First Place, best news/political blog with 1 million or more unique visitors, 2021; Runner-up, best news/political blog, 2020 and 2022.
North American Agricultural Journalists: Winner, special projects, “The great FLOTUS food fight,” 2017.
National Press Club: Honorable Mention, analytical journalism, for a story about the risks involved in carbon capture and sequestration, 2007.
Missouri Press Association: First Place, sports writing, “Out of Bounds,” 1997.
Hearst Journalism Awards Program: First Place, sports writing, “Out of Bounds,” 1997.
Associated Press Sports Editors: First Place, under-10,000 circulation, “Out of Bounds,” 1997.
Chick Evans Scholarship: 1993-1997.