LOS ANGELES (AP) — Five seasons of “Hacks.” Five Emmy Awards for Jean Smart.
Smart completed an undefeated run Monday night, winning lead actress in a comedy series for every season of the acclaimed HBO Max comedy and becoming the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every season of a television series.
The audience rose for a standing ovation as Smart, 75, made her way to the stage for her fifth victory as legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance. Smart immediately turned the moment into material.
“Just the men stay standing. The girls get to sit down,” she joked.
It’s her eighth trophy overall, which ties the all-time performer record shared by Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Smart also becomes the first to win best actress for each season of a show’s run.
Smart, who first got noticed in the CBS comedy “Designing Women,” won her first Emmys for guest appearances on “Frasier” and then another for a supporting role on “Samantha Who.”
The victory gave Smart her fifth lead comedy actress Emmy for “Hacks,” which debuted in 2021 and ended its five-season run in May.
Smart dedicated the award to the creative team behind the series: Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs.
“It all begins and ends with them,” Smart said. “I love you guys so much.”
She also thanked HBO, Universal, her representatives and her children, Forrest and Connor, whom she called her “anchor.”
Then, with the clock counting down on both her speech and a remarkable five-season run, Smart summed it up simply: “What a ride!”
She punctuated the moment by tossing her Emmy into the air and catching it before leaving the stage.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus came close to accomplishing the same feat with “Veep,” winning lead comedy actress six consecutive times. But Louis-Dreyfus lost for the show’s seventh and final season to “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Smart had played down the significance of the potential record before Monday’s ceremony. During an August appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” she called the distinction a “technicality” and pointed to Louis-Dreyfus’ larger collection of Emmy victories.
“I’ve got to give it to Julia Louis-Dreyfus,” Smart said.
Her three Emmys outside “Hacks” came for two guest appearances on “Frasier” and a supporting comedy actress victory for “Samantha Who?” Smart has received 15 Emmy nominations during her career.
“Hacks” follows the unlikely partnership between Vance and Ava Daniels, the younger comedy writer played by Hannah Einbinder. The series became an Emmy fixture during its run, with previous victories including outstanding comedy series and supporting comedy actress for Einbinder.
Since “Hacks” premiered, the only performer other than Smart to win lead comedy actress was Quinta Brunson for “Abbott Elementary” at the January 2024 ceremony, when “Hacks” did not have a new season in contention.
For her final turn as Deborah Vance, Smart prevailed over a field that included Elle Fanning for “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” and Lisa Kudrow for “The Comeback.”
Jean Smart accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "Hacks" during the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Zendaya, right, presents the award for outstanding lead actress in comedy series to Jean Smart, left, for "Hacks" during the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Jean Smart accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "Hacks" during the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting already underway.
The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years and have accounted for nearly a third of votes cast.
It represented a stark defeat for Trump on an issue he consistently has emphasized as vital to ensuring election integrity even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.
The Supreme Court majority wrote that the administration's push to implement the restrictions this year is likely to lose in court, though the brief emergency order didn't detail its reasoning. Two justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.
The Trump administration had asked the justices, once again at the center of a roiling political controversy, to clear the way for restrictions before the pivotal November contests for control of Congress.
Alito wrote in his dissent that the Postal Service “has broad authority to regulate the mail” and likely does have the power to enforce Trump's restrictions.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, meanwhile, agreed that the restrictions should not go into effect for the midterms but indicated he might rule in favor of the Trump administration if the issue comes back before the court at a later time.
Election officials have said there was simply no way to carry out a complete overhaul in the weeks before the midterms. Indeed, Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin began sending mail ballots to voters over the past week while the new system was still not active.
The Trump administration plan would require states to adopt a uniform envelope style and submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal. The Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots to states that didn’t comply.
The administration’s efforts had the potential to be especially disruptive in states that send out ballots entirely by mail. Washington's Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, said the decision means work “to carry out a safe, secure, and accurate election" can continue ”without having to upend our election processes to meet unrealistic ballot mail requirements.”
In Arizona, another largely vote-by-mail state, Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said “it is crucial for us to continue rejecting the notion that access and security are mutually exclusive when it comes to running strong elections.”
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican serving as the state’s chief election officer, said on social media that the Supreme Court’s decision means “Utahns can have confidence that the 2026 election will proceed as normal."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A whistleblower report, though, said the postal system’s requirements could lead to millions of mail ballots never being sent, because problems with the not-yet-operational portal meant a single bar code error could result in an entire batch of ballots being tossed out.
Democratic state officials and voting rights groups challenged the restrictions in court, arguing that the president has no constitutional authority to set election rules that would “virtually eliminate mail voting on the eve of a major election."
Some states don't have the infrastructure to quickly pivot back to in-person voting, according to court documents.
Lower courts agreed to block Trump’s plan, including a preliminary injunction issued by a judge nominated by the president.
But the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that federal control of the Postal Service allows them to set rules for mail ballot handling and that compliance was possible.
The federal government won an early procedural decision at the Supreme Court, but the justices pointedly did not decide the legality of the plan.
Trump has long opposed mail voting and falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, even though he often uses that method to cast his own ballot, including as recently as this year.
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Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Mason, Michigan; Ali Swenson in New York; Gene Johnson in Seattle; and Jacques Billeaud and Wufei Yu in Phoenix contributed to this report.
FILE - Election worker Wendy Wimer looks through vote-by-mail ballots for the presidential primary election, March 12, 2024, at the Clark County Elections Office in Vancouver, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
