I have been to five sessions of the California legislature’s elections committees these past two months. I have learned that the leadership of the California legislature strongly supports the top-two system. […]

Congress repealed public funding for major party presidential conventions last year. That program is gone.

I just re-read the article on Pete Stark on wiki. There is nothing there that suggests he ever was a bitter partisan. The wiki article mentions several courageous votes of his that contradicted his own party’s […]

There is only one U.S. House race in California that turned out differently because of the top-two system. That was the defeat of Pete Stark by Eric Swalwell. The other races in which California incumbents were […]

In all states, no matter what kind of primaries exist, independent voters always have a way to influence who gets on the November ballot. Every state lets independent candidates run for office. In Florida, in […]

The proposed constitutional amendment appears to include presidential primaries. If that had been the law in 2008, the only two candidates who could have appeared on the November ballot in Florida would have been […]

This article usefully compares open primaries to top-two primaries, but it would be better still if it included blanket primaries, which permit any voter to vote for any candidate in the primary and still gives a […]

Louisiana has used the top-two system for state office ever since 1975, and there is not one instance when a minor party candidate placed first or second (unless there was only one major party member running). […]

I covered that point in my article. The US Supreme Court only invalidated blanket primaries when they produce party nominees. Blanket primaries are OK if the ballot and the voters pamphlet explain to the voters […]

In a normal partisan system, if a state has lenient procedures for independent candidates to get on the November ballot, and a petition deadline that is later than the primary, then the primaries don’t need to […]

The only research I did for earlier elections than 2012 is that in November 2010 in California, for all the U.S. Houses together, the “none” vote was 6.33%.

Eric Swalwell raised $825,045 and spent $826,186, plus there were independent expenditures made for him, plus the San Francisco Chronicle vigorously supported him.

A political minority, such as a minor party and the voters who support it, gets leverage from being on the general election ballot. In both 1844 and 1848, anti-slavery parties altered the outcome of the […]

Steve Peace had been very kind to me, every time we have talked face-to-face. He did me a huge favor last year, by causing me to be invited to debate him in front of former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day […]

Detroit has had non-partisan city elections for almost 100 years, and look at the situation that city is in. Chicago has had non-partisan city elections for all office since 1999, and a neutral political science […]

Steve Peace’s comment might cause readers to think a big law firm with ties to Democrats is fighting top-two in court. That is not true. The Covington and Burling law firm is not attacking Prop. 14 in court. It […]

Some of the information in the article above is not accurate. There is no appeal pending in Idaho; and the South Carolina case is still pending in US District Court and there has been no opinion.

Congressman Stark is an expert on banking, and despite his gruff edges he has shown great skill in introducing bills on important subjects that actually pass, even in the Republican-majority U.S. House this last […]

Pete Stark certainly has his personal faults, but he was an effective member of Congress, a committee chair, and man capable of getting bills passed even in a highly partisan US house, and a banking expert. What […]

Koch Brothers and allies spent lots of money on two California ballot measures, and Koch brother forces lost big on both. California voters passed Prop. 30 and defeated Prop. 32, despite Koch and ally money. It […]

Chad, I agree with your sentiments. That is why I am hoping you will speak out against the award that I and my fellow co-plaintiffs in California must pay $243,500 in legal fees to the attorneys for Californians […]

Chad, I agree with you. That is why I hope you will condemn the attempts by top-two proponents in California to require me and my fellow five individual co-plaintiffs to pay the legal bills of Californians for an […]

That’s why I wish you would support me against the California top-two promoters who want to punish me and my fellow 5 co-plaintiffs with a judgment that we must pay $243,500 to the attorneys for the California […]

Charles Munger, Jr., is the biggest financial backer of California’s Prop. 32, and he is also the biggest financial backer of the California top-two system. So, this cuts both ways.

There are 3 Peace & Freedom Party nominees, not 5.

There are not 5 Peace & Freedom nominees on the ballot, there are 3.

There have been almost 100 top-two elections in which a minor party member ran for Congress or state office, and in which there were at least two major party members running. In all instances, with no exception, […]

I commend CAIVN for hosting this debate. I can’t resist pointing out, however, that CAIVN supports top-two systems. If the United States had a top-two system for presidential elections, Jill Stein and Gary […]

It is not true that Pete Stark’s new district has more independent voters than his last district. The Secretary of State’s Report of Registration which is on-line, shows that Pete Stark’s old 13th district in […]

So, has Bill Bloomfield said yet whom he will vote for, for Speaker of the House, if he is elected? I’ll bet anything, if he has answered this question, the answer is Boehmer, not Pelosi.

The term “jungle primary” was coined in Louisiana a few years after it was invented there. The father of the idea, Governor Edwin Edwards, enjoyed that name for his baby and helped publicize it.

Bill Bloomfield was a registered Republican until late in 2011, and he has been endorsed by former Republican Party governors and former state Republican Party chairs and former Republican Party presidential […]

A majority of members of the Tea Party Caucus in the US House of Representatives are from open primary states.

The two California John Birch Society members of Congress, from the past, were both elected in […]

Louisiana has used a top-two primary for state office ever since 1975, and for Congressional elections 1978-2006. The top-two system has not brought good government to Louisiana and is responsible for the defeat […]

Louisiana has used the top-two system since 1975 for state office, and used it in congressional elections 1978-2006, and again starting in 2012. Louisiana is not a well-governed state. This hope that the system […]

Senator Dutton, as Republican leader of the Senate until recently, is a very partisan Republican who faithfully represents his fellow Senate Republicans by opposing all tax increases.

This is a good article, but it would be better if it referred to Prop. 14 as a “top-two primary”. A true open primary has party nominees and party primary ballots, but on primary day any voter is free to choose […]

I don’t know why Chad Peace says, “In 50 years, only twice has the closed primary produced a representative who didn’t have an R or a D next to his name.” If he is talking about independent candidates who were […]

If we had top-two open primaries in place for presidential elections, Mitt Romney and President Obama would be the only candidates allowed to run in November.

California’s June 5 primary did not help independent candidates. None of them are expected to win in November. By contrast, under the old system, independent candidates were elected to the California legislature […]

In November 2010, Californians had 160 candidates for US House to choose from. In November 2012 they will only have 106 candidates to choose from. All of the congressional candidates people can vote for in […]

Under the old system, any independent voter was free to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary for congress and state office, for all years, 2001-2010. They didn’t even need to ask; polling place officials […]

If elected, she would not be the first independent member of Congress from California.

This article is wrong when it says California is using primary ballots that include all candidates for the first time. California used primary ballots that were exactly the same in 1998 and 2000. In 2000, even […]

The Montana petition is 5% of the winning candidate’s vote, not 5% of the total vote. So in practice the Montana requirement ranges between 2.5% and 3% of the total vote in the last election.