It seems like a real challenge for Gomez, but his moderate stance could win over more independents. Plus, it’s all about who shows up to vote in the special election. Six points is not that big of lead considering

There has yet to be any notable legal challenges to such laws. Texas has a similar law and whatever legal challenges there have been, if any, have not gone anywhere.

It definitely won’t be easy to find a replacement to meet energy demands. I wish we explored nuclear energy more instead of less.

It is important to note that all of these states have closed or semi-closed primaries. Well, Alaska’s Democratic primary is open, but the Republican primary is closed.

I think this is going to be a good ongoing series. Looks good, Chelsea!

I agree. If this was a legitimate scientific experiment for a school assignment, then she should have known supervision would have been required. Still, I don’t think there should have been any charges either

I think this is a good topic to explore because it is not an uncommon problem among some states. California is in a similar situation in terms of unfunded liabilities. It doesn’t have the same deficit problems it

I think it is interesting that people call this a federal program when most governors want this for their states. It is not a federal program. It is a joint effort by states, which is an important distinction to make.

“Kansas is the most recent state to adopt the standards, despite fierce criticism from opponents over how NGSS promotes and treats the topics of evolution and climate change.”

I’m sorry, I can’t help, but laugh

I imagine independent commissions allow for more transparency in the process as it seems to be a much more open system of redistricting.

I completely agree. It seems to be a consistent theme with arguments against top-two. Everything I read from the opposition is based on how the system affects parties and candidates, not voters. Elections are

I am not sure if the GOP just came to its senses or if they were told it was a losing battle because it would have been.

I think the results that top-two creates more competitive races is evidence of the early success of this system and that it will continue to do good in California.

This is a great video. I especially like the argument that voters cannot be treated like shareholders. Although, perhaps the problem is that we already kind of are. I mean, such a small percentage of Americans

With no guarantee of repeat surpluses, can California keep up the change in base grant funding?

Great piece, Taylor! How successful has Mr. Falchuk been at reaching independent voters in Mass.?

Which is why reasonable regulations are good and allowing citizens to request water testing is a great idea.

It is unfortunate these stories don’t get more traction.

It is a shame the bill that would have stripped military commanders out of the prosecution process for MST cases failed so early. There needs to be real reform, but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen this session.

I have never been opposed to not having individual contribution limits, but I also believe that there should be much more transparency.

Great infographic to post. We have only heard one side of this story because it makes better news to just say the IRS is targeting these groups for ideological reasons. Maybe there is some truth to that, but there

I actually support Common Core, but I think this is a great look at the arguments against it.

I have no intention of buying a car that drives itself or a fridge that can tell me when I need more eggs. It is not a distrust of technology. It just seems unnecessary to me. I will be honest though, it is a

Great article, Christine. It is a good examination of the current state of energy in California.

Very persistent. I don’t think I have ever read about a protest lasting so long at such consistency.

He raises an important concern. It is not just government officials with access to it, it is independent, private contractors, too. How many people have access to highly classified information?

Great reporting! Thanks!

It would be best to redefine “Southern border region,” but the technology can actually be a very effective way to monitor border activity.

Libertarian candidates can win in states like California, but not promoting the GOP. I think that is where Rand is approaching this wrong. He is promoting the possibility of change in the GOP instead of promoting

I wonder how much the industry has expanded in states like Colorado and Washington for investors and entrepreneurs who are willing to take that risk. I also think that is a very important point to raise. It isn’t

Thanks for the report. That is just amazing the states have gone this long without turning in these reports.

It will be nice when this is all finally over.

The reality that states need to focus on when considering school funding proposals, specifically at the high school level, is that not all students are going to move on to post-secondary education so there does

A measure that bypasses the county clerk’s office does sound shady, but at the same time, what offices that exist under the current system would be redundant under an online voter registration system? Should there

There is a definite need to clearly define political speech (issue advocacy vs. electioneering communication) for nonprofit groups. After Citizens United, it seems this is an issue that will not be resolved for a long time.

Since 40% of the state is not affiliated with a party, it seems Cory Booker has some work to do, but such a huge media presence is going to have a major impact.

“Presidential campaigns are able to ignore certain states and focus on a handful of battleground states. Only 9 “swing” states mattered in the 2012 election.” Under either system, many states will not receive

Yeah, I was actually thinking the same. It has to be pure optimism from some.

For a while, it didn’t seem like Benghazi was affecting her standings among voters, and whether this is part of the reason her favorability has dropped, the timing is interesting for more than one reason.

There really is no telling how long it will be until this is resolved because the IG positions do serve a vital role.

This is an important question. It is a little too early to see how positive her campaign will remain. Many politicians start out a campaign committed to avoid mud slinging, but there is no telling how long it will last.

The Libertarian movement is great because it can bring in so many people with different ideas, but the drawback is that, when it comes to candidates, people in this broad movement can’t agree and you begin to hear

Could be both. I think there is something significant about the Obama administration heavily pushing this at the same time reports release of the high unemployment number.

Fantastic reporting, Lucas. Really good stuff.

I take that back, after looking into the NJ primary system, NJ is closed which is slightly different than the semi-open primary Texas has. In NJ, independent voters are forced to register with a party they do not