Cara Brown McCormick

Cara McCormick, principal at Smart Campaigns, advises on strategy and research. With 10+ years in major races, she led Maine’s historic move to ranked choice voting. Her work focuses on election reforms that improve representation and voter choice.

California’s Soft Sentencing Freed a Violent Offender -- Then He Walked Into a State Office and Killed a Parole Agent

On July 17, a California state parole agent became the first CDCR officer killed in the line of duty since 2018 when he was shot inside a state parole office by a man who had been released just months earlier after serving only four years for randomly stabbing a stranger in the neck.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 29, 2025

California’s Soft Sentencing Freed a Violent Offender -- Then He Walked Into a State Office and Killed a Parole Agent

California Is Doing What Congress Can't on Immigration

In an era when immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in American politics, a bipartisan group of California lawmakers has done something rare: they’ve found unity.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 24, 2025

California Is Doing What Congress Can't on Immigration

The Trump Russia Story Was False, but What About Tulsi’s Tale?

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is accusing the Obama administration of “treasonous conspiracy” for promoting what she called “the LIE that Vladimir Putin and the Russian government helped President Trump win the 2016 election.”

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 23, 2025

The Trump Russia Story Was False, but What About Tulsi’s Tale?

How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp

When President Richard Nixon told the nation on June 17, 1971, that drug abuse was “public enemy number one,” he formally launched the War on Drugs and cemented cannabis in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 22, 2025

How It Really Works: The Unfair Fight Between Legal Cannabis and Unregulated 'Gas‑Station' Hemp

Will Politics Kill Late Night TV?

Stephen Colbert’s Late Show is ending after nearly a decade at the top of the ratings. CBS insists this is a financial decision. Of course, everyone else is wondering if something more political may be at play. And the President of the United States is celebrating the news. Donald Trump took to Trut

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 18, 2025

Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis

As cannabis use became more common in the late 1970s, the backlash grew even stronger. A political and religious conservative resurgence was underway after years of liberal ascendancy. That wave would soon bring former California Governor Ronald Reagan to the White House.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 18, 2025

Just Say No: The Political Hit Job That Killed Cannabis

Unlikely Bedfellows: The Strange Alliance to Expose Epstein Files

President Donald Trump is working hard to put a lid on the Jeffrey Epstein controversy roiling his party. So far, it isn’t working. One procedural tool in Congress, a little-used but powerful discharge petition, could push the issue out of Trump’s control.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 17, 2025

Unlikely Bedfellows: The Strange Alliance to Expose Epstein Files

Mike Tyson Calls Out Donald Trump to Make Good on Cannabis Rescheduling Promise

Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion known as “Iron Mike,” is calling on President Donald Trump to make good on a campaign promise to reclassify cannabis under federal law.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 11, 2025

Mike Tyson Calls Out Donald Trump to Make Good on Cannabis Rescheduling Promise

Texas, Football, Bobcats, Pac-12, and a Corrections Officer Who Performed a Miracle

Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers Spotlight Kelly Damphousse, a Former Correctional Officer Who Transformed a University.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 10, 2025

Texas, Football, Bobcats, Pac-12, and a Corrections Officer Who Performed a Miracle

Lorena Gonzalez, California’s Top Labor Leader, Blasts ‘Anti-Labor Left’ Over Abundance Movement

Lorena Gonzalez, one of California’s most influential labor leaders, entered the fray this week in a growing Democratic debate over the so-called “abundance” movement.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 9, 2025

Lorena Gonzalez, California’s Top Labor Leader, Blasts ‘Anti-Labor Left’ Over Abundance Movement

Nixon Admitted Weed Wasn’t Dangerous, But Killed It to Crush Political Dissent

This seven-part series chronicles the milestones, backlash, and unintended consequences that have shaped the war on cannabis from the 1960s to the present day.

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 9, 2025

Nixon Admitted Weed Wasn’t Dangerous, But Killed It to Crush Political Dissent

7 Things Elon Musk Needs to Do If the America Party Wants to Be More Than a Meme

The World’s Richest Man Will Have to Overcome America’s Toughest Political Obstacles — Here’s What It Will Take to Make His America Party Thrive

By Cara Brown McCormick

July 8, 2025

7 Things Elon Musk Needs to Do If the America Party Wants to Be More Than a Meme