
Steve Peace
Former CA Senator Steve Peace served 20 years and authored the landmark top-two primary system to reduce partisan control. A long-time advocate for election reform, he is also known for his role in the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
Articles by Steve
Why Neither Side Wants the Truth About Voter ID
Voter ID is treated like a five-alarm fire in American politics. That reaction says more about our dysfunctional political system than it does about voter ID itself.
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06 Feb, 2026
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3 min read
Mayor Matt Mahan Could Turn the California Governor Race Upside Down
Rumors are circulating that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan may enter the race for California governor. If the recently elected Democratic mayor makes the move, he could jolt a contest that, to date, has been remarkably sleepy.
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28 Jan, 2026
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5 min read
California's Governor is Not Just Messing With Texas
It is a classic political threat. Take one more step, and I will act. But this time, even though the target is Texas Republicans, it could easily turn out that California Democrats wind up taking the fall....
08 Aug, 2025
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3 min read
Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID to Turn Back the Clock
Voter IDs are a requirement in almost every democracy in the world from Europe to Mexico. But legitimate concerns over voter suppression efforts in the American south led to a different ethic inside Democratic Party circles. Over time, Voter ID plans have been presumptively conflated with claims of ...
25 Jul, 2025
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3 min read
AB 955 Revisited: How to Expand Cross-Border Care Without Sacrificing Patient Protections
IVN recently examined AB 955, by Assemblymember David Alvarez. The bill seeks to expand a healthcare service program I created in 1998 as the author of SB1658....
14 May, 2025
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4 min read
Why I’m Voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr for President
I’m a lifelong Democrat. I served for more than 20 years in the California Legislature and as Director of Finance under a Democratic governor. I supported and financially contributed to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Amy Klobuchar in 2020....
07 Jun, 2024
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4 min read
Blame This One on Secretary of State Weber
Eight years ago, there was a competition still in play between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton when the California primary rolled around. But, even though the Democratic Party allowed independent votes to be counted toward the selection of convention delegates, then Secretary of State Alex Padilla refused to eliminate the arcane and undemocratic barriers to voting left over from partisan primary rules more than half a century old.
ALSO READ: California Court Says It's Ok to Suppress Independ...
26 Feb, 2024
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4 min read
Author of California’s Top-Two Primary Says It’s Time to Reform the Reform
In 2010, California voters took the first step in empowering every California voter by abolishing party-controlled closed partisan primaries in favor of open nonpartisan primaries that advance the top two vote-getters to the November election. ...
14 Feb, 2024
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4 min read
CALIFORNIA COURT: It's OK to Suppress Independent Voter Rights
For a state that claims to lead the nation in voter rights, California’s presidential primary rules are a study in hypocrisy.
The California Constitution requires that all elections for partisan office be conducted in open nonpartisan primaries with the top two vote getters advancing to the general election. California’s presidential primary rules, however, are different. This is because, unlike races for governor, the legislature, and Congress, presidential primary voters are not selecting act...
29 Mar, 2023
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6 min read








