Steve Peace

Former CA Sen. Steve Peace served 20 years in the legislature and authored the landmark top-two primary system to reduce partisan control. He is also known for his role in the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Fareed Zakaria Makes the Case for Letting Independents Vote in Primaries

His CNN special says the US is in the midst of a "super imperial presidency" sliding towards illiberal democracy.

By Steve Peace

September 8, 2026

Fareed Zakaria Makes the Case for Letting Independents Vote in Primaries

The Plan to Strip 6.9 Million Californians of Voting Rights Could Haunt Politicians

Undoing Top Two means telling 6.9 million independent voters they may no longer participate in primary elections unless they sign up with a club they have already decided not to join.

By Steve Peace

June 24, 2026

A picture of Bill Cavala, filled out by IVN staff to fit the necessary dimensions of a featured article image.

Fraud May Very Well Be Happening in California. But You Can't Prove It. Here's Why.

California has built a system so structurally vulnerable to fraud that even if massive fraud were occurring, you couldn't prove it.

By Steve Peace

June 12, 2026

Fraud May Very Well Be Happening in California. But You Can't Prove It. Here's Why.

CADEM Chair Supports Repealing Top Two. Here's What He's Not Telling Voters.

This week, the Democratic Party chair chose to abandon more than 5 million independent voters in California to embrace a regressive proposal to roll back voter rights.

By Steve Peace

May 19, 2026

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks

A Top-Two Democrat Race for Governor? In California, That May Be What a Healthy Democracy Actually Looks Like

The state’s nonpartisan Top-Two primary was never designed to produce a Democrat vs. Republican Race or to prevent two Democrats or two Republicans from being in the final contest.

By Steve Peace and Dan Howle

May 19, 2026

A potential two-Democrat California governor's race has some people concerned, but what if this is what voters want?

The Real Losers in Virginia, SCOTUS Redistricting Decisions are “Progressives” and Trump

In all the drama on redistricting people are overlooking what the courts actually did: They made life miserable for extremists.

By Steve Peace

May 11, 2026

Supreme Court building. Supreme Court redistricting decision.

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.

By Steve Peace

February 6, 2026

Why Neither Side Wants the Truth About Voter ID

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.

By Steve Peace

January 28, 2026

Mayor Matt Mahan Could Turn the California Governor Race Upside Down

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.

By Steve Peace

August 8, 2025

California's Governor is Not Just Messing With Texas

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

By Steve Peace

July 25, 2025

Trojan Horse: How CA Democrats Might Use Voter ID to Turn Back the Clock

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.

By Steve Peace

May 14, 2025

AB 955 Revisited: How to Expand Cross-Border Care Without Sacrificing Patient Protections

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.

By Steve Peace

June 7, 2024

Why I’m Voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr for President