Election night turned into what Shawn Griffiths calls a "bloodbath," and our hosts could barely contain themselves reacting live: Troy Jackson just knocked off 30-year Senate fixture Susan Collins in Maine, and that was only the beginning.
Chad, Cara, Shawn, and Ethan break down a stunning wave election that saw James Talarico take the victory over Ken Paxton in Texas and Troy Jackson upset Susan Collins in Maine. Showcasing the open primary in California, Democratic Socialist candidates got crushed by other Democrats, but moderate Republicans survived. Here’s the part the mainstream media will miss: the driving force behind this wave was independent, not blue.
This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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Episode Highlights
On this episode of the Independent Voter Podcast, hosts Chad Peace, Cara McCormick, Shawn Griffiths, and Ethan Handelman react live to what Shawn calls a "bloodbath" on election night 2026, headlined by Troy Jackson's upset of 30-year incumbent Susan Collins in the Maine Senate race, with Jackson ultimately winning 54% to 46%.
The hosts dig into California's open primary system, noting that Democratic Socialist candidates got crushed when facing other Democrats in the general election, while moderate Republicans survived. Shawn credits the state's independent legislative redistricting maps (as opposed to the gerrymandered congressional lines from Prop 50) for letting the full electorate, not just primary voters, decide between center-left and DSA-aligned Democrats in races like Ben Allen vs. Jane Kim.
A major thread of the conversation centers on Latino voter dealignment, with Chad and Shawn citing strategist Mike Madrid's framing that this isn't a partisan realignment but a rejection of both parties. They point to James Talarico's double-digit win over Ken Paxton in Texas and Hinojosa's surprise margin in the governor's race as evidence that a backfired Republican gerrymander built on 2024 Latino gains instead turned into a "dummymander."
Chad and Shawn needle Donald Trump over his post-election claim that the results don't reflect on him because "I wasn't on the ballot," with Chad calling it one of the least self-aware tweets of Trump's career and arguing the losses reflect voters, including former MAGA supporters, souring on cost-of-living pain and immigration enforcement overreach.
The hosts turn to Alaska, celebrating that Ballot Measure 2 appears to have survived a second repeal attempt despite Elon Musk's reported $1.5 million contribution to the opposition and public criticism from JD Vance. Cara and Shawn debate the Republican legal argument that recruiting a second "Dan Sullivan" to the ballot created voter confusion in the tight Peltola vs. Sullivan Senate race, with Shawn arguing ranked choice voting actually mitigates spoiler effects rather than causing them.
Shawn and Chad analyze why Massachusetts' top-two nonpartisan primary measure failed despite bipartisan backing from former governors Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker, attributing the loss to overwhelming Democratic Party mobilization against it.
The group discusses Haley Stevens' rapid ostracization from the Michigan Democratic Party after she switched her endorsement away from Abdul El-Sayed, who ultimately won, with Shawn warning that the party's intolerance of dissent is a cautionary sign as it looks ahead to a wide-open 2028 presidential primary.
Closing out, the hosts grade their own pre-election predictions (giving Cara top marks for calling both the Maine and Michigan Senate races) and tease a future episode debating who could emerge as the next Bernie Sanders-style insurgent candidate for either party heading into 2028.
