From open primaries and multi-member districts to campaign finance reform and a culture that encourages more people to run, there are ways to bring competition back to elections where voters too often have only one choice.
After more than three decades of waiting, Chula Vista’s long-promised public university needs both perspectives of business leadership and public service to cut delay, reduce uncertainty, and finally get it built.
Alaska's effort to repeal ranked choice voting would also roll back campaign finance transparency rules, removing disclosure requirements for dark money and out-of-state donations that voters approved in 2020.
Five California races pit the DSA against the Democratic establishment, and independents may hold the deciding vote. Plus: your no-spin guide to everything on November’s ballot.
No Republican reached the November ballot in the race for Assembly District 68, so 68,000 independent voters will decide between DSA-recommended Jessie Lopez and moderate Democrat David Penaloza.
Assembly District 66 sends two Democrats to November with no Republican in the race, leaving 97,000 independents to choose between a socialist-backed progressive and a moderate with union and law enforcement support.
A DSA-recommended candidate and a moderate Democrat are the only two names on the ballot in California's Senate District 24, leaving independent and Republican voters to break the tie.
Nearly 90% of House seats are already decided before Election Day, with most contested only in partisan primaries that exclude independent voters and limit meaningful participation to just 9.4% of the voting-age population.
In California's East LA State Senate District 26, 144,000 independent voters will likely decide a general election between a socialist-backed candidate and a moderate Democrat, with no Republican on the ballot.
The Golden State's nonpartisan primary system allows all voters to participate in this November's legislative races, offering a unique test of how DSA-backed candidates compete when elections aren't decided in closed Democratic primaries.
David Malcolm
Shawn Griffiths
IVN Editorial Board
Cara Brown McCormick
