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The main talk of the 2014 election has been which political party will control the Senate after the votes have been counted. Democrats have been on defense throughout most of the country as President Obama's approval rating remains low. So with just a week to go before Election Day, how will the numbers fall? Here are my predictions. In this election cycle, Democrats have 38 seats that are safe or not up for re-election while Republicans have 42. So that is where my numbers start.Democrats are

On Monday, October 27, IVN published an article about Measure 90, which will appear on Oregon's statewide general election ballot on November 4. The measure would completely reform the electoral system in the state by implementing a nonpartisan, top-two open primary similar to the primary systems in California and Washington state. Though the system is similar, there are some important distinctions. To read more about the measure and the details of the measure, click here. As one might expect,

For the second time in 6 years, Oregonians will vote on a measure to establish an open, top-two primary system. Measure 90 is an almost exact replica of a 2008 measure that was rejected by 66 percent of voters. Proponents are hoping that today’s general hostility toward the Democratic Party and GOP will translate to passage of the measure. In order to appear on the ballot, supporters of the measure were required to collect 87,213 signatures by July 3. They turned in 140,045 signatures on June 2

No matter what political ideology a voter identifies with, every single election comes down to one thing: voter turnout. If voters don't go to the polls to cast ballots, their party affiliation, or lack thereof, doesn't matter. But which states have the worst turnouts and why?According to Nonprofit Vote, a group that works with nonprofit organizations to increase voting opportunities, in 2010, there were about 91 million votes cast across the country, which means that approximately 42 percent o

In an age where over 90 percent of elections are determined in the primary, it's a rare occurrence for candidates to focus on voters who are not affiliated with a political party during the general election. Republican and Democratic party registration across the country has plummeted, and turnout is likely to dip 10-20 percent compared to presidential election years, according to Pew Research. With both of those factors in play, independent voters are primed to have a big impact this year. Be

The 2014 midterm elections are less than a month away and the GOP is poised to seize a majority in the Senate, though that would require winning some close races. Some are expected to come down to just a proportionally small amount of votes. RealClearPolitics rates 10 Senate races as “toss-ups” and 7 of them involve Democratic incumbents. The difference between victory and defeat will come down to voter turnout, which in turn depends on voter access laws, which state governments have been keen

1. The Open Primary Initiative in Oregon has raised over $1 million. "Despite the donations, the measure faces stiff opposition. “Both parties have come out against it,” Henderson said." The initiative would replace the current closed primary system with a nonpartisan, top-two open primary similar to the systems in Washington state and California. 2. Article in the Bangor Daily News says real race in Maine gubernatorial election is between Democrat Mike Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler f

Most Americans have come to see our political system as highly dysfunctional. An October 2013 Gallup poll shows that 60 percent of Americans do not feel well-represented by either major party and favor the formation of a third “independent” party. Another Gallup poll, dated June 30, 2014, places confidence in the Supreme Court at 30 percent, the presidency at 29 percent, and Congress at just 7 percent. Another pollster recently showed that Americans view dysfunction in government as the number

This fall, Oregonians will vote by mail to decide whether Oregon will join its neighbors, California and Washington, and become the third west coast state to pass the top-two primary. As expected, much of the state's political establishment, including the Democratic Party of Oregon, the Republican Party of Oregon, Oregon Right to Life, and Our Oregon, which is primarily funded by the state's two largest public employee unions, oppose the measure. (Note: three of those groups support the Supreme

While the U.S. political scene is often described as polarized, many members within the major political parties can agree on one issue: privacy and surveillance. From Democrats like Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin to Republicans like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, support for the current system of NSA surveillance and data collection is one of the clearest examples of what bipartisanship looks like in Washington. Generally speaking, centrism indicates a reluctance to make significant changes