Search query: nebraska

Michigan Voted to End Partisan Gerrymandering; Are Partisan Primaries Next?
Michigan Voted to End Partisan Gerrymandering; Are Partisan Primaries Next?
As a business owner and lifelong resident of Michigan, I am proud to have stood with so many of my fellow citizens soliciting signatures for days and weeks on end to get the “Nonpartisan Redistricting” and “Promote the Vote” initiatives on the ballot and successfully passed in the 2018 midterm election. They were a big win for Michigan democracy and important steps on a journey to a more representative government. Yet, there remains a large obstruction in our path to achieving a healthy, functi
12 Feb, 2019
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4 min read
Why The Howard Schultz “Spoiler” Argument Is Simply Wrong
Why The Howard Schultz “Spoiler” Argument Is Simply Wrong
Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd-Whitman and former Nebraska US Senator Bob Kerrey wrote an essay for CNN.com titled, What Howard Schultz -- Or Any Independent -- Needs to Have a Real Shot. It refers to my litigation with the Federal Election Commission over presidential debate access rules: "The two parties control a non-profit called the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has set rules that have effectively barred an independent from debating for more than a quarter-cent
05 Feb, 2019
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3 min read
Why The Howard Schultz "Spoiler" Argument Is Simply Wrong
Why The Howard Schultz "Spoiler" Argument Is Simply Wrong
Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd-Whitman and former Nebraska US Senator Bob Kerrey wrote an essay for CNN.com titled, What Howard Schultz -- Or Any Independent -- Needs to Have a Real Shot. It refers to my litigation with the Federal Election Commission over presidential debate access rules: "The two parties control a non-profit called the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has set rules that have effectively barred an independent from debating for more than a quarter-cent
05 Feb, 2019
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3 min read
Organizations, Lawmakers Push for Open Primaries as Crowded 2020 Field Emerges
Organizations, Lawmakers Push for Open Primaries as Crowded 2020 Field Emerges
The 2020 presidential field is already taking shape. Nine Democrats have announced their campaigns since December, many of whose announcements went under the radar because the lack of media coverage: * Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana * Julian Castro, former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and former HUD Secretary * John Delaney, former Maryland congressman and businessman * Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii congresswoman * Kirsten Gillibrand, US Senator (NY) * Kamala Harris, US Senator (Cal
25 Jan, 2019
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5 min read
Former US Rep: Time for Florida to Lead on Nonpartisan Open Primaries
Former US Rep: Time for Florida to Lead on Nonpartisan Open Primaries
Contrary to Florida’s infamous reputation for election snafus, the voters in the Sunshine State have in many ways led the nation on issues of electoral reform. Floridians have voted many times to improve the rules, level the playing field, and remove barriers to participation. In the 1900s, voters approved ballot measures to enact term limits and remove burdensome petitioning requirements for independent and third-party candidates. More recently, they approved gerrymandering reform. On Tuesday,
28 Nov, 2018
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4 min read
The Electoral College: Something that Unites Us or Divides Us?
The Electoral College: Something that Unites Us or Divides Us?
Editor's Note: This article was co-authored by Kammi Foote and Donald Wilson Bush, president of the Woodrow Wilson Legacy Foundation. In 2016, for the fifth time in the history of the United States, it appears that the President of the United State won the Electoral College vote, but lost the popular vote. As a result, many are calling for a reform of the Electoral College in favor of a national popular election; and this debate has added a new level of division and emotional discord to the pol
25 Sep, 2018
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5 min read
Will Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Primary Victory Really Shake Up Party Control?
Will Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Primary Victory Really Shake Up Party Control?
A thrilling victory by a young insurgent candidate, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, against a 20-year incumbent and party boss, US Rep. Joseph Crowley, in the June 26 New York primary seems to be reverberating over state and national politics. Pundits are posing the question of whether a national anti-establishment wave within Democratic Party politics is in the making. Many activists -- myself among them -- hope so, but don't shout too soon. Remember how in 2004 a young upstart, newly-elected senat
10 Jul, 2018
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4 min read
Sole DC GOP Candidate: I Strongly Support Nonpartisan Open Primaries
Sole DC GOP Candidate: I Strongly Support Nonpartisan Open Primaries
On June 19, residents of the District of Columbia can vote in one of four party primaries: Democratic, Libertarian, DC Statehood Green, or Republican. The party with the fewest candidates in the primary is, surprisingly, the DC GOP. Michael Bekesha, running for a council seat in Ward 6, is the only candidate for public office appearing on the party’s primary ballot. The vast majority of the District’s 27,094 registered Republicans living outside Ward 6 will be handed ballots with nothing but bl
01 Jun, 2018
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10 min read
Nebraska Libertarian Beats Out Governor's Pick in Nonpartisan Open Primary
Nebraska Libertarian Beats Out Governor's Pick in Nonpartisan Open Primary
Don't let anyone tell you that third party candidates do not stand a chance in nonpartisan open primaries. Incumbent Nebraska State Sen. Laura Ebke was among the top two vote-getters in the primary election in District 32. Ebke beat out the governor's pick, Al Riskowski, in a three-candidate race. The incumbent senator will move on to the general election with Tom Brandt, who took the most votes in the primary. Nebraska uses a unique primary system for state legislative races. It is a nonpart
16 May, 2018
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1 min read
We the People: From the Past to a New American Revolution
We the People: From the Past to a New American Revolution
"I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset." - Langston Hughes In February, I traveled from New York City, where I live, to New Orleans to attend the Unrig the System Summit, a gathering of over 1,500 people from all 50 states, focused on how to reform our dysfunctional political system. I was there to speak on a panel about the leadership of the African American community in the fight for full
04 Apr, 2018
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6 min read