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San Diego, Calif.- San Diego Union-Tribune Columnist Michael Smolens joined me for a wide-ranging conversation about the many political issues facing the City of San Diego and State of California. In our latest IVN Podcast, Smolens had strong comments on City Councilman Mark Kersey moving from Republican to Independent, the chance that the convention center expansion passes in March 2020, and the substantive changes needed for the 2020 ballot to avoid the same issue we saw in 2016 with NPP vote

San Diego, Calif.- San Diego Union-Tribune Columnist Michael Smolens joined me for a wide-ranging conversation about the many political issues facing the City of San Diego and State of California. In our latest IVN Podcast, Smolens had strong comments on City Councilman Mark Kersey moving from Republican to Independent, the chance that the convention center expansion passes in March 2020, and the substantive changes needed for the 2020 ballot to avoid the same issue we saw in 2016 with NPP vote

San Diego, Calif.- San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey announced on his Twitter page he is shifting political parties from Republican to Independent. Kersey wrote the highly partisan state of both major political parties dissuaded him from identifying with either one. He also said the decision is one he has been “wrestling with” for a while. “Make no mistake: both parties have plenty of good and decent members,” Kersey said. “But today’s political climate rewards ideologues, not problem-solv

There are hundreds, literally hundreds of organizations and individual campaigns working right now to fix the myriad of problems that face our political and electoral processes -- from the local to the national levels. The organizations tackle voter rights, primary election reform, ballot access, gerrymandering reform, campaign finance reform, alternative voting methods, electing candidates outside the two major parties, and more. The following are 10 of the biggest organizations working to ref

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

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

San Diego, Calif.- If the media wanted a dash of spice for the 2020 San Diego Mayoral race, enter Cory Briggs. A consistent critic of City Hall who has had success suing the city, Briggs has announced he intends to run for the city's top post in 2020. Briggs joins Councilwoman Barbara Bry and Assemblyman Todd Gloria in the race to succeed Kevin Faulconer. No Republican candidate has yet to announce, but City Councilman Mark Kersey is considered a good bet to join the race. The Briggs Factor

Abuse of power stopped by citizens, that’s a good sign of the health of our democracy, and it happened in New Jersey this past weekend when state legislative leaders were forced off a plan to permanently gerrymander Democratic control. It’s an even better sign that the citizen groups doing the stopping were on the side that would have benefited politically from the power grab. The same thing happened in Utah this past election day, when the mostly Republican electorate approved an initiative or

SANTA FE, N.M. - The Open Primaries Education Fund filed a lawsuit Wednesday against New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, challenging the public funding of the state's closed primary elections. Only registered party members can participate in the primaries, yet the burden falls on all taxpayers to foot the bill for these elections. OPEF says it has retained the New Mexico based law firm, Bardacke Allison, which is headed by former Attorney General Paul Bardacke. At issue is the

Since 2016, energized progressives have sought to break the cycle that has seen power swing between establishment politicians in the Democratic and Republican parties for decades. After disappointing results in New Jersey and Virginia in 2017, the 2018 midterms offered another test of the progressive movement’s chief strategy for coming to power: taking over the Democratic Party. The results are a serious wake up call. The four leading progressive organizations that emerged from Bernie Sanders’