Independent voters have become a decisive force at the ballot box. The next question is whether that influence can translate into lasting political power.
A ProPublica investigation into Susan Collins, a defense contractor and a super PAC, is the strongest case yet for the law that three out of four Mainers have already passed.
From the election reform battles of 2024 to the campaigns of 2026, a new documentary follows the independent voters who keep fighting to change American politics—even when the odds are stacked against them.
California voters broke the political parties’ grip on primary elections in 2010. A new repeal effort raises a fundamental question: Who should get to choose the candidates on the November ballot?
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.
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.
Susan Collins and Troy Jackson are flooding Maine’s airwaves with competing messages aimed at the voters who could decide one of the country’s closest Senate races.
Independent voters are Kentucky’s fastest-growing political bloc, but nearly 384,000 remain shut out of the partisan primaries that help decide who governs them.
This September in Washington, leaders from across independent politics and democracy reform will gather alongside independent candidates from across the country. The significance is what becomes possible when an increasingly large but fragmented political ecosystem begins to coordinate.
The NPVIC compact wouldn’t eliminate America’s two-party system, but it could change the way voters think about third-party candidates — replacing state-by-state spoiler fears with a national contest for the most votes.
Election reform can open the door to independent candidates. But without donors, data, staff, and campaign infrastructure, most are still starting from zero.
John Opdycke
Cara Brown McCormick
Robert Pease
Dan Schnur
David Malcolm
Shawn Griffiths
Jay Field
Jeremy Gruber
Christopher Life
Hugh J Campbell Jr.
Russell Dutton