Veterans carry a credibility that no party label can manufacture, and at a moment when nearly every institution has shed public trust, it is the one identity that still commands broad, cross-partisan respect.
This isn't a candidate who left one party for the other. It's a candidate who spent time in both, looked around, and decided that the incentives that govern both are the fundamental problem.
If she advances past the Top Two primary, it would be more than a local upset. It would be evidence that something structural has shifted in American politics. It’ll also say something important about California’s nonpartisan primary system.
Duggan’s story is not a new one. Independent candidates across the country have run into the same wall, with many never even making it to Election Day.
Independent candidates surge in several states, while 30% of independent voters are so unhappy with their choices that they plan to sit out the midterm election entirely.
How first-past-the-post voting turned a primary election into accusations of planted candidates, strategic surrenders, and a Democrat who ran to withdraw.
Impeachments. Wave elections. Gerrymandered maps. A stolen election that never was. Frustration with leadership. The reasons House members abandon their parties mid-term are as varied as the members themselves.
On March 9, 2026, US Rep. Kevin Kiley held a press conference and announced he was breaking up with the GOP. With that, Kiley became the only capital "I" Independent in the House
Wondering how a major political figure walks away from power, and what that says about the system behind the scenes? This episode unpacks Tim Walz’s decision to step aside in Minnesota and how allegations around daycare funding brought to light by YouTuber Nick Shirley have cracked open a wide-open
The American River connects the cities of Folsom, Rancho Cordova, and Citrus Heights, forming the core of California’s 7th Assembly District, which also includes the unincorporated communities of McClellan Park, North Highlands, Foothill Farms, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Gold River, Rosemont, Mather, an
Matt Shinners
Cara Brown McCormick
Independent Voter Podcast