NY Times: Democratic Party officials, after a yearslong battle between warring ideological wings, have agreed to sharply reduce the influence of the top political insiders known as superdelegates in the presidential nomination process. Under the new plan, which was agreed … Continue reading
Category Archives: primaries
NYT: [I]n the California Senate [top-two] primary last month, Ms. Feinstein crushed Mr. de León in her bid for a sixth term, drawing 2.9 million votes compared to 804,000 votes for him. But on Saturday night, the executive committee of … Continue reading
Dan Howle and Rob Richie oped in the SD Union-Tribune: We, the Independent Voter Project and FairVote, have and continue to have our different perspectives and opinions about what is the “best” way to conduct our elections. But at a … Continue reading
Richard Winger oped in San Diego Union-Tribune. … Continue reading
Politico: The controversial issue of “superdelegates” and their future in the Democratic Party led to an angry confrontation on Tuesday night between Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and House Democrats, according to several lawmakers. But the members’ angst may … Continue reading
John Myers for LAT: Gamesmanship was everywhere. Could a feared opponent be shut out of a spot on the fall ballot? Might a political party’s leaders convince some hopefuls in crowded races to step aside and thus avoid splitting the … Continue reading
Reid Wilson reports for The Hill. … Continue reading
Dan Balz: Eight years ago, California voters approved a ballot initiative establishing a new open primary system. The new system called for primary contests in which all candidates from all parties would be listed on the same ballot. The top … Continue reading
NYT: With so many Democrats running, the party’s fear is that the vote will be splintered, allowing Republicans — who have fewer candidates — to dominate some primaries. The party and allied groups are spending more than $4 million on … Continue reading
NYT: It was supposed to be a cutting-edge election reform, a way to take the party out of politics: an open primary in which labels like Republican and Democratic were tossed out and candidates were chosen, presumably, on their merits. … Continue reading
David Wasserman for the Cook Political Report: Republicans badly need a few lucky breaks to hold their House majority in November. So far in 2018, it’s been the opposite story — from an unfriendly new Pennsylvania map to Speaker Paul … Continue reading
Alex Burns in the NYT: But in some areas, Democratic leaders have concluded it is worth enduring backlash to help a prized recruit or tame a chaotic primary field. They are moving most aggressively in California, where the state’s nonpartisan primaries present a … Continue reading
John Myers for the LAT: The California primary that’s now less than three months away promises to be the system’s most important test, and possibly its most controversial. Although Democrats have largely consolidated their power behind just a few formidable … Continue reading
The Salt Lake Tribune reports. … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
LAT: There are so many Democrats running for Congress in some districts that they could split the votes in the June 5 primary and send two Republicans to the November election, thanks to California’s top-two primary system. Democrats need 24 … Continue reading
Following up on this post, the NC Legislature has now sought emergency relief in the 4th Circuit. … Continue reading
Des Moines Register: Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential caucuses would break with decades of tradition in 2020 by allowing voters to cast absentee ballots and then releasing the raw total of votes won by each candidate. A Democratic National Committee panel known … Continue reading
As part of the critique I’ve been developing in recent years (e.g., here) over the excessively populist direction of a number of post-1960s political “reforms,” I have turned my attention to raising questions about changes we’ve made to the presidential … Continue reading
CNN covers the expanding GOP civil war. … Continue reading
Ron Klain: That means, first, abolishing caucuses and using only primaries to pick convention delegates. (One exception can be made for the iconic Iowa caucuses.) The selection of a president should not be limited to those voters able to attend … Continue reading
Eric McGhee and Bors Shor in Perspectives on Politics: Party polarization is perhaps the most significant political trend of the past several decades of American politics. Many observers have pinned hopes on institutional reforms to reinvigorate the political center. The Top … Continue reading
Salt Lake Tribune: Gov. Gary Herbert wished aloud Thursday that the Utah Republican Party would drop its lawsuit challenging the state’s new election law, which is driving a wedge between the party’s right wing and moderates. But he concedes that … Continue reading
Eric (“Efficiency Gap”) McGhee and Boris Shor have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Party polarization is perhaps the most significant political trend of the past several decades of American politics. Many observers have pinned hopes on … Continue reading
Brennan Center: Although the 2016 presidential primaries garnered profound dissatisfaction with the nomination process, leading to widespread accusations of unfairness within both parties, most voters will forget our current system’s issues until the 2020 election. But in a new paper, … Continue reading
Tony Gaughan has posted this draft on SSRN (Fordham Law Review). Here is the abstract: Although the presidency is the most powerful public office in the United States, the federal government plays a modest role in presidential elections. Reflecting the … Continue reading
Hawaii petition Montana petition This could well get taken up by the new Supreme Court. … Continue reading
A move in the right direction. (Though I still want to kill the undemocratic caucuses entirely.) … Continue reading
The unanimous opinion is here. I had always read Supreme Court cases like Tashjian and CA Democratic Party v. Jones as standing for the principle that if the party objects to the open or closed nature of a primary, it is unconstitutional … Continue reading
The Herald (Washington state). … Continue reading
FairVote number crunch. … Continue reading
Ken Doyle, (momentarily) freed from the BNA paywall. … Continue reading
Tabatha Abu el-Haj has written this oped for the Philly Inquirer. It begins: As Philadelphia prepares for the coming protests related to the Democratic National Convention – especially those that will proceed without authorization – it is worth remembering that … Continue reading
NYT: Republicans are bracing for the possibility of a drawn-out fight over Donald J. Trump’s nomination that could stretch into the convention next week, a spectacle party leaders are desperate to avoid. As the party’s governing body convened in Cleveland … Continue reading
Jim Bopp in The Hill. … Continue reading
WaPo: A federal judge on Thursday will hear a lawsuit brought by a Virginia delegate to the Republican National Convention who says Democrat Hillary Clinton will win the White House “in a landslide” if Donald Trump is the GOP nominee. … Continue reading
WSJ: Months after Donald Trump appeared to seal the Republican nomination for president, anti-Trump forces still have one last chance to force a vote on the party’s convention floor that would throw open the GOP contest again. It’s a long … Continue reading
Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. … Continue reading
Seth Masket for Pacific Standard. … Continue reading
Ned Foley has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Fordham Law Review). Here is the abstract: For presidential elections, America needs a new National Primary, to be held in June. It would be an intermediate stage between, first, the state-based … Continue reading
Ballotpedia webinar June 16. … Continue reading
Tal Koppan reports for CNN. … Continue reading
Important John Myers for the LAT: The new system has been especially tough on incumbents in the Legislature. In the five elections preceding the new system, only 8% of Assembly members and 2% of state senators faced a challenge from … Continue reading
And very big chance for U.S. Senate to have first African-American woman in U.S. Senate in generation. LAT: California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris was declared the winner of the primary for the state’s open seat U.S. Senate race on Tuesday as a bevy of … Continue reading
Al Hunt: It’s rare that President Obama and Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, agree. In recent weeks, they both have said that the presidential nominating process is not rigged. They are right. But that hasn’t stopped those displeased … Continue reading
Think Progress reports. … Continue reading
Derek Muller SacBee oped. … Continue reading
Jonathan Bernstein: California voters are set to vote in their primary on Tuesday, and will suffer the consequences of a serious self-imposed mistake in how they run their state. No, it has nothing to do with the presidential race. The disaster … Continue reading
Rob Richie for In These Times. … Continue reading
NBC Bay Area: A federal judge rejected on Wednesday a lawsuit by Bernie Sanders supporters who argued elections officials in California were confusing and robbing unaffiliated voters of the chance to vote in the state’s June 7 Democratic presidential primary. … Continue reading