Nonpartisan primaries are dampening polarization, improving governance



<[link removed]>



Hi Friend,



Happy anniversary to California’s Top Two election system! Today, June 8th,
marks the 13-year anniversary ofCalifornia voters saying YES
<[link removed](June_2010)>
to fixing thePrimary Problem.
<[link removed]*1jz1xr1*_gcl_au*NjU4Njk1MTQ2LjE2ODU0OTg2MDc.&_ga=2.54771555.917922493.1686087699-1494872751.1661805048>
In 2010, they approved Proposition 14, which eliminated partisan primaries and
established a top-two nonpartisan primary. This week, the Unite America
Institute isreleasing new research
<[link removed]>
on the effectiveness of California’s top-two system.
 
<> 

🚨Spoiler alert: Top Two is delivering on its promises of better politics and
governance
<[link removed]>
. And as anyone who reads this newsletter knows, we’re all about fixing the
Primary Problemhere at Unite America. So, naturally, we’ve dedicated this
entire edition to California’sPrimary Solution!





How it happened


Back in 2010, millions of Californians didn’t have a meaningful say in
electing their representatives. The problem? Partisan primaries. Because the
vast majority of general elections were noncompetitive (thanks to
gerrymandering and self-sorting of the electorate), the primary was typically
the only election that mattered. If you were a registered Republican in a
bright blue district, you often had no say in who your representative was
because you couldn’t participate in the Democratic primary – where the winner
was almost always chosen. The same was true in deep red districts for
Democrats. In short, thePrimary Problem was alive and well in the Golden State.



Continuing under that system was a recipe for continued dysfunction and
discontent. So a bipartisan coalition of reformers, including formerGov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
<[link removed]>
, formerLt. Gov. Abel Maldonado
<[link removed]>
, and moderate labor and business groups, championed a ballot measure to fix
it: Proposition 14. A majority of Californians voted to give themselves better
representation and a better government, and the rest is history.



In case you missed it: Unite America gave Gov. Schwarzenegger the Champion of
Democracy award for supporting an election system that gives voters better
representation.
 

<[link removed]>  




The impact of Top Two in California
<[link removed]>


Not only did advocates succeed in passing and implementing the reform, but
they were right that it wouldimprove California’s politics by decreasing
polarization and encouraging bipartisanship, among other benefits.
<[link removed]>



We know now that Top Two delivered on those promises… but early data suggested
it didn’t have much of an impact. The reason for that is simple: time. That
early review only looked at the first two election cycles under the new system,
and electoral reform takes time to yield positive results. And let’s not forget
that pre-Top Two, California was themost polarized state in the country. So it
was always unrealistic to expect that California would become a beacon of
bipartisanship in just four years. Better to give it a decade, then circle back.



Thirteen years later, that’s where Unite America Institute’s new, shiny report
<[link removed]>
comes in! With the benefit of more time, Dr. Richard Barton, Unite America
Fellow and Syracuse Professor, finds that Top Two is delivering on many of
those original promises:

* Since 2010, Californians’ approval of state government has soared by 20
points.
* As most state legislatures across the country have gotten more polarized,
particularly Western states,California is one of only five states trending in
the other direction.
* Finally, new legislators elected under top-two were significantly less
extreme than those elected under closed primaries elsewhere.
On that last point, Dr. Barton has a compelling recent example:
 
<[link removed]> 

Now I want to be clear: Top-two nonpartisan primaries are not the panacea for
political dysfunction, but this research shows they’re certainly better than
the status quo. If you want to dive deeper into the findings, be sure tocheck
out the full report
<[link removed]>
. If you want the quick topline takeaways, head to ourblog post
<[link removed]>
andTweet thread
<[link removed]> (and please
share / Retweet!)
 




California isn’t the only state tackling the Primary Problem
<[link removed]>


Last year, the Unite America Institute published similar research on Louisiana
<[link removed]>
, which eliminated partisan primaries in the 1970s. If you haven’t already,
check out Dr. Barton’spiece in Governing
<[link removed]>
explaining how that system is also reducing polarization and improving
governance.



Later this summer, we’ll also take a look at Alaska’s top-four system
<[link removed]>
and how it’s delivering on its promises. Together, the three reports make up
ourSolutions Series — research dedicated to examining nonpartisan election
reform in action. We won’t bury the lede: The research shows thatprimary reform
works. It’s politically viable. And it makes the Primary Problem the most
solvable problem in American politics today.
  


<[link removed]>

<[link removed]>
 



More inspiring stories of reform to come,



Ross
__
Ross Sherman
Unite America Press Director

DONATE <[link removed]>





Want to stop receiving our weekly Three Things Thursday emails? Unsubscribe
<[link removed]>
from Three Things Thursday, orUnsubscribe
<[link removed]>
from all Unite America communications.

Unite America | 1580 Lincoln St Suite #520 Denver, CO 80203
Paid for by Unite America PAC INC.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
www.uniteamerica.org <[link removed]>