It’s also the first anniversary of Alaska’s special election results



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Hi Friend,



It’s hard to believe that August (and summer) is almost over. Wherever you
are, I hope you’re getting ready to enjoy the long Labor Day weekend and soak
up these last weeks of warm weather. As for me, I’m headed up to the Colorado
mountains this weekend to knock out a couple more “14ers <[link removed]>”.



Before I get into Three Things, I wanted to share a quick dispatch from the
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Summit, which a
few of my colleagues attended. NCSL holds this summit every year, and because
it’s the nation’s largest bipartisan convening of state legislators and staff,
it’s a great opportunity to talk to key decision makers about our reforms.



At our booth (pictured below), my colleagues spoke to legislators from all the
states that ban independents from voting in primaries. It was clear there was
an appetite for reform among that group since they’ve all lived thePrimary
Problem <[link removed]> and have first-hand
experience of how it distorts our politics. Our Research & Outreach Director
Beth Hladick also participated in a panel discussion appropriately titled
“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Primaries,” alongside Wyoming State
Sen. Cale Case and Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.



All in all, the Summit demonstrated there's cross-partisan support for solving
thePrimary Problem <[link removed]> in the spirit of
a more functional and representative government.
 
 




The Primary Problem with last week’s GOP debate
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Did you watch the first GOP debate of the presidential primary season last
week? I did, because I wanted to hear the candidates’ vision for the country.
But even before they took the stage, we knew more or less how it was going to
play out.



Let’s call it the Primary Problem with presidential primaries. In our current
presidential primary system, candidates only need to win a small fraction of
the electorate in order to secure the nomination of their party. As our
Executive DirectorNick Troiano said to Yahoo News
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, “They’ll take positions popular with the fringes of the party — because all
the system requires for them to win is a small percentage of Republican voters
in a handful of early primary states. Many of those same positions, though, are
drastically out of step with a majority of voters.”



Consider this: In 2016, about 1.3 million Republicans cast ballots in the
all-important early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
That’s a mere 1% of the 137 million Americans who voted in the general election
that year.



A better system is possible — one that ensures both nominees reflect the
majority of the electorate, orat least a majority of voters within each party.
Unite America co-chair and former Fortune 250 CEO Kent Thiry recently penned a
piece inThe Hill
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with a powerful solution: requiring instant runoffs for presidential primaries.





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One year ago today, Alaska made history with its Primary Solution
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You might remember that following the sudden death of former Rep. Don Young
last year, Alaska held its first election under the new top-four nonpartisan
primary system in August. And on August 31, 2022, the results of Alaska’s
historic special election were announced. In that election, Democrat Rep. Mary
Peltola squeaked out a victory over former Gov. and Vice Presidential Candidate
Sarah Palin. Many commentators were surprised by the result, wondering… How the
heck did a Democrat win in Alaska? Isn’t Alaska a deep red state?

The answer is… not exactly. In fact, Peltola’s win demonstrates how Alaska’s
top-four system is more likely to produce winning candidates that better
reflect voters. It also changes the incentives for candidates. Rather than only
needing the support of their most fervent base to win, candidates instead need
to speak to a broader swath of the electorate. Peltola accomplished that task
more effectively, consistently highlighting her bipartisan credentials,
complimenting her opponents, and generally running on a more unifying platform
— all of which may have doomed her in a partisan Democratic primary.



The final vote confirmed the success of this strategy. In the three-way race,
Peltola led Palin by nine percentage points, but didn’t have the majority
required to win. In the instant runoff, the third candidate (Nick Begich, a
Republican) was eliminated. Nearly 30% of his supporters ranked Peltola second
over Palin, which was enough to put Peltola over the 50% threshold and secure
victory. So for those wondering why Palin lost, it’s pretty simple: If she had
the support of a majority of Alaskans, she would have won.


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Source: The Washington Post
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The Peltola special election wasn’t an anomaly. In Alaska’s 2022 general
election, voters also elected statewide candidates that reflect the state’s
ideological diversity: reelecting Peltola, as well as their conservative
Republican governor and moderate Republican senator.





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RepresentWomen’s 2023 gender parity index
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For 10 years, our partner RepresentWomen <[link removed]> has
published its Gender Parity Index (GPI) to track America’s progress toward
gender-balanced governance and identify opportunities for increasing women’s
political representation in the U.S.



The findings from this year’s GPI are… not where they should be. This line
sums it up: “In 2023 men hold 72% of all seats in Congress, and the increases
in women’s representation are so minimal that most of us won’t live to see
gender balance in government.”



The report recommends implementing structural changes to our elections in
order to balance the playing field more rapidly. For example, instant runoffs
in Maine played a key role in the state’s #1 ranking and “A” grade in the
report. Similarly, Alaska improved its ranking following passage of its
top-four nonpartisan primary system.
 


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Finally, I have a reminder: The American Democracy Summit is happening
September 27-29 in Los Angeles. The Summit (formerly known as the Unrig Summit)
is the premiere right-left event to solve America’s political crisis. More info
about the event can be foundhere <[link removed]>
, and you canbuy a discounted ticket
<[link removed]> using the code
BETTERDEMOCRACY.


Ross
__
Ross Sherman
Press Director, Unite America

DONATE <[link removed]>





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