Plus, the “Chaos Caucus” continues



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Hi Friend,



As I mentioned in the last edition
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many of us attended the American Democracy Summit (ADS) in Los Angeles last
month. Massive kudos to our partners at RepresentUs for hosting an amazing
event, andthey have a great recap
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highlights. It’s so important that the democracy reform movement has this space
to connect, talk strategy, and otherwise inspire each other to tackle this
incredibly important work together. It was so energizing to meet folks across
the country who are making a difference in their communities and moving our
country in the direction of truly putting voters first.



Unite America participated in three panels at ADS, from best messaging
practices to the benefits of California’s top-two nonpartisan primary system.
Our Research Assistant Carlo Macombersummarized
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three key takeaways from each panel on our blog.






Partner Spotlight: New Mexico Open Elections wants to open the state’s
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Exciting news: We’re launching our first “Storytelling Series” piece
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As a philanthropic venture fund, Unite America invests in state campaigns and
national organizations working to advance solutions to the “Primary Problem
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partner organization who is driving this work or other in-depth storytelling
pieces that illuminate the Primary Problem in communities across the country.



The first edition of the Storytelling Series is a Partner Spotlight featuring
New Mexico Open Elections (NMOE)
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month, our very own Alana Persson sat down with three members of the NMOE to
hear more about the Primary Problem in New Mexico, and what they’re doing about
it.
 
 

New Mexico has a closed primary system, which means that more than 300,000
New Mexicans registered as independents have no right to participate. That’s
absurd. Every eligible voter should have the freedom to vote for any candidate
in every taxpayer-funded election. To fix this, NMOE is working on passing a
semi-open primaries bill — which would allow independents to vote in either the
Democratic or Republican primary.



To learn more about NMOE’s efforts <[link removed]>, and why
this issue is so important to Sila, Bob, and Perry,check out the Partner
Spotlight <[link removed]>.





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The conservative case for election reform
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Speaking of Unite America partners, our friends at the American Enterprise
Institute are out with a new report: “Conservatives Should Look More Closely at
Systemic Election Reforms
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.” The report makes the point that although Republicans, Democrats, and
independents alike are increasingly disillusioned with our current election
system, Republicans have shown the most suspicion toward changing the system
(although both parties have historically opposed these changes). Oftentimes,
the reason for Republicans’ opposition is a fear that election reform will
disadvantage them, but that’s not the case.



Report author Kevin Kosar puts it well: “In their rush to oppose systemic
election reforms,some on the political right have errantly assumed that
systemic election reforms inevitably elect more liberals. There is no evidence
that this is the case. Indeed, conservatives have won in places that have
enacted systemic election reforms.”



Election reforms that solve the Primary Problem — namely nonpartisan primaries
and instant runoffs — have party-neutral outcomes. And the election reform
movement needs more prominent Republicans, Democrats, and independents to
support the effort.





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The “Chaos Caucus” is still at it
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As of writing, the United States still doesn’t have a Speaker of the House. In
thelast Three Things
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Primary Problem was helping fuel a government shutdown. At the time, eight
House members — which we referred to as the “Chaos Caucus” — were preventing
then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy from getting the votes necessary to avoid an
impending shutdown. Our analysis showed that on average, they were effectively
elected to the U.S. House in partisan primaries by 12% of eligible voters in
their districts — a shocking fact thatWashington Post Columnist Karen Tumulty
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highlighted in a column.



Somewhat unexpectedly, Speaker McCarthy changed course in the final hours
before the deadline, and put a funding bill on the floor that passed with
overwhelming bipartisan support. But before any ink was dry on calling it a win
for consensus, he was ousted from the Speakership by — you guessed it — eight
members of his own party.



Just like the Primary Problem helped explain the shutdown brinkmanship, it
also helps explain the successful effort to oust McCarthy from the speakership.
All eight members who voted to oust McCarthy come from districts that are
considered uncompetitive in the general election. Therefore,this group was
effectively elected to the U.S. House in partisan primaries that were decided
by an average of just 11% of eligible voters in their districts. The votes cast
in these primary elections represent just 0.2% of eligible voters in the
country.



If we want a more functional government capable of solving the country’s
greatest challenges, let alone agreeing on a Speaker or keeping the lights on,
we need to solve the Primary Problem.
  


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Have a great rest of your week,



Ross
__
Ross Sherman

Press Director, Unite America

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