Effort to Close the Primaries Heats up in Indiana 

A new Indiana House Bill (1029) has been introduced by Rep. Michelle Davis who wants to make Indiana a closed primary state by forcing ALL voters to affiliate with a party in order to vote in primary elections. 

Indiana joins a host of efforts across several states to close primaries, but it goes even further–voters would be forced to file an official “party affiliation form” by 12/31 (for a May primary election!)--which means that many first-time voters who wait until the voter registration deadline will have already missed their window to declare a party and participate in that year's primary. 

As Adrienne Slash from ReCenter Indiana put it:

If you live in Indiana and want to participate in our efforts to defeat this bill, please email Doug Balder at [email protected].

OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma Campaign Refiles as State Question 836 

Supporters of open primaries in Oklahoma announced today they have refiled their initiative petition as State Question 836. This step was taken as a precautionary measure to clarify any concerns regarding presidential electors in their original petition (SQ 835) and to strengthen the petition’s language. While supporters and petitioners firmly believe SQ 835 was well crafted, they say they are seeking to leave no room for misinterpretation.

The campaign plans to launch a signature-gathering drive in 2025 and continues to engage with voters statewide to build support for the initiative. If you’re in Oklahoma, you can join the campaign to let all voters vote HERE.

New Documentary The Last Republican is a Must Watch

Last weekend the Open Primaries Education Fund hosted the SOLD OUT premiere of the new documentary film The Last Republican in New York City at the Film Forum. The movie brings together two men who share almost no political views: progressive director & screenwriter Steve Pink (Hot Tube Time Machine, High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank) and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger to give viewers an inside look at Kinzinger’s “country before party” courage after January 6th, the hearings on Capitol Hill, and his subsequent banishment from the Republican Party.

It’s an intimate, revealing, powerful (and oftentimes hilarious) documentary that shows the realities of our hyperpartisan politics. 

“At times it seems like exhortations to “reach across the aisle” and “heal political divisions” have become platitudes, clichés without any firm ideas about how that might be accomplished. But the combative camaraderie that Pink and Kinzinger demonstrate respects both of them as humans — without softening their stances one bit. I hope to see more films like this one in the years to come.”

–Alissa Wilkinson, NY TIMES FILM REVIEW (1/3/2025)

Open Primaries President John Opdycke moderated a lively and energetic discussion (and audience Q&A) with Pink and Kinzinger after the film showing. 

We will keep you posted on its wider release. Stay tuned!

Open Primary Advocates Must Embrace the Historic Principles of Change

2024 was a historic year for our movement: 7 state-level campaigns and one municipal, millions of voters declaring their support for open primaries, new leaders emerging across the country and primary elections for the first time at the center of the national reform debate. But with 6 out of 8 campaigns failing at the ballot box, it’s also an important moment of reflection. Open Primaries Senior VP Jeremy Gruber weighs in on how we need to embrace a core set of principles that have nourished every successful change movement in America if we’re going to grow into a winning movement ourselves:

It’s also time that funders and local and national activist leaders alike make–as Gruber puts it–a “grand bargain.” The same “grand bargain” that has fueled prior winning movements.

Read How in the Full Article in the Fulcrum here.

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team