Oklahoma Campaign Goes Into High Gear

The 90-day signature gathering effort for State Question 836 (top two open primaries) is in full swing! Volunteer & hired petitioners are now working hard from the panhandle to Tulsa so every Oklahoman has a chance to sign and have their voice heard. And this week “super volunteer” New Yorker Louis Hinman travelled down to the Sooner state to join them and he reports that the campaign energy is through the roof!

If you live in Oklahoma, please sign up to volunteer! The campaign will train you how to gather signatures - it’s easy, fun, and powerful!  

And if you missed OKC Mayor Holt’s letter in support of the campaign check it out. As the President of the National Council of Mayors, he’s a powerful voice for change.

Click here to read Mayor Holt’s full letter

How Independents Will Save American Politics

In perhaps one of the most backhanded compliments in an article we’ve read in a while, Villanova Professor Howard Lurie recently blamed the state of our politics on the avalanche of independents that have left the Republican and Democratic Parties and left them partisan and dysfunctional in their wake. As he declares, “Independents are good people doing nothing. Doing nothing is what allows evil to triumph.” 

Doing nothing? Independents are organizing and driving reform from coast to coast. 

Now Ballot PA Action reform leader and Open Primaries Spokesperson David Thornburgh has responded with a strong counter:

Click here to read David’s exhaustive rebuttal.

It’s Past Time To Reform Maryland’s Primary Elections

Delegate Qi, who came of age in China’s cultural revolution, represents one of the largest immigrant districts in Maryland and has been widely heralded for energizing immigrant voters through her campaigns. In the following piece, she speaks forcefully of why so many immigrants of color are adverse to party politics, registering as independent voters and then finding their voice wiped out in closed primary elections just as it was in the authoritarian regimes they left behind.

As someone who knows very well what real authoritarianism is and what the promise of democracy demands, Delegate Qi talks about the need to let independents into the election process and why that’s so critical to preserving American democracy.

As Delegate Qi notes:

Read her powerful oped here.

Opening New Mexico’s Primaries: A Roadmap for Reform 

Ten years ago, Open Primaries formed a partnership with New Mexico reform leaders to pass open primaries in the state legislature. This year we succeeded, and on April 7th Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an open primaries bill into law–ensuring over 340,000 registered independent voters will have the right to fully participate in all elections. 

Now, in a newly updated report, we map out why the campaign to open New Mexico’s primaries was successful and how it can serve as a roadmap for future campaigns to achieve lasting political reform.

We found 8 key lessons:

Let Us Vote Kentucky Launches

There are close to 400,000 registered independent voters across the Bluegrass state. That’s over 10% of registered voters in Kentucky (and doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands of independents who join a party against their will simply to be able to vote!)  Unaffiliated, independent and ‘other’ party voters remain the fastest growing segment of Kentucky’s electorate. 

Yet Kentucky has completely closed primaries, one of the few southern states with a closed system.  

That’s why Open Primaries’ Let Us Vote campaign has partnered with independent activist Mark Ritter and a group of independent Kentuckians to launch Let Us Vote Kentucky.

Let Us Vote Kentucky is organizing independent voters in Kentucky from Louisville to Paducah, from Bowling Green to Ashland to speak out in one voice demanding-Let Us Vote. They’ll be working to educate the state legislature, the Republican and Democratic Parties and the public at large and supporting reform.

We’ll keep you updated as this exciting new effort grows.

For Open Primaries 2025 was a year of major wins (New Mexico passed open primaries!), massive growth (Our project Let Us Vote brought on nearly 100,000 new supporters across all 50 states!), and mainstream recognition (more media coverage this year than the last 5 years combined!). But we have even bigger plans for 2026. 

We’re playing THE leadership role in the broad movement of Americans coming together to take control of our elections. 

This work goes beyond important open primary campaign work including: 

• Litigation efforts in 4 states challenging the legality of closed primaries in court w/ an eye to adding more cases in 2026. 
• Building, organizing and energizing an army of independents across the country. Our Operation Independent 2026 campaign will bring hundreds of supporters/activists from 12 states to show up on primary day and get our message (via video) in front of millions of Americans via social media. 
• Playing defense in states where open primaries are under attack including Texas.
• Increasing our ability to get our message and work in front of millions of Americans who are ready to take action but just haven’t met us yet (especially young voters!)

Between now and the end of the year, different Open Primaries team members will be sharing some of the exciting projects/campaigns we’ll be working on in 2026 and asking you to make a special contribution towards our 2026 work. We’re excited for you to hear more and meet the team. It’s a small but mighty impressive group that with your support over the last decade has been able to accomplish so much. 

A tax-deductible gift from you helps us continue this groundbreaking work. Can you give today?

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team