<[link removed]>



Legislators in South Carolina and Tennessee Target Open Primaries



The call to close primary elections in the South is accelerating. Last year, Louisiana moved to dismantle <[link removed]> many of its nonpartisan primaries and replace them with partisan ones (but efforts to keep them open <[link removed]> to independent voters succeeded). West Virginia similarly followed suit-closing its primaries to independents altogether.  Now legislation is moving in South Carolina and Tennessee to follow their lead.

In South Carolina, legislation to close the primaries <[link removed]> had a hearing Wednesday with several GOP candidates for Governor jumping in to support it. The bills are already exposing a rift in the party, though, that may stall the bills in committee. Governor McMaster has threatened to veto any closed primary bill. Open Primaries has been working closely with allies on the ground to support their testimony. 

Meanwhile, bills to close the primaries in Tennessee were pushed up for a committee vote this week and then pulled after similar intra-party strife within the GOP. Long-time Open Primaries activist/supporter and military veteran Shannon Rasmussen had this to say about the debate in Nashville.

<[link removed]>If you or someone you know lives in South Carolina or Tennessee and wants to help defend open primaries, contact us at [email protected].





The 90-day petitioning effort to put Open Primaries backed State Question 836 <[link removed]> (top two open primaries) on the 2026 ballot has entered its final week and hundreds of volunteers and professional gatherers are going for broke. New volunteers and funders are joining the effort EVERY DAY now - OP staff and volunteers included!

NEWSFLASH: Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt joined the campaign to petition for a day! Also read the Oklahoma Gazette’s feature piece on why 836 matters. <[link removed]>

If you want to hit the streets with us, s <[link removed]>ign up here. <[link removed]> Live in OK and want to sign?-Here’s a list of where we’ll be gathering signatures. <[link removed]> Can’t sign but want to help? Donate here <[link removed]>.



New Gallup Numbers On Independent Voters Drive Backlash

As we reported last week, Gallup found <[link removed]> that a record 45 percent of Americans consider themselves political independents. Self-identified Democrats and Republicans each represent a dismal 27 percent.



Data from Gallup shows this trend is only intensifying. 54 percent of millennials and 56 percent of Gen-Zers now call themselves independents.



Those numbers are causing traditional pundits and media politicos a lot of agita and they’re working overtime to try and put the genie back in the bottle.

Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson argued in the NY Times <[link removed]> that  “most voters who identify as independents do go on, when pressed, to say they lean more toward one party than the other” and Trump confidant Dick Morris argued on Newsmax <[link removed]> that the rise of independent voters was a Democratic not Republican Party “problem.”

Meanwhile, the AP (in otherwise thoughtful coverage <[link removed]>) and Sinclair News <[link removed]> declared the rise of independents to clearly benefit Democrats and CBS News political director Fin Gomez minimized independents as “soft partisans <[link removed]>.”

But within all the traditional lenses and delegitimizing language, something new is brewing. All the commentators we listened to admitted that the trend towards independence was permanent and growing. As Anderson noted:





Fight To Protect Independents Continues in Maryland

OP Director of National Organizing, Cathy Stewart, who helped organize Maryland independent voters to come out strong to testify for their rights at redistricting hearings, was featured in the Baltimore Sun <[link removed]> this week. She argued that redistricting, combined with Maryland’s closed primaries, would shut out independent voters from any serious impact on state elections. As she noted:



ICYMI: We are challenging Maryland’s closed primary in court. Catch up on the latest coverage of all our cases across the country on our new litigation portal <[link removed]>.



Solutions Are Right In Front Of Us



Landon Mascareñaz, CEO of Courageous Colorado <[link removed]>, has a great piece <[link removed]> out in Colorado Politics, declaring that while the politicians and parties appear stymied by political dysfunction, the crisis is solvable and the solutions-electoral reforms from open primaries to campaign finance reform- are right in front of us. As he notes:







Gallup just released a new poll <[link removed]> with a striking finding: a record-high 45% of Americans now identify as independents—and that number continues to rise year after year.

Many of those independents are military veterans-almost half of whom are independent. 

While the DC ecosphere downplays these trends, across the country, a new generation of serious, viable independent candidates is working to give voice to the growing number of voters who are out of sorts with the status quo.  It’s hard!   American politics is not designed for voters and candidates who don’t fit neatly into the two-party playbook. Independents get called “ spoilers” by journalists, partisans…even reformers!  

But America’s veterans still command much credibility across divides. Can independent veterans help lead the way to something new?

For our first Primary Buzz of 2026, we’re introducing you to leaders on the front lines of this emerging conversation.  

Paul Rieckhoff—America’s leading veterans advocate and Founder and former CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)—has launched Independent Veterans of America to support Veterans who want to run for elected office as independents.  Paul is opinionated, patriotic, fiercely independent and is both a regular on CNN and MSNBC and hosts the popular podcast Independent Americans.  

Paul will be joined with other special guests to be announced soon! 

2026 is the year of the Independent.

Join the conversation—and be part of what comes next.

<[link removed]>RSVP <[link removed]>Have a great weekend, 

The Open Primaries Team

<[link removed]> <[link removed]> <[link removed]> <[link removed]> <[link removed]>Open Primaries · 244 Madison Ave, #1106, New York, NY 10016, United States
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