At long last, a week without a sports metaphor
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Hi Friend,

 

In Texas this week, Jake Elizey (R) defeated Susan Wright (R) in a runoff
election to win the seat representing the 6th Congressional District. 

 

Just under 39,000 citizens voted in the race — in a district of about 554,000.
That’s just 7% of the district, and a 50% decrease in turnout compared to the
number of people who voted in the special election in May. 

 

If you’ve ever wondered why your representatives don’t seem to be representing
you, look no further. They’re representing the 7% of voters who elected them.

 

Luckily, the reform movement has the solutions needed to put voters first.
Check them out in this week’s Three Things. 

What we have to gain from Final-Five Voting
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In The Washington Examiner
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this week, R Street Fellow Matthew Germer tackles the question head on,
answering questions about how primary reforms like Final-Five Voting (which
combine a top-five primary with a ranked choice voting general election) could
help to reduce partisanship and increase consensus building in our lawmakers. 

 

Germer argues, “In a top-four or final-five system, however, elected officials
not only need to shore up their base, but they also must ensure that no
candidate from their own party outflanks them from the middle.It is hard to
overstate how significant a departure from the status quo this change would be.”



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The "Red Dog" Republicans
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There’s a growing divide in the Republican Party, as the events of January 6th
are split between those who are trying to rewrite history and cast blame
elsewhere, and those who are willing to stand up for the truth. This week, the
Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin
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unpacks how election reform could make iteasier for the Red Dog Republicans —
those who believe in democratic principles and increasingly find themselves at
odds with Republican leadership — to survive in politics. 

 

Rubin writes, “If the top four or five candidates (regardless of party) made
it to the general election, a conservative Democrat or pro-democracy Republican
might have a shot at winning. The ability to draw other candidates’ second or
third choices gives the advantage to candidates closer to the political center
and penalizes radicals at either end of the spectrum.”



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What our friends in Virginia are up to
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In case you’ve missed it, Virginia has been moving over the last few years,
taking the Commonwealth from a restrictive place to vote, to a place where
voters come first. Virginia has expanded absentee voting, introduced a ranked
choice voting pilot program, and critically, created a redistricting commission
to ensure that politicians can’t gerrymander  legislative maps. 

 

But there’s still a lot to be done. In the Virginian-Pilot
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 this week, Unite Virginia Executive Director Matt Scoble writes about the
voters first efforts happening on the ground in Virginia. Read the full piece
here
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.



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Brett
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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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