Where do we go from here?
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Hi Friend,
It’s been a big week. The rundown? Well, primary season has officially come to
a close. Alaska’s first Indigenous woman was sworn into Congress. We reflected,
honored, and mourned the lives of those lost twenty-one years ago on the
anniversary of 9/11. And today, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of
International Democracy Day.
There’s a lot to unpack from this last week, so we’ve broken it down for you:
Mary Peltola’s swearing-in marks ANOTHER milestone in Alaska history
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History was made (again) in Alaska this week. On Tuesday, Congresswoman Mary
Peltola officially became the first Alaska Native to serve in the U.S. House of
Representatives and the first woman to hold the state’s sole seat. When
speaking about her victory, Peltola spoke to how Alaska’s new election system —
top four primaries and ranked choice voting (RCV) — is designed to facilitate
the election of candidates who will better represent the overall voting
population than those produced by partisan primaries.
“To have a seat at the table is different…but I am just always reminding
people that I’m not here to represent just the 16% of Alaskans who are Alaska
Natives. I’m here to representall Alaskans,” said Peltola as she was sworn in
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.
Be sure to revisit our four takeaways from the Alaska primary and special
election that was held on August 16
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The bitter end of the 2022 primaries
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Today marks the 15th anniversary of International Democracy Day
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— a day that encourages each of us to do our part to secure freedoms, protect
the rights of all people, and safeguard fair elections. In honor of this day,
let us reflect on the words shared by United Nations Secretary-General António
Guterres:
Join Unite America this Democracy Day in supporting Team Democracy’s Safe and
Fair Elections Pledge <[link removed]>.
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The bitter end of the 2022 primaries
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Primary season has wrapped up in America. The outcome? The least competitive
election cycle in our lifetime. Nick Troiano, Executive Director of Unite
America, put it best during a recent interview with MSNBC,
“I think we spend a lot of time focused on who we elect and not enough time on
howwe elect…In our last election, only 10 percent of Americans elected 83
percent of Congress because the vast majority of our elections are decided not
in the general election in November but in the primary election — and that
problem is getting even worse this election cycle after the latest round of
redistricting. We’re going to have the least competitive elections of our
lifetime, which is going to lead to the least accountable Congress of our
lifetime, so if we want different outcomes out of Congress we have to change
the process.”
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Just how much worse will this primary season be? That number is still being
determined, but we expect it to be worse than 2020 when just 10 percent of
Americans effectively elected 83 percent of Congress.Stay tuned for the
official release of this year’s primary problem impact on democracy.And more
importantly, stay tuned for more about the exciting reform efforts happening
across the country, including updates on the ballot initiative in Nevada that
would help solve the Primary Problem in the Silver State.
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Alana
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Alana Persson
Unite America
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Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
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