Independent Voter Podcast

California’s Election Will Be DECIDED by These Voters (NOT Who You Think) - EP63

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:30:00 +0000

California’s elections are right around the corner, and IVP's own polling proves that independents are the voters with the power to control the outcome. Chad, Cara, and Ethan dig into the data behind Prop 39's voter ID fight and why it's not the fair contest it looks like on paper.

The crew opens by walking through why IVP's statewide surveys are catching things the big outlets miss, then puts that polling power to work on California's ballot. They break down Prop 41's push for an independent auditor on special taxes, then spend real time on the Insurance Commissioner race between Jane Kim and Ben Allen, where 67% of voters in IVP's poll couldn't decide between two very different Democrats. From there it's a deep dive into Prop 39: IVN's own split-test data shows the ballot title's use of the word "prohibit" shifted results by 15 to 20 points, enough to potentially flip the outcome, and the team argues it's a textbook case of partisan ballot manipulation hiding in plain sight.

Independent Voter Podcast now has its own YouTube channel! If you enjoy these conversations, subscribe to our dedicated channel for full episodes, interviews, and future content: https://youtube.com/@IndependentVoterPodcast

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

https://ivn.us

https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – The Poll That Says Independents Decide This Election

00:04:50 – Prop 40's Ad Blitz and the Prop 41 Nobody Mentions

00:08:04 – Will Republicans Vote for a Democrat?

00:11:16 – What Prop 39 Actually Does, and What the Ballot Says

00:14:29 – Who Writes the Ballot Title, and What Happened in Maine

00:18:10 – Democrat vs Democrat: The Mailers and the Endorsement That's Missing

00:23:59 – Musk's $366 Million and the Money on Both Sides

00:27:16 – Alaska, the Grok Lego Order, and Movie Reviews

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How Trump’s LA Bombing “Troll” EXPOSES Our Broken Elections (Politics Explained) - EP62

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000

A Trump rally clip has Los Angeles and San Diego in the crosshairs, and the most shocking part is that the crowd was cheering. Cara, Shawn, and Ethan break down what he actually said, what got cut from the viral version, and why both sides keep weaponizing clips like this to deepen the divide.

The hosts open with the Iran bombing comment controversy, unpacking the full context (it came during a riff on oil prices) and whether the media's selective editing is just as corrosive as the original remark. From there they dig into IVP's new California survey, where Prop. 39's voter ID measure sits at a razor-thin 43% to 40% with Democrats making up most of the undecided 17%.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – Cold Open: Trump, Iran, and a Crowd That Cheered

00:03:23 – Iran's Real Capabilities and the Troll Presidency

00:07:10 – Both Parties Spin It: Trust and the New IVP Poll

00:11:30 – Prop 39 Wording, Free IDs, and India's 130 Million Purge

00:15:13 – Texas Suspends a Million Voters, and November Turnout

00:18:30 – The Insurance Commissioner Test: How Framing Moves Voters

00:22:38 – Tom Steyer, Bernie Sanders, and the DSA's California Map

00:27:34 – Prop 50, Gerrymandering, and the Fight for CA-22

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The Veteran Suing New York for the Right to Vote (Paul Rieckhoff) - EP61

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 23:04:17 +0000

Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Independent Veterans of America and now the face of a growing independent-veteran movement, just became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against New York State's closed primary system, and he's joined by his attorney (and IVP host) Chad Peace to explain why.

Rieckhoff tells the personal story that pushed him into this fight: walking his kids to their New York City public school on primary day and having to explain to his seven-year-old why dad, a combat veteran and 9/11 first responder, isn't allowed to vote. Chad, Cara McCormick, and Shawn Griffiths connect that story to the bigger picture, including how Zohran Mamdani's administration and the Democratic Socialists of America have blocked open primary reform through New York's Charter Revision Commission, and how Texas Republicans are now trying to close their own primaries for the opposite partisan reason.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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To sign on to the New York lawsuit, go to https://letvetsvote.org You can learn more about his organization, Independent Veterans of America, at https://independentveteransofamerica.org and find his own show, Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff, at https://www.IndependentAmericans.us.

Chapters:

0:00 The Veteran Who Can't Vote – Suing New York

2:25 From the GI Bill to Independent Veterans of America

4:47 45% and Growing – Why Independents Won't Build a Party

7:12 In New York, the Primary Is the Whole Ballgame

9:17 "Dad, How Come You Can't Vote?" – New York as the Beachhead

11:29 What You Can Actually Do – LetVetsVote

13:42 The Real Spoilers – How the DSA Slammed the Door

16:04 The Parties Did This to Themselves – The Charter Revision Fight

18:18 Shame Them Into Action – The Full Spectrum Fight

21:09 Demographics Is Destiny – The Future Is Independent

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Trump & Mamdani Agree on This One Issue (NOT What You Think) - EP60

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Trump and Zohran Mamdani just had round two at Gracie Mansion, all smiles and charm. The IVP crew says the real story isn't the photo op, it's the primary system that manufactured two "ideological extremes" who now have to govern together.

Chad, Cara, Shawn, and Ethan open by unpacking why Trump and Mamdani's rhetoric is scorched-earth in public but strangely cordial in person, and connect it to Katherine Gehl's recent argument about incentive structures in politics. Then comes a big on-air announcement: Independent Voter Project is filing a new federal lawsuit challenging closed primaries in New York, with veteran advocate Paul Rieckhoff as lead plaintiff. Shawn also digs into a deceptive Alaska ad campaign trying to roll back the state's open primary system.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00 – Trump and Mamdani at Gracie Mansion

02:52 – Katherine Gehl and the Incentive to Be Extreme

05:17 – The Same Closed Primary Playbook, Left and Right

07:19 – How DSA and MAGA Captured Their Parties

09:50 – Prop 50, Valadao, and the Cows They Cut Out

14:11 – Announcement: Suing Over New York's Closed Primaries

16:24 – Citizenship or Party Membership?

18:28 – Alaska's Ballot Measure 2 and the Dark Money Ad

21:18 – AI, Tomatoes, and a Super PAC Run by Bots

24:52 – VoterCount.ai and Sign-Off

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How California's Top-Two Primary Puts DSA vs. Democrats to the Test (Steve Peace) - EP59

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

California's top-two primary was built for exactly this moment: DSA-backed Democrats facing off against the party's moderate wing in front of the entire electorate, not just a partisan base. The man who wrote that law, former state senator Steve Peace, joins Cara McCormick to break down whether his system is working the way he designed it.

Steve Peace, author of California's top-two primary, walks through the wave of Democrat-on-Democrat races reshaping the state, including Orange County's AD68 fight between DSA-recommended Jesse Lopez and moderate David Penaloza (who finished the primary within a thousand votes of each other) and the South Bay's AD66 battle between Paul Seo, known for his weekly town-hall "coffee klatches," and DSA-backed Sara Dean. Peace argues these races are the real test of nonpartisan primaries, since Republicans and independents, not just Democratic insiders, now get a say in who wins. He digs into why "moderate" candidates often struggle to define a positive agenda, cites polling showing a striking share of Democrats say they'd back a candidate their own party did NOT endorse, and lays out his core argument that partisan primaries, not the parties themselves, are the root cause of Congress's dysfunction.

The Independent Voter Podcast now has its own YouTube channel! If you enjoy these conversations, subscribe to our dedicated channel for full episodes, interviews, and future content: https://youtube.com/@IndependentVoterPodcast

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

https://ivn.us

https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

0:00 – Why Four Democrat vs. Democrat Races Matter

2:28 – Top Two Sends Both Democrats to a Bigger Electorate

4:59 – Orange County, Muddy Platforms and What Are You For

8:59 – Where Progressive Came From and Why Finality Is Anti-Democratic

11:28 – AD66 and the Case for Listening Over Talking

15:26 – Why Republicans Might Vote for DSA Candidates

18:43 – A Third of Democrats Skip the Party's Pick

22:01 – Fear, AI Panic and Solving Everything in a Week

25:56 – Partisan Primaries Are the Problem

31:46 – The Imperial Presidency and a Congress That Stopped Legislating

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How Trump's Own Mail-In Voting Rule Could BACKFIRE on Republicans - EP58

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The fight over President Trump’s mail-in voting rule continues to escalate: a whistleblower leak says just one bad envelope could get an entire batch of mail ballots sent back, threatening to derail elections in states that already have ballots prepared for the midterms.

Chad, Shawn, and Ethan dig into the real mechanics of the USPS rule now tied up in its third round of injunctions, from the barcode and voter-list requirements to the states'-rights argument that could ultimately doom it at the Supreme Court. From there they connect the dots to Missouri, where the state Supreme Court just forced officials back to the old 2022 congressional map for the general election after a last-minute Secretary of State maneuver blew up. The conversation pivots to Fareed Zakaria's new mainstream case for opening up primaries to independents, and why Chad thinks "imperial presidency" might be the wrong label for what's really going on. They close out with California's messiest primary fights, where Democratic Socialists and moderate Democrats are battling it out and independent voters could decide who wins, plus a quick note on San Francisco Democrats voting down their own billionaire tax.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:00 Trump's Mail Ballot Order – What Voters Are Actually Hearing

00:02:56 Barcodes, Batches – What the New USPS Rule Requires

00:07:47 Federalizing Elections – Should Republicans Want This?

00:10:09 One Bad Actor Can Affect Fifty States

00:12:29 States Are Already Setting Their Own Mail Rules

00:15:23 Curious Timing – Missouri and the Last Minute Map Fight

00:18:50 Fareed Zakaria Catches Up to the Primary Problem

00:21:25 Imperial Presidency or Populist Presidency?

00:25:46 Independence Is a Mindset, Not an Ideology

00:28:09 DSA vs. Moderate Democrats – Independents Decide California

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The Democratic Party Told Him To DROP OUT. He Said No. (Antonio Villaraigosa) - EP57

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

When the polls said two Republicans might take the top two spots, California Democratic Party leadership went to work getting Democrats out of the governor's race. Antonio Villaraigosa was one of them. He said no - and he says the whole thing left a black mark on the party.

The first Latino mayor of Los Angeles, former Speaker of the California Assembly, and recent candidate for governor sits down with the Independent Voter Podcast and doesn't flinch. He walks through the pressure campaign on himself, Xavier Becerra, Tony Thurmond and Betty Yee, why he never believed the two-Republican scenario for a single second, and what it says about a party that spent its money on polls instead of turnout. Along the way he goes after the $40 trillion national debt, the Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget ask, and tax cuts he says the country can't afford - plus why he thinks independence is a mindset, not a party registration.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – One of Them Is Going to Be Governor

00:00:28 – If You Want to Be Loved, Get a Dog

00:01:55 – $40 Trillion and the Cost of War

00:04:09 – Missing Obama and a Distorted Economy

00:05:11 – Independence Is a Mindset, Not a Party

00:07:40 – The Pressure to Get Out of the Race

00:09:53 – The Chair Was Wrong and It Cost Them

00:12:34 – Voter ID, Prop 39 and the SAVE Act

00:14:27 – Punished for Not Joining a Party

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The TRUTH About Trump’s New USPS Ballot Rule (It’s Complicated) - EP56

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

President Trump just handed the Postal Service veto power over your mail-in ballot, and Chad and Cara can't agree on whether that's chaos, overreach, or both. This episode, the crew untangles what the USPS's new ballot rule actually does, why the Supreme Court's ruling this week is more limited than the headlines suggest, and why Cara thinks Republicans are abandoning their own Tenth Amendment principles to get it.

From there, the conversation shifts to California, where a new constitutional amendment, ACA 24, could guarantee every voter regardless of party the right to participate in publicly funded elections, and where Cara lays out exactly how Democratic and Republican operatives quietly teamed up to try to kill the state's open-primary system after record-breaking turnout. The hosts also dig into the Pentagon's firing of Stars and Stripes' editor-in-chief and a Middle East reporter after they defended the paper's editorial independence, a First Amendment fight with deep roots in military history. Stick around for the final few minutes, where a resurfaced 2013 courthouse video turns into one of the pettier storylines of the Texas Senate race.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00 – What the USPS Ballot Rule Actually Says

02:28 – Where Are the Tenth Amendment Conservatives?

05:06 – The Supreme Court Didn't Do What You Think

08:13 – Hyperbole vs. Real Risk to Your Ballot

10:49 – Take a Breath, the Rule Isn't in Force

14:24 – California's New Right to Vote Amendment

17:50 – Colluding to Lock Out 6 Million Voters

23:08 – What ACA 24 Would Actually Guarantee

29:36 – The Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes

33:04 – Ken Paxton, Closed Primaries, and a Stolen Pen

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From Bartender to Bush’s War Room & 50 Years in GOP Politics (Anne Dunsmore) - EP55

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Anne Dunsmore has been in the room for nearly 50 years of American politics, and it all started because she lost a bet in a D.C. bar.

She sits down with Chad Peace and Cara McCormick to tell her story: working the floor with James Baker and Margaret Tutwiler on George H.W. Bush's 1980 campaign, turning around Pete Wilson's reelection from what she calls an "Exxon Valdez" moment, and raising $1.2 billion alongside Michael Ovitz to rebuild UCLA after the Northridge earthquake. Along the way she talks fundraising for Muhammad Ali, being one of the only women in rooms full of "cavemen," and why she never needed to be an ideologue to be effective. By the end, Chad and Cara land on the idea that independent thinkers aren't just riding the tide of American politics, they're the disruption itself.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

0:00 – Independence of Mindset, Not Ideology

2:17 – I Lost a Bet in a Bar

4:18 – Upstairs to Where Jim Baker Was Sitting

6:42 – Oregon, Then California for Good

9:03 – Scheduler or Fundraiser: What They Let Women Do

11:25 – In the Room, With an Opinion

13:44 – Angel Force and the Number Nobody Believes

16:08 – One Suicide Changes 135 Lives

18:19 – The Disconnect Between Leadership and Reality

20:59 – We're the Rogue Wave

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Border Patrol STOPPED Her: Becoming a US Citizen LEGALLY is Harder Than Ever - EP54

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

IVP's own producer just became a U.S. citizen, and she's sitting down with Chad and Cara to talk about what it actually took, and what it felt like the moment she finally got to register to vote.

Lina Alvarez walks Chad and Cara through her path from a marriage-based green card to studying all 128 U.S. civics questions to passing her citizenship test this month, including the multi-year "removal of conditions" process most Americans never hear about. She describes how the naturalization process changed under the second Trump administration, including processing delays, lost visibility into her case, and a tense moment of being pulled aside for extra document checks at the U.S. border. From there, Chad connects her story to the data driving IVP's coverage all year: nearly 650,000 No Party Preference voters who had never cast a ballot in an off-year primary turned out this cycle, an unprecedented surge. The conversation turns personal and sharper when Cara adds her own gut-punch comparison and a story about a sitting California state senator who still carries her passport everywhere just in case.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:20 – Lina, our Producer Steps Out From Behind the Camera

00:01:40 – Mastery of 128 Questions: The Civics Exam Journey

00:02:43 – Marriage-Based Paths and the Long "Removal of Conditions" Wait

00:04:48 – Analyzing the Surge of Latino Participation in California

00:05:51 – A New Voter’s Dilemma: Party Choice and Independence

00:07:24 – Immediate Registration: The Unique California Experience

00:09;23 – Mobilizing 650,000 NPP Voters through IVP’s Massive Outreach

00:19;05 – Navigating Processing Delays and Visibility Gaps Under Trump

00:21:30 – Tense Encounters: Pulled Aside for Extra Border Checks

00:28:39 – More Choice California Gains LA Times Front-Page Spotlight

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Why Rick Bennett Left the GOP to Run for Governor of Maine (NOT What You Think) - EP53

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 23:23:25 +0000

Rick Bennett climbed to the top of Maine's Republican Party - President of the Senate - and now he's running for governor without a party at all. His reasoning is blunt: the parties themselves are a major reason government stopped working.

Chad and Cara sit down with the independent candidate for Governor of Maine to talk about why a lifelong Republican with the credentials to play the party game decided to walk away from it. Rick lays out Maine's affordability crisis, the endorsements rolling in from Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, and why he thinks the "spoiler" question is the wrong argument entirely. From there it goes places most election-reform conversations don't: no-bid contracts, a state auditor's report on MaineCare violations, spending up nearly 80% in a decade, and a legislature that hasn't held a public hearing on the budget in six years. Then Cara and Rick get into the federal lawsuit they're both intervening in - and what the other side actually argued out loud in front of the First Circuit.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

00:00:45 – Full Disclosure: Why Chad Broke His Own Rule

00:01:47 – Rick Bennett: From Republican Senate President to Independent Candidate

00:03:25 – Maine's Political Tradition & The Affordability Crisis

00:04:47 – Cara's Origin Story: How the Spoiler Problem Led Her to RCV

00:06:20 – Independent Governors in Maine: It's Been Done Before

00:08:03 – Spoiling for Whom? The Whole System Is Corrupt

00:09:48 – Beyond RCV: Inspector General, No-Bid Contracts & the Public Purse

00:13:19 – Should the Secretary of State Be Nonpartisan?

00:15:32 – Super PAC Reform & The First Circuit Court Fight

00:19:35 – The California Initiative That Could Work in Maine Too

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Elon Musk's $1.5 Million Attack on Ranked Choice Voting in Alaska - EP52

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Elon Musk just quietly put $1.5 million behind a network aimed at killing Alaska's top-four open primary. The kicker: the same measure would repeal the transparency law that let anyone find out he paid for it.

Then the crew digs into Musk's money in Alaska: who's really behind the repeal, why MAGA wants Alaska's system gone, and why Chad argues closed primaries are voter suppression on a scale that dwarfs every voter ID fight in the country. Cara's back from the California Politico Agenda Summit in Sacramento with a Nancy Pelosi scoop about what she actually told Joe Biden before he dropped out - and Chad refuses to let Pelosi off the hook. Along the way: a New York poll where a third of Democrats admit they're not really Democrats and Abdul El-Sayed's viral shot at John Fetterman.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

0:00 Elon Musk & Alaska's Open Primary

1:03 Welcome Back & Cara's Sacramento Recap

4:19 Chad's Take: Pelosi Ripping Trump's Speech

6:42 Musk, the Aurora Network & Alaska's Primary Fight

10:15 The Case Against Closed Primaries

14:01 New York's Primary Fight & the NAACP Clash

18:05 Abdul El-Sayed, Fetterman & "Electability by Looks"

23:13 Trump, Musk & Gerrymandering: The Devil's Advocate

24:45 Trump's Secret Plane Switch & Congrats to Lina

28:29 Wrap-Up & Where to Follow the Show

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Missouri Voters Crushed a Partisan Power Grab - the State Blocked Them Anyway - EP51

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Missouri voters showed up and shut down the legislature's attempt to gut citizen initiatives - and then, hours before polls closed, the Secretary of State went in front of a camera and declared their 300,000-signature people's veto unconstitutional anyway.

Cara McCormick, Ethan Handelman, and Shawn Griffiths break down what actually happened in Missouri: the legislature's repeat attempts to raise thresholds and choke off petition drives, the mid-cycle gerrymander that made Missouri the third state to redraw its maps in 2025, and the pile-on that followed — a third of signatures thrown out, an ICE referral aimed at petition circulators, a Black Friday mass text campaign, and a map that never got suspended the way the law says it should. From there it's the DNC's August 15 vote to bar ranked choice voting from the delegate process, a Maine primary where 72% of voters picked a nominee the party swapped out anyway, and the case for a mandatory retirement age that applies to everyone on the taxpayer's dime (inspired by Mitch McConnell’s 50 day Senate absence).

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – Missouri Voters Reject the Legislature's Power Grab

00:05:06 – People Not Politicians vs. Secretary Hoskins

00:09:07 – The DNC's War on Ranked Choice Voting

00:14:12 – How Parties Override Their Own Primaries

00:17:36 – Mitch McConnell, Age Limits & Term Limits

00:21:17 – Trump's Poll Numbers & Truth Social Pay-to-Play

00:25:14 – Two-Thirds of Americans Don't Trust Elections

00:28:03 – Elon Musk's $120M Super PAC Midterm Bet

00:30:32 – Maine's Question 1: Capping Super PAC Contributions

00:35:16 – Money Equals Speech? The Supreme Court's Call

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27 Years in Uniform, Now Running Against BOTH Parties in Oregon (Jason Faler) - EP50

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

A 27-year Army officer with three deployments looked at Congress and decided the problem wasn't which party was winning - it was that both of them were. So Jason Faler is running in Oregon's 6th with no letter behind his name.

Jason walks us through the road from four-generation Oregonian to combat tours in Baghdad and the Horn of Africa to healthcare administrator and professor - and the "frog in the boiling water" moment that finally pushed him to run. He lays out the number almost nobody in Oregon knows: unaffiliated voters went from 22% of the electorate in 2012 to roughly 40% today, which means the largest voting bloc in his district belongs to no party at all. We get into why so many veterans end up in nonpartisan reform, why he won't just run in a primary and take the easy path, and what it actually costs to get on a ballot when your two opponents ran unopposed.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – The Parties Are the Problem

00:00:37 – Meet Jason Faler

00:03:17 – What Pulled Him Into Politics

00:07:04 – Independent by Conviction, Not by Default

00:08:28 – From Iraq to Oregon – Why He's Running

00:11:55 – Veterans, the Military & Political Independence

00:15:03 – The Barriers to Running as an Independent

00:19:03 – Clipboard Democracy in the Digital Age

00:24:29 – When Elections Become Auctions

00:27:15 – The Largest Voting Bloc Nobody Knows About

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The First REAL Working-Class Senator? Troy Jackson Explained - EP49

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Everyone's calling Troy Jackson the establishment's safe replacement for Graham Platner. Here's the thing: Jackson has defied Democratic Party leadership more than Platner ever did - and he's got two decades of receipts.

Cara called the whole Maine shakeup before it happened - Platner out, Troy Jackson in - and she explains why she saw it coming and why she's genuinely excited about it. Chad and Cara break down what makes Jackson different: a Senate president who bucked his own party's leadership to back ranked choice voting, outperformed other Democrats with Trump voters, and would be the first bona fide working-class U.S. Senator in a chamber of 100.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

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https://independentvoterproject.org

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https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:00 – First Working-Class Senator in U.S. History?

00:00:20 – Someone Robbed Our Studio

00:02:12 – Cara Predicted the Whole Maine Shakeup

00:05:14 – Troy Jackson Defied His Own Party More Than Platner Ever Did

00:06:47 – 58 Years Old, Two Decades of Receipts

00:09:59 – A Democratic Governor Just Proved Trump's Point

00:12:45 – Why the Best Idea Never Wins in American Politics

00:13:50 – California's AG Rewrote a Ballot Title Overnight

00:17:22 – Unlimited Ballots, No Relationship Required

00:19:16 – Does Voter ID Actually Fix Ballot Harvesting?

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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They're ERASING 71% of the Vote: How Maine Democrats Replace Graham Platner - EP48

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 17:05:58 +0000

Graham Platner won Maine's Democratic Senate primary with 71% of the vote and record turnout - and none of it matters anymore. Cara, Shawn, and Ethan break down how an obscure section of Maine election law lets 600 party delegates in Bangor erase the biggest primary win in state history.

After a barely-there vetting process collapsed under press scrutiny, Platner withdrew - and now the Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 to hand-pick his replacement, with no ranked choice voting and no input from the independents who helped elect him. The crew digs into who's really pulling the strings, why Troy Jackson ("the Johnny Cash of the Allagash") could become the only working-class senator out of 100, and what this saga says about anti-establishment energy from Obama to Trump to the DSA. Then the conversation takes a turn: the sudden death of Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell's "proof of life" photo, and whether it's finally time for an age limit on every federal job. Plus a lingering question about Graham's final trip to Ukraine that the hosts can't quite shake.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

https://ivn.us

https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Power, Parties, and What Your Vote Really Means

00:00:24 – Graham Platner: How a Lobsterman Search Found an Oyster Farmer

00:02:41 – The Vetting Failure That Exposed a Campaign

00:06:28 – When Your Vote Only Counts If the Party Allows It

00:07:33 – California vs. Maine – Two Elections, Two Very Different Systems

00:09:29 – Who's Running to Replace Platner — and Who's Pulling the Strings

00:11:21 – Troy Jackson – The Only Working Class Candidate in the Senate

00:21:26 – Lindsey Graham's Death and the McConnell Proof-of-Life Mystery

00:22:50 – Should There Be an Age Limit on Federal Government?

00:30:09 – Lessons from the Platner Collapse – What Democrats Should Do Next

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Why Latino Voters Backed Trump - Then Mamdani (NOT What You Think) | Mike Madrid - EP47

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:30:40 +0000

The same young Latino voters who swung to Donald Trump in 2024 just handed New York to Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani - and no, they haven't changed their minds about anything. Strategist Mike Madrid explains why the fastest-growing bloc in American politics is walking out on both parties at once.

Madrid - author of The Latino Century - joins the show to blow up the way both parties read the Latino vote. His case: what looks like voters lurching right, then left, then right again is actually a dealignment - a conscious rejection of the entire two-party system, driven by class and generation far more than ethnicity. The crew digs into California's Latino turnout surge behind Becerra, why New York's closed primaries produced a dismal 9% turnout, and what really went down at the first-ever National Latino Summit in D.C. Stick around for his blunt advice on how voters can break the cycle of partisanship.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

https://ivn.us

https://independentvoterproject.org

00:00:00 – The Latino Vote: America's Most Misunderstood Bloc
00:01:04 – Dealignment, Not Realignment: Leaving Both Parties
00:03:00 – It's Not Ethnic — Latinos Vote Their Class
00:04:44 – The Turnout Story: California Surges, New York Flatlines
00:09:32 – Inside the First-Ever National Latino Summit
00:13:24 – Conscious Disaffiliation and the Under-30 Surge
00:16:24 – Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Starving Voters
00:18:06 – Are Latinos Really Going Socialist?
00:20:22 – Adams to Trump to Mamdani in Four Years
00:23:24 – The Fix Nobody Wants to Hear: Leave Your Party
00:30:04 – The Voting-Rights Case Headed to Court
00:34:06 – Mike's Book, Substack, and Where to Follow

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRUTH: 40% of NYC Democrats Aren't Really Democrats | Jeremy Gruber - EP46

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

We sit down with Jeremy, Senior VP of Open Primaries, to dig into a new IVP/Open Primaries poll of registered NYC Democrats - and what it reveals is wild. Jeremy lays out "the big lie" about open vs. closed primaries, why ~40% of NYC Democrats (and two out of three Latino Democrats) don't identify with the party they're registered in, and how a 10% turnout primary ends up deciding who actually runs the city. Then Jeremy lays out why almost everyone - the media, secretaries of state, even civil rights groups - has the importance of primaries exactly backwards.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

🎙️ The Independent Voter Podcast now has its own YouTube channel!

If you enjoy these conversations, subscribe to our dedicated channel for full episodes, interviews, and future content:

https://youtube.com/@independentvoterpodcast?

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at:

https://ivn.us

https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Independent Voters: The Largest Group Nobody Knows

00:00:49 – Introducing Jeremy Gruber & the NYC Poll

00:01:37 – The Big Lie About Open Primaries

00:02:37 – Why Democrats Register as Democrats Without Being Democrats

00:04:27 – Low Turnout and Who Actually Wins

00:07:35 – When the System Opens But Voters Still Don't Know

00:10:01 – Two-Step Reform: Policy Change and Voter Education

00:12:33 – How the System Is Stacked Against Primary Awareness

00:15:35 – Independent Organizing and What Comes Next

00:17:59 – Open Primaries' Litigation, Wins, and Where to Follow

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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She Quit Her Party. Then She Couldn't Vote. | Lisa Rice. - EP45

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:39:27 +0000

Lisa D.T. Rice, the driving force behind DC's Initiative 83 to permit ranked choice voting and open primaries, joins the show to explain how a missing ballot turned her into one of the most relentless reformers in the country. She breaks down why closed primaries are really a voting-rights problem, how she took on two fights at once - open primaries and ranked choice voting - in the heart of a 95% one-party city, and how rooting reform in everyday issues like food deserts is what actually wins elections. Then comes the gut-punch: voters passed her initiative with 73%, and she still couldn't cast a ballot. Stick around for the protest she threw in response, the go-go song she commissioned to troll the city council, and the lawsuit threat she says she "wouldn't put past someone."

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe on audio platforms:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Why Independent Voters Are Shut Out of Elections
00:01:07 – Meet Lisa Rice and the Fight for DC Reform
00:03:10 – Discovering the Cost of Leaving a Political Party
00:04:21 – Open Primaries as a Voting Rights Issue
00:06:10 – Taking on Washington, DC’s Political Establishment
00:07:35 – How Initiative 83 Won with 73% of the Vote
00:09:47 – Connecting Election Reform to Community Needs
00:11:20 – Court Battles, Ranked Choice Voting, and What Comes Next
00:13:24 – The “Picket at the Thicket” Protest for Voter Access
00:15:28 – Building a Movement for Independent Voters and Reform

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump Says Fraud. Here's What ACTUALLY Happened in California. - EP44

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:00:11 +0000

This week, Chad, Shawn, and Cara break down the five-day vote count that knocked Spencer Pratt out of the LA mayoral runoff - and why "fraud" is the wrong story. Cara walks through her viral article on Tom Steyer's $216 million spend, the DSA/progressive turnout machine, and how legal ballot harvesting in high-density neighborhoods delivered the late surge for Nithya Raman. Then the crew zooms out to the California governor's race, the bad-faith attacks on top-two primaries, and the record independent (NPP) turnout nobody's covering. Plus: Maine's remarkably civil ranked-choice governor's primary, a fight over slow vote counts that even the New York Times is picking, and a court challenge that could revive open primaries in Oklahoma.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Ballot Harvesting, Fraud Claims & the LA Mayor's Race

00:04:38 – How Ballot Harvesting Works & the Steyer Ground Game

00:09:25 – Progressive Alliances, Nonprofits & Unreported Spending

00:13:27 – NPP Voters Surge & the Real Purpose of Top Two

00:17:34 – California Governor's Race: Becerra & Hilton Advance

00:20:14 – Party Operatives, Media Bait & the Top Two Debate

00:24:50 – Maine Ranked Choice Voting & the Governor's Race

00:29:53 – California's Ballot Counting Timeline & the Postmark Debate

00:34:46 – Election Suspicion, Transparency & the Nine-Day Window

00:36:45 – Oklahoma's Open Primary Signature Fight

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Critics PROVED WRONG About the “Top-Two” Primary in California (It WORKS) - EP43

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Fresh off the California gubernatorial primary, Chad, Cara, and Ethan break down why the "top-two will produce two Republicans" narrative was a manufactured fear - and why it collapsed the moment voters actually voted, with Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra heading toward a traditional R-vs-D general. They dig into who was pushing that panic and why (fundraising, juicing turnout, and a quiet war on top-two itself), including the uncomfortable detail that a party chair reportedly asked a leading minority candidate to drop out. Stick around for the bigger question the reform movement keeps dodging - and a pitch for what could come after top-two.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Independent Voters Win the Jungle Primary

00:00:51 – California Primary Results: Hilton vs. Becerra & Steyer's $200M Loss

00:03:37 – Tom Steyer's Campaign: Ranked Choice Voting & Positive Politics

00:07:32 – What if California Had Top Four + Ranked Choice Voting?

00:09:33 – Latino Voters & the Open Primary: 80% Want to Keep It

00:11:45 – The "Two Republicans" Scare: Manufactured Fear & Biased Polling

00:14:47 – Why Both Parties Hate Top Two — and That's Exactly Why It Works

00:16:26 – Where Does the Right to Vote Come From? The Core Question of Reform

00:18:22 – Reforming the Reform: The Case for Top Four + RCV in California

00:22:13 – Republicans, Relevance & the Self-Inflicted Wound of Closing Primaries

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Party Insiders KILLED Florida's Open Primary (57% of Voters Said YES) - EP42

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:27:51 +0000

57% of Floridians voted to open their primaries. They still lost. Chad Peace and Cara McCormick sit down with Political No Brainer host Jeff Rabinowitz to unpack how Florida's two-party system buries voting reform - and the closed-primary lawsuit now knocking on the Supreme Court's door.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Are Political Parties Just “Make Wrong Machines”?

00:01:03 – Meet Jeff Rabinowitz and the Political No Brainer Podcast

00:02:00 – Florida’s Closed Primaries and Independent Voters

00:02:51 – Why Florida Requires 60% for Constitutional Amendments

00:04:19 – Millions of Independent Voters Locked Out

00:05:29 – Why Independent Candidates Struggle in Florida

00:06:49 – The Florida Supreme Court Challenge on Voting Rights

00:09:11 – Is Florida Really as Partisan as the Media Says?

00:11:21 – Guns, Culture, and Political Identity in Florida

00:14:07 – Jeff Rabinowitz’s Advice for Independent-Minded Voters

00:16:18 – What Does It Mean to Be “Independent Minded”?

00:18:54 – Why Voting for Independents Matters

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Democrats and MAGA Are Working Together on THIS (Not What You Expect) - EP41

Thu, 21 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

You'd think Democrats and MAGA Republicans agree on nothing - but they just quietly teamed up to do one specific thing: shut 7 million California independent voters out of the primary. We're naming names.

Chad, Cara, and Shawn break down the bipartisan effort to undo California's top-two nonpartisan primary - with Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio and former CA GOP director Ron Nehring leading the charge, joined improbably by Lorena Gonzalez on the left and Carl DeMaio on the right. Politico just covered the More Choice California Coalition fighting back, and the crew gets into why "voter confusion" is a manufactured talking point. Chad lays out the 115-year reform fight, Cara walks through which constitutional candidates actually responded to IVP's survey (and which Secretary of State conveniently didn't), and Shawn covers DC's city council quietly defunding Initiative 83 after 73% of voters passed it.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Are California Parties Trying to Shut Out Independent Voters?

00:00:33 – The Growing Fight Over California’s Top Two Primary

00:01:45 – Why Democrats and Republicans Both Want Control Back

00:03:03 – Polling, Political Strategy, and the Battle Over Open Primaries

00:04:30 – Why California’s Primary System Confuses Independent Voters

00:06:56 – The Real Strategy Behind Closed Primaries

00:08:00 – Who Owns Elections: Political Parties or the Voters?

00:09:42 – Is California Really Becoming a One-Party State?

00:12:53 – New Data Shows Independents Surpassing Republicans in California

00:15:29 – Candidates Respond to Independent Voter Rights Survey

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Bipartisan Plot to Lock 6.2 Million California Voters Out of Elections. - EP40

Thu, 14 May 2026 17:20:28 +0000

Chad, Cara, and Shawn break down the brewing bipartisan campaign to repeal California's Top Two primary - exactly the move IVP has been predicting for months. They unpack the manufactured "two Republicans in the top two" panic, why Shirley Weber and party leadership keep siding against independent voters, and why the academic research (yes, including Cambridge) backs Top Two. Then Ethan drops fresh IVP polling out of LA - Spencer Pratt, Karen Bass, and a governor's race where Steve Hilton is suddenly playing for Trump's endorsement instead of reform. The conversation closes with gerrymandering, Prop 50 fallout, and why packing districts may have accidentally handed independents more power than ever.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – California Parties Push to Repeal the Top Two Primary
00:02:17 – Why Party Leaders Want Control Back
00:03:25 – The Fight Over Independent Voter Rights
00:05:04 – Closed Primaries vs. More Voter Choice
00:06:07 – Big Money, Party Power, and Democracy Claims
00:08:09 – How Top Two Changed California Politics
00:12:13 – The More Choice California Coalition Explained
00:14:02 – Alaska, Ranked Choice Voting, and Reform Momentum
00:17:16 – Polarization, Voter Exhaustion, and Broken Incentives
00:20:14 – New Polling, Independent Voters, and the 2026 Governor Race

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The TRUTH About California's "Jungle" Primary (Democrats are WRONG) - EP39

Thu, 07 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Cara and Shawn break down the manufactured "jungle primary" panic out of California (there's roughly an 8% chance of a two-Republican general), then get into Alaska's Top Four success story, Wes Moore's surprise open-primary moment on Bill Maher and the awkward walkback that followed, and a Supreme Court bombshell out of Louisiana that just got an entire election canceled. Chad Peace jumps in to explain why the courts police racial gerrymandering but won't touch partisan gerrymandering - and what that means for independent voters.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Debate Fallout and Top Two Primary Controversy
00:02:20 – Ballots Drop and the Governor’s Race Heats Up
00:03:07 – The “Two Republicans” Narrative Explained
00:04:44 – How Top Two Actually Works vs “Jungle Primary” Myth
00:07:30 – Reform Options: Top Four, Top Five, and Alaska Model
00:10:18 – Wes Moore, Independents, and Political Incentives
00:13:53 – Closed Primaries and Power Behind the Scenes
00:19:23 – Supreme Court Ruling and Redistricting Fallout
00:24:25 – Gerrymandering, Race, and Partisan Advantage
00:28:02 – Independent Voters and the Fight for Equal Voting Rights

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California Governor Debate BRUTAL Reaction: "Playing Their Cartoon Selves" EP38

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:38:31 +0000

Cara McCormick sits down with former California state senator Steve Peace - author of the Top Two primary law - to react to the California governor's race debate. They unpack the most memorable moments (Becerra's "Steve Hilton's daddy" line, Hilton waving the insurance statute at Becerra on stage, Katie Porter catching Tom Steyer on his own contradiction), why the moderators' yes-or-no format is killing real debate, and why Peace says "there's no longer a constituency for governance." From there, the conversation traces a pattern Peace has watched play out for 30 years - the same playbook that wrecked California's insurance market and energy market is now hitting housing - and ends on why Prop 50, the "jungle primary" smear campaign, and the death of citizen government all connect back to one thing: partisan primaries.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:
00:00:00 – The Case for the Political Middle Ground
00:01:05 – California Governor’s Race and Undecided Voters
00:03:00 – Partisan Narratives vs Real Governance
00:07:30 – Debate Culture, Soundbites, and Media Incentives
00:12:30 – Why Yes/No Politics Fails Complex Issues
00:19:00 – Cost of Living, Regulation, and Policy Tradeoffs
00:28:40 – Housing Crisis and the “Abundance” Debate
00:34:30 – How Partisan Primaries Distort Democracy
00:43:00 – The Collapse of Bipartisan Problem-Solving
00:56:00 – Open Primaries and the Future of Elections

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Swalwell COVER-UP: How California's "Open Secret" Finally Exploded (He Dropped Out) - EP37

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:28:43 +0000

Eric Swalwell went from Democratic frontrunner in the California governor's race to political exile in a matter of days - and somehow nobody in Washington is surprised. Chad, Shawn, and Ethan break down why this "open secret" finally went public and who's really pulling the strings. Then, the conversation shifts to who benefits in a wide-open governor's race, why IVP's nonpartisan poll is the only one without a dog in the fight, and Trump's attack on Alaska's ranked choice voting system.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Eric Swalwell Scandal Explained and Political Fallout

00:02:08 – Democratic Party Silence and Insider Allegations

00:04:15 – California Governor Race Shakeup After Swalwell Exit

00:06:33 – Political Deals, Resignations, and Congressional Accountability

00:08:48 – U.S. Iran Policy Debate and Divisions in Washington

00:09:31 – Trump vs Ranked Choice Voting in Alaska Explained

00:11:07 – Why Open Primaries and Election Reform Matter

00:13:16 – How Both Parties Manipulate Ranked Choice Voting

00:15:26 – Political Polarization and the Need for System Reform

00:18:12 – New Polling Insights in California Governor Race

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why California's Governor Race Is a Trap for Both Parties (Trump Endorses Hilton) - EP36

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:45:41 +0000

Breaking down Steve Hilton's Trump endorsement, why two Republicans advancing is never going to happen, and how Democrats may be using that fake threat to dismantle nonpartisan primaries altogether. Plus: the Swalwell rumors making waves before June 2nd, a Green Party candidate kicked off the ballot over tax returns, and where the massive undecided independent voter bloc actually lands.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Independent Voter Podcast opening

00:00:23 - California Governor's Race 2026: Trump Endorses Steve Hilton & Poll Manipulation Exposed

00:06:18 - Eric Swalwell Scandal & Green Party Candidate Removed From California Ballot

00:09:02 - Trump Tariffs & Iran War: How One Truth Social Post Moves the Stock Market

00:10:57 - US Coast Guard Unpaid for 50 Days & FEMA Official Claims Divine Teleportation

00:17:36 - Trump Threatens to Destroy Iran Next to the Easter Bunny: 25th Amendment Calls Grow

00:20:50 - California Voter ID 2026: Clean State Bill vs. Trump's Federal Voter ID Law Explained

00:23:42 - How Democrats & Republicans Both Use Voter ID to Divide Voters Instead of Fix It

00:28:43 - Ranked Choice Voting Updates, Colorado Gerrymandering & Campaign Finance Amendment Hits 25 States

00:34:20 - Why Independent Voters Are Done With the Two-Party System & What's Actually Changing

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump is Building a FEDERAL Voter List: Should YOU Be Scared? - EP35

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Trump just signed an executive order directing DHS to build a federal voter list and instructing the USPS to only deliver ballots to "verified" voters. Legal experts say it's unconstitutional. Steve Peace - the man who wrote California's nonpartisan primary - joins the Independent Voter Podcast to break down what the order actually does, why the USPS argument is cleverer than you think, and how California already has a solution sitting on the table that neither party wants to talk about.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Cold Open

00:01:17 - Trump's Voting Executive Order: Federal Overreach or Clever Move?

00:07:29 - Democrats & Transparency: Why Are They Hiding the Ballots?

00:10:01 - Mail-In Voting Debate: Is Democracy Getting Too Easy?

00:14:08 - The Future of Voting: ATMs, Blockchain & Election Day

00:17:45 - Swalwell's Lawyers Just Torched His Campaign

00:23:05 - California Governor's Race: Who's Actually Ready?

00:30:40 - Bianco vs. Hilton: Fame, English Accents & The Republican Slot

00:33:13 - Election Reform Round-Up: Arizona, Buffalo & Page Against the Machine

00:38:07 - Tabloid Politics, Clickbait Culture & Who We Are

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sheriff Seizes 650,000 Ballots - While Running for California Governor!? - EP34

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:03:04 +0000

This week on the Independent Voter Podcast, California sheriff Chad Bianco seizes 650,000 ballots while running for governor, the Supreme Court takes on mail-in ballot deadlines that could invalidate millions of votes, and TSA agents walk off the job unpaid while Washington refuses a deal that's already on the table.

Plus, one congressman just made a move that almost nobody in U.S. history has made - and it could reshape the 2026 California primary in ways nobody is talking about yet.

Want to go deeper? Here's where to find us:

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Cold Open: Ballots, Broken Government & Big Claims

00:01:10 - Sheriff Seizes 650,000 Ballots in California

00:04:44 - FBI, Maricopa & Fulton County: Who's Really Cheating?

00:07:12 - Supreme Court Could End Mail-In Ballot Grace Periods

00:18:04 - Ranked Choice Voting Is Coming to Los Angeles

00:24:19 - Trump's Pearl Harbor Joke to the Japanese Prime Minister

00:28:02 - Kevin Kiley: The Only Independent in Congress

00:31:53 - TSA Agents Unpaid & Trump Won't Take the Deal

00:35:33 - Paige Against the Machine: Fighting Congressional Stock Trading

00:37:00 - Why the Two-Party System Keeps Failing You

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your 5-Hour Airport Wait is Congress’s Fault: THIS is How We Fix It. - EP33

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:42:51 +0000

What happens when only a small percentage of voters actually decide elections? TSA delays and government shutdowns. This is the end result of a political system driven by closed primaries, low turnout, and strategic campaigning.

Chad Peace, Cara McCormick, and Shawn Griffiths break down how the spoiler effect, media influence, and super PAC spending shape outcomes long before voters have a real say, and what reforms could open the system to real competition and broader participation.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Government Shutdown Hits TSA and Travelers

00:02:45 – Who’s to Blame? Breaking Down the DHS Funding Fight

00:07:09 – The Bigger Problem: Political Dysfunction by Design

00:10:07 – Closed Primaries and Why Most Voters Don’t Matter

00:13:08 – 23% Wins: How Broken Elections Undermine Representation

00:15:03 – The Spoiler Effect Explained (and Weaponized)

00:18:13 – California Governor Race and the Illusion of Choice

00:23:40 – Name ID, Media Power, and How Candidates Are Chosen

00:25:08 – Super PAC Money and the Real Influence Behind Elections

00:33:30 – Media Narratives and Why Independents Get Ignored

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Federal Voter ID Bill Is Designed to Fail. Here's Why. - EP32

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:41:40 +0000

Most Americans support voter ID, so why is this fight so explosive? It’s simple: the two-party system keeps turning a broadly popular reform into a partisan weapon. Instead of solving the issue, both sides use it to energize their base and deepen distrust. We unpack the SAVE America Act, the cost and paperwork of proving citizenship, and the independent case for balancing election security with equal access to the ballot.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:
00:00:00 – The Politics of Voter ID and Election Integrity
00:01:12 – Inside Today’s Episode: Wealth Tax, Voting Laws, and Reform Updates
00:02:19 – California’s Billionaire Wealth Tax Explained
00:06:11 – California’s Budget, Spending Questions, and Tax Policy Debate
00:08:31 – Why Wealth Taxes Failed in Europe
00:13:02 – The Voter ID Debate: Federal SAFE Act vs California Proposal
00:18:41 – Could Strict Voter ID Requirements Become a Poll Tax?
00:33:38 – Independent Candidates and California’s Nonpartisan Primary System
00:38:10 – Ranked Choice Voting Momentum in Wisconsin and DC
00:41:42 – Oklahoma Reform Effort Blocked by Petition Signature Rules

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Is American Democracy for Sale? The Fight to End Citizens United with Tiffany Muller. - EP31

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Money in politics isn't just a talking point - it's reshaping every policy outcome in Washington. This week, Chad and Cara sit down with Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United, a 4-million-member organization fighting to get dark money out of our elections and power back to the people. They dig into the real mechanics: the stock trading ban, discharge petitions, transparency legislation, and why Congress spends 30 hours a week fundraising instead of governing. Plus - Cara's big Maine win and what it means for the broader movement. If you're skeptical that anything can actually change, this episode is for you.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction & The Case Against Citizens United

00:01:33 - Meet Tiffany Muller: From Social Worker to Democracy Activist

00:04:23 - How Do We Actually Fix This? The Mechanics of Reform

00:06:12 - The Maine Win & Nonpartisan Support for Reform

00:07:32 - Constitutional Amendments, Supreme Court & Super PACs

00:09:49 - The Stock Trading Ban & Congressional Gridlock

00:12:53 - Transparency, Dark Money & How Big Money Adapts

00:15:53 - The People vs. The Money: Can Reform Actually Win?

00:18:41 - Congress Spends 30 Hours a Week Fundraising

00:23:40 - How to Get Involved & Final Thoughts

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How James Talarico Won Over Independents Amid Texas Primary Chaos - EP30

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:02:42 +0000

James Talarico wins Texas’ Democratic Senate primary as campaigns point to unusually high independent participation in the state’s open primary system. Then Dallas County’s last-minute switch back to precinct-only voting sparks confusion, long lines, and a legal fight over ballots cast after 7 p.m. in the GOP primary between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Texas Primary Night & Dallas Voting Chaos

00:07:42 Ken Paxton, Open Primaries & The Independent Vote

00:09:18 Talarico, Cruz & How Low Turnout Elects Senators

00:13:50 ShamWow Guy Runs for Congress

00:14:15 U.S. Strikes Iran & The War Powers Debate

00:20:15 Fetterman Shakes Trump's Hand — Alone

00:28:30 The FEC Is Shut Down & Campaign Finance Wild West

00:33:01 Ranked Choice Voting Coming to Los Angeles?

00:37:32 Voter ID Bills: Not All Are the Same

00:41:49 California Billionaire Wealth Tax Explained

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Voter ID Is Popular. Trust Isn’t. The Catch in Trump’s SOTU Push - EP29

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Tune in for our independent breakdown of Trump’s record-length 2026 State of the Union: voter ID + proof of citizenship, immigration rhetoric, affordability vs “winning” messaging, a rare bipartisan beat on banning stock trading, and the moment the chamber unified around a Coast Guard rescue.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Cold Open: Citizenship, Voter ID & Affordability

00:01:21 – IVP Poll Goes Viral

00:03:00 – Voter ID and the Republican Trust Gap

00:06:15 – SAVE Act, Proof of Citizenship & Texas Voters

00:09:05 – State of the Union: Decorum & Political Theater

00:11:55 – Both Parties Tone Deaf on the Economy

00:14:31 – ICE, Hard-Line Rhetoric & Creating Enemies

00:17:42 – Gerrymandering & the Broken Primary System

00:21:07 – Killer Tomatoes & Campaign Finance Reform

00:28:23 – Maine, Ranked Choice Voting & the Road Ahead

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Are Parties Using Election Rules to Control You? Voter ID, Texas Primaries & the FCC Power Grab - EP28

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:11:42 +0000

Are election rules protecting voters or protecting parties? Chad Peace and Cara McCormick break down voter ID laws, Texas Republicans shutting out independents, the FCC's move against late night TV, and why Gallup stopped polling. Independent voters are nearly half the electorate, and the parties are scared.

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media.

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us and https://independentvoterproject.org

Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Cold Open, What Gives Us Energy
00:02:03 – Voter ID: SAVE Act vs California Initiative
00:06:09 – Clean Voter ID or Political Overreach?
00:10:15 – Colbert, CBS, and FCC Censorship Debate
00:15:53 – Trump, Media Bias, and the First Amendment
00:20:46 – Texas Open Primaries and Party Hypocrisy
00:26:16 – States’ Rights and Who Controls Elections
00:28:56 – Ranked Choice Voting, NFL MVP, and Reform Debates
00:34:53 – California Primaries, Gerrymandering, and Party Power
00:40:02 – Gallup Ends Presidential Polling and the Future of Public Opinion

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83% Want Voter ID - So Why Is Congress Fighting It? SAVE Act Explained - EP27

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 18:03:50 +0000

The House just passed the SAVE America Act - national voter ID + proof of citizenship to register. On the Independent Voter Podcast, we unpack what’s in the bill, why polls show broad support for voter ID, and the sticking points: which IDs count (student ID?), costs (should IDs be free?), and whether new rules could block eligible voters before 2026.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast

00:02:30 – Missouri Gerrymander and Filing Deadline Chaos

00:05:24 – Maine Ranked Choice Voting Expansion Debate

00:10:04 – Ballot Initiatives and Signature Verification

00:12:32 – California’s Top-Two Primary and Governor’s Race

00:20:50 – Congressional Stock Trading Ban Stalemate

00:22:13 – SAVE Act and National Voter ID Debate

00:26:00 – Federal Overreach and the “Mega Act”

00:29:16 – Mail Voting, Ballot Harvesting, and Election Integrity

00:34:04 – IVP Updates and Closing

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Fraud & Waste Red Flags in Public Education: Inside “Failure Factory” | Chris Papst. - EP26

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:35:57 +0000

Emmy-winning investigative reporter Chris Papst (Project Baltimore) unpacks Failure Factory: soaring Baltimore City Public Schools budgets, stagnant outcomes, grade-changing allegations, and public-records battles that raise waste and potential fraud red flags. What real accountability could look like for taxpayers, parents, and students. As the nation grapples with government fraud allegations across the country, Papst brings a unique perspective.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Why Independent Voters Need a Different Education Conversation
00:00:29 – Introducing Chris Papst and the Failure Factory Investigation
00:01:42 – Following the Money: Rising School Budgets, Stagnant Outcomes
00:05:27 – Graduation Rates vs Math Proficiency: The Data Gap
00:07:28 – Where the Money Really Went: Administrators Over Classrooms
00:11:46 – Grade Changing and the Illusion of Student Success
00:14:01 – Suing the School System and Uncovering Systemic Fraud
00:16:29 – Accountability Failure and the Role of Local Elections
00:21:18 – Broken Incentives, Leadership Failure, and Voter Responsibility

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How the “Politics Industry” Breaks Everything: ICE, CA Governor’s Race & Reform | Steve Peace - EP25

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:55:27 +0000

Steve Peace, co-founder of the Independent Voter Project and architect of California’s top-two primary, breaks down the wide-open CA governor’s race and why campaigns still think in party buckets. The hosts dig into open primaries + ranked-choice, ICE/immigration and civil liberties, voter ID and ballot security, and the controversy over seized Fulton County ballots—plus a quick update on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and the USS Midway’s Freedom Park.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast
00:00:45 – Introducing Steve Peace and his role in California reform
00:02:00 – California’s wide-open governor’s race and early contenders
00:07:00 – Open primaries, party power, and why campaigns haven’t adapted
00:16:00 – Ranked choice voting and reform incentives
00:23:45 – ICE, immigration enforcement, and political overreach
00:31:10 – Voter ID, mail ballots, and election trust
00:44:10 – Federal seizure of ballots and election integrity debates
00:52:00 – Fear-driven fundraising and partisan narratives
01:02:30 – Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and closing reflections

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Does the 4th Amendment Apply to Everyone? ICE, Warrants, and Constitutional Rights - EP24

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:31:44 +0000

Does the 4th Amendment protect only U.S. citizens - or everyone on U.S. soil? Chad and Cara dig into warrants, search-and-seizure limits, and how immigration enforcement tests constitutional boundaries. They also weigh the politics of voter ID - why it polls well, how ballot measures get framed, and what it means for trust and access in elections.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome Back and What’s Ahead
00:02:00 – Does the Constitution Apply to Everyone on U.S. Soil?
00:05:00 – ICE, Warrants, and Dangerous Precedents
00:07:30 – When Extremes Replace Nuance in Immigration Enforcement
00:08:25 – Oklahoma’s Fight to End Taxpayer-Funded Closed Primaries
00:13:50 – FCC, Equal Time Rules, and Leaving Independents Out
00:19:15 – Why Congress Still Won’t Ban Stock Trading
00:23:20 – Voter ID as an 80/20 Issue That Gets Weaponized
00:26:00 – California’s Governor Race and the Independent Lane
00:28:40 – Gerrymandering, Forced Party Registration, and the Way Forward

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Can “Aggressive Civility” Fix Politics? The Polarization Problem - EP23

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Political strategist and writer Gregory Graf joins the Independent Voter Podcast to break down Idaho’s semi-closed primaries, rising outside PAC money, and the growing split inside the GOP. Drawing on his reporting and analysis at Political Potatoes (https://politicalpotatoes.substack.com/) the hosts explore why open/nonpartisan primaries (and where ranked-choice fits) could change incentives - and how “aggressive civility” might lower the political temperature.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Why Idaho Politics Matter More Than You Think

00:02:20 – California Transplants and the Myth of “Turning Idaho Blue”

00:04:00 – How Closed Primaries Changed Idaho Elections

00:05:45 – Campaign Finance Caps, PAC Money, and Political Machines

00:07:10 – Independents as Idaho’s Second Largest Voting Bloc

00:08:45 – Budget Battles, School Choice, and Republican Infighting

00:11:15 – Ranked Choice Voting, Open Primaries, and Party Power

00:14:55 – How Party Establishments Block Reform Nationwide

00:18:30 – Political Hypocrisy, Threats, and the Cost of Speaking Out

00:25:00 – Aggressive Civility and Lowering the Temperature in Politics

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Has ICE Gone Too Far in Minnesota? EXPOSING Partisan Narratives - EP22

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 18:59:46 +0000

A viral question - “Has ICE gone too far?” - turns into a deep dive on immigration enforcement after the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good. The team weighs conflicting video narratives, what voters actually want ICE to prioritize, and reports of would-be citizens being turned away at naturalization ceremonies.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Why the ICE debate has exploded again

00:05:00 – Viral outrage, conflicting narratives, and selective facts

00:09:00 – What independent voters actually think about ICE

00:13:00 – Dangerous criminals vs. people following the rules

00:17:00 – Gerrymandering, Newsom, and bipartisan power games

00:22:00 – Trump, bravado politics, and market volatility

00:25:00 – Closed primaries and the myth of crossover sabotage

00:31:00 – Oregon, ballot language, and voter exclusion

00:36:00 – What it really means to be an independent voter

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Is California So Stuck? What New Independent Voter Poll Reveals - EP21

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:47:50 +0000

Ever wonder why independent voters keep getting sidelined, even as their numbers grow? IVP just conducted the largest-ever survey of California independent voters. Hosts Cara McCormick and Chad Peace break down what NPP voters are really demanding, why insiders fight to keep them on the margins, and how battles over ballot language, gerrymandering, and open primaries in states like Missouri, Nevada, West Virginia, and Alaska could reshape elections nationwide. We’re back each week digging into stories like this.

Read more and follow along at IVN.us.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast
00:01:16 – Inside the California NPP Poll and What It Reveals
00:03:05 – Missouri Ballot Language and Gerrymandering Games
00:07:44 – How Parties Manipulate Ballot Questions
00:10:44 – West Virginia Closes Its Primaries and Joe Manchin Responds
00:14:15 – Alaska, Ranked Choice Voting, and Senate Politics
00:18:06 – Independents Reach Record Highs Nationwide
00:24:30 – Nevada’s Push to Enshrine Equal Voting Rights
00:28:38 – Santa Clara’s Costly Runoff Election Problem
00:30:38 – What Comes Next for Independent Voters

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Why Did Walz Drop Out? Daycare Fraud & Chaos in Minnesota - EP20

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:30:18 +0000

Wondering how a major political figure walks away from power, and what that says about the system behind the scenes?

This episode unpacks Tim Walz’s decision to step aside in Minnesota and how allegations around daycare funding brought to light by YouTuber Nick Shirley have cracked open a wide-open governor’s race. You’ll see how partisan spin quickly takes over moments like this, and why independent thinking matters when facts, accusations, and political incentives collide. Hosts Chad Peace and Cara McCormick break it down with real-world context, including what an open seat could mean for a Jesse Ventura-style independent run. We drop new episodes each week. You can read more and follow along at IVN.us.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome to 2026 and the Return of Independent Voter

00:05:00 – Tim Walz Steps Aside and Minnesota’s Open Governor Race

00:07:30 – Could an Independent Win Again Like Jesse Ventura?

00:09:45 – The Minnesota Fraud Allegations and Oversight Failures

00:12:30 – When Scandals Become Wedge Politics

00:13:55 – Venezuela, Maduro, and the Politics of Intervention

00:20:35 – What Slips Through While the News Is Distracted

00:21:35 – The USPS Postmark Change That Affects Voting and Taxes

00:29:40 – California’s Voter ID Initiative and Ballot Language Games

00:44:05 – Alaska, Ranked Choice Voting, and the Fight Over Power

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 is Reshaping California - For Better or For Worse - EP19

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 17:34:12 +0000

Prop 50 is redrawing California’s political battlefield, sparking new fears of gerrymandering, backroom mapmaking, and voters losing their voice. We cut through the spin to explain what’s really changing, who benefits, and what it could mean for competitive elections, election reform, and independent voters. Plus, Independent CA-40 candidate Nina Linh joins us to spell out how Prop 50’s map shifts are already reshaping her district - and her race.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us

Chapters:

00:00:00 – When Voters Decide and Politicians Push Back

00:01:13 – Missouri’s Gerrymandering Fight and Citizen Power

00:03:20 – The Games States Play to Block Reform

00:06:12 – Maine’s Ranked Choice Battle: A Warning Story

00:09:21 – Why Both Parties Fear Competition

00:11:16 – Inside the Largest Independent Voter Survey Ever

00:12:56 – Cannabis, Fox News, and the Regulation Irony

00:16:26 – Meet Nina Linh: From Democrat to Independent Candidate

00:21:43 – Affordability, Trust, and Why Voters Are Exhausted

00:27:48 – Gerrymandering, Voter ID, and What Comes Next

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Trump, Cannabis & the Progressive Left’s Freakout Over the Marijuana Issue - EP18

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:30:35 +0000

Host Chad Peace and co-host Cara McCormick dive into the left’s political freak-out over Trump potentially rescheduling cannabis — and what it exposes about a system that weaponizes even 80/20 issues. With guest Adam Swart of Crowds on Demand, they go from weed reform to immigration to gerrymandering asking: Can independents help drag politics back to common sense solutions?

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:
00:00:00 – This Week’s Viral IVN Stories
00:01:20 – Trump and the Reclassification Shockwave
00:03:07 – When Politics Becomes Credit-Claiming
00:05:06 – Immigration, Extremes, and the Reality Most Americans Agree On
00:08:11 – Why Our Election System Fuels Division
00:10:15 – The Gerrymandering Bill Everyone Supported
00:13:30 – Why Good Ideas Don’t Win in Today’s Politics
00:15:39 – Trust, Representation, and What Voters Actually Want
00:21:33 – Meet Adam Swart: Inside the Business of Paid Protests
00:30:11 – Protest, Legitimacy, and Who Gets a Voice
00:40:58 – Takeaways and What’s Coming Next

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The Games Politicians Play After Voters Pass Election Reforms - EP17

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:17:31 +0000

Pro-democracy activists don’t just need to win reforms at the ballot box; they have to stay in the battle to keep their initiatives from being torn apart the morning after. On this week’s Independent Voter Podcast, Chad Peace and Cara McCormick lament the quiet persistence of partisan political sabotage: the delays, rewrites, and procedural tricks that greet any changes to the status quo, even when voters overwhelmingly approve.

For anyone wondering why popular reforms like RCV and Open Primaries are so hard to pass and protect, this episode offers at least one answer: power never yields without sustained resistance, so reformers survive by comparing notes, learning from one another, and sticking together.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Kicking Off: What Journalists Keep Missing

00:00:32 – Snowstorms, San Diego Dreams & Reform Roots

00:03:40 – The Reform Playbook Only Insiders Know

00:06:13 – D.C.’s Top-Five Win… and the Political Bait-and-Switch

00:10:24 – Why Every Reform Fight Starts to Look the Same

00:11:06 – Inside D.C.’s Battle to Delay Ranked Choice Voting

00:14:23 – Power Players Will Always Use Every Tool They Can

00:17:14 – Exposing the Firms Profiting Off Disabled Veterans

00:22:11 – Who Actually Helps Veterans — and Who Pretends To

00:24:17 – Holidays, Kids, and a Warm Wrap to the Episod

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Betting on Democracy: Prediction Markets, Polls & the Independent Voter Uprising - EP16

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 23:09:23 +0000

In this episode of the Independent Voter Podcast, Chad and Cara dive into the exploding world of political prediction markets with special guest Chris Gerlacher of Prediction News—unpacking how platforms like Kalshi and crypto-based markets are reshaping how insiders gauge races from California governor to New York City mayor. Chad and Cara also highlight Shawn Griffiths’ latest election reform roundup at ivn.us, covering new signature drives in Oregon, Nevada, and Oklahoma to end taxpayer-funded closed primaries and expand rights for independent voters, as well as the gritty reality of signature gathering and ballot access. Plus, Cara breaks down a Politico gerrymandering poll that ignores independent voters and shares how unlikely allies—from Democrats to MAGA Republicans—can find common ground on fixing the system, even in a hyper-polarized era.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

00:00:00 - Welcome Back & IVP Updates

00:01:29 - Introducing Chris Gerlacher & Prediction Markets

00:03:34 - How Prediction Markets Outperform Polls

00:04:14 - California Governor Odds: Swalwell, Porter, Steyer

00:06:21 - How Political Trading Works

00:09:32 - Gambling Concerns, Safeguards & Forecasting Value

00:13:27 - When Candidates Bet on Themselves

00:19:19 - Independent Voter Growth & State Reform Movements

00:32:14 - Signature Gathering, Costs & Citizen Power

00:43:18 - Cross-Ideology Dialogue & Closing Reflections

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York - EP15

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 23:10:32 +0000

Is New York about to elect a “communist,” or just a democratic socialist with better ground game?

Cara McCormick and Chad Peace rip into a wild week in politics: the three-way brawl for NYC mayor, California’s ballot language that literally tells you it’ll cost “a few million dollars,” Maine’s voter ID wordplay, and the gerrymandering arms race both parties pretend they aren’t running.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast
00:01:25 - Country Before Party
00:03:11 - The White House Ballroom Controversy
00:03:52 - Ballot Language and Political Manipulation
00:04:25 - Gerrymandering: A Nonpartisan Battle
00:08:10 - Fear, Authoritarianism, and Hyperbole
00:10:19 - What Democratic Socialism Really Means
00:11:55 - Why Ranked Choice and Open Primaries Matter
00:17:07 - Gerrymandering and the Fight for Fair Elections
00:18:16 - From Breakdowns to Breakthroughs

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Missouri Voted for Legal Cannabis. Now Gas Station Weed Is Undermining the Whole System - EP14

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:44:38 +0000

Missouri voters approved legal cannabis twice - first for medical use, then for recreational use in 2022. But as Dave Craig, VP of Marketing for legal cannabis brand From the Earth, explains to host Cara McCormick, an unregulated shadow market is undermining everything voters intended. While legal dispensaries test every product and have already paid $245 million in state taxes to benefit veterans and schools, gas stations and unlicensed dispensaries are selling untested, intoxicating hemp products, some found to be laced with dangerous chemicals. This episode unpacks the loopholes, the need to protect public health, and what happens when following voter-approved rules makes you uncompetitive in your own market.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - The Unfair Fight Begins

00:01:00 - How Missouri Became a Cannabis Success Story

00:04:10 - The Rise of Unregulated Gas Station Weed

00:06:00 - Farm Bill Loopholes and Dangerous Products

00:09:00 - What Legal Cannabis Testing Really Means

00:15:00 - An Unfair Playing Field for Legal Operators

00:20:00 - Federal Taxes and the Need for Rescheduling

00:23:00 - Lawmakers Struggle to Close the Loophole

00:30:00 - Can Missouri’s Legal Market Survive?

00:39:00 - Fairness, Safety, and What Comes Next

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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California Democrats and Texas Republicans Keep Copying Each Other - EP13

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 16:14:11 +0000

Breakdown: The rules of American democracy continue to bend toward partisan agendas. In California, independent redistricting commissioner J. Ray Kennedy, a Democrat, says the politicians effectively “starved” its independent commission long before the midterm map fights began in Texas. Hosts Chad and Cara then discuss the Texas Republican Party’s lawsuit against the Lone Star State to try to end its century-old open primary system. While speaking about Attorney General Ken Paxton’s refusal to defend the state, they revisit Thurgood Marshall’s 1944 case that struck down Texas’s whites-only primaries. They also break down Fox News’ distorted reporting on cannabis, Trump’s hints from the White House that he may finally reschedule marijuana, and a debate that went viral on the Independent Voter Facebook page.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - A New Era of Independent Voter News
00:00:45 - The Redistricting Battle Royale
00:02:14 - J. Ray Kennedy Exposes California’s “Illusion” of Independence
00:06:10 - Gerrymandering Games Across the States
00:07:25 - Texas Republicans Move to Close Primaries
00:09:30 - Ken Paxton’s Legal Twist Against Open Elections
00:13:25 - Lessons from Thurgood Marshall and the White Primary Case
00:17:09 - The Fight for Independent Voter Rights Continues
00:25:14 - Fox News, Cannabis, and Media Propaganda
00:32:01 - Should Trump Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/

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Beyond the Viral Katie Porter Clip: What California’s Governor Race Says About Voter Choice - EP12

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:31:39 +0000

Hosts Chad Peace and Cara McCormick use the viral Katie Porter clip as a case study in how election rules shape campaigns and coalitions in California. They unpack why the moment struck a nerve, then explain the incentives of the Top Two primary and what a Final Five model - with an open top-five primary and a ranked-choice general - could change, drawing lessons from Alaska. Along the way, they note recent shifts in the 2026 field and connect the conversation to a timely Supreme Court fight over counting properly postmarked mail ballots after Election Day - clear, voter-first context beyond the outrage cycle.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast

00:01:37 – California Governor’s Race and Katie Porter Interview

00:05:18 – Expanding Top-Two to Top-Five Elections

00:09:26 – Party Division and Candidate Behavior

00:11:11 – National Guard, Governors, and Political Power Plays

00:12:33 – Origins of Ranked-Choice Voting Advocacy

00:18:17 – Supreme Court Cases and Independent Voter Rights

00:29:04 – California’s Prop 50 and the State of Democracy

00:33:26 – Closing Reflections and Call to Action

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Eric Bronner and 7,000 Veterans for All Voters Lead a National Oath Challenge - EP11

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 19:11:19 +0000

If you are into independent politics and don’t know Eric Bronner, you should.

A former veteran, Eric Bronner is one of the 60% of veterans that don’t belong to either major political party. Eric jumped into the nonpartisan reform movement 5 years ago after listening to a podcast on Freakonomics with Katherine Gehl.

In just 5 years, the organization he formed, Veterans for All Voters, has grown to more than 7,000 members and been a part of some of the most impactful nonpartisan reform efforts in the country.

Now, they’re launching an ambitious national project to engage voters across the country to revisit their oath to their county.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Opening the Conversation
00:01:06 - Eric Bronner’s Path from Navy to Reform
00:02:23 - Founding Veterans for All Voters
00:05:24 - Choosing Nonpartisan Values
00:06:10 - The Oath Challenge Campaign
00:08:36 - Education and Action in Reform
00:10:14 - Legal Challenges and Supreme Court News
00:13:34 - Building a Movement Beyond Partisanship
00:17:17 - Expanding in Communities & Veteran Engagement
00:19:19 - Oath, Unity, and Next Steps

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Divided Realities, Broken Systems: Can We Heal American Democracy? - EP10

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 19:40:55 +0000

The assassination of Charlie Kirk shocked the nation and exposed just how divided our political realities have become. In this episode, Chad Peace and Cara McCormick reflect on the tragedy, the need for unity, and what history teaches us about coming together after moments of crisis.

They also delve into the chaotic New York City mayoral race to explain why New York needs ranked-choice voting in the general election, and how closed primaries continue to shut out millions of voters. From New York to California, the conversation highlights how both major parties manipulate election rules to preserve power while independent voters are left on the outside looking in.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - The Shock of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
00:02:20 - Living in Different Realities
00:04:30 - Remembering 9/11 and the Lost Sense of Unity
00:05:55 - New York’s Mayoral Race and Ranked Choice Fallout
00:10:00 - Closed Primaries and Voter Exclusion
00:14:25 - California’s Nonpartisan Primary and Redistricting Battle
00:19:30 - Fear-Based Politics and the Stakes of Power
00:23:40 - Finding Common Ground and Healing the Divide

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Your Right to Vote: Is It Really Meaningful? - EP9

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:57:42 +0000

The national conversation focuses on the wars being waged by the Republicans and Democrats, against each other.

But what about the rights of voters?

In this episode of the Independent Voter Podcast, Chad and Cara talk about the Gerrymandering battle growing beyond Texas and California, a retired attorney who has taken a Florida voting rights case all the way to the Supreme Court, and how the war on the rights of independent voters could be hitting a critical moment in the arc of our democracy.

Tune in!

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Welcome to the Independent Voter Podcast
00:01:00 - Gerrymandering battles across states
00:04:00 - Who really loses? Independent voters
00:06:00 - Supreme Court precedents on voting rights
00:07:00 - A retired attorney takes on closed primaries
00:09:00 - Collusion behind the veil of partisanship
00:11:00 - Reform ideas: open primaries and ranked choice
00:12:00 - Are independents anti-party?
00:13:00 - Power, democracy, and meaningful votes
00:15:00 - Losing forward and finding optimism

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Gerrymandering: Who Loses the Most Seats in the Race to the Bottom? - EP8

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 17:53:53 +0000

In this conversation, Chad and Cara delve into the complexities of gerrymandering, exploring its partisan nature and the implications for independent voters. They discuss the ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans in states like California and Texas, the role of independent redistricting commissions, and the importance of public engagement in understanding these issues. The conversation highlights the legal dimensions of gerrymandering, particularly concerning the rights of independent voters.

Listen to more episodes and join the conversation at IVN.us and olasmedia.com.

Chapters:
00:00:01 - Welcome and introduction to gerrymandering
00:02:06 - Who gerrymanders more: Republicans or Democrats?
00:04:10 - Fighting fire with fire: partisan justifications
00:05:12 - The danger of overturning independent commissions
00:07:08 - Fear of authoritarianism and the 2026 election
00:09:28 - The race to the bottom and who benefits
00:10:22 - Why politicians always use the power they have
00:12:28 - Public engagement and awareness on gerrymandering
00:14:15 - California’s Prop 50 and the role of independent voters
00:19:03 - Is gerrymandering against independents’ constitutional rights?

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Intoxicating Hemp: How Kids are Getting High and Hospitalized in 2025 | Chris Casacchia - EP7

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Think hemp products are harmless just because they’re legal? Think again.
In this episode of the How It Really Works series of the Independent Voter Podcast, guest host Tony Manolatos sits down with journalist Chris Casacchia to expose the hidden dangers of synthetic hemp flooding stores across America.

Casacchia, an award-winning reporter covering the industry, explains how candy-like packaging, legal loopholes, and zero regulation are creating a public health crisis that’s sending kids to the ER. From the 2018 Farm Bill’s unintended consequences to the economic fallout for legitimate businesses, this conversation lifts the veil on a booming gray market few people even know exists.
This episode is a must-listen for parents, policymakers, and anyone concerned about the next wave of America’s health crises — because what you don’t know can hurt you.

Don’t forget to follow or subscribe at OlasMedia.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Some key moments of this episode:

00:00:00 - Welcome to How It Really Works
00:02:11 - Meet Chris Casacchia
00:04:17 - What Is Synthetic Hemp?
00:08:16 - The 2018 Farm Bill Loophole
00:12:14 - Hidden Dangers and No Regulations
00:17:35 - Kids, ER Visits, and Parental Warnings
00:22:36 - The Battle for Regulation
00:28:09 - Economic Impact on Legal Markets
00:32:26 - Can States Like Minnesota Lead the Way?
00:36:19 - A Call for Federal Action

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The Silence Crisis in Corrections | Michael Cantrell - EP6

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 23:03:54 +0000

Think the justice system only affects the incarcerated? Think again. In this episode of the How It Really Works series of the Independent Voter Podcast, Chad Peace sits down with corrections expert Michael Cantrell to unpack the hidden mental health crisis facing correctional officers across the country.

Cantrell, a former officer and host of the Prison Officer Podcast, reveals how burnout, PTSD, and emotional isolation have become normalized in a profession that rarely makes the headlines. From training culture to administrative neglect, this conversation peels back the layers on a system that’s breaking the very people we expect to hold it together.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone serious about justice reform—and it’s just one chapter in a much bigger story.

Don’t forget to follow or subscribe at OlasMedia.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Some key moments of this episode:

00:00 – Welcome to How It Really Works
01:12 – The Forgotten Side of Justice Reform
03:40 – What Correctional Officers Are Really Trained For
08:25 – The Mental Health Toll of the Job
13:05 – Why Officers Don’t Ask for Help
18:44 – Breaking the Silence Around Trauma
24:31 – Culture Shift vs. Policy Change
30:12 – Wrapping Up: What Real Reform Requires

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Running for President as an Independent - EP5

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 23:21:19 +0000

Think it’s easy to run for president as an Independent in the U.S.? Think again. In this episode of our new How It Really Works series, Chad Peace sits down with electoral reform powerhouse Cara McCormick to unpack why running outside the two-party system is so hard, it’s almost impossible.

Cara breaks down seven hidden barriers independent candidates face—from brutal ballot access laws to being shut out of debates. You’ll also hear real clips from RFK Jr. and Ross Perot as we rewind the tape on what happened when outsiders actually tried to make a run for it.

This episode is packed with wild (and sometimes infuriating) truths about the system—and it’s just the beginning.

Don’t forget to follow or subscribe at OlasMedia.com or wherever you get your podcast

Some key moments of this episode:

00:00 – Welcome to “How It Really Works”

02:28 – Why No One Runs as an Independent

03:11 – RFK Jr. and the Ballot Access Trap

04:27 – Americans Elect: A Case Study

09:01 – The Financial Toll on Independents

12:22 – No Infrastructure, No Chance

17:14 – The Spoiler Effect Is Real

24:26 – Debate Stage Lockout

35:58 – Electoral College Math Doesn’t Add Up

39:10 – Even Insiders Get Shut Out

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A New Era for Independent Voters - EP4

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 20:15:16 +0000

This is the inaugural episode of the Independent Voter Podcast with Chad Peace and Cara McCormick. In this launch, they share the complexities of independent candidacies in U.S. presidential elections. Ever wondered why so few run as independents? Chad and Cara explore the formidable challenges, from ballot access hurdles to debate stage exclusions and fundraising disparities. They examine how the current electoral system favors major parties and discuss its implications for voter choice and democracy. Join them as they shed light on these critical issues and advocate for a more inclusive political landscape.

Don’t forget to follow and subscribe at OlasMedia.com

Key Moments from this episode:

00:00:01 - Introduction to the Independent Voter Podcast
00:01:56 - The Ethic Behind the Independent Voter Project
00:06:24 - Merging Efforts for Reform
00:10:06 - Collaboration for Reform
00:14:32 - Embracing Courage and Resilience
00:15:31 - Introduction to IVP's Next Phase
00:18:17 - The Difficulty of Running as an Independent
00:23:45 - The Two-Party System and Its Impact
00:27:21 - IVP's Ethical Standards
00:30:09 - Advancing Nonpartisan Reforms
00:30:51 - Overwhelming Support for Getting Rid of Super PACs
00:31:54 - Belief in the Dream of Reform
00:32:27 - Optimism for Democracy
00:33:36 - Encouraging Engagement and Unity
00:35:53 - Conclusion and Thanks

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Steve Peace on San Diego Politics and Reforming his own California Voting Reform - EP3

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 05:46:20 +0000

The author of California’s Top Two Candidates Open Primary, which took effect in 2012, wants to reform his reform.

Steve Peace, a founder of the Independent Voter Project, wants California to move to a system that would ask voters to rank 4 or 5 candidates instead of voting for just one. Alaska and Maine have adopted a similar Rank Choice Voting system.

Peace looks through the national political lens and the local one too to discuss voter reform on this episode of Dear San Diego. Listeners also get to hear about his family life (he says he’s an Uber driver for his grandkids) and the advice he gives young people.

The key moments in this episode are:

00:00:00 - Introduction to California's top two primary
00:01:29 - Inception of the top two primary
00:03:22 - How the top two primary works
00:08:24 - Flaws in the current political system
00:14:01 - Manipulation of the top two primary system
00:15:26 - The Power of Campaigns Driven by Turnout
00:17:27 - Political Maneuvering and Campaign Strategies
00:19:23 - The Influence of Committees and Political Alliances
00:22:29 - Advancing Electoral Reform: Ranked-Choice Voting
00:26:29 - The Need for Continuous Electoral Reform
00:31:02 - Ranked Choice Voting System
00:33:21 - Nonpartisan Top Four or Top Five System
00:35:17 - Reducing Campaign Costs
00:41:13 - Fixing Ranked Choice Voting
00:46:35 - Misjudging Willie Brown
00:48:27 - Steve Peace's Personal Life
00:53:30 - Motivations and Family
00:55:50 - Privacy Rights and Identity
01:00:17 - Childhood Influence
01:03:39 - Reflection on past behavior
01:05:13 - Advice for life
01:05:59 - Importance of facing adversity
01:07:02 - Perception of need and resilience
01:08:57 - Closing remarks

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Make it in Mexico | Assemblymember David Alvarez - EP2

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 16:00:00 +0000

Binational entrepreneur, Juan Hernandez Sr., Former Senator Steve Peace, and Senator Brian Jones join guest host Assemblymember, David Alvarez on the Politic Deli podcast to discuss the importance of cross-border cooperation and collaboration between California and Mexico. In the bustling border region of San Diego-Tijuana, three extraordinary individuals stand as beacons of hope and progress.

(Originally aired 15August23)

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Elements of Reform: Passion, Policy, and Primaries | Stephen Walker - EP1

Fri, 05 May 2023 01:41:05 +0000

From the IVP Summit in Hawaii, retired corrections officer Stephen Walker talks to Andy Moore, Executive Director of NANR (National Association of Non-Partisan Reformers). Stephen serves as IVP Board Member and shares how his passion led him to the Independent Voter Project. Andy speaks to the value of convening, catalyzing and connecting, when challenging and changing policies and how primaries work.

(Originally aired 04May23)

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