Category: Elections
Indiana’s Redistricting Surrender Illustrates Why Primaries Matter
The phrase, “I voted Republican and all I got was this dumb t-shirt,” is a good summation of the disappointment that comes with supporting the feckless Grand Old Party. But in the case of Indiana, we didn’t even get the t-shirt. On Thursday, the Hoosier State’s Republican-controlled Senate shot down efforts to pass a new […]
Inside the left’s push to reshape 2028 with ranked-choice voting
If Democrats seem extreme now, wait until they adopt ranked-choice voting. Some activists inside the party want exactly that — a reform that would push presidential nominations even further left and force establishment figures to navigate an ideological gauntlet to win.
Multiple reports indicate that Democratic Party activists and elected officials are pressuring the party to adopt ranked-choice voting for its 2028 presidential primaries. Axios notes that the push has grown serious enough that top party officials met in late October with advocates including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), pollster Celinda Lake, and representatives from FairVote Action.
Ranked-choice voting would pour accelerant on a process already pulling Democrats further left.
Such an effort fits a long pattern: For decades, Democrats have shifted presidential nominations away from party leadership. On ranked-choice voting specifically, several states already use it — Maine and Alaska among them — along with deep-blue cities such as New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Ranked-choice voting takes multiple forms, but New York City’s model illustrates the dynamic. Voters rank up to five candidates. If no candidate wins an initial majority, the last-place candidate drops out, and those voters’ second-choice votes are redistributed. This “loser leaves” process continues until a candidate secures a majority.
Assuming rational behavior, Democratic voters would likely rank candidates from more extreme to less extreme. That pattern would advantage the leftmost candidates again and again as lower-preference votes transfer upward.
This structural boost would encourage both supply and demand for extreme candidacies. Candidates on the ideological edge would have more incentive to run. Voters who prefer them would have more influence. Ranked-choice voting’s supporters tout this expanded participation as a virtue.
Offering voters multiple choices would foster coalition-building. Knowing the race may go to multiple rounds, candidates would angle for second- and third-choice votes. The horse-trading once done in old convention “smoke-filled rooms” would unfold publicly through a series of ranked ballots.
But the key question is simple: Why would ranked-choice voting necessarily supercharge extremism inside the Democratic Party? Because the system rewards voters for casting marginal votes — and among today’s Democrats, “marginal” means “further left.”
The party’s ideological shift is measurable. In Gallup’s 2023 polling, 54% of Democrats identified as liberal — an all-time high. Support for democratic socialists in major-city mayoral primaries shows how rapidly the party’s activist base has moved left. In 1995, the liberal share of the party was 25%, roughly equal to conservatives. Three decades later, conservatives make up just 10% of Democrats.
Exit polling confirms the trend: In 2024, 91% of self-identified liberals voted for Kamala Harris; only 9% of conservatives did.
Extrapolate from this trajectory, and the danger becomes even clearer. Extreme candidates increasingly win Democratic primaries in major cities. Those cities dominate statewide Democratic politics. And in closed primaries, only Democrats vote — meaning the hyper-engaged activist left already sets the terms of competition. Ranked-choice voting would amplify that influence. The same voters who nominated democratic socialists in New York and Seattle would wield disproportionate power in a presidential contest.
RELATED: Democrats are just noticing a long, deep-running problem
Photo by RYAN MCBRIDEDON EMMERTDON EMMERTKENA BETANCURROBYN BECKANGELA WEISSROBYN BECKROBYN BECKROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Consider how the 2020 Democratic primary might have played out under ranked-choice voting. Joe Biden — an establishment candidate favored by moderates — would have faced a field dominated by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, and others to his left. Ranked-choice voting would have forced him through a gauntlet designed by the party’s most ideological voters.
This trend is not new. In 1972, George McGovern reshaped Democratic nominating rules and then benefited from the changes. Since then, the party has repeatedly weakened its establishment’s role (with key exceptions). Ranked-choice voting would accelerate that shift dramatically.
With moderates now only 36% of the party, according to Gallup, how could they resist a move toward ranked-choice voting? More importantly, which remaining moderate or establishment Democrat could survive a ranked-choice system dominated by the party’s left wing?
Ranked-choice voting would pour accelerant on a process already pulling Democrats further left. The only question is how long it takes for the party to adopt it — and how long the party can remain viable nationally if it does.
Nearly Five Years Later, FBI Makes Arrest In DC Pipe Bomb Case
The FBI made an arrest early Thursday morning in the five-year-old Washington, D.C., pipe bomb case. Authorities arrested Brian J. Cole Jr. and accused him of planting two live bombs on Jan. 5, 2021 — one near in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the other near the headquarters […]
Lawsuit: California’s Race-Based Gerrymandering Is Unconstitutional
California’s new gerrymandered congressional map was drawn “with illegal racial intent and with illegal racial considerations,” a new lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges. Brought on behalf of several California residents by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), the legal challenge contests the legality of the Golden State’s recently enacted congressional map. Approved by California voters last […]
Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District Stays Red In 9-Point Win For GOP
‘Running from Trump is how you lose. Running with Trump is how you win,’ Republican Matt Van Epps said after his special election win.
Tennessee Democrat Aftyn Behn Loses Bid To Represent City She ‘Hates’ in State She Called ‘Racist’
Democrat Aftyn Behn once said she “hates” the city of Nashville. It turns out that voters there aren’t too fond of her, either.
The post Tennessee Democrat Aftyn Behn Loses Bid To Represent City She ‘Hates’ in State She Called ‘Racist’ appeared first on .
Copy Our Neighborhood Pie Night Tradition If You Want To Build A Better Community
In an age where the idols of dissociation and personal comfort demand empty reverence, it is healthy to remind our souls that we are embodied creations living in specific places and communities.
Justice Alito delivers win to Texas GOP, temporarily restores Republican congressional map
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered Texas Republicans some good news on Friday, temporarily reinstating the Republican-friendly congressional map they passed in August.
After Texas Republicans surmounted weeks of obstruction by their Democratic colleagues, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ultimately signed the “One Big Beautiful Map into law” on Aug. 29, leaving the Lone Star Sate with a congressional map that could net the GOP five extra seats in the midterm elections.
‘Radical left-wing activists are abusing the judicial system to derail the Republican agenda and steal the U.S. House.’
However, the adoption of the new map prompted hand-wringing among liberals and a successful Democratic gerrymandering campaign in California — as well as a legal challenge from several race-based groups of plaintiffs led by the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that the map was the result of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and asked a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to block use of the map for the 2026 elections.
The court on Tuesday ruled 2-1 in favor of the liberal advocacy groups, finding that the challengers likely would be able to prove that it was racially gerrymandered.
RELATED: Yet another state’s districts found to be racist, resulting in new map for 2026 midterms
Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” wrote Judge Jeffrey Brown in the ruling. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was among the liberals who celebrated the ruling, noting that “Donald Trump and Greg Abbott played with fire, got burned — and democracy won. This ruling is a win for Texas, and for every American who fights for free and fair elections.”
But the celebration proved premature as Abbott and other Texas officials promptly appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement, “Radical left-wing activists are abusing the judicial system to derail the Republican agenda and steal the U.S. House for Democrats. I am fighting to stop this blatant attempt to upend our political system.”
Justice Alito stayed the lower court’s ruling Friday and gave GOP map opponents until Monday to respond to his order.
The Republican map is back in play pending the outcome of the state’s appeal before the high court.
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Dem Nominee in Tennessee Special Election Smeared Her Own State As ‘Racist’
Tennessee is a racist state—at least according to Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee for the special election for Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District.
The post Dem Nominee in Tennessee Special Election Smeared Her Own State As ‘Racist’ appeared first on .
Mamdani Promises To Get Along With Cops — Group That Helped Him Wants Jails Emptied
‘Freedom for all incarcerated people’
