In honor of the special elections held in states around the country yesterday (more on those results below), let’s have a frank discussion about state politics. Here’s an interesting stat for you: of the 7,386 total state legislative seats across the country, only 26 are currently occupied by independent, third-party, or otherwise unaffiliated elected officials—that’s fewer than 0.4%. And why is that? You can probably guess: the two major parties have set up daunting obstacles for new parties trying to incorporate in a state. When a small group has a stranglehold on power, stasis and corruption inevitably follow.
The solution, of course, is more competition, but working through the arcane rules established to block competition is a heavy lift. It takes dedicated teams of people in every state who believe in the mission, knowing that the end goal of expanding and strengthening our democracy is worth the effort.
So who are some of the people doing this important work? Meet MJ of the Forward Party of North Carolina, which met last weekend for a very successful Executive Committee meeting. A young voter, MJ says, “The Forward Party means to me a chance to help make our democracy better and to give politics something new that I think it doesn’t have, to really build a bridge between two opposing sides and to put an end to extremism that’s dividing our country.” Hear more from MJ:
Walter has seen some things, and he’s tired of all the partisan bickering. He’s on board to create a better future. “I’ve seen through the years the divisions, the fighting, with the two-party system, and I don’t want that for my grandchildren,” he says. “I want my grandchildren to live in a country where they have the opportunity to see real action taking place from their government to find solutions for the problems in their lives.” Hear more from Walt:
MJ and Walt are just two of the thousands of state Forward Party leaders working hard to reform the system from the ground up and inject healthy competition into our state politics again. It’s a big job, and we’re so grateful that good people like them are coming together from different backgrounds and experiences to lead the charge.
Ranked-choice voting helps everyone “If the Republican Party is to resuscitate itself, and ward off the threat of a Trump comeback, they should implement RCV for the 2024 presidential primary season. The Democratic Party should too: RCV would result in a stronger Democratic opponent to the Republican nominee. Both parties should implement RCV so voters have a proper voting mechanism that results in majority rule.” —William Holahan in The Cap Times
Allow independents to vote in New Mexico primaries “Under current law, only registered party members can participate in the state’s taxpayer-funded primaries. Twenty-four percent of registered voters do not belong to one party or the other—a substantial percentage of the electorate. Not only are independent voters denied a full say in elections, but they are also denied participation in the most important stage of the election process.
New Mexico has an astonishing number of legislative seats that go uncontested every election cycle by members of one party or the other. In 2018, 34 out of 70 state House seats (nearly half) were uncontested. When independent voters finally get to weigh in on an election, there is only one candidate on the ballot.
There is no choice, no competition, and rampant voter suppression going on in New Mexico. Unfortunately, voters are stuck with the political whims of lawmakers loyal, first and foremost, to their party.” —Shawn Griffiths in Independent Voter News
End polarization with more parties “The concentration of ownership of radio and television stations and things like this has reduced the diversity of perspectives that we’ll see articulated in public. It helps to consolidate the stories that are told about our collective life, and I think that that’s a problem. Once you get this polarized train rolling, it is genuinely quite difficult to unpick that development. For my money, I think the most straightforward way of addressing that particular problem would be introducing reforms that would enable the formation of third parties essentially, of multiple parties.” —Kevin Elliott in The UnPopulist.The excerpt above is a clip from the “Reimagining Liberty” podcast hosted by Aaron Ross Powell for The UnPopulist.
If you see or hear some of yourself in MJ and Walt, it’s no surprise. It’s because Forward is about people like you. We’ll be introducing you to more of our great Forward state leaders, from all across the country, right here in the Forwardist. Do you have something to say? We’d love to hear from you too! Let us know.
