Californians and Their Economic Well-Being

Jobs and the economy are a top concern as Californians set a future course in the November election. Although job growth has been relatively strong as the state and nation recover from the COVID-19 crisis, residents are dealing with rising prices on consumer goods and high gasoline costs. Lower-income Californians […] Read more »

In a hole since 2010, state Dems begin digging out

For more than a decade, Democrats have lamented their party’s inability to make inroads in legislative races across the nation, as Republicans use state House and Senate gavels to advance conservative agendas and to lock in majorities over the long term. But for the first time since the 2010 midterm […] Read more »

2022’s Ballot Measures: States are set to vote on a range of measures dealing with abortion, elections, marijuana, and more

As happens every 2 years, voters across the country find a vast array of ballot measures to vote on in 2022. What follows is our rundown of the measures on voters’ ballots this year, based on tracking by Ballotpedia, our own research, and interviews with political experts in many of […] Read more »

Can Democrats break the GOP stranglehold on the states?

Over the past two years, Republicans have used their dominant hold on most state legislatures to advance a polarizing agenda moving social policy sharply to the right on issues from abortion and voting to book bans and classroom teaching of race and gender. Now, a new analysis has found that […] Read more »

Colorado GOP senator becomes Democrat, cites vote falsehoods

Citing alarm toward the Republican Party’s widespread embrace of 2020 election conspiracies, a moderate GOP Colorado state senator has switched his affiliation to Democrat, enhancing that party’s prospects to retain its majority in the chamber in the November midterms. Kevin Priola, who represents Adams County in Denver’s suburbs, said in […] Read more »

All Pain, Whose Gain? The Surprising Implications of a New Legal Theory for Redistricting

Lots of pixels have been spilled on a legal theory once considered fringe, the Independent State Legislature doctrine. This theory threatens to wreak havoc with centuries of election law. Two upcoming Supreme Court redistricting cases cite this doctrine. Both are brought by Republican-controlled legislatures, so you’d think it would be […] Read more »