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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.