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

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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.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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 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.

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.