Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Democrats sue in 3 bellwether states to get a shot at the top ballot line

Democrats sue in 3 bellwether states to get a shot at the top ballot line

The ballot for Yavapai County, like the rest of Arizona, always lists the Republican candidate first, provided a boost of about 5 percentage points.

Republicans have been listed first on the ballot in every election in Arizona for almost a decade, in Georgia for more than a decade and in Texas for two decades. The Democrats have launched a coordinated campaign asserting that practice is unconstitutional and that they deserve a shot at poll position in all three potential 2020 battlegrounds.

The three state parties, along with the Democrats' national campaign committees, filed federal lawsuits Friday challenging the laws governing the construction of the ballots in all three states.

Perpetuating the current ballot order gives the GOP a "significant, state-mandated advantage," says the filing in Arizona. The Georgia suit argues state law violates voters' equal protection rights under the Constitution and creates an "undue burden" on voting rights. The "position bias" of the Texas law, that claim says, perpetuates a Republican dominance in Texas under which no Democrat has won a statewide race since 1994.


The Democrats are already pursuing similar litigation in Florida, where their evidence includes research showing the party listed first on the ballot has about a 5 percentage point built-in advantage.

A 2016 Sam Houston State University study showed ballot order in Texas has a significant effect on which candidate voters choose, particularly in down-ballot races. In lower profile elections, such as for school board, the study determined going from last to first on the ballot boosted a candidate's voting share by 10 percentage points.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

With the 2020 election a year from Monday, Democrats are putting a concerted effort into changing election procedures in red states that are turning purple. By easing access to the ballot box, they hope to gain a competitive edge in both the presidential and congressional contests.

Georgia, Texas and Arizona are all looking at highly competitive Senate races next year, and the Democrats have been talking about contesting their combined 65 electoral votes as well. Texas last backed the Democrats' nominee in 1976, Georgia in 1992 and Arizona in 1996, but turnout by young people and minority groups has been steadily increasing.

Read More

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shaking hands
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the 2019 G20 summit in Oasaka, Japan.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Shameful Concessions Will Not End Putin’s Threat to World Peace

Our President has proposed a shameful give-away of Crimea and an additional chunk of Ukraine to Vladimir Putin. This compounds President Obama’s shameful acquiescence in Putin’s seizing Crimea, and President Biden’s also failing to live up to the security assurances that the United States and Russia gave Ukraine in 1994 when Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in the Budapest Memorandum.

From my experience as a litigation attorney who participated in numerous mediations before retiring, I have found that successful mediations require a realistic assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, wants, and needs of the parties, including their willingness to take a calculated risk. In court, one never knows what a judge or jury will do. The outcome of war is likewise uncertain. In negotiations, wants should not obscure a realistic assessment of one’s needs. A party’s unmet true nonnegotiable needs can justify the risk. What are the needs of Ukraine, Russia, and the West?

Keep ReadingShow less
Michael Rivera: The Importance of Getting Involved
- YouTube

Michael Rivera: The Importance of Getting Involved

Michael Rivera is the Berks County Commissioner. The Republican began serving in January of 2020.

"My number one priority is fiscal responsibility," Rivera said in describing the focus of his work as County Commissioner. "Counties generate their money primarily through property taxes. My commitment to the residents of Berks County is to be fiscally responsible with their money."

Keep ReadingShow less
Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, left of center, answers questions about proposed laws that would alter the citizen-initiated ballot measure process during an Arkansas Senate committee hearing in February.

Credit:Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

Across the country, Republican lawmakers have been working to undermine or altogether undo the will of the voters by making it harder to pass amendments and laws through citizen-led initiatives.

In Missouri, the 2025 legislative session was dominated by Republican lawmakers trying to reverse two major measures that voters had put on the ballot and approved just months before; one made abortion in the state legal again, while the other created an employee sick leave requirement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Populist podcasters love RFK Jr., and he took the same left-right turn toward Trump as they did
Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Tariffs, Vaccines & Chronic Disease: The Hidden Link

When public figures take actions that contradict both expert consensus and common sense, we’re left to wonder: What are they thinking?

Two recent examples—Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine rhetoric—illustrate the puzzling nature of such choices.

Keep ReadingShow less