Nagel leads the marketing team at Good Party, a company building free tools and a volunteer movement for independent candidates. Prior to his involvement in politics, Jack worked in tech startups, with previous stops at Help Scout and G2.
City governments are not just where Americans feel the most impact of government on their daily lives – they’re the last line of defense against hyper-partisanship. A recent piece in The New York Times revealed a sign of increasing tensions to come: Swing state legislatures this session have passed increasingly partisan agendas without mandates. Local governments, generally non-partisan, are where we can reverse this trend and govern by consensus. These races also provide the perfect platform for independent candidates to emerge as a solution to the two-party system that has devolved into chaos. By recruiting and electing truly independent candidates – those that have no party affiliation or financial backing of partisan special interests – we can foster talent and enthusiasm for a nationwide independent movement.
Early 20th-century progressives sought to make municipal governments – the bodies that have the most impact on the daily lives of the people they represent – more efficient. Today, 22 of the nation’s 30 most populous cities have non-partisan elections. But the promise of local governments escaping partisanship has not panned out. In a study of the San Diego City Council, professor Craig Burnett of Hofstra University found even with a nominally non-partisan council, all but one of the eight city council members consistently voted with their party affiliation. Furthermore, school boards nationwide have become the hotbed of the culture wars with substantial investment in candidates backed by partisan groups such as Moms For Liberty.
The consequences of this development are immense. Local governments hold the power to make decisions that directly impact our day-to-day lives. Increasingly, cities are shifting focus from filling potholes and providing services to wading into national politics. Some governments are even starting to weigh in on foreign policy issues, a far cry from the vision of municipal governments as efficient executors of the public will. This escalating partisanship has resulted in state legislatures punishing local governments with different party affiliations. In Nashville this year, the state attempted to halve the size of the Metro Council in retaliation to the body voting down a proposal to host the RNC in 2024.
Electing truly independent leaders will allow cities to focus on delivering results for their communities. True independents have an opportunity to act in the best interests of their constituents by not taking money from special interests or political parties that may influence their agenda. By refusing money from special interests and political parties, independents can govern based on consensus, eliminate corruption and waste, and prioritize the needs of the people they represent. This approach cultivates good habits in our future leaders, setting good habits for governance.
One of the main obstacles independent candidates face at the national level is their lack of a track record and a popular base to support their campaigns. By starting locally, true independents can gain the necessary experience and demonstrate their ability to govern independently. Plus, these races are winnable – nearly 70 percent of elected offices around the country are left uncontested, and most of these uncontested positions are at the local and regional levels.
This formula has worked elsewhere: Hillary Schieve went from at-large Reno city council to a three-term mayoral incumbent; Calvin Schrage gained experience on the Abbott Loop community council in Alaska to win a state house seat as an independent. Lastly, Ron Nirenberg, the independent mayor of America’s seventh largest city, San Antonio, ran a grassroots, underdog campaign for city council, priming his successful mayoral run.
One organization dedicated to electing more independent candidates around the country with the goal of ending the two-party system is Good Party. This year, they had over 750 participants from around the country say they’re interested in running for local office as independents, and are actively working with 22 individuals on serious mayoral and city council campaigns.
As one of their candidate prospects said, “Winning as an independent is not a moonshot.” By resisting the allure of the noisy federal environment and concentrating on winnable, impactful local races – a nationwide independent movement is just around the corner.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.