Why California's Governor Race Is a Trap for Both Parties (Trump Endorses Hilton) - EP36

Why Latino Voters Backed Trump - Then Mamdani (NOT What You Think) | Mike Madrid - EP47

The same young Latino voters who swung to Donald Trump in 2024 just handed New York to Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani - and no, they haven't changed their minds about anything. Strategist Mike Madrid explains why the fastest-growing bloc in American politics is walking out on both parties at once.  Madrid - author of The Latino Century - joins the show to blow up the way both parties read the Latino vote. His case: what looks like voters lurching right, then left, then right again is actually a dealignment - a conscious rejection of the entire two-party system, driven by class and generation far more than ethnicity. The crew digs into California's Latino turnout surge behind Becerra, why New York's closed primaries produced a dismal 9% turnout, and what really went down at the first-ever National Latino Summit in D.C. Stick around for his blunt advice on how voters can break the cycle of partisanship. Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us https://independentvoterproject.org 00:00:00 – The Latino Vote: America's Most Misunderstood Bloc 00:01:04 – Dealignment, Not Realignment: Leaving Both Parties 00:03:00 – It's Not Ethnic — Latinos Vote Their Class 00:04:44 – The Turnout Story: California Surges, New York Flatlines 00:09:32 – Inside the First-Ever National Latino Summit 00:13:24 – Conscious Disaffiliation and the Under-30 Surge 00:16:24 – Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Starving Voters 00:18:06 – Are Latinos Really Going Socialist? 00:20:22 – Adams to Trump to Mamdani in Four Years 00:23:24 – The Fix Nobody Wants to Hear: Leave Your Party 00:30:04 – The Voting-Rights Case Headed to Court 00:34:06 – Mike's Book, Substack, and Where to Follow Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

TRUTH: 40% of NYC Democrats Aren't Really Democrats | Jeremy Gruber - EP46

We sit down with Jeremy, Senior VP of Open Primaries, to dig into a new IVP/Open Primaries poll of registered NYC Democrats - and what it reveals is wild. Jeremy lays out "the big lie" about open vs. closed primaries, why ~40% of NYC Democrats (and two out of three Latino Democrats) don't identify with the party they're registered in, and how a 10% turnout primary ends up deciding who actually runs the city. Then Jeremy lays out why almost everyone - the media, secretaries of state, even civil rights groups - has the importance of primaries exactly backwards. This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  🎙️ The Independent Voter Podcast now has its own YouTube channel! If you enjoy these conversations, subscribe to our dedicated channel for full episodes, interviews, and future content:  https://youtube.com/@independentvoterpodcast? [https://youtube.com/@independentvoterpodcast?si=QLxhmGkgsLUZJ7T_] Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us] https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org] Follow and subscribe on audio platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R [https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155] Chapters: 00:00:00 – Independent Voters: The Largest Group Nobody Knows 00:00:49 – Introducing Jeremy Gruber & the NYC Poll 00:01:37 – The Big Lie About Open Primaries 00:02:37 – Why Democrats Register as Democrats Without Being Democrats 00:04:27 – Low Turnout and Who Actually Wins 00:07:35 – When the System Opens But Voters Still Don't Know 00:10:01 – Two-Step Reform: Policy Change and Voter Education 00:12:33 – How the System Is Stacked Against Primary Awareness 00:15:35 – Independent Organizing and What Comes Next 00:17:59 – Open Primaries' Litigation, Wins, and Where to Follow Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

She Quit Her Party. Then She Couldn't Vote. | Lisa Rice. - EP45

Lisa D.T. Rice, the driving force behind DC's Initiative 83 to permit ranked choice voting and open primaries, joins the show to explain how a missing ballot turned her into one of the most relentless reformers in the country. She breaks down why closed primaries are really a voting-rights problem, how she took on two fights at once - open primaries and ranked choice voting - in the heart of a 95% one-party city, and how rooting reform in everyday issues like food deserts is what actually wins elections. Then comes the gut-punch: voters passed her initiative with 73%, and she still couldn't cast a ballot. Stick around for the protest she threw in response, the go-go song she commissioned to troll the city council, and the lawsuit threat she says she "wouldn't put past someone."  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe on audio platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R [https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155] Chapters: 00:00:00 – Why Independent Voters Are Shut Out of Elections 00:01:07 – Meet Lisa Rice and the Fight for DC Reform 00:03:10 – Discovering the Cost of Leaving a Political Party 00:04:21 – Open Primaries as a Voting Rights Issue 00:06:10 – Taking on Washington, DC’s Political Establishment 00:07:35 – How Initiative 83 Won with 73% of the Vote 00:09:47 – Connecting Election Reform to Community Needs 00:11:20 – Court Battles, Ranked Choice Voting, and What Comes Next 00:13:24 – The “Picket at the Thicket” Protest for Voter Access 00:15:28 – Building a Movement for Independent Voters and Reform Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Trump Says Fraud. Here's What ACTUALLY Happened in California. - EP44

This week, Chad, Shawn, and Cara break down the five-day vote count that knocked Spencer Pratt out of the LA mayoral runoff - and why "fraud" is the wrong story. Cara walks through her viral article on Tom Steyer's $216 million spend, the DSA/progressive turnout machine, and how legal ballot harvesting in high-density neighborhoods delivered the late surge for Nithya Raman. Then the crew zooms out to the California governor's race, the bad-faith attacks on top-two primaries, and the record independent (NPP) turnout nobody's covering. Plus: Maine's remarkably civil ranked-choice governor's primary, a fight over slow vote counts that even the New York Times is picking, and a court challenge that could revive open primaries in Oklahoma.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Ballot Harvesting, Fraud Claims & the LA Mayor's Race 00:04:38 – How Ballot Harvesting Works & the Steyer Ground Game 00:09:25 – Progressive Alliances, Nonprofits & Unreported Spending 00:13:27 – NPP Voters Surge & the Real Purpose of Top Two 00:17:34 – California Governor's Race: Becerra & Hilton Advance 00:20:14 – Party Operatives, Media Bait & the Top Two Debate 00:24:50 – Maine Ranked Choice Voting & the Governor's Race 00:29:53 – California's Ballot Counting Timeline & the Postmark Debate 00:34:46 – Election Suspicion, Transparency & the Nine-Day Window 00:36:45 – Oklahoma's Open Primary Signature Fight Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Critics PROVED WRONG About the “Top-Two” Primary in California (It WORKS) - EP43

Fresh off the California gubernatorial primary, Chad, Cara, and Ethan break down why the "top-two will produce two Republicans" narrative was a manufactured fear - and why it collapsed the moment voters actually voted, with Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra heading toward a traditional R-vs-D general. They dig into who was pushing that panic and why (fundraising, juicing turnout, and a quiet war on top-two itself), including the uncomfortable detail that a party chair reportedly asked a leading minority candidate to drop out. Stick around for the bigger question the reform movement keeps dodging - and a pitch for what could come after top-two.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Independent Voters Win the Jungle Primary 00:00:51 – California Primary Results: Hilton vs. Becerra & Steyer's $200M Loss 00:03:37 – Tom Steyer's Campaign: Ranked Choice Voting & Positive Politics 00:07:32 – What if California Had Top Four + Ranked Choice Voting? 00:09:33 – Latino Voters & the Open Primary: 80% Want to Keep It 00:11:45 – The "Two Republicans" Scare: Manufactured Fear & Biased Polling 00:14:47 – Why Both Parties Hate Top Two — and That's Exactly Why It Works 00:16:26 – Where Does the Right to Vote Come From? The Core Question of Reform 00:18:22 – Reforming the Reform: The Case for Top Four + RCV in California 00:22:13 – Republicans, Relevance & the Self-Inflicted Wound of Closing Primaries   Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.