Politics
Ranked choice voting dealt blow by voters, rejected in numerous states
Ranked choice voting suffered a blow as several states, including Nevada, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho rejected measures last week.
In Colorado, Proposition 131 would have created an open primary system for candidates of any party and the top four vote-getters would move on to the general election, after voters ranked their choices from first to last.
“The ranked choice voting movement has pushed really hard to convince everyone it’s a great idea,” data scientist Seth Werfel told Colorado Public Radio. “It has some merits but it’s not a slam dunk, and I think voters are skeptical of anything that they can’t immediately understand.”
In Idaho, Proposition 1 would also have ended the party primary system.
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A vote center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Hasan Akbas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It was rejected by nearly 70% of the voters.
“You need a scandal, you need corruption, you need something that’s happening statewide to make the case to pass something complicated like this,” CalTech professor Michael Alvarez told Boise State Public Radio. “I’m not super deeply immersed in the politics of these various states, but I don’t see that common ‘why’ there.”
Oregon’s ranked choice voting measure, Proposition 117, was rejected by 58% of the voters.
“Voters this year were reluctant to make dramatic changes to the way they vote,” Chandler James, who teaches political science at the University of Oregon, told Oregon Public Radio. “But I don’t think that it spells the end for ranked choice voting in the future.”
Voters in Portland, Oregon. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)
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A similar measure in Nevada was rejected by 53% of voters. The same measure was passed by nearly 6% in 2022, but Nevada measures that require amendments to the state constitution don’t go into effect until they’re passed in two consecutive elections, according to the Nevada Independent.
Ranked choice voting is already used statewide in Alaska and Maine and places like New York City, but in Alaska a measure to repeal it looks like it could pass narrowly. Hawaii uses ranked choice voting for some special elections.
A voter in Denver, Colorado. (Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
And in Missouri, voters approved a constitutional amendment banning ranked choice voting.
“We believe in the one person, one vote system of elections that our country was founded upon,” Missouri state Sen. Ben Brown, who sponsored the measure, previously said in an interview, according to NPR.
Other states that have bans on ranked choice voting include Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee and Florida.
The politics of the area have also shifted.
For two decades its voters reliably leaned Democratic, but Donald Trump won the county in 2016 and again four years later, both times by solid margins.
Dwayne McDavitt, a retired prison guard and a Bikers for Trump leader, is one of the more visible local backers of the former president.
Before the rally in Scranton, he explained that he doubted the result of the 2020 election because he simply did not believe Trump could have lost fairly: “Tell me how Joe Biden could get 81 million votes.”
But Democrats hoped they could move the county back in their direction and made an intensive effort to do so.
County officials were vigilant leading up to Election Day. Luzerne County became a hotbed of election denialism in 2020, and Pennsylvania is an open-carry state. Some people feared voters might bring guns to the polls. Election workers were told they could bring their own guns.
The night before the election, a group of campaign volunteers organized by Jennifer Ziemba, the wife of the Luzerne County Republican Party chairman, gathered at Ziemba’s home in Harveys Lake, a prosperous community outside Wilkes-Barre.
They were calling Republican voters whose mail-in ballots had flaws like a missing date to tell them they had to cast provisional ballots in person.
“We’re not really MAGA-looking,” one of the women said. But they were staunch Trump supporters.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
“The women voting solely on abortion make me crazy,” Ziemba said. “I’d gladly give up my abortion rights and my daughter’s for my son not to have to go to war. We’ll have peace with Trump.”
Another woman, Lee Ann McDermott, who owns a real estate appraisal business with her husband, John, thinks the economy will improve under Trump. “With the interest rates high, no one was refinancing.”
On Election Day, most of the state’s counties shifted further to the right, tilting Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral College votes to Trump by about 130,000 voters.
She was sitting in the front parlor of her Wilkes-Barre home, built by her great-great grandfather.
Wynn’s ancestors escaped slavery by fleeing to Pennsylvania before the Civil War.
The morning after the election, some of the Bikers for Trump gathered to celebrate at D’s Diner, in the Wilkes-Barre suburb of Plains Township.
A man they did not know, a retired financial planner named Kim Pace, approached their table. He began by saying that his wife did not think it was a good idea to talk to them. He had voted for Harris.
“Congratulations, guys,” he said. “I hope it all works out.” His tone suggested that he was doubtful.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Dave Ragan, a U.S. Army veteran who had arrived on his motorcycle, stood up to respond. “We changed the world!” he said. “I don’t have to worry about my stepdaughter having a boy in the locker room.”
“Let me tell you something,” Pace said. “That stuff is overblown.” He wished them well and left.
Away from the table, he said, “If Harris had won, there was going to be trouble.”
In the days after the election, political tensions lingered in the community.
On Thursday evening, John McDermott, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, sat at home with his wife, Lee Ann, drinking a vodka and tonic after a round of golf. McDermott voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Trump in 2020.
This year, he voted for Harris. “I couldn’t bring myself to vote for him,” he said. “He’s a convicted felon. He believes in conspiracy theories.”
Lee Ann, a county council member, saw matters differently: She was one of the women making calls at Jennifer Ziemba’s house on the eve of the election. Now she was on her way to meet some of them at a restaurant to toast Trump’s win.
The mood was festive when McDermott arrived. “We’re getting Trumpy!” one of the women exclaimed, as they raised their cosmopolitans and glasses of wine.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Among the revelers was Shelley Meuser, the wife of Representative Dan Meuser, whose district includes a part of Luzerne County.
“We got our country back!” shouted Terry Eckert, who is a real estate agent.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Thirty miles down the road from Wilkes-Barre is Luzerne County’s other city, Hazleton. Its population of 30,000 is 63 percent Latino, an estimated 90 percent of whom are from the Dominican Republic.
There are at least six Catholic churches and many Pentecostal congregations in the community. One of them is the Iglesia Cristiana Agua de Vida Hazleton, where Elizabeth Torrez is the pastor.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Philip Montgomery is a photographer whose work examines the fractured state of America. Michael Sokolove, a contributing writer for the magazine since 2002, has written extensively on Pennsylvania and its politics.
Videos by Tre Cassetta.
Officials have approved the removal of the derogatory term “squaw” from more than 30 geographic features and place names on California lands, according to an announcement Friday by the state Natural Resources Agency.
The action stems from a bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in 2022, and follows a similar move by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which said “the term has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.”
The California law, Assembly Bill 2022, banned use of the word in future location names and ordered the resources agency to begin renaming all places that used the term, including streets, bridges, public buildings, forest fire fuel breaks and cemeteries.
For Deputy Secretary for Tribal Affairs at the Natural Resource Agency Geneva Thompson — the first official to hold the title and a member of the Cherokee Nation — it’s a meaningful step to heal centuries of harm the state has inflicted on Indigenous people.
“Acknowledging those historical wrongs that were committed against Native Americans is extremely important, but we need to take the next step toward healing,” Thompson said. “While there are differences among folks, we can build communities that reflect and honor and celebrate those differences instead of alienating and perpetuating historical wrongs.”
The renaming will occur in early 2025. It comes on the heels of an order from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to rename any geographic features or location names on federal lands that use the term, including dozens in California.
The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, which the California Natural Resources Agency oversees, scoured maps of California for any uses of the word under state jurisdiction, and the agency partnered with local governments and Native tribes to select new names.
In West Sacramento, a local public agency worked closely with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation to rename two streets.
The new name for the streets, “Tebti,” is a word and blessing that translates to “the streams that flow together” — a reference to the Sacramento and American rivers, which join in West Sacramento.
One local official framed the new name as a “gift to the community,” Thompson said.
“The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has led the effort to change demeaning mascot imagery of Native people, and we support replacing derogatory names locally and across state lands,” said Anthony Roberts, tribal chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, in a statement announcing the name changes. “With continued consultation, tribes can lead initiatives to eliminate such words from California’s public places.”
Some scholars believe the now-offensive term originated from the Algonquin language, which was spoken by many tribes on the East Coast, and originally meant “woman,” but was later corrupted by European colonists.
“It’s a racial stereotype. At times, it can even be a way of exerting harm against an individual or a group of people,” said Thompson. “You see that play out in the history of the state of California. You see this term written in military generals’ journals as a way of othering Native women to justify violence that was committed against them.”
AB 2022 was brought to the floor by Assemblymember James Ramos (D-Highland), who became the state’s first Native American lawmaker in 2018.
The word “denigrates Native American women and dehumanizes them,” Ramos said in a statement announcing the name changes.
“I believe that dehumanization has contributed to the Murdered and Missing Indigenous People crisis that affects all of our people but that strikes women and girls in disproportionate numbers,” he said. “Not one of my colleagues in the legislature voted against the bill because so many recognize this word is not a place name that belongs in California.”
As he aims to turn the nation’s capital upside down, President-elect Trump is turning to allies and supporters of his MAGA movement and America First agenda as he quickly moves to assemble his second administration.
The former and future president is clearly placing plenty of emphasis on loyalty as he makes increasing provocative picks for top cabinet posts.
And unlike eight years ago, when the first-time politician first took control of the White House, he is not in the market for establishment types or those who served in his first administration, but in his mind, proved disloyal.
Case in point – This week’s announcement from the president-elect that he was nominating as attorney general Rep. Matt Gaetz, the controversial conservative lawmaker from Florida who has been one of Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress as he’s repeatedly claimed the criminal investigations into Trump were “witch hunts.”
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) arrives with President-elect Donald Trump’s motorcade at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As both the House and Senate GOP conferences hold their leadership elections, President-elect Donald Trump is in Washington to meet with Congressional Republicans and with President Joe Biden at the White House. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
In making his announcement – which sent shock waves through the nation’s capital – Trump highlighted that “Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization.”
Gaetz, following the nomination, stepped down from Congress, ahead of a potential damaging report by the House Ethics Committee into sexual misconduct allegations that the lawmaker has denied.
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On Wednesday afternoon, the president nominated his former rival in the presidential race – turned staunch advocate – Robert Kennedy Jr., as Health and Human Services Secretary.
Kennedy endorsed Trump shortly after suspending his campaign, and has since hit the campaign trail while touting his plans to “Make America Healthy Again” under a potential Trump presidency.
In making the announcement, Trump said “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,”
Trump turned to another loyalist – former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate turned MAGA rock star who this year became a Republican and a top campaign trail surrogate for the former president – as his pick for Director of National Intelligence.
A day earlier, Trump named combat veteran, Army National Guard officer and Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, another major supporter, as his choice for Defense Secretary.
In announcing that Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was his pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, Trump noted that “Elise is a strong and very smart America First fighter… She was the first Member of Congress to endorse me and has always been a staunch advocate.”
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And Trump called former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, whom he is aiming to install as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, “a true fighter for America First policies.”
He named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a conservative firebrand and MAGA-world star who has long been a fierce Trump ally and supporter, as his choice for Homeland Security secretary.
Noem will work with Stephen Miller, whom the president-elect has picked as his incoming deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was the architect of much of the first Trump administration’s hard-line policy on immigration and border security.
She will also collaborate with Thomas Homan, who, as acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during the first administration, was often the face of Trump’s controversial immigration policies. The president-elect has named Homan as his incoming “border czar.”
And Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his choice for Secretary of State.
Rubio was a rival to Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, but over the years has become a strong Trump ally in the Senate.
Trump also named Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida as his national security adviser. Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, is a longtime Trump ally.
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Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler who raised big bucks for Trump’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, noted that Trump is in a very different situation than he was eight years ago, when he first won the White House.
“He’s got a stronger mandate because he won the popular vote, and he won all seven swing states,” Eberhart emphasized. “I also think he knows what he wants, and he knows better how to get what he wants out of Washington. He’s going to have a more cohesive, more MAGA team, that’s hopefully able to accomplish more.”
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A leading strategist in Trump’s political orbit, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that “one thing that is noticeable this time around is that instead of a team of rivals who are all over the place ideologically, Trump is largely bringing people on who are aligned with his America First agenda.”
Matt Mowers, a veteran Republican consultant and 2020 GOP congressional nominee in New Hampshire who worked on Trump’s 2016-2017 transition and served in the first Trump administration, told Fox News that Trump has “decided he needs everyone aligned.”
“What he’s doing is he’s choosing a lot of people who aren’t just going to undo the Biden polices but really try to take a hammer to the bureaucracy… which is what he calls the ‘deep state,’” Mowers added.
Those whom the president-elect feels have not shown their loyalty to him appear to be iced out.
Trump this past weekend announced in a social media post that he would not ask former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – who served as ambassador to the U.N. in his first administration – and former Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas – who served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in Trump’s first term – to join his incoming cabinet.
Former Republican presidential candidate, former U.N. ambassador, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16, 2024. ((PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images))
Haley ran against Trump in this year’s Republican presidential primaries and ended up as the final challenger to the former president in what turned into a divisive nomination battle. Haley made clear this week that she wasn’t seeking a job in the second Trump administration.
Pompeo seriously mulled making his own 2024 White House run before ultimately deciding not to launch a campaign.
Both politicians eventually endorsed Trump this year, following the primary season.
But a source in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News that the president-elect “is not looking to give a platform for those with future presidential ambitions other than JD Vance.”
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