According to this article, the chair of the Democratic caucus in the Georgia House of Representatives, Representative Doug McKillip, has just switched parties, and is now a Republican. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
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The December 8 Chicago Sun-Times has this interesting article about people who circulate petitions for a living.
Joshua Spivak has this commentary on AOL News, suggesting that gerrymandering in the United States is likely to diminish substantially in the near future. He mentions the strong votes by Florida and California voters against gerrymandering. Of course, slightly over half the states do not have the initiative process, and the commentary does not discuss the difficulties of getting districting reform in states without the initiative process.
Ben Manski has this interesting op-ed in the Cap Times of Madison, Wisconsin. He was the Green Party nominee for Assembly in the 77th district. He points out that when one only looks at the ballots of voters who did not use the straight-ticket device, he got more votes than any of his opponents. But he still lost, when the votes of people who did use the straight-ticket device are included.
Ben Manski has this interesting op-ed in the Cap Times of Madison, Wisconsin. He was the Green Party nominee for Assembly in the 77th district. He points out that when one only looks at the ballots of voters who did not use the straight-ticket device, he got more votes than any of his opponents. But he still lost, when the votes of people who did use the straight-ticket device are included.