Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a six-part series by pollster Brent Buchanan on the politics of the American South. Last week, Buchanan explored the shifting priorities of minority voters in the South — and why Democrats shouldn’t take those voters for granted. This week, he breaks down the unique features, and critical importance, of the Southern suburbs.
We hope you enjoy.
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Few things embody American culture and consumerism better than the suburbs.
Both a subject of generational aspiration and comedic ridicule, America’s suburbs remain a bridge to a nostalgic past and the ideal archetype of the “American Dream,” where home ownership, good schools, and safe neighborhoods still represent the opportunity of upward mobility and a prosperous future.
It&#8217;s fitting, then, with backyard barbecue season approaching, that, in part three of this series, we examine why the suburbs in America’s South have been politically stagnant.
While many of the country’s suburbs are rapidly shifting, voting behavior and partisanship in Southern suburbs are remarkably stable. This “stuck in neutral” dynamic is shaping the political battlegrounds of tomorrow — and it’s not necessarily a disadvantage for Republicans. If Democrats keep choosing the 20 percent side of 80/20 issues — like men in women’s sports, deporting illegals, or prioritizing the rights of nefarious illegal immigrants over crime victims — they’ll lose votes to Republicans or drive their own voters to stay home in the 2026 midterm elections.
That would be good news for Republicans. But our analysis of the South suggests its suburbs are much more hardened than its northern or western counterparts. Too often, mostly on Election Night, pundits and analysts rush to describe the country’s suburbs as hotly contested areas with high concentrations of swing voters.
While this is true for suburban pockets elsewhere in America, it is not the case in the South.
“As we mentioned in part one of this series, when we described the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-rise-of-the-south-is-not-what-you-think-why-it-holds-the-keys-to-political-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sweet Tea Suburbs</a>, their inelasticity reflects a unique dynamic that poses a significant challenge for Republicans,” says Nicholas Valdiviez, Cygnal’s Sampling Lead for this exclusive Daily Wire project. “The GOP could seek to strengthen its performance in other areas to offset suburban stagnation, or they could try to crack through some of these areas, though the payoff would be incremental and likely extend beyond 2026.”
<h3>The Faux South: A Case Study in Suburban Inelasticity</h3>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-911457" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-The-Faux-South-1.png" alt="" width="690" height="535" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-The-Faux-South-1.png 690w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-The-Faux-South-1-300x233.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px" /></div>
The word faux is not used as a negative slight toward any of the great people or communities of this region, nor to detract from their “southernness.” In fact, as an important descriptor for this far-reaching analysis of America’s South, the term illustrates the region’s distinct and historically vital role as a sprawling gateway to the southern heartlands shaped more by commerce and trade routes than agriculture, combined with its geographical position along the borderlands of our nation’s capital.
Voters here, especially in Virginia, will tell you they are absolutely Southern — with the exception of those hard-left-leaning folks living in the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) nexus along the Potomac River. Surrounding the ineffectual machinations of DC, the Faux South covers all of Maryland, most of West Virginia through the Alleghany Mountains, throughout middle and southeastern Virginia, extending down to coastal and near-inland North Carolina.
From 2016 to 2020, the Faux South saw the largest surge in Democratic turnout in the Southern United States — a 48% increase — but Republican turnout also jumped by 27%, marking the biggest regional year-over-year turnout shift in the last 16 years. At face value, that would signal some tailwinds for Republicans as the Faux South mixes most frequently with the Trumpian Highlands, another southern transitionary region. But it is the presence of the Sweet Tea Suburbs that serves as a sort of counteractive ingredient to such tailwinds.
Examining Virginia and North Carolina as the dominant states of the Faux South, we measured a strong voter disenfranchisement for elected officials at all levels, more than any other region in the South. Even our latest National Voter Trends (NVT) <a href="https://www.cygn.al/poll-democrats-continue-to-struggle-as-trump-maintains-strong-approval-even-in-light-of-tariffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> bears this out: voters in this region had high mistrust of their elected officials from local positions like mayor and city council up to their Member of Congress. The Faux South’s approval of their congressional representatives falls nearly four standard deviations below the average (18-point approval vs. the average of 29%, or the high of 36%). Even approval of their state legislators is 10 points below the average, and five points below the average of mayors and/or village presidents.
While the numbers are net positive in our latest NVT and across all regions in the South, they&#8217;re markedly lower here than in the other regions. And despite surges in turnout, this sentiment influences how voters in the Faux South differ from the other regions’ more rightward leanings, making them more likely to disengage altogether or maintain the status quo.
Yet, as entrenched as this region can be, there are some silver linings for Republicans. Since Virginia governors are limited to two nonconsecutive terms, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears shows the most <a href="https://www.cygn.al/virginia-governor-race-poll-sears-positioned-for-strong-showing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promising </a>signs to galvanize a broad base of support and carry on the progress of widely popular outgoing Governor Glenn Youngkin. How the battles for Republican control of state legislative seats, particularly in suburban districts, with Sears atop the ticket, will indicate how well Republicans have begun to crack the Faux South.
North Carolina is a tougher story for Republicans. Though the state saw a shift rightward from 2020 to 2024, the tension lies in this portion of the Faux South’s proximity to the Sweet Tea Suburbs. The &#8220;Research Triangle,&#8221; the area between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, is central to scattered pockets of Sweet Tea Suburbs, which we described earlier as nearly immovable (split in 2020 and only R+3 in 2024), upper middle-class neighborhoods with high economic mobility. The confluence of these regions, combined with large areas of Trumpian Highlands in the western parts of the state, makes North Carolina more resistant to significant Republican gains.
<h3>Influence of Cities</h3>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-911459" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-part-III-four-cities-652x576.png" alt="" width="652" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-part-III-four-cities-652x576.png 652w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-part-III-four-cities-300x265.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-part-III-four-cities-768x678.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/DW-part-III-four-cities.png 798w" sizes="(max-width: 652px) 100vw, 652px" /></div>
The overall trend remains one of inelasticity, with only a modest Republican recovery and little evidence of the dramatic swings seen elsewhere. But the hardening of the South&#8217;s suburbs is also heavily influenced by the region&#8217;s cities. Some are burgeoning hubs of economic revitalization, while others are still stuck in neutral themselves and struggle to keep pace with the South’s rising political prominence.
The most salient point to describe the odd relationship between Southern cities and suburbs is that voters in the ‘burbs tend to be more woke and believe in Leftist virtue signaling as a way to prove their solidarity with the more economically-stratified and depressed conditions of largely-minority city dwellers. &#8220;Normies,&#8221; as Ben Shapiro might call them, chalk this up to the same old political pandering we’ve seen from highly educated suburbanite Democrats. But the political symbiosis of Southern cities and many of their surrounding suburbs has created a concrete structure for social and political acceptance of the status quo.
Compounding this disjointed interdependency is the high rate of disenfranchisement among city dwellers, especially among minority voters, who tend to view these strongholds of Democratic leadership as a matter of course — years of broken and empty promises have led less to an embrace of Republicans and more to full-on disengagement. Contrast this with cities like Chicago, where more minority communities are starting to push back against entrenched and corrupt Democratic leadership.
What makes so many of the South’s suburbs hardened to political swings, especially in Republicans’ favor, is this symbiotic relationship with many of its cities.
In recent elections, we saw the opposite happen in northern states like Ohio, where suburbs like those outside Columbus and Cleveland helped turn that state from a closely-watched swing state in presidential election years to a reliably red state. Southern cities like Memphis, meanwhile, mix heavily with the Big Sky South and Soulful South, keeping it politically stagnant and resistant to major partisan shifts.
We see something similar in Huntsville, where explosive population and economic growth have made the area more influential within Alabama. With a heavy dose of Trumpian Highlands to mix with, the surrounding suburbs continue to reflect consistent voting patterns year after year.
Similarly, Birmingham and Charleston’s suburbs have not experienced significant partisan shifts. Even as their urban cores evolve, their suburbs have not experienced significant political swings, despite some of the prevailing Soulful South trends we noted in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-end-of-democratic-assumptions-how-minority-voters-are-reshaping-southern-politics?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Brent+Buchanan&amp;category=News+and+Analysis&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=The+End+of+Democratic+Assumptions%3A+How+Minority+Voters+Are+Reshaping+Southern+Politics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part two</a> of this series.
This persistent inelasticity underscores how deeply-rooted disenfranchisement and longstanding racial and cultural undercurrents keep these Southern cities and their surrounding suburbs in a perpetual state of tension, making them the most resistant to the nationwide political and generational realignment that has accelerated in the Trump era.
For Republicans, the challenge is to find incremental gains in both the suburbs and cities or look beyond these gridlocked areas for more growth in regions like the Big Hat Bloc or among the Republican Resettlers. In those two regions, <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/07/hispanics-in-the-rio-grande-valley-are-now-swing-voters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hispanic populations</a> in particular are ripe for additional Republican gains.
For Democrats, the risk of alienating moderate voters or encouraging disengagement is more real than ever. If they continue to champion positions out of step with the suburban mainstream, Republicans can capitalize. This gives credence to the strategy of letting your opponents make unforced errors.
As the South continues to grow in population and political influence, the lesson is clear: state lines and national narratives rarely capture the true dynamics at play. The inelasticity of Southern suburbs is less a sign of stagnation than a testament to the encroaching fallout from the national political realignment.
COMING UP NEXT: All eyes are on Georgia and North Carolina ahead of the 2026 midterms. As two of the most prominent Democratic holdouts in the South, parts four and five of this series will delve into the extent of their influence and whether they’ll remain regional hegemons or embrace the coming red wave of longstanding conservative control.

Neat line of suburban houses in Fairfax, Virginia

Beyond The Swing: Why Southern Suburbs Refuse To Budge 

2026 Midterms

Glenn Youngkin

Suburbs

Virginia

Voting

Washington D.C.

American elections should be decided by American voters. That’s the basic principle behind the SAVE Act (<a href="https://www.wilx.com/2025/04/07/15-non-citizens-voted-michigan-november-general-election-secretary-state-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HR 22</a>), a landmark bill in the U.S. House of Representatives meant to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. That’s something most Americans — even most liberal voters — agree on. 
But Congressional Democrats don’t seem to care. They killed the SAVE Act last year and seem intent on doing so again. Along with so-called “democracy” activists and liberal pundits in the press, Democratic elected officials are <a href="https://www.wilx.com/2025/04/07/15-non-citizens-voted-michigan-november-general-election-secretary-state-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">working</a> overtime to scare Americans into opposing a commonsense bill.
The public shouldn’t fall for it. The SAVE Act, first introduced last year by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), amends existing law to require that states obtain proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote in federal elections. A wide range of IDs would be acceptable, including a birth certificate, a passport, or a military ID. That is the same basic requirement Americans are already complying with when they get a REAL ID.
The SAVE Act would help solve a clear problem. Right now, voter registration operates on an honor system. Thanks to years of Left-wing litigation, courts have interpreted federal law to prevent states from proving citizenship. To get on a voter roll, all a noncitizen needs to do is check a box asking if he or she is a citizen.
That’s no hypothetical danger. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 19 noncitizens with illegally registering and voting as recently as 2016. Just a few days ago, <a href="https://www.wilx.com/2025/04/07/15-non-citizens-voted-michigan-november-general-election-secretary-state-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced 15 noncitizens voted there in 2024. Last year, states like Ohio, Texas, and Virginia all found significant numbers of noncitizens on their voter rolls, and state officials say many appear to have voted in recent years. Those figures may not sway a presidential election, but there are numerous races each year decided by a few votes — sometimes even just one. That is not the point, though. Each of these illegal votes represents a lawful American citizen whose voice was unfairly cancelled out. Lawmakers have a duty to prevent that.
Democrats label the SAVE Act redundant because federal law already makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote. But those same Democrats seem more interested in undercutting that law than enforcing it. When Virginia tried to remove <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/30/politics/supreme-court-virginia-noncitizen-voting-purge/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,500 self-identified noncitizens from its rolls</a>, the Biden Administration sued to keep them on the voter rolls for the 2024 election. Progressive politicians handed the vote to illegal aliens in Washington, D.C., and New York City spent years defending a noncitizen voting law that New York’s highest court just tossed out as patently unconstitutional.
The attacks on the bill only get more absurd from there. Progressives argue that the SAVE Act will stop married women from voting if they change their names. Hardly. Marriage wasn’t invented yesterday, and every state has processes for handling name changes on official documents. Plus, the bill specifically accommodates voters with discrepancies in their identification.
Nor will the bill stop citizens from voting merely because they lack routine forms of ID. The SAVE Act includes provisions to deal with this, too. Of course, critics still baselessly assert that the bill will ban huge numbers of citizens from voting. But they have said the same about voter ID laws for decades, and those warnings never came true.
One of the big beneficiaries of the SAVE Act will be the election officials we task with ensuring the security of our elections and verifying the eligibility of voters. Not only does the bill give them new tools to screen out ineligible noncitizens before they can register and vote, it also guarantees access to federal databases that will help keep voter rolls clean and accurate.
Another will be the voting public. Citizenship requirements are extraordinarily popular. Indeed, a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/652523/americans-endorse-early-voting-voter-verification.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent Gallup survey</a> found an incredible 83% of Americans believe that proof of citizenship should be required when registering to vote. Eight states voted to enshrine citizen-only voting in their state constitutions last year alone. Americans deserve to know that noncitizens are not voting in our elections.
The SAVE Act dovetails nicely with President Trump’s recent Executive Order on elections. That order was a welcome change from the prior administration and rightly resets government policy in crucial areas including proof of citizenship. But executive orders have their limits, and only Congress can make law.
Congress has a duty to ensure that American elections belong exclusively to American citizens. The only question is, will Democrats stand with the American public or against them? Time will tell, and the voters are watching.
* * *
Jason Snead is the executive director of Honest Elections Project Action.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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TOPSHOT-US-VOTE-POLITICS-ELECTION

It’s Time For Congress To Ban Noncitizen Voting

Congress

Elections

illegal immigrants

Opinion

U.S. House of Representatives

Voter Registration

Lawyers representing Tulsi Gabbard are threatening to sue CNN for defamation if the network publishes a story accusing the Director of National Intelligence of voter fraud, according to a legal <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/848025125/Lawyers-For-Tulsi-Gabbard-Threaten-CNN">cease and desist letter</a> obtained by The Daily Wire.
In the letter, dated April 4, lawyers representing Gabbard state that they learned a day earlier that CNN “plans to publish a story that falsely asserts or implies that Tulsi Gabbard committed voter fraud and suggests that she had abandoned her longstanding Hawaii residency.”
The story, according to the letter, is based on Gabbard’s <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13252435/Tulsi-Gabbard-Trump-vice-president-pick-buys-property-Leander-Texas-Hawaii.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 purchase</a> of a Texas house — CNN apparently planned to write that Gabbard improperly voted in Hawaii in 2024 when she should have voted in Texas, because she declared a “homestead exemption” at that property. The lawyers, the letter shows, inform CNN that Texas law does not indefinitely bind homestead to your residence, and that Gabbard “was, is, and intends to remain a Hawaii resident.”
Gabbard, a former Democrat who left the party, was raised in Hawaii, served in its state legislature, and represented the state Congress for nearly a decade. Olivia Coleman, press secretary for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told The Daily Wire that “illegitimate claims of voter fraud are a new low, even for CNN.”
“DNI Gabbard voted in Hawaii during the 2024 election because she is and has been a tax paying Hawaii resident,” Coleman said. “Her current status is no different than when she was a Member of Congress, where she maintained a mainland residence and a Hawaii residence as a tax-paying voter.”
The legal letter informs CNN that Gabbard “took the advice of local officials to register a homestead exemption to protect her and her family’s privacy.”
“Declaring her ‘homestead’ in Texas, per law, ensured her address would remain confidential in response to ongoing, high-level, credible threats against her and her family,” Coleman exmplained. “Any claim to the contrary is simply dishonest and is yet another smear job from discredited CNN that could put the Director and her loved ones further at risk.”
It is unclear whether CNN plans to publish its report, or if the network has additional evidence not referenced in the legal letter. CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is also unclear what motive Gabbard would have for fraudulently maintaining residence in Hawaii while living primarily in Texas. Politically, Texas is a much more electorally competitive state than Hawaii. And financially, Hawaii has one of the highest state income taxes in the country, while Texas is one of eight states with no income tax at all.
In their letter, Gabbard’s lawyers cite a court case which states that while a designated homestead is “relevant to consideration of residence,” it is “not dispositive.” Gabbard presently spends most of her time in Virginia, where the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is headquartered.
In support of the claims of defamation, Gabbard’s lawyers state in the letter that the “demonstrably false” statements “have the potential to cause significant harm to her personal and professional reputation.”
“The allegations meet the legal standard for defamation per se, as they falsely accuse Director Gabbard of criminal conduct, which is inherently damaging to her reputation,” the letter says.
In 2022, CNN published an article titled, “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/politics/election-fraud-trump-no-evidence/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Election fraud isn’t really a thing, part infinity</a>.”
Read the full letter below:
<iframe loading="lazy" class="scribd_iframe_embed" tabindex="0" title="Lawyers For Tulsi Gabbard Threaten CNN" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/848025125/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-um1BZ4O1374vubmtbWEE" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488"></iframe>
<a style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Lawyers For Tulsi Gabbard Threaten CNN on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/848025125/Lawyers-For-Tulsi-Gabbard-Threaten-CNN#from_embed"> Lawyers For Tulsi Gabbard Threaten CNN </a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Daily Wire Investigations Team's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/694252498/Daily-Wire-Investigations-Team#from_embed"> Daily Wire Investigations Team </a>

Tulsi Gabbard/CNN

Tulsi Gabbard Threatens To Sue CNN For ‘Smear Job’ Accusing Her Of Voter Fraud

Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard

The Justice Department is dropping a Biden-era challenge to a Georgia election integrity law passed in the aftermath of the 2020 election, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Monday.
Bondi said that her department would no longer seek to block Georgia from enforcing SB 202, a Republican-backed measure that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/georgias-election-integrity-act-everything-you-need-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tightened </a>absentee voting requirements. After the implementation of the law, the Biden administration sued to block it from taking effect, alleging that it targeted black voters.
“Contrary to the Biden Administration’s false claims of suppression, black voter turnout actually increased under SB 202,” Bondi said. “Georgians deserve secure elections, not fabricated claims of false voter suppression meant to divide us. Americans can be confident that this Department of Justice will protect their vote and never play politics with election integrity.” 
The law, passed in March 2021, mandated a voter ID requirement for absentee voting, required election workers not to stop counting the votes after they’ve begun, and limited the availability of ballot drop boxes to only inside early voting locations during business hours. 
At the time, President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democrats-excoriate-new-voting-restrictions-georgia-make-it-illegal-give-n1262181" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decried</a> the law, calling it “Jim Crow in the 21st Century” and “a blatant attack on the Constitution.”
The law induced corporate backlash from companies like Coca-Cola and Delta. It even prompted Major League Baseball to yank the All-Star Game from Atlanta, costing the state tens of millions of dollars. 
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that the decision from the Justice Department was a win for Georgia voters.
&#8220;This reaffirms that the Election Integrity Act stands on solid legal ground,&#8221; he said Monday. &#8220;Our commitment has always been to ensure fair and secure elections for every Georgian, despite losing an All-Star game and the left’s boycott of Georgia as a result of commonsense election law.&#8221;​
Raffensperger also asked for the release of any documents showing coordination between Biden&#8217;s DOJ and outside groups on the case.
While many Democrats claimed that the law would depress voter turnout, Georgia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dems-compared-georgia-election-law-to-jim-crow-the-state-just-broke-its-early-voting-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saw</a> record day one early vote turnout in 2024 when there were 328,000 ballots cast, a substantial increase from the previous 2020 record of 136,000.
Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley praised the DOJ for dismissing the case. 
“This is a victory for election integrity and a defeat for every Democrat who lied about Georgia’s election law,” he said. “The RNC has been proudly fighting to defend SB202 ever since it was passed, which is why we intervened as soon as the Biden Justice Department filed this lawsuit. States like Georgia should be praised, not punished, for making their elections more secure.”

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

‘Victory For Election Integrity’: DOJ Ending Biden-Era Suit Against Georgia

2020 Election

Biden Administration

Brad Raffensperger

Courts

Department of Justice

Georgia

Politics

It is both law and common sense that government power should stay out of political campaigns. The federal <a href="https://osc.gov/Services/pages/hatchact.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hatch Act</a> is one example of a law that upholds this principle by prohibiting partisanship in federal agencies. Of course, there are gray areas. The erstwhile Biden Administration took advantage of this to push federal agencies into politics, setting a dangerous precedent. Just hours after his inauguration, President Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5169190/biden-voter-registration-executive-order" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revoked</a> that Biden policy and restored the separation of electioneering and state.
In March 2021, Biden signed <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/03/10/2021-05087/promoting-access-to-voting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Executive Order 14019</a>. Entitled “Promoting Access to Voting,” the order made it a federal “responsibility … to expand access to, and education about, voter registration and election information.” It required all federal agencies to “consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.” The order specifically required the Federal Bureau of Prisons to assist inmates with registering to vote.
This may sound innocuous to those not involved with the inner workings of political campaigns. To cast a ballot, a person must be registered to vote. That’s a government process. So what’s the problem with federal agencies getting involved?
Campaign operatives know better. “Voter registration is the groundwork that underpins any path to electoral victory,” <a href="https://highergroundlabs.com/5-innovative-technologies-driving-progressive-voter-registration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Higher Ground Labs, which funds leftist political startups. Political campaigns and their allies actively work to register voters and then get them to vote, focusing on people likely to support their own preferred candidates. These voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns can make the difference in close elections.
Consider the innocuous sounding <a href="https://www.voterparticipation.org/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voter Participation Center</a>. The group’s only purpose is to register voters, and it claims to be nonpartisan. Yet its president, Tom Lopach, built his career working for <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sen. Ted Kennedy</a> and was executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In an <a href="https://freebeacon.com/elections/do-you-like-nascar-this-non-partisan-voter-registration-group-doesnt-want-to-help-you/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exposé</a> last year, The Washington Free Beacon showed that the Voter Participation Center had carefully targeted its work to avoid registering voters who might lean Republican. This included telling Facebook not to show the group’s voter registration ads to people interested in NASCAR or golf.
On its website, the Voter Participation Center acknowledges that it’s not trying to register all Americans. Rather it’s focused on what it <a href="https://www.voterparticipation.org/our-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calls</a> the “New American Majority—young people, people of color and unmarried women.” Of course, these demographic groups tend to vote for Democrats (although Trump made <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/gen-z-voters-donald-trump-election-ab7b40b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant gains</a>, especially with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/young-black-latino-men-trump-economy-jobs-9184ca85b1651f06fd555ab2df7982b5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">young men</a>).
The trouble with government agencies running voter registration drives and get-out-the-vote campaigns is that it’s very easy to benefit one party or the other. This could happen by accident, but could also be the result of top-down directives or individual government employees. It might also be impossible to detect such intentional partisanship, especially prior to an election. Consider that it took a series of leaks before The Daily Wire could verify suspicions that some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FEMA staff were refusing to help Trump supporters</a> in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Across federal agencies, there are countless lists of Americans. These include farmers and ranchers, school employees, recipients of various welfare programs, and people with student loans. Obviously, some of these lists include people who are much more likely to support one political party or the other. Many also include demographic data—the exact kind of information political campaigns use to find and target their most likely supporters.
Do Americans really want Democrats turning welfare programs into get-out-the-vote campaigns? Should Republicans turn around and use government programs to register and turn out rural voters?
Thankfully, President Trump refused to simply turn the tables. He rejected Biden’s precedent and made <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/initial-rescissions-of-harmful-executive-orders-and-actions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturning</a> Executive Order 14019 one of his first acts in office. This is even more laudable given that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-voter-turnout-republicans-trump-harris-7ef18c115c8e1e76210820e0146bc3a5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high voter turnout</a> helped Trump win the recent election (as <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2024/06/15/more-evidence-that-republicans-are-now-the-party-that-benefits-from-high-voter-turnout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> by Prof. Ilya Somin earlier last year).
Political parties, campaigns, and other allied groups have a strong interest in registering voters and getting out the vote. These are inherently political activities. Federal government agencies have too much power and too many interested parties to be trusted dabbling in such things. All Americans owe President Trump thanks for rebuilding the wall of separation between electioneering and state.
* * *
Trent England is the founder and executive director of <a href="https://saveourstates.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Save Our States</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Residents Vote In The First-In-The-Nation New Hampshire Primary

Why The Feds Should Have No Place In Voter Registration Efforts

Donald Trump

President Trump

Prisoners

Voting Rights

A woman who worked for a Pennsylvania voting rights organization patterned after Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams’ New Georgia Project has been charged with trying to register dead people to vote in the 2024 presidential election.
Jennifer Hill, 38, who had worked with the New Pennsylvania Project as a canvasser, tried to register 310 people to vote between April 2024 and September 2024. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said 181 of the voters were successfully registered, NBC Philadelphia <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/decision-2024/woman-accused-of-trying-to-fraudulently-register-4-people-to-vote-in-election/4059830/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Among those alleged 310 people were Hill’s deceased father and another person who had died in her home.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨PA, Delaware County Election Fraud🚨
Women and man accused of fraudulently submitting false voter registrations of 4 people to vote in 2024 presidential election.
Jennifer Hill, a Collingdale resident is charged with four felony charges of forgery, was a paid canvasser for… <a href="https://t.co/8SSsVuoZ3q">pic.twitter.com/8SSsVuoZ3q</a>
&mdash; Andrea Shaffer, Employment/Labor Law (@Andreafreedom76) <a href="https://twitter.com/Andreafreedom76/status/1870152386414612970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“She knows that because she was the person who called the police to come when he died in her house,” Stollsteimer said. “She did register a fraudulent person and my understanding is this is sort of a gap in the system where by putting in no date of birth and no social security number, it goes through and became a verified voter registration. She did not take any further step. That fictitious person did not vote in the 2024 election. But that shows you how we still have gaps in our system that we need to have the legislature address.”
“We don’t know from the other 129 that were non-verifiable, how many of those were made up names,” Stollsteimer added.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Kadida Kenner, CEO of the New Pennsylvania Project, said Hill had worked for her organization but responded to the allegations with a statement in which she stated, “Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Department of State informed the New PA Project Education Fund (NPPEF) about potential issues regarding attempted voter registration by one of our former canvassers working in Delaware County. Immediately upon being notified of the potential issues, we suspended the staff member pending investigation. An internal investigation was launched, and the organization paused our voter registration programs in several regions pending the outcome of our investigation.”
”New Pennsylvania Project is kicking into high gear working to get voter momentum going into the fall elections. It’s modeled after one created in Georgia by Stacey Abrams,&#8221; WHYY <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/elections-new-pennsylvania-project-kadida-kenner-fall-voting-accessible-to-all/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2022. “We have a primary purpose of voter registration and we center communities of color, we center the youth, and we center immigrant communities in our work,” Kenner stated.
‘To see a black woman potentially at the top of the ticket on a November ballot just blows my mind,” Kenner <a href="https://keystonenewsroom.com/voterhub-2024/breaking-barriers-pennsylvanians-share-why-kamala-harris-presidential-bid-gives-them-hope/">said</a> last July. “I just know that this is an opportunity for us to protect our rights with an opportunity for a woman who looks like me at the top of the ticket. I know this is an opportunity this nation needs. We talk about (how) we want to heal this nation. I think this is part of that healing process, to have a black woman potentially be President of the United States.”

Cemetery

Woman Who Worked For Voting Rights Org Accused Of Registering Dead People to Vote

2024 Election

Crime

dead

Democrats

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro, considered one of the favorites for the 2028 Democrat presidential nomination, took the side of a court that ruled against Democratic officials who defied state law — but condemned such actions by officials after the court’s ruling.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that counties must reject undated and misdated ballots after Democrat election officials openly defied the order last week. The officials’ actions came as the recount of the race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick began. Casey would not concede after multiple outlets, including the Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ, called the race for McCormick.
Last week, Democrats in the Bucks County Office of Commissioners <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/people-violate-laws-any-time-they-want-dem-election-officials-state-willingness-to-defy-law-ahead-of-recount" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rejected</a> their Republican colleague’s motion to stop “noncompliant” ballots from being counted. The Democrats’ move came after the commonwealth’s Supreme Court granted the GOP’s request to block the counting of mail ballots without dates.
Last Thursday, Gene DiGirolamo, the sole Republican on the three-person panel, introduced a motion to reject the attempt to count what the GOP <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/mccormick-campaign-sues-bucks-county-165814957.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> “noncompliant” ballots. In response, <a href="https://bucksdemocrats.org/who-we-are/our-elected-officials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrat</a> Diane Marseglia, the chair of the commission, dismissed the proposal out of hand. “Not going to second that, mostly because I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter in this country and people violate laws any time they want,&#8221; she said. &#8220;So for me, if I violate this law it’s because I want the court to pay attention to it.”
“It is critical to the rule of law that individual counties and municipalities and their elected and appointed officials, like any other parties, obey orders of this Court,” Justice David Wecht wrote in a 4-3 decision, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4996749-pennsylvania-supreme-court-undated-mail-ballots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>. Casey’s campaign intervened to oppose the effort to stop undated mail ballots from being counted.
Shapiro issued no statement about the Democrat officials’ actions until the court ruled against his party. He blamed a “lack of clarity” due to “certain legislative actors refusing to act on critical election reforms” for the issue having to be resolved by the courts.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Only after the court’s decision did Shapiro write, “As we move forward, I want to be clear: any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process. The rule of law matters in this Commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovernorShapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovernorShapiro</a> weighs in: <a href="https://t.co/ctApXo71xN">pic.twitter.com/ctApXo71xN</a>
— Carter Walker (@ByCarterWalker) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByCarterWalker/status/1858627895247421802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Zach Jewell contributed to this article. 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pennsylvania-supreme-court-reiterates-that-undated-ballots-cannot-be-counted-after-dems-defy-order">Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Against Dems Who Defied Law, Won’t Allow Undated Ballots</a>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/people-violate-laws-any-time-they-want-dem-election-officials-state-willingness-to-defy-law-ahead-of-recount">&#8216;People Violate Laws Any Time They Want&#8217;: Dem Election Officials State Willingness To Defy Law Ahead Of Recount</a>

Clinton Global Initiative Takes Place In New York City

Josh Shapiro Condemns Election Officials Breaking Law — But Only After Court Rules Against Them

Dave McCormick

Josh Shapiro

White suburban women — we drive minivans with “I used to be cool” stickers, we’re bffs with the Starbucks barista, and the over eager among us are presidents of our neighborhood associations, policing the shade of beige we just painted our front doors.
However, until last week, we were first and foremost an expected pro-abortion vote for Kamala — otherwise known as the Democrats’ ace in the hole. Democrats put all their marbles in an uninformed identity politics box, and it blew up in their face.
Opinions are formed by what people are experiencing. And white suburban women have experienced a whole lot of bad.
From gas to groceries — prices are higher on everything, and women tend to feel the pinch more because we generally take on more of these everyday responsibilities. 
The safety of our kids keeps us up at night. Between illegal immigrants raping and murdering girls and women, and boys hijacking our daughters’ sports teams, stealing their college scholarships and changing in their locker rooms — we’ve not had much sleep over the last few years.
White suburban women <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-prospects-rise-amid-economic-pessimism-wsj-poll-finds-11667295002">started shifting</a> toward Republicans two years ago, so it’s no big shock they voted for Trump. Unless of course you have a TV that’s permanently stuck on MSNBC, then you might be understandably confused.
The shift began around the time of Covid when we were all watching in real time the egregious government overreach and liberties being taken with our children at the expense of our parental rights. Our kids were locked out of school, forced to wear masks and sit a made up six-feet apart when they finally returned. 
While they were busy teaching our kids Critical Race Theory and inserting transgender policies in the classrooms, parents were labeled Domestic Terrorists for objecting and told to mind their own business. 
It was so brazen that in 2021 Glenn Youngkin was elected the first Republican governor in Virginia in 12 years, thanks largely to help from white suburban women — no bastion of conservatism in Virginia.
Add usurping parental rights to the laundry list of failures this administration left in its wake. Moms don’t forget when you mess with our kids.
In the days leading up to the election, Julia Roberts made a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/julia-roberts-mocked-campaign-ad-telling-women-can-vote-differently-from-husbands">disastrous “useful idiot” ad</a>, assuring us weak women that we’re allowed to vote for Kamala, and we don’t have to tell our husbands.
In the ad it may as well be 1900, except women can vote, and men aren’t really men, they’re the typical 21st century neanderthal buffoons that Hollywood typecasts. Clearly the ad never made its way to a focus group.
Perhaps that sort of dysfunction is prevalent in Hollywood, where the average marriage lasts about as long as it takes the ink to dry on the marriage license. Out here in the suburbs, or in most of the country that painted the map red on election night, being jerked around on a leash by our husband doesn’t rank very high on our list of concerns because it’s not our reality. 
Not like the girls we’re seeing murdered by illegal immigrants, the gender indoctrination of our kids, or the 28% sticker shock spike on groceries.
Of course, I doubt these Hollywood mouthpieces have seen the inside of a grocery store in the last four years. But they could probably direct you to the closest abortion clinic.
Kamala spent less than four months running for president, raised $1 billion and made it all disappear. Then she spent another $20 million she didn’t have — and the country still wasn’t with her. 
If this were Vegas it would be called betting the house while it’s burning, but since it’s the Harris campaign it’s the fiscal absurdity we’ve become accustomed to the last four years. 
One million dollars also went to Oprah — or Oprah’s studio, Harpo Studios — for Oprah’s endorsement. 
Maya Rudolph, in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Funs6yyEw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mirror image skit</a> with Harris on Saturday Night Live leading up to the election said, “We know each other so well…” That wraps up Kamala’s entire campaign in one soundbite. 
The Hollywood, entertainment, entitled celebrity class — those are her people. She made next to zero effort to exit her comfort zone and get to know women in the rest of the country, and it showed.
Instead, she chose to throw cash around like she’s Oprah for the Who&#8217;s Who of the entertainment industry — her people — to do her job for her.
It turns out the $20 million debt is also roughly the magic number the Harris campaign threw down the night before the election for <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/11/08/us-news/kamala-harris-campaigns-election-eve-concerts-said-to-cost-up-to-20m-as-rank-and-file-staff-vendors-fear-they-wont-be-paid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">star studded concerts</a> in swing states. They hung their closing message to voters on the hopes that big name headliners like Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga would lead them to the polls the next day.
Bon Jovi probably has no bigger fan base than Gen X white suburban women — my generation. My friends and I grew up listening to them, we have their songs on our playlists, we work out to their music.
However, there is no amount of star power that can tell people they haven’t lived through what they’ve lived through the last four years
Ultimately, this election cycle white suburban women decided “it’s our life.” And like “Frankie” said in that Bon Jovi song — we did it our way.
* * *
Lauren DeBellis Appell, a former lobbyist and communications aide on Capitol Hill, is a writer based in Fairfax, Virginia. Follow her on X <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_ldappell-3Flang-3Den&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=kaAUPcZhpO1MvBc6jwa0VBiGZWXka6ART1tFuyQjLfc&amp;m=vTKo4FePDMyKVWSuxLCuaaDL3sLK4GEfxQYz1yppw20&amp;s=SGybKxJyqU1J2FWxExk5C2vqBiQeF6THIyErZ--DZHc&amp;e=">@LDAppell</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Where do you want to go?

White Suburban Women Sent Kamala Down In A Blaze With No Glory

Kamala Harris

Whites

Women

Tim Walz, the now-forgotten nominee for vice president, infamously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-walz-calls-for-the-electoral-college-to-be-abolished-we-need-a-national-popular-vote">said</a> on the campaign trail, “I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote.”
In 2023, Walz signed legislation adding Minnesota to the National Popular Vote interstate compact (NPV). While it hasn’t taken effect, 17 blue states have joined the anti-Electoral College plan.
But why wait? Walz and others who want a national popular vote should act now to give their state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump. If NPV states followed through, Trump would receive 520 electoral votes. Harris would get 18.
The <a href="https://www.electoralcollege101.com/">Electoral College</a> was designed by the American Founders to keep states in charge. It makes presidential elections a two-step, state-based democratic process. This creates important checks and balances. It limits how much power any one state or region can have, which spreads power out across our vast country. It also contains any election problems within individual states, reducing lawsuits and eliminating the possibility of a nationwide recount.
The <a href="https://saveourstates.com/electoral-college/what-is-national-popular-vote">NPV compact</a> is an attempt to undo all this without amending the Constitution. How is this possible? It takes advantage of the power that state legislatures have to decide how presidential electors are selected. Right now, state laws say that voters within each state elect their state’s presidential electors — that’s what last Tuesday was about. The NPV compact would change state laws so that presidential electors are chosen based on nationwide vote totals.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18053715">Maryland</a> was the first state to join NPV, in 2007, when it was sponsored by then-Delegate Jamie Raskin. Other blue states have followed, including California in 2011, New York in 2014, and <a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2024/04/maine-house-narrowly-approves-national-popular-vote-after-dem-lawmakers-leave-chamber-before-roll-call/">Maine</a> just this year. Together, NPV states have <a href="https://saveourstates.com/electoral-college/the-status-of-npv">209 electoral votes</a>. Yet the compact only takes effect if joined by enough states that they control a majority — 270 electoral votes.
The reason for this “trigger” is not clear. If the compact is legal, then individual states must have the power to give away electors unilaterally. And why not, if they really believe in a national popular vote?
If <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/walz-versus-the-electoral-college/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walz really wants a national popular vote</a>, he should ask the Minnesota Legislature to put NPV into effect now and add 10 electoral votes to Trump’s total. Gov. Jared Polis in <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2019/03/15/colorado-joins-national-popular-vote-movement-with-gov-jared-polis-signature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colorado</a>, who signed his state onto NPV in 2019, could do the same thing. Do these politicians really believe in a national popular vote, or were they just seeking partisan advantage?
Every NPV state went for the Harris-Walz ticket. That means that if they all followed through, they would shift all 209 of their electoral votes to the Republicans. Trump-Vance would win with 520 electoral votes. Harris-Walz would get 18.
Of course, NPV states probably can’t change their rules after the election. Voters in those states favored Harris, and so they will elect Democrat-nominated presidential electors. Of course, if any of those Democrat presidential electors believe the popular vote is the right way to choose the president, they could simply choose to cast their votes for Trump and Vance (depending on whether their state has a law to bind presidential electors).
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
That none of this will happen simply exposes the truth: the NPV compact is a partisan ploy. When the sour grapes of Al Gore’s 2000 election loss were pressed, NPV was the sour wine that flowed out. The movement was created and is still run and funded by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/us/politics/22electoral.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Koza</a>, one of Gore’s presidential electors in California. It gained support after 2016, when Trump smashed the blue wall and won the presidency according to the Constitution’s rules but without the popular vote.
The Electoral College rewards whichever party reaches out to build a more national coalition. Trump and Vance did that this year, attracting more support from young and minority voters than Republicans have seen in a generation. Their successful strategy to win the Electoral College has also delivered a popular vote majority.
If blue state legislators aren’t willing to throw their support to Trump, the popular vote winner, there is another course of action they can take: Repeal the National Popular Vote interstate compact, stop trying to manipulate the Electoral College, and focus instead on building coalitions capable of winning future elections.
* * *
Trent England is founder and executive director of <a href="https://saveourstates.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Save Our States</a> and a producer of the film <a href="https://www.safeguard.film/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Safeguard: An Electoral College Story</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Vice President And Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris Delivers Concession Speech At Howard University

‘National Popular Vote’ States Should Just Give Electoral Votes To Trump

'National Popular Vote' States Should Just Give Electoral Votes To Trump

Electoral College

Minnesota

Tim Walz

Last Tuesday, voters in six states decisively rejected ballot measures that would have brought ranked choice voting to future elections. In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, RCV <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Results_for_ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)_and_electoral_system_ballot_measures,_2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went down in flames</a>. National groups spent millions on campaigns promising RCV would enhance democracy and empower the people, angling for an election day triumph. Instead, the voters handed them a rout.
Adding insult to injury, Alaska appears on track to repeal RCV after using it for just two years. Missouri, meanwhile, became the first state to ban it at the ballot box, and the eleventh state overall to bar RCV. In fact, the number of states to <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban</a> RCV more than doubled this year.
Ranked choice voting, a complex scheme, seems better suited to a laboratory than a voting booth. It eliminates the “one person, one vote” principle and asks voters to rank multiple candidates for each race. If no candidate gets a majority, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their ballots are redistributed to the voter’s next choice. This process repeats until someone claims a majority.
Voting takes longer with RCV. Voters must learn about and rank numerous candidates in multiple contests on each ballot. Counting ballots also takes longer, as final tabulations can’t begin until all ballots are received, and some states allow mail ballots to arrive after Election Day. Some states lack voting systems that can handle this process; Idaho’s secretary of state estimated the cost to replace the state’s <a href="https://idahofreedom.org/a-40-million-drain-on-taxpayers-ranked-choice-voting-comes-at-a-heavy-price-for-idahoans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">equipment</a> at $40 million.
The results are difficult to audit and just as hard to explain, especially when ranked choice voting catapults candidates who got the second- or third-most votes into office after numerous rounds of elimination. In fact, RCV is so confusing that the wrong winner can be certified. That actually happened in Oakland, California in 2022.
The one thing RCV does reliably is push politics to the left, particularly when this scheme is paired with California-style jungle primaries. That’s the system Alaska uses, and in the special congressional election of 2022, more voters cast ballots for Republicans but Democrat Mary Peltola went to Congress. 
Small wonder, then, that left-wing megadonors decided to push RCV nationwide despite its obvious flaws. They <a href="https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HEP-RCV-Factsheet_v2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built up an array</a> of organizations to lobby, petition, and ultimately to campaign for ranked choice voting. Those efforts culminated in ballot measures in six states, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Results_for_ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)_and_electoral_system_ballot_measures,_2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fueled</a> by an astonishing $99 million, or nearly $30 for every $1 spent in opposition.
Nearly half of that extraordinary sum came from groups tied to liberal billionaire John Arnold and his wife, Laura. The pair <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ranked-choice-voting-ballot-measures-election-863d52ff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> at least $39 million propping up ranked choice voting measures this year alone.
What did these donors get for their millions? Not much. Nearly 70% of Idahoans voted against RCV. Colorado and Oregon, both liberal states, rejected the measures by double-digit margins. And in the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada, ranked choice voting went down harder and faster than Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, nearly 69% of Missourians voted to proactively ban ranked choice voting. In Alaska, the Arnolds and other RCV megadonors poured in almost $15 million to defend the scheme against a repeal effort. Despite that, the repeal vote is winning as ballots continue to come in.
Washington, D.C., was the only bright spot for RCV advocates, where a citywide ballot measure passed by wide margins. That may not be the win proponents imagine. After all, “they use it in the swamp” isn’t much of a rallying cry.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
Is this the end of ranked choice voting? It should be. But with the left, there is no such thing as a permanent defeat. In fact, RCV has endured expensive, high-profile failures before—a $10 million <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Question_2,_Ranked-Choice_Voting_Initiative_(2020)#Campaign_finance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loss</a> in Massachusetts in 2020, for instance—only to rebrand the scheme as “instant runoffs” and “open primaries,” and spend 10 times as much this year.
RCV <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2024/11/election-reformers-try-to-pick-up-the-pieces-00188355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backers</a> are already <a href="https://x.com/NickTroiano/status/1854313594785018148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promising</a> they will be back, even <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2024/11/election-reformers-try-to-pick-up-the-pieces-00188355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telegraphing</a> they will focus instead on lobbying state legislatures to impose the scheme that voters just decisively rejected. So much for all their talk about “democracy.” Lawmakers would be wise to head that effort off by <a href="https://stoprcv.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning</a> ranked choice voting next year, instead.
Left-wing billionaires spent millions trying to buy a new form of democracy that would cater to their politics and interests. Fortunately, the American people spoke loud and clear: our election system is not for sale.
* * *
Jason Snead is the executive director of Honest Elections Project Action.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Ranked Choice Voting Goes Down In Flames

Arizona

Colorado

Idaho

Montana

Nevada

Oregon

Ranked Choice Voting

Democrats had counted on young voters flocking to Vice President Kamala Harris, but as Tuesday night went on the party had a rude awakening.
Gen Z did not swing as hard for Harris as Democrats counted on — Harris <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-genz-kamala-harris-trump-election-1981590" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> voters ages 18 to 29 by just 11 points, way down from President Joe Biden’s 24 points and Hillary Clinton’s 19 points.
President-elect Donald Trump bet hard on young men, including those in their teens and early 20s casting their very first ballot. He appeared on a slew of “bro” podcasts popular with that demographic, among them comedian Theo Von&#8217;s &#8220;This Past Weekend,&#8221; Andrew Schultz’s &#8220;Flagrant&#8221; podcast, YouTuber Jake Paul’s show, and the country’s most popular podcast &#8220;The Joe Rogan Experience,&#8221; a three-hour affair.
That strategy paid off — men under 30 voted for Trump over Harris by 2 points. Back in 2020, Biden won the young male vote by 11 points.
Harris focused on motivating young women. She appeared on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, whose millions of listeners are mostly women. She was criticized for appearing on the show while thousands suffered through the devastation from Hurricane Helene, however. Her “Brat” summer trend, based on a Charlie XCX album, went viral, but it had fizzled by the fall.
However, Trump also gained ground with young women despite Democrats hammering the abortion issue. Harris won under-30 women by 24 points, more than 10 points down from Biden’s 35-point advantage with young women.
Trump’s social media strategy also involved a lot of viral memes, such as his appearance at McDonald’s where he worked the fry cooker, another way his team worked to appeal to young people.
Overall, Trump won a bigger percentage of voters under 30 than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008, NBC News exit polling <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/yes-trump-improved-young-men-drew-young-women-rcna179019https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/yes-trump-improved-young-men-drew-young-women-rcna179019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a>.
On Wednesday, videos flooded TikTok showing college students celebrating Trump’s win on their campuses.
The Harris campaign had believed young voters were energized to vote for Harris. Long lines at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/05/college-campuses-long-lines-voting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">college campuses</a> in swing states like the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Arizona State University seemed to confirm this.
“They are doing their part to make sure Donald Trump is defeated, abortion rights are protected and Democracy is saved,” said David Hogg, co-founder of Leaders We Deserve and March for Our Lives.
However, the economy turned out to be a much more potent driver for voters under 30, who are struggling financially, researchers noted before the election. Even immigration, Trump’s strongest issue, did not rank as high as financial health for young people.
The economy was the most important issue to young voters, and those who said it was their top issue voted for Trump 78% to Harris’ 21%, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/yes-trump-improved-young-men-drew-young-women-rcna179019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC exit polls</a> showed.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
More than <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4973912-youth-groups-project-historic-gen-z-voter-turnout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">41 million</a> Gen Z voters cast a ballot this election. Young voters notoriously do not turn out, but every cycle since 2018 more and more have been showing up at their polling places.
Based on the numbers, the young generation’s higher turnout does not automatically mean more votes for Democrats.
This election has put them on the defensive.

People tasting hot drinks at coffee restaurant  – Millennial friends talking and having fun together at sidewalk cafe – Life style concept with happy men and women at bar cafeteria

How Gen Z Voted May Surprise You

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Gen Z

Joe Biden

You need to go out and vote today.
This election is just too important.
You need to vote because there are serious matters at stake, as I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/my-closing-statement-why-i-voted-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed yesterday</a>. But there is a broader question at stake today in this election: whether we are a nation that wants to be dynamic, or whether we want to slide into senescence. Are we a nation that wants an economy of innovation, or one of redistribution and stagnation? Are we a nation that wants a foreign policy of strength, with powerful allies and our enemies in retreat? Or are we a nation that wants to abandon the world stage, handing power to our enemies as the light dies? Are we a nation that wants to build on the roots of family and community, or one that wants to trade the institutions that make life worth living in favor of top-down dictation from a self-appointed elite who believe that their untried values ought to supplant time-tested virtues?
Most of all, you need to vote because you owe it to both your ancestors and your progeny to do so.
See, here’s the thing: Democracy, in the general sense, is totally unnatural.
The earliest beginnings of democracy were in ancient Athens, but of course, the vote was heavily restricted; the same was true in ancient Rome. Modern democracy has its roots in Magna Carta, in the Estates General of France — but didn’t reach full fruition in the way we think of democracy until the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2078-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
It takes centuries to inculcate the values of democracy, and the rights of the people to be free of arbitrary government — which is what lies at the heart of Western democracy. We are not subjects. We are citizens. We are citizens with rights and duties. We build social fabric together in order to share those duties and to enable the functioning of those rights. And governments are instituted by men in order to protect those rights and to enshrine those duties.
That is what lies at the heart of the American experiment. That is why we have checks and balances too, why we are small-R republicans and not just pure democrats. The founders, you see, were cautious about democracy: They knew its promises and its perils. That’s why the single most important paragraph ever written on the American system can be found in <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/james-madison-federalist-no-51-1788">Federalist 51</a>, by James Madison, framer of the Constitution:
<blockquote>But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controuls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to controul the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to controul itself. A dependence on the people is no doubt the primary controul on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.</blockquote>
The founders instituted those checks and balances. But, Madison is right in the end: The primary control on the government is a dependence on the judgment of the people.
And that is the thing we must agree upon in order for democracy to work.
This struck me last week when I was standing in line with my wife to vote. People of every age and race were in that line, all agreeing to a common principle: that we would abide by the collective decision about who would represent us, for president, for Congress, for the Senate. That we shared a nation together, and that if we lost, we would understand that next time we might win. That we were willing to delegate some of the highest-stake decisions in life to a system that values the opinions of our fellow citizens.
See, democracy only works when both sides are invested in the bargain. If one side always believed they would lose, they wouldn’t buy in: They’d revolt. That’s when democracy breaks down. Jefferson says in the Declaration that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. That consent can only continue if we all believe enough in one another, and in our system.
That system is fraying, for certain. For a thousand reasons that we all know.
But it’s not breaking down today. We’re all going to the polls. Thanks to the checks and balances of the framers — who understood both the value and the dangers of democracy — we can rest assured that if the other person wins, yes, things will get worse, but we will survive. This will not be the last election.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Election Night 2024 on DailyWire+</a></h3>
With that said, this vote matters more than most. While this won’t be the last election, it is an inflection point. We can continue down a path of polarizing the country by race, sex, and identity — or we can reverse that process. We can continue to tear apart the country by indicting each other as oppressors and pretending our own oppression — or we can seize the future together. We can continue to retreat from the world — or we can remember that America remains the last, best hope of mankind.
And so today, you should vote.
You should vote because you can — and because that is an immense privilege, earned by the blood of others and still denied to most of humanity today as we speak. And you should vote because you should: because your vote will certainly matter.

Voters Cast Ballots On Final Day Of Early Voting In North Carolina

Why You Need To Vote Today

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