Comment: Alaska may have found a fix to partisan gridlock

By Rachel Leven / Chicago Tribune

2023 has been a rough year. The waves of violence, natural disasters and conflict over the last several months are enough to make an optimist lose hope.

To make matters worse, our political system seems totally incapable of solving these crises. Six in 10 Americans have little to no confidence in the future of our political system, a recently published Pew Research Center study found. It feels like problems are everywhere, and thanks to a stale, uncompetitive electoral system, leadership is nowhere.

At the root of this dysfunction is a political system that exists to sustain the status quo, not build toward the future. The Democratic and Republican parties play the political game so well that only a handful of places in the U.S. experience truly competitive elections. Everywhere else, there’s essentially no way to hold party power in check. Last year, a shocking 41 percent of state legislative races nationwide featured only one major party, according to Ballotpedia.

Because most elections lack healthy competition, the voices that can challenge party power are selling extremism and controversy, not progress and governance. If we want accountability from our elected officials and the ability to respond to the violence, disasters and many more challenges that we’ll continue to face, we need to shake the great institution of American democracy out of its self-perpetuating complacency.

A study I co-wrote for the Unite America Institute, a nonpartisan research group, suggests that Alaska’s new top-four nonpartisan primary may be the shake-up we need. In Alaska’s election last year, all state and federal primary candidates were listed on one nonpartisan ballot. Voters chose one candidate per office. The top four vote-getters advanced to the general election, in which voters ranked their preferred candidates. If no one received a majority of the first-place votes, an instant runoff decided the winner.

As a result, general elections were significantly more competitive. Uncontested elections for the state legislature fell from 24 percent in 2020 to 12 percent in 2022, according to our study, making last year’s the most competitive election for at least a decade prior. Our research makes clear that this fresh competition, shown across many metrics, is directly because of Alaska’s new voting system.

Alaska voters also had the freedom to express a diversity of ideological opinions, which was not possible under the old system. In the primary election, across multiple races, they could choose a combination of Democrats, independents and Republicans. In the general election, they could rank two or more candidates from the same party. Candidates in Alaska had to do more than wear a red or blue pin; they had to make the case to all voters from all parties why they personally were better for the job. More so, our work shows, than in any other state.

Although there is still much to learn, Alaska’s reform is the kind of change that — if adopted by other states — could prevent the U.S. House from falling into an endless cycle of speaker votes and keep elected officials focused on working for their districts. The Alaska Statehouse and state Senate established crosspartisan governing coalitions so they can pass critical legislation, such as the state’s budget. Freshman Statehouse members from across the aisle formed an informal caucus to support each other as they learned to navigate the chamber.

This is not the first time in our political history that voters have recognized the need for intervention. During the Progressive Era, party primaries were a great democratizing reform. Instead of allowing party bosses to choose nominees, the people would vote in nomination contests. This injected a new level of competition into politics. But with time, the parties found new ways to consolidate power and eliminate competition. While the problems are different from what they were back then, change is just as sorely needed.

Thankfully, a reform movement is growing across the country. California, Washington, Nebraska and Louisiana also have done away with partisan primaries. Maine voters have used instant runoffs, also known as ranked choice voting, to elect their federal representatives since 2018. Last year, Nevada voters approved an Alaska-style reform and must pass it once more in 2024 for it to become effective in 2026.

More and more cities like Evanston, Illinois, are adopting instant runoffs, and still others like Portland, Oregon, are implementing proportional election systems. Though they come in different flavors, all these reforms seek to increase competition and reframe the incentives for leaders. They are all about shaking up the political game.

Now and then, the rules have to change. With each passing year, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the status quo isn’t working. If 2023 has felt to you like one long fire alarm without a red truck in sight, then you know, that time is now.

Rachel Leven is a public policy professional and author of the report”Alaska’s Election Model: How the top-four nonpartisan primary system improves participation, competition, and representation.”