IVN recognizes that being independent means something different to different people. It isn’t an ideology. It doesn’t require people to fall “in the center.” Being independent-minded is a mindset, and these voters can exist across the political spectrum.

Less than a year after 10 million Californians voted to lengthen prison sentences and crack down on retail theft and fentanyl dealing, Governor Gavin Newsom is shutting down yet another state prison.

The nation’s attention is currently on the ongoing redistricting fight between Republicans and Democrats. The conversation is being framed: “Donald Trump is doing this.” “Gavin Newsom is doing that.” However, what voters are missing is the context of how we got here.

Texas is an open partisan primary state, which means it does not have to register voters by party affiliation. When voters go to the polls in the primary, they can freely choose between a Republican and a Democratic ballot.

Gerrymandering wasn’t invented by Trump. It predates most states in the union. It’s named after Elbridge Gerry, who sliced up Massachusetts in 1812 to help his party, leaving behind a district so distorted it looked like a salamander.

It is a classic political threat. Take one more step, and I will act. But this time, even though the target is Texas Republicans, it could easily turn out that California Democrats wind up taking the fall.

Responding to pressure from President Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving forward with a plan to redraw their district lines in advance of the 2026 midterms. Democrats are contemplating how to fight back and blunt any gains the GOP makes in Texas by conducting their own gerrymanders in New York, Illinois, and California.  

In a sharply worded letter released this week, more than 2,300 members of the Writers Guild of America accused President Donald Trump and his allies of launching an organized campaign to suppress independent media. The letter, which was signed by a wide range of television and film writers, from high-profile showrunners to political satirists and screenwriters, calls recent events an “unprecedented, authoritarian assault” on the First Amendment.

It seems like the standoff in Texas over redistricting continues to escalate, as Governor Greg Abbott and other top Republicans want to see Texas Dems who have fled the state arrested and brought back so that they can redraw congressional lines.

Americans have spoken, again and again — and the message is crystal clear: members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks while in office. Yet, despite bipartisan legislative proposals and national scrutiny, Congress continues to stall.