MAINE - The race for Maine's 2nd Congressional District will be the first in the nation to be decided by ranked choice voting.

Republican US Rep. Bruce Poliquin has a slight lead over Democrat Jared Golden, but was not able to secure majority support in the first round of voting, meaning the election will come down to the second or third choices of voters who cast a ballot for one or both independent candidates in the race.

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - After successfully winning reelection in the 52nd congressional district, Rep. Scott Peters joined us on Beyond The Headlines to discuss what he thinks the top priorities should be for the House after Democrats reclaimed the majority.

I asked Congressman Peters a number of pressing questions, including who should be the minority leader, will Democrats spend the next two years probing and subpoenaing the President, or will they pursue policy solutions for infrastructure, healthcare and immigration needs.

LANE COUNTY, ORE. - Voters in Lane County, Oregon may not have voted to approve STAR voting in the 2018 midterm election. However, advocates are still celebrating the world's first STAR voting campaign, and the close election to implement it.

“Almost 75,000 Lane County voters chose YES to support a fundamentally new political process,” said Co-Petitioner Mark Frohnmayer.

The New Mexico Senate Race this year was by far the best chance the Libertarian Party has ever had of getting a seat in the U.S. Congress, and in the Senate no less.

In this race the nation's third largest party, still dwarfed by the two main political parties in the United States, had a perfect storm:

A highly credible candidate, with nearly universal name recognition in his state, and a record of actually winning statewide election twice– to New Mexico's governor's office– before stepping aside in accordance with the term limits in New Mexico's constitution.

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The general election in the heavily Democratic California State Senate District 22 (Industry, West Covina) came down two Democrats Tuesday, Susan Rubio and former State Assemblymember Mike Eng. Yet it wasn't the Democratic Party's pick that ended up winning the election.

Rubio, seen as a more independent-minded Democrat, defeated Eng 52-47. Rubio had the endorsement of several current and former elected officials (at the local and state level), nonprofit organizations, public safety associations, women’s groups, and more.

Elisabeth Rosenthal accomplishes the seemingly impossible: she’s created a digestible and oftentimes heartfelt guide to the American health care system. Statistical analyses, facts, and financial data litter the book, but with Rosenthal’s ability to seamlessly weave personal accounts and her sharply written “Economic Rules of the Dysfunctional Medical Market” throughout the book, readers can feel emotionally invested in the political football that is our country’s health system.

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe made history on election day by garnering enough votes in the Empire State's governor race to secure ballot access for the Libertarian Party of New York for the next four years.

With a tally of 90,739 votes, Sharpe surpassed the 50,000 vote threshold in a gubernatorial election to satisfy New York's requirements for automatic ballot access for a third party.