ROCKVILLE, MD. - Another independent candidate is gaining ground in a top-ticket statewide race in the 2018 midterms. Independent candidate Neal Simon touted the results of a new poll from Gonzales Research & Media Services Thursday that show him up 10 points in Maryland's US Senate race.

The poll results shows Simon at 18% among likely Maryland voters -- while the incumbent US Sen. Ben Cardin has dropped below 50%.

San Diego, CALIF.- Why are voters leaving political parties and becoming independents? A major concern has been the political, and now very personal rancor elevated from both the right and left, fueled and at times encouraged by the two major political parties.

Using the recent confirmation hearings of now Justice Brett Kavanaugh as the backdrop, the following op-ed by Chris Reed, deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section of the San Diego Union-Tribune, provides a bit of insight and analysis about why it's happening.

Universal health care for America?  Yes, now, here’s why and how.

Along with the growing demand for free, basic health care for all Americans, and the absurdity that we are the only well-developed nation in the world without universal health care, we can add the urgency of health risks related to climate change including new disease patterns and surfacing of old viruses and bacteria from melting tundra. For me, universal health care is now a national security mandate.

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is now public enemy #1 as far as many Democrats are concerned.

Collins, a well-known swing vote in the Senate who caucuses with the Republican Party, stated that she believed then Judge Brett Kavanaugh was innocent of sexually assaulting Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, allegations which surfaced before his confirmation hearing.

CALAIS, MAINE - Independent gubernatorial candidate Terry Hayes is currently contending with negative campaigning against her, orchestrated by the Maine Republican Party. But not all Republicans are on board with the party's actions.

State Senator Joyce Maker from Washington County came out Wednesday in defense of Hayes and condemned her own party for resorting to negative campaign tactics.

“I just want to say that Terry Hayes is real and has kept her message positive and has not used negativity against her opponent(s)," said Maker.

In California, Proposition 8 and Proposition 10 are both ranking very high on both Ballotpedia's page views.  Ballotpedia's Sarah Rosier and IVN's Lindsay France take a look at the politics involved with the help of IVN's 2018 Voter Survey. Check out the methodology here.

Last Friday, my sister and I and our partners flew into an overcast Chicago for a family reunion of two dozen cousins and their spouses, children, even an “ex”-uncle. It had been 10 years since the last Cousins Club meeting, which I missed. The oldest was 91 (my dad), the youngest 15 (my cousin’s son).

The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday: 

"Trying to get tens of thousands of voter registration errors under control, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla may temporarily halt a program that automatically registers voters through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A freeze to the state’s Motor Voter program is 'certainly on the table,' Padilla said at a news conference on Tuesday."

WASHINGTON, DC - Hillary Clinton told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a televised interview Tuesday that Democrats cannot be civil with Republicans if they don't win a majority of seats in the U.S. House or Senate this November:

San Diego, CALIF.- The newly implemented Motor Voter program is becoming a liability for Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

IVN.us was the first media outlet to report on the Motor Voter registration concerns. In September the California Department of Motor Vehicles admitted to incorrectly submitting 23,000 voter registrations to the Secretary of State's office due to technicians' error.