History almost repeated itself in California’s 31st Congressional District. In 2010, California voters approved a nonpartisan, top-two open primary system whereby qualifying candidates of any political affiliation appear on a single primary ballot accessible to any eligible voter. The two candidates who receive the most votes then appear on the final general election ballot. 

Last week, Seattle passed legislation that raised the minimum wage in that city to $15 an hour. As this is an election year, and one in which Democrats are expected to lose seats in both chambers, this has become a hot button topic with both parties resorting to their partisan talking points to motivate their base of voters.

On May 6, Ohio held statewide primary elections. The sixth congressional district hosted primaries for three parties: the Republican, Democratic, and Green parties. Only the Democrats had a contested primary -- GOP incumbent Rep. Bill Johnson and Green Party candidate Dennis Lambert ran unopposed.

Democratic voters ended up selecting Jennifer Garrison over Greg Howard.

Two weeks ago, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was a forgotten American hero. Conservative news sources like this one routinely invoked him as evidence that the Obama administration did not care about the troops — that he was willing to just forget about an American POW in his mad rush to wrap up the war in Afghanistan.

Any time we read about Chris Christie's weight loss exploits, it is always tied to his presumed attempt at the 2016 presidential race. After shedding over 85 pounds, he would not even come close to Taft's 300 pound stature -- yet American's are still intrigued by his health issues as a possible major contender in national politics.

As citizens, we should be aware of all bills in the "House Bill Hopper."  It's really not that difficult; in fact, it takes but a few minutes to do so in order to form our own views.

Well, it shouldn't be difficult, but many people still rely on cable news outlets -- colloquially known as the mainstream media -- to stay informed of current events. Unfortunately, these news sources rarely report on important pieces of legislation unless there is controversy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU

"Net neutrality. The only two words that promise more boredom in the English language are, 'featuring Sting.'"

In a probing and preliminary survey conducted by Harper in February 2013, a mere one percent of likely Democratic primary voters declared their preference for Tom Wolf, who had yet to officially announce his candidacy for governor of the Keystone State. A Quinnipiac poll a month later found that a full 85 percent of Pennsylvanians had not heard enough of Tom Wolf to determine whether they viewed him favorably or unfavorably.

As the Edward Snowden interview with Brian Williams concluded, Snowden stated that he is comfortable with his actions of divulging the NSA’s information gathering program. After watching the interview, my thoughts were much the same: I am content with Snowden’s actions.

A March 7 Pew Research article found that 50 percent of Millennials consider themselves independent. When compared to the 39 percent of Gen Xers, 37 percent of Boomers, and 32 percent of Silents who say the same, a trend becomes clear: as generations come and go, the number of independents continues to increase. Will Millennials be the generation to finally end partisanship?

For some, the answer is a definite yes.