David Lesher

As the major political parties fall further out of vogue with new voters in California, Republican and Democratic candidates are finding it difficult to call on the party loyal for support on Election Day.

Democrats and Republicans are declining, and the number of voters belonging to third parties, including Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Peace and Freedom, are shrinking. But there are growing numbers of independent voters or those who "decline to state" their party when they register to vote. These… more

David Lesher was the founding director of New America’s California Program, which aims to improve the state’s public debate by sponsoring a wide range of research, writing, and events on issues of critical importance to the future of California. He left New America in the Spring of 2007.

For nearly 15… more

Is it time to place the two major political parties on California's endangered species list? If current trends persist, the number of independent voters may outnumber Democrats and Republicans by 2025.

Distrust of elected leaders and faltering confidence in the political establishment have increasingly driven Californians to the no-party label. New voters appear to be moving to the independent status so fast that we need to rethink the red and blue political map in the 2006 California election.

California voters are shedding their identification with the two major political parties so rapidly that if current trends continue, independent voters could outnumber Democrats and Republicans in the Golden State by 2025.

These new independents, who eschew ideological loyalty and rigid partisan labels, represent a significant challenge to the mainstream parties. Already, California's last few governors have needed to court independent voters to get elected, and in doing so, they fostered ideological tension within their parties; in the future,… more

In each era of modern American history, California has been at the forefront. It emerged from the Depression and World War II as the nation's archetype of the suburban middle class. It marked the end of government expansion with Ronald Reagan and Proposition 13. And it ushered in the age of technology, as the birthplace of Apple, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

Californians are still willing to push the envelope, as they demonstrated with the unprecedented recall of a governor in 2003… more

This event explored various approaches toward health coverage in California. The first panel outlined the major policy proposals, including universal coverage for children, individual mandate, employer mandate, shared responsibility, and single payer plans. The following panel featured state officials, doctors, hospitals, and small business representatives, discussing the expected impact of each policy proposal.

New America released a series of papers at the event, outlining their proposal to cover the state's children as the first step toward universal coverage. PDF… more

Now what? The special election was a referendum on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and all eyes are focused on how he responds to a complete rejection by voters. But an even more important question is, what will voters do next?

They started this venture into uncharted territory with the unprecedented recall of an incumbent governor and the election of a political neophyte who promised to sweep out the status quo. Now, the rejection of the special election suggests the recall… more

California is struggling to cope with a wide array of serious policy challenges: Job creation, education, health care costs, a budgetary crisis, political leadership, immigration and regional inequities. An opportunity exists to tackle these issues head on, but partisanship and parochialism threaten to stifle real progress.

The New America Foundation's California Program delivered its analysis of the "State of the State" in Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2005. Panelists provided a wide range of innovative proposals to address the most… more

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is right. California needs a government that's less partisan and better reflects the many voices in its diverse population. The disconnect between the government and the governed threatens the state's ability to solve its problems and plan for the future.

But there are better ways for the governor to solve the redistricting problem than allowing retired judges to redraw the boundaries for political districts, as he proposed in his State of the State speech Wednesday. California's single-seat,… more

Politicians who embrace California's pioneering spirit hold the key to leading a rapidly changing electorate to a brighter future

One sign of what ails California is that the state that gave John Kerry nearly a double-digit margin two months ago is hemorrhaging Democrats. And Republicans shouldn't take any comfort in their opponents' misfortune.

Since 1990, when more than half of voters here were registered Democrats, the party's share of the electorate has dropped to just 43 percent today.… more