Letter to editor


By Stephen Hill
Published June 17th 2000 in New York Times

To the Editor:

While it's true that there are only about three dozen hotly contested House races (Week in Review, June 11), it's misleading to attribute this paucity of competitive seats to incumbents' fundraising prowess.

Certainly name recognition and big war chests scare off challengers in party primaries. But for the general election, the simple fact is that partisan demographics -- not fundraising inequities -- determine the winner in most House races.

Using highly sophisticated computers, incumbents and their proxies are capable of redrawing most legislative districts to be safe seats for their party. Donors give to candidates they know will win. This means that, even if campaign finance reformers are successful, it will have little effect on the lopsided outcome in most legislative races.


STEVEN HILL San Francisco,

The writer is western regional director of the Center for Voting and Democracy.
IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers.  Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections;  the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

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