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J.P.

@leftiecowboy.bsky.social
121 followers 39 following 6 posts

editor at in these times magazine, dancing cowboy, basketball fanatic

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Reposted by J.P.
In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 06/05/2026
From @redemmas.org in Baltimore to @pilsencommbooks.bsky.social in Chicago, @leftiecowboy.bsky.social reports, radical booksellers are building democratically governed spaces where the public is invited to do more than shop: to gather, learn and organize. inthesetimes.com/article/coop...
Illustration of a large red book standing open like a tent, with several small figures gathered inside its glowing pages. The scene suggests a bookstore or book as a sheltering community space, with purple storm clouds and lightning in the background.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 08/05/2026
Bookstores can be more than retail. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social writes that cooperative bookstores are democratically governed spaces where readers, workers and communities build something together—against Amazon, rising rents and “spoon-fed corporate mush.” inthesetimes.com/article/coop...
Illustration for an In These Times article titled “Turning the Page on Corporate Bookselling.” The background shows an oversized open book in pink, red and lavender tones, with a soft beam of light shining down onto a small group of people gathered in the lower left corner. Over the image, large cream-colored text on purple blocks reads: “Turning the Page on Corporate Bookselling,” followed by the subhead: “Radical booksellers create democratically governed spaces where the public is encouraged to build movements, rather than merely participate in the retail economy.” The byline reads: “By J. Patrick Patterson.”
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 21/05/2026
Union density in the U.S. is around 11%. Strike funds are uneven. Many public sector workers legally can’t strike. So how could May Day 2028 work? @leftiecowboy.bsky.social breaks down the promise and the obstacles.
inthesetimes.com
Why Everyone Should Be Preparing For May Day 2028
If we’re going to build enough collective power to win universal healthcare and the right to retire with dignity, then we need to tighten up.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
“To queer something is to question. It is to turn it on its head and say, ‘I don’t think things actually have to be that way.’ This is one small space where that is normal for an evening. People can just be who they are.” chicagoreader.com/city-life/qu...
chicagoreader.com
Queer Contra’s monthly dances are a crash course in community feeling - Chicago Reader
On the third Saturday of every month, new and experienced dancers move together and connect.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 13/04/2026
Alongside protests against raids and deportations, small actions of absurdist disruption can also prove to expose the raw violence of those in power. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social presents the magic of guerrilla theater in the streets. inthesetimes.com/article/guer...
Illustrated cover art in pink and purple tones showing a helmeted police officer in riot gear holding a baton on the left and a bearded street performer on a unicycle playing a horn on the right. The In These Times logo appears near the top, with overlaid text reading, “The Big Idea: Guerrilla Theater” and “By J. Patrick Patterson.”
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 27/04/2026
A 50% rent hike hit @pilsencommbooks.bsky.social. Instead of closing, the co-op relocated and expanded its role as a radical bookstore, community hub, classroom and organizing space. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social reports. inthesetimes.com/article/radi...
Promotional graphic for an In These Times article, showing the interior of a bookstore with shelves and tables full of books. Large white text on black blocks reads, “Radical Booksellers Do More Than Just Retail.” Smaller text reads, “Bookstores fight for communities through activism, despite backlash.” The byline reads, “By J. Patrick Patterson.” A banner in the bookstore says, “All you fascists bound to lose,” and the In These Times logo appears in the bottom right.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 28/04/2026
Radical bookstores don’t just sell books. In Chicago, Baltimore, and beyond, they host book clubs, training sessions, meetings, jail support work, and organizing that can shape entire movements. New from @leftiecowboy.bsky.social
inthesetimes.com
Radical Booksellers Do More Than Just Retail
Bookstores fight for communities through activism, despite backlash.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 03/02/2026
While real abortion clinics are disappearing, Sonia Chajet Wides reports, crisis pregnancy centers mislead patients, dodge medical standards, and siphon hundreds of millions in public funds—even as Medicaid faces historic cuts. inthesetimes.com/article/fake...
In front of an anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy center” in Atlanta, a mobile billboard advertises abortion access services from The Brigid Alliance on May 19, 2025.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 05/01/2026
"Warnings against rent control policies often come wrapped in dire metaphors about ​'destroying cities' and ​'halting investment,' but, politically, freezes are popular." @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains how a thoughtfully designed freeze could protect renters. inthesetimes.com/article/the-...
inthesetimes.com
The Rent Is Too Damn High! Time for a Rent Freeze?
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani campaigned on a rent freeze policy, but what does it actually mean?
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 06/12/2025
With rising grocery prices and increasingly sparse options, more places are considering municipal-owned grocery stores to create equitable access to food. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains how this is Medicaid, but for milk and eggs. inthesetimes.com/article/muni...
A smiling woman wearing a hijab shops with her baby in a sling in a brightly lit store. Shelves packed with products are visible, and an airplane flies overhead.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 28/10/2025
As fascism’s grip only grows tighter, the popular fronts of yesterday can become blueprints for solidarity today. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social brings to you the next #BigIdea inthesetimes.com/article/the-...
Three diverse individuals, including a masked protester, suited figure, and construction worker, unite against a snake with a swastika, symbolizing solidarity.
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Christopher Hudson @chrishudsonjr.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
“From fascist Europe to Cold War America, reactionary movements have framed their aggression as self-defense. Today, this persists in appeals to cultural grievance and racial anxiety, obscuring the immense financial and institutional power behind them.” @shaneburley.bsky.social @inthesetimes.com
inthesetimes.com
Charlie Kirk and the Free Speech Hoax
The Right doesn't really care about free speech, and their reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk proves it.
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Kim Kelly @kimkelly.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
I wrote about Pete Hegseth, that terrible modern day American Narcissus, for the new issue of @inthesetimes.com inthesetimes.com/article/amer...
Photo illustration of Pete hegseth, an angry-looking white man with coiffed silver hair and a navy suit, superimposed in front of the Capitol building
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 23/10/2025
Today, @mauriziogro.bsky.social reports on the union shareholders fighting both ICE & the data brokers feeding it information. "With no one stepping in to create some guardrails, [AI] will become harder and harder to regulate." - Emma Pullman of @bcgeu.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...
inthesetimes.com
The Data Brokers Fueling ICE’s Deportation Machine—And the Union Shareholders Fighting Back
"As investors, we are thinking about this as a risk to our investments, but also as a social and ethical issue.”
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 19/10/2025
Pension funds quietly shape our economy, & their power could be used to secure climate justice & worker security. @bradlander.bsky.social, @seiu521.bsky.social Pres Mullissa Willette, & #TeslaTakedown’s Evan Sutton join @leftiecowboy.bsky.social to discuss the pain & possibilities of pensions.
inthesetimes.com
The Pain and Possibility of Pensions
A roundtable discussion with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, CalPERS board member and SEIU Local 521 President Mullissa Willette and Evan Sutton of #TeslaTakedown
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 20/10/2025
#BigIdea: Universal Retirement Access for All - Every worker, no matter the job, should have a reliable way to build a nest egg. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains the past and present of one solution to support our elders. inthesetimes.com/article/big-...
Bright green protest sign with bold text reading, "Social Security is Our Money!! Hands Off!!" held by gloved hand in urban setting, expressing defiance.
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Anodyne @anodynesix.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
"The U.S. government has long denied farmworkers the protections of basic labor law. While the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 guarantee workers overtime pay and the right to unionize, both laws ... exclude agricultural workers."
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 18/08/2025
Today, @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains the necessity of "ending a system in which only those deemed ​'productive' or ​'deserving' are allowed to live well." inthesetimes.com/article/heal...
Definition of "health communism" as a noun, described as a framework that separates healthcare from profit, productivity, and judgments of worthiness.
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Beatrice Adler-Bolton @reallandsend.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
This month’s @inthesetimes.com features Health Communism in @leftiecowboy.bsky.social’s Big Ideas column—we appreciate the care taken in engaging our work & translating it into such a great distillation (no easy feat lol)—health communism is the antidote to MAHA & is needed now more than ever 🖤
An illustration by Kazimir Lee Iskander in warm tones of orange, purple, and pink depicts two masked healthcare workers in heroic, statue-like poses against a glowing sunset sky. One worker, wearing a hijab and scrubs, strides forward while holding up a sickle. The other worker, in a white coat with a stethoscope, stands beside them, holding up a hammer. The style echoes Soviet monument art and appropriates Vera Mukhina's masterpiece public sculpture called the Worker and Kolkoz Woman Monument, reimagined with contemporary healthcare workers as revolutionary figures.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 30/07/2025
Liberation Theology—a movement born in Latin America—reads Church teachings through a Marxist lens. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social breaks it down: 🔗 inthesetimes.com/article/libe...
A man carries a large wooden cross while a guard in sunglasses and a mask shouts behind him, set against a pink sky and fence backdrop.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
"The real solution, then, is not deportations but full rights for all workers. That means not only citizenship rights but labor rights, too." inthesetimes.com/article/farm...
inthesetimes.com
The Battle for the Future of Farmwork
Trump’s immigration crackdown and a growing union effort are transforming Upstate New York into a battleground over farmwork’s future.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 07/07/2025
In a state with one of the most challenging referendum processes in the nation, organizers gathered more than double the number of required signatures to give voters a chance to defeat an anti-union bill. inthesetimes.com/article/utah...
inthesetimes.com
Utah Labor Coalition Puts Bargaining Ban on Hold with Historic Referendum
The group collected over 300,000 signatures opposing Utah’s ban on public sector collective bargaining, giving voters the chance to reject it.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 26/06/2025
NYC used ranked-choice voting in it's mayoral primary. Read about how it works: inthesetimes.com/article/rank...
inthesetimes.com
Big Idea: Ranked-Choice Voting
Ranked-choice elections, which allow voters to express their preference for third-party candidates without "splitting the vote," could help bring disillusioned Americans back to the ballot box.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
inthesetimes.com/article/jewi...
inthesetimes.com
Chicago Jewish Activists Embark on Indefinite Hunger Strike Over Gaza
Hunger strikes have deep roots in Chicago—and across the country—as escalations in campaigns for justice.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
"Hunger strikes have deep roots in Chicago—and across the country—as escalations in campaigns for justice." inthesetimes.com/article/jewi...
inthesetimes.com
Chicago Jewish Activists Embark on Indefinite Hunger Strike Over Gaza
Hunger strikes have deep roots in Chicago—and across the country—as escalations in campaigns for justice.
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Jessica Stites @jessicastites.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
"If we don’t use this opportunity to build lasting power, then we’re just blowing off steam," @ufcwforward.bsky.social told reporter @lfelizleon.bsky.social Luis reported on protests in six cities and what's next after the 5 million strong nationwide mobilization inthesetimes.com/article/no-k...
inthesetimes.com
“No Kings” Seeded a Mass Movement Against Trump, Backed by Labor
This weekend’s protests rallied millions in defense of immigrant workers and against authoritarianism. Now what?
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 16/06/2025
By engaging in this very public, and risky, protest tactic, the hunger strikers are picking up on a long tradition of calculated starvation as a method of forcing a public confrontation with crises." @shaneburley.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/jewi...
inthesetimes.com
BREAKING: Jewish Leaders in Chicago Embark on Indefinite Hunger Strike
As part of a nationwide mobilization, six members of Jewish Voice for Peace are putting their bodies on the line in solidarity with Gazans suffering from hunger during Israel’s blockade. By engaging i...
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Gremliny Nussboo @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
My essay about the brilliant, pioneering & shockingly forgotten showrunner-pioneer Gertrude Berg, who invented the family sitcom (pre-Lucy!), then got eaten by the blacklist in the 1950s — a story with disturbing modern parallels www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Forgotten Inventor of the Sitcom
Gertrude Berg’s “The Goldbergs” was a bold, beloved portrait of a Jewish family. Then the blacklist obliterated her legacy.
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Jessica Stites @jessicastites.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
SEIU was already stepping up for immigrants, but the Los Angeles raids and David Huerta's arrest propelled it to the forefront of the fight against authoritarianism. read @lfelizleon.bsky.social for @inthesetimes.com inthesetimes.com/article/davi...
inthesetimes.com
Trump Has Put a Target on SEIU, and the Labor Movement Is Fighting Back
The arrest of labor leader David Huerta in Los Angeles has put unions on the leading edge of resistance to mounting authoritarianism.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
I recently wrote about the importance of just-cause eviction laws, but this is a powerful reminder that renters don’t have to wait on lawmakers to take action. The power to organize—and win—is already in our hands. @rebeccaburns.bsky.social @inthesetimes.com inthesetimes.com/article/rent...
inthesetimes.com
Striking Tenants Withhold Rent for 247 Days and Win
A victory in Kansas City suggests that the tactics of organized labor can work for tenants.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 05/06/2025
"Landlords have a lot of power over tenants’ living conditions, and just-cause laws shift some of that power back into the hands of renters, promoting housing stability and better quality of life." @leftiecowboy.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/big-...
inthesetimes.com
Many Evictions Are Informal or Illegal—Just-Cause Protections Can Help
When just-cause protections are in place, landlords need a valid reason, like non-payment of rent, to evict a tenant.
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Kathryn Joyce @kathrynajoyce.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
From draconian laws, FBI intimidation & trumped-up RICO charges to online doxing campaigns, defunding & deportation threats, the Trump admin is attacking protesters from all sides. But activists refuse to back down. Read Adam Federman’s new cover story @inthesetimes.com & @typeinvestigations.org.‬
inthesetimes.com
“I Am Not Afraid”
The Trump administration is attacking protesters from all angles. Activists refuse to back down.
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J.P. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
“They’re destroying the port that gets fuel in and destroying the port that gets food in. That’s a recipe for famine. I can’t even think of words to use to describe what’s going to happen.” inthesetimes.com/article/no-w... by @sarahlazare.bsky.social
inthesetimes.com
No Wheat, Milk, Rice, Medicines: How the U.S. and Israel Are Starving Yemen
The Trump administration announced a truce with the Houthi rebels on May 6, but this was after the United States had already bombed critical infrastructure for importing food and fuel.
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Sarah Lazare @sarahlazare.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
This article is a joint publication of @inthesetimes.com and @workdaymagazine.bsky.social. You can see the Workday Magazine version here. Thanks so much to @leftiecowboy.bsky.social for the excellent edits!
workdaymagazine.org
No Wheat, Milk, Rice, Medicines: How the U.S. and Israel Are Starving Yemen - Workday Magazine
Most of Mohammed Mohsen’s neighbors live in a state of deprivation and hunger, reliant on the World Food Programme for daily survival. When he is able to get donations from individuals abroad, Mohsen ...
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Leor Galil @imleor.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
“I feel like alders are missing the fact that teens need a space, a space that is welcoming and a space that doesn’t really limit them. There are rules everywhere, but I feel like there should be a space where teens can meet up and not be watched by 100 policemen.”
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 19/05/2025
India’s salt-production industry has seen massive growth over the past 75 years, but the working conditions of the country’s salt pan workers are deteriorating.
inthesetimes.com
The Cost Of Salt
India’s salt-production industry has seen massive growth over the past 75 years, but the working conditions of the country’s salt pan workers are deteriorating.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 15/05/2025
Two years ago today, middle-school-teacher-turned-union-organizer Brandon Johnson was sworn in as mayor. @asha-rrs.bsky.social writes about what Chicago's left movement has won and what’s still to be done to deliver a more equitable city. ⤵️
inthesetimes.com
Two Years After Electing a Mayor, Chicago’s Left Reflects on Contesting for Power
Movement-backed Mayor Brandon Johnson and a record class of progressive alders took office exactly two years ago. I spoke with organizers—including CTU President Stacy Davis-Gates—about what we’ve…
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 02/05/2025
Yesterday, thousands of workers hit the streets and joined picket lines—but unions like UAW and CTU have their sights set on May Day 2028. @leftiecowboy.bsky.social breaks down the plan. ⤵️
inthesetimes.com
Why Everyone Should Be Preparing For May Day 2028
If we’re going to build enough collective power to win universal healthcare and the right to retire with dignity, then we need to tighten up.
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Clint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
In an executive order, Trump targeted the Smithsonian and the National Museum of African American History & Culture suggesting that it is “divisive” and pedaling “improper ideology.” So, I took a trip back to the museum, and what I saw was a place trying to tell the unvarnished truth about America.
theatlantic.com
What It Means to Tell the Truth About America
And what happens when empirical fact is labeled “improper ideology”
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 15/04/2025
or maybe don't?
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The 10% tariff alone is a $2500 per household annual tax hike!
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 31/03/2025
As @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains, it's hard to imagine a world without capitalism. To move beyond it, "the Left needs to occupy new political terrain and offer people solutions to the problems that capitalism creates."
inthesetimes.com
Why It's Easier to Imagine the End of the World Than the End of Capitalism
Capitalism is not the only way to organize our society. To move beyond it, the Left needs to imagine viable alternatives.
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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
You hate to see this because it could inspire copycats here in the US. Awful
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 20/02/2025
"Affordable housing — which typically involves giving tax breaks to real estate developers — isn’t working so well." As @leftiecowboy.bsky.social explains, social housing offers a permanently affordable solution for working people.
inthesetimes.com
The Big Idea: Social Housing
Nearly half of U.S. renters struggle to make rent. Social housing offers a permanently affordable solution for working people.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 19/02/2025
“I knew we could do better in the U.S. because I had seen better elsewhere—we don’t have to cut from whole cloth to build the world we need.” — @natashakimiz.bsky.social
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now featured in the criterion collection @anem0ne.net · 15/02/2025
even snowing and with temperatures near zero c, chicago turning out to protest the reduction in trans care at seneca park in front of lurie children's
crowded protest
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 06/02/2025
As housing costs and homelessness surge in the West, the HOUSES Act would turn the fire hose of luxury development on public land—up to 681,000 acres of it.
inthesetimes.com
The Latest Plot To Privatize Public Lands
With no provisions to ensure new developments are affordable for locals, the HOUSES Act would speed the wealthy's takeover of the West.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 11/02/2025
Ranked-choice elections, which allow voters to express their preference for third-party candidates without “splitting the vote,” could help bring disillusioned Americans back to the ballot box.
inthesetimes.com
Big Idea: Ranked-Choice Voting
Ranked-choice elections, which allow voters to express their preference for third-party candidates without "splitting the vote," could help bring disillusioned Americans back to the ballot box.
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