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Of the 34 ballot measures in the pipeline in California for 2026, here’s the real players. It’s late November in an off year, and for followers of ballot measure politics in the premier direct democracy state – California – that can mean only one thing. All eyes turn to the Attorney General  and Secretary of State  ballot measure tracking pages to see how the landscape is shaping up next year’s elections.   The pipeline of measures working through the process reveals some of

Both conservative and progressive states have worked to undermine direct democracy when it has suited their purposes. It breeds cynicism with the electorate who jealously protect their power. For more than a century, direct democracy has served as a pressure valve in American politics — a way for citizens to act when elected officials refuse to. From California’s Progressive Era reforms to modern-day citizen petitions in Arizona, Maine, and Ohio, the ballot measure process ha

There's been a lot of great analysis of the lessons learned from the 2025 off-year elections. With a week to digest them, here's our practical takes. As always, our commentary is not for punditry purposes, but real lessons from that can be applied to future public affairs and political campaigns. Voters across the country weighed in last week, and the signal is clearer than the noise . Democrats performed strongly in an off-year following a Republican presidential win — no bi

HexaCom Group Wins Another Tough Minimum Wage Issue on a Shoestring Budget by Efficiently Amplifying the Local Voices Opposed to the Proposal Olympia voters rejected Proposition 1 — the “Workers’ Bill of Rights” — in the November 4 election, by a fairly comfortable 45% Yes to 55% No margin . Our firm was proud to help to local coalition defeat this — on its face — well-meaning measure that would have had severe consequences for the community. The result tracks with what we’ve