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Former US Rep. Greg Lopez leaves GOP, will run for governor in Colorado as an independent
Former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, a candidate for governor of Colorado, has left the Republican Party and plans to run as an unaffiliated candidate for the office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. Lopez, who served six months in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024 after winning a special vacancy election, announced Saturday […]
Downtown office vacancy falls for second straight quarter
Vacancy has now edged lower for two straight quarters after a historic run of 15 straight quarters in which the rate hit a new all-time high.
As downtown Seattle offices empty, city faces years of ‘zombie’ towers
After the Great Recession, office vacancy peaked at 22%. Right now, it is at 27% and shows no sign of dipping.
Slot to stay in club football after Netherlands talks
Former Liverpool head coach Arne Slot confirms talks for Netherlands managerial vacancy but says his next job will be in club football.
Prison health workers are among the best-paid public employees. Why are so many jobs vacant?
California spent hundreds of millions on high-paying prison and hospital healthcare jobs, auditors found -- but vacancy rates rose since 2019, exceeding 30% at three facilities despite bonuses and pay raises.
Mag Mile recovery gains momentum with a drop in vacancy and infusions of capital
North Michigan Avenue's availability rate ticked down about 3% year over year, continuing the shopping strip's recovery as foot traffic and retailers return.
Eagles' OC candidate is now on the Giants coaching radar
ESPN's Peter Schrager reports that the New York Giants will discuss their offensive coordinator vacancy with Colts OC Jim Bob Cooter
Many NH Homes Sit Empty Despite a Tight Housing Market: Business NH Magazine
New Hampshire has the 9th highest home vacancy rate in the country at 14.3%, according to a LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from 2024. But vacant doesn’t mean available to rent or buy.
Withers tapped for city council vacancy
Ashley Withers is the lead employment specialist at Community Choices, a nonprofit that provides supports for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Champaign County.
NYC Health + Hospitals Announces Its Lowest Behavioral Health Staff Turnover and Vacancy Rates in Recent History - NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced its lowest behavioral health staff turnover and vacancy rates in recent history following a suite of programs
Steelers Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith Completes Interview With AFC Team
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith recently had an interview for the same position with the Detroit Lions. Smith didn’t land the gig for Dan Campbell’s team but completed another interview for an offensive coordinator vacancy on Monday. “we’ve completed an interview with Arthur Smith for offensive coordinator,” the Los Angeles Chargers official account posted […]
Gov. Beshear discusses potential Senate vacancy in relation with Sen. McConnell’s health status
Gov. Andy Beshear made a Facebook post addressing potential vacancy in the Senate.
Samuel Alito's gift to Democrats
The justice's refusal to retire deprives Donald Trump of a Supreme Court vacancy ahead of likely blue midterm wave
Some Democrats don’t expect to fill a Supreme Court vacancy under Trump
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to capture the Senate. If so, they’d control what happens in a vacancy, as Justice Samuel Alito admits he’s thought about retirement.
Incumbent Democrat resigns, leaving a vacancy in one of the Triangle's most competitive NC Senate districts
Democratic N.C. Sen. Terence Everitt announced Tuesday night that he's resigning his seat and dropping out of one of this year's most hotly contested legislative races.
Commanders Practice Squad RB Signs With Another NFL Team
The Washington Commanders will have a vacancy to fill on the practice squad after Robert Henry Jr. signed elsewhere on Monday
Democrats vow to block next Trump Supreme Court pick amid Alito speculation
Justice Samuel Alito hasn’t tipped his hat on retiring just yet, but Senate Democrats are already entrenched in opposing the confirmation of a successor that would deliver President Donald Trump his fourth lifetime appointment to the high court. Democrats need to first retake the majority and for a vacancy to arise. But with the party’s […]
Cleveland office vacancy hits record high: report
Newmark’s latest report shows the sector ended August with a vacancy rate of 25.2%, which the firm says is an all-time high for the city's core.
Political newcomers vie for Family Court bench
Attorney Patricia Marr and prosecutor Gwynneth Smith are hoping to fill the Clark County Family Court Dept. D vacancy resulting from Judge Bob Teuton’s decision not to seek reelection. Marr moved to Las Vegas from Ohio in 1985. She worked in the hospitality industry, and as a single parent, obtained a psychology degree from UNLV. […]
Illinois fires softball head coach Tyra Perry
Another vacancy to fill.
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News Releases, Media Advisory, Speeches and Testimony, Statements, Press Photos, Columns, Commentary and Letters to the Editor, Boards, Committees and Commissions Vacancy Announcements
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News Releases, Media Advisory, Speeches and Testimony, Statements, Press Photos, Columns, Commentary and Letters to the Editor, Boards, Committees and Commissions Vacancy Announcements
Another popular downtown business prepares to shut down, raising vacancy, development concerns about the city’s core
Two well-known restaurants in downtown Jacksonville are preparing to close, renewing concerns about vacancies and foot traffic in the city’s urban core as local leaders push for more downtown development.
Sen. Mitch McConnell's absence sparks political showdown
As Sen. Mitch McConnell recovers from a fall and pneumonia, Kentucky officials are clashing over who will fill his seat if a vacancy occurs.
'The state is not business-friendly': Curley rips proposed vacancy tax amid 30% empty Seattle buildings
Curley challenges the proposed vacancy tax as Seattle faces high building vacancies and job losses.
Portland leaders review report on vacancy fees as property owners push back
Portland city leaders are reviewing a report on what implementing a so-called vacancy fee could look in Portland, as property owners cite the effort as a waste
Former Washington Nationals Exec In Mix For MLB Vacancy
Could former Washington Nationals general manager and POBO Mike Rizzo land elsewhere in 2027?
Berkeley events hope to get bigger, better and boozier in proposed entertainment zone
Berkeley is currently in a financial slump. Downtown and other commercial districts have high vacancy rates, and the city had to slash the budget to address a $30 million hole.
‘All INdiana Politics’: Property tax reform and childcare costs dominate debate in key State Senate race
INDIANAPOLIS — The race for Indiana’s 29th State Senate district has emerged as a focal point for the upcoming elections as candidates compete for an open seat in a key swing district. The vacancy follows State Senator J.D. Ford’s decision to challenge U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz for her seat in Congress. The 29th District stretches […]
Recap: Warren Council Bars Self-Storage Downtown, Advances Vacancy Tax Changes
Warren Town Council removed self-storage from the business district and advanced vacant-property tax changes, with snow fines set for November.
Portland leaders review report on vacancy fees as property owners push back
Portland city leaders are reviewing a report on what implementing a so-called vacancy fee could look in Portland, as property owners cite the effort as a waste
Gov. Polis expected to name temporary replacement for Colorado House District 32 vacancy
After the state Democratic Party said they would not hold a vacancy committee to replace Rep. Manny Rutinel so close to the November election, Gov. Jared Polis said he intends to select a placeholder.
Trump leans in on a major 2026 issue: possibly replacing Justices Alito and Thomas
A potential vacancy on the Supreme Court could be one the biggest political questions of 2026, for a host of reasons.
Reusse: Spotlight on Gophers women’s sports is a welcome sight
The women’s basketball and hockey teams are in the headlines with NCAA tournament games in town and a coaching vacancy to fill.
Maryland Fires Mike Locksley, Opening a Big Ten Job
Mike Locksley is out at Maryland, and the Big Ten's first coaching vacancy is open. #BigTen
Supreme Court will hear from religious preschools challenging exclusion from taxpayer-funded program
The faith-based facilities argue it's unconstitutional to bar them from a taxpayer-funded free preschool program because of their admission restrictions on LGBTQ+ families and kids.
Tiny sound waves could help solve a major quantum computing problem
Researchers at Harvard have demonstrated a way to protect quantum information using microscopic sound waves. By continuously surrounding a diamond-based qubit with mechanical vibrations, they extended its coherence time by roughly threefold. The same phonons could eventually both transmit and protect quantum information, opening the door to compact sound-based quantum networks on chips.
Republican senator vows to block all Fed nominations after DoJ investigates Powell
Thom Tillis says he would oppose any nominee, including upcoming chair vacancy, ‘until legal matter is fully resolved’
Diomande shows Iraola what the fuss is about
The task of filling the huge vacancy left by Mohamed Salah will be right at the top of Andoni Iraola's tasks when he settles behind his desk at Liverpool. RB Leipzig's 19-year-old Yan Diomande has been the name on the lips of many as the target to take the place of the 'Egyptian king'. Hs is one of Europe's hottest properties and showed exactly why Liverpool are being heavily touted - along with back-t0-back Champions League winners Paris St-Germain - as his next destination with a man-of-the-match performance rich in promise in Ivory Coast's 1-0 victory over Ecuador.
Vikings TE Coach Brian Angelichio to Join Steelers Staff
It appears there will be another vacancy after all
First Ward residents talk business, office vacancies, new city website
First Ward residents received an update on economic development and a crash course on how to navigate the city’s new website at the ward’s Thursday night meeting. The meeting included a notification of retail and office vacancy rates and a list of new business openings by Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak. Zalmezak shared that the...
CSU Bakersfield announces new permanent athletics director following yearlong vacancy
BAKERFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — CSU Bakersfield’s Athletic Program — which has been at the center of numerous lawsuits, departures and allegations that drew national attention in recent years — is getting a full-time director after a vacancy that lasted for over a year. On Monday, the school announced in a press release that Andy Fiske […]
ASU AD: Basketball job drumming up head-coach candidates
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini said the men's basketball head-coaching vacancy is getting plenty of interest since moving on from Bobby Hurley.
Downtown office market on the mend.
New report finds office vacancy rate in the core of downtown is falling faster than other key business districts.
Arizona Cardinals sign TE Shawn Bowman to active roster
The Cardinals filled the vacancy on their roster from putting Isaiah Adams on injured reserve.
Official | Davide Ancelotti appointed Lille head coach
Lille OSC have announced the appointment of Davide Ancelotti to fill their managerial vacancy. Les Dogues were on the market for a head coach following Bruno Genesio’s exit, the latter is reported...
Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman emerges as candidate for NFL vacancy
The Irish coach may be on the move.
Huntington Bank expands office footprint, bucking Loop downsizing trend
The bank’s growing footprint stands out as a bright spot for downtown office landlords amid record-high vacancy.
WKRC-TV adding 3 p.m. newscast, Sunday politics show
Former WXIX-TV anchor Rebecca Smith also returns to TV as Local 12’s new health reporter, filling the vacancy from the death of Liz Bonis in April.
‘All INdiana Politics’: Property tax reform and childcare costs dominate debate in key State Senate race
INDIANAPOLIS — The race for Indiana’s 29th State Senate district has emerged as a focal point for the upcoming elections as candidates compete for an open seat in a key swing district. The vacancy follows State Senator J.D. Ford’s decision to challenge U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz for her seat in Congress. The 29th District stretches […]
Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
Geauga County seeks applicants for Board of Health vacancy
Geauga County seeks applicants for a Board of Health vacancy; applications due by Feb. 25 for a five-year term starting March 2026.
Patriots’ Rival Facing Unexpected Drama After ‘Premature’ Head Coaching Announcement
It was announced earlier this week that the New York Giants would be signing former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh to fill the team’s head coaching vacancy. Harbaugh is considered by many to be the best head coach on the market, and with eight teams looking to fill vacancies, there was a league-wide sweepstakes […]
Two promising young offensive coordinator candidates say no to the Eagles
Two highly regarded candidates for the Eagles’ offensive coordinator vacancy have withdrawn from consideration, the Athletic reported Monday.
Steelers to interview Scott Tolzien for offensive coordinator vacancy
New Steelers head coach plans to interview former Packers quarterback Scott Tolzien for his offensive coordinator position.
Eric DeCosta says Lamar Jackson elevated the Ravens' coaching vacancy
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Suburban office vacancy finally stops climbing as old buildings disappear
Suburban Chicago office vacancy held at 33.1% for two consecutive quarters, ending a streak of 21 straight all-time highs.
Buffalo Bills Lose Linebacker To AFC East Rival
Miami poaches linebacker Andre Jones Jr. from Buffalo’s practice squad, securing a versatile special teams asset while leaving the Bills with a fresh vacancy to fill immediately.
Dale Vince’s latest idea: No manager at Forest Green Rovers
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Benavidez chosen to fill Senate District 21 vacancy after Michaelson Jenet resigns
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Mom-and-Pop Business Owners Grapple with Harsh Times
Report shows small business owners in NYS less optimistic about the economy. Taxes, inflation, labor costs and competition from larger businesses are major concerns right now, they say By Aaron Gifford [caption id=attachment_11067 align=alignright width=300] Ashley Ranslow is director for New York state at The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).[/caption] Owners of mom-and-pop businesses in New York state have been less optimistic lately than their peers in other parts of the country, a recent report indicates. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), based on a survey of 11,000 of its members in the Empire State, reported that taxes, inflation, labor costs and competition from larger businesses are major concerns right now. “Indeed, while taxes are a major problem in New York and the United States overall, New York small businesses notably are struggling more with the state’s onerous, multi-level tax burden,” Ashley Ranslow, NFIB’s director for New York state, said in the July report. Compared with surveys of business owners in other states, far fewer New York respondents rated their businesses as in excellent or good health. The report also said labor costs here are about 25% higher than the national average and are the “single most important problem” facing businesses. One respondent to the New York-specific survey complained that too much red tape, taxes and laws that restrict high-yielding companies have stifled their operation’s growth. Others said high disability and workers’ compensation insurance costs, alarming increases in utility rates and excessive building regulations are discouraging. Statewide, New York has a gross domestic product of $2.53 trillion (third in the nation, followed by Texas, $2.90 trillion; and California, $4.25 trillion), a per capita income of $90,500 (sixth) and an unemployment rate of 4.6% (34th). There are 2.4 million small businesses that employ 3.9 million people. [caption id=attachment_11112 align=alignright width=451] Member of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce gather at one of the several functions the chamber organizes monthly. “Everyone in this business community encourages each other to shop local. Everyone just wants to see each other succeed,” says Megan Wilmot, the chamber director[/caption] “New York state boasts one of the largest, wealthiest and most diverse cities in the world — and that’s still only about half the state’s population,” the report said. “In other words, the state is both its iconic city and so much more — geographically, demographically, economically. But New York is not without its challenges, challenges that include notably high taxes and other weaknesses that impact the small business environment,” it said. The report includes an optimism index that compares responses from New York (NFIB) members with those of their peers in other states across several categories. This ranges from plans to increase employment to expectations for higher sales, to plans to increase inventory or expand. The scores for Empire State business owners were lower in most categories, but they did score higher than the national average in noting that they have current employment openings, and that they are hopeful that the economy will improve. “The metrics so far paint a picture of a state with a series of challenges for small businesses, from a slightly below national average Optimism Index to a more seriously below national business health to very substantially below national Employment Index. What is going on with businesses that are creating these differences?” the report stated. In Central New York, the regional labor force comprises nearly 398,000 workers. The median household income here is $71,463, and the gross domestic product for the region last year totaled $61.3 billion, according to the CenterState CEO economic development and research organization. About half of the region’s labor force works for small and mid-sized businesses, although the number of people employed in that sector has decreased by 7% since 2010, according to CenterState’s 2026 economic forecast report. “While record-high employment in large-scale enterprises provides a strong foundation for Central New York,” the report says, “the long-term health of communities depends on a thriving small business sector to serve as a stabilizer.” Area employers identify several barriers to Central New York’s anticipated growth, including lack of specialized or skilled workers, government regulations, unaffordable housing options and long-term construction disruptions. In the city of Syracuse, the number of jobs in retail trade decreased by 1,500 or 4.7% between July 2025 and this past July. By contrast, the number of jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 2.5% or 700 jobs, in the same annual period, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Still, there’s plenty of interest for new businesses across Central New York. U.S. Census figures show that the number of applications for new businesses in all four counties increased significantly in the past 20 years. In Cayuga County, there were 324 applications in 2005 compared to 470 last year. In Madison County, the number increased from 385 to 480; Onondaga County, from 2411 to 4132; and Oswego County, from 553 to 836. Downtown Cazenovia is exemplary of Madison County’s trend: In the past year, the village welcomed a bait shop, a thrift store, a vitamin infusion center, a pizzeria, a Pilates studio and an Italian restaurant. A candy store is scheduled to open on the main drag in the months ahead. Oswego’s list of interesting new businesses in the past year includes a bubble tea shop, a hot dog eatery in Fulton, a specialty grocery store that features New York state products in Mexico, a beauty and esthetics studio in Hannibal and a hardware and farm supply store in Sandy Creek. In Onondaga County, the Liverpool area has also enjoyed a steady stream of new shops and eateries in recent years. That suburban community is unique in that, unlike neighboring communities, most of the restaurants are family-owned and not part of a national chain. [caption id=attachment_11116 align=alignright width=300] Megan Wilmot is the executive director of the Greater Liverpool’s Chamber of Commerce.[/caption] Megan Wilmot, executive director of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said independent business owners in her community maintain a strong sense of pride in holding their own against national companies. The chamber helps boost morale with red carpet events, ribbon cuttings, coffee hours and five-year anniversary celebrations for participating businesses. “We have built such a strong community,” Wilmot said. “Everyone in this business community encourages each other to shop local. Everyone just wants to see each other succeed.” In Syracuse, the downtown retail occupancy rate last year was about 82%, a slight improvement from 2024, according to the Downtown Syracuse Committee’s most recent annual report. Buildings with the largest amount of vacant space included The Galleries, One Park Place, and Equitable Towers, though not all of those spaces are designated for retail use. New businesses that opened in downtown Syracuse last year: Better with Time Clothing, Dakshin Curry & Biriyani, Havana Tattoo Society, Milano Bean Café, Miss Daisy, Pausa Coffee, Sweets for Babe, The Society CNY and Yafah Beauty Studio. The Destiny USA mall’s occupancy rate decreased from 80% in 2023 to 72% by the end of 2024, according to Integra Realty Resources. That leaves more than a quarter of the mall’s retail space vacant. “Looking ahead, the retail market is expected to see minimal rent growth, with vacancy rates likely remaining stable in community and neighborhood centers but continuing to rise in enclosed malls,” Integra’s report said. “New construction activity is low and redevelopment plans for former malls like Shoppingtown and Great Northern are still in the planning stages. The proposed Micron chip plant may spur development, but challenges remain in finding co-developers for large-scale projects.” Nationally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expects that small businesses will remain resilient and see their sales and revenues eventually improve. That organization, in a recent national survey, found that 25% of small business owners expect the economy to improve in 2027, while 45% indicated that they plan to increase employment in the next 12 months. And 69% said they believe their small business is in good shape and 70% said they are comfortable with their current cash flow. Thirty-one percent of small businesses reported raising their prices in July and 28% are planning to raise their prices within the next three to four months, the report said. Twelve percent indicated that this is a good time to expand their business. “Small business owners voice optimism for future revenues and hiring,” the report said. “High costs continue to be a wet blanket on reinvestment.” The NFIB reported in July that Main Street, despite gas price hikes, “is OK … for now.” Its small business economics trend report said sales across the country have been strong compared to last year, but continued inflation and higher prices from mom-and-pop establishments are causing some “cracks” to show. “If costs stay this high for much longer, reduced investment will have a tangible economic impact,” the report said. “The status quo is OK, but the outlook? The outlook is uncertain.”
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