Much recent California political commentary stresses the sharp rise in the proportion of voters declining to state a party preference and the supposed increasing importance of political independents. Yet The Myth of the Independent Voter and other political science literature provide grounds for...

Abstract California has a large, and growing, number of voters who decline to affiliate with a major political party. This study uses a large sample survey from the 2010 election cycle to ask: who are these “decline to state” voters? This article explores their positions on issues, their...