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LeBron James to the Sixers: Philly sports world reacts
The Philadelphia sports world is reacting to the news that LeBron James is joining the Sixers.
LeBron James chooses Sixers, coming to Philadelphia on 2-year deal
In the latest incredible development of the Sixers’ offseason, LeBron James has chosen Philadelphia.
LeBron James signs with Sixers as Philadelphia loads up with hopes of winning first title since 1983
The Sixers' wild offseason continued Friday when they added four-time NBA champion LeBron James.
China Wields Its Rare Earth Leverage Over Europe With New Export Controls
Beijing banned shipments of important supplies to 14 companies on the cutting edge of chemicals processing, electric motors and defense.
What to know about the San Jose Children's Business Fair
This Saturday at Santana Row Park Valencia, children between the ages of six and 17 will have booths to show off business ventures they've created.
Why It’s Best to Keep Politics Out of Your Investment Strategy
Despite the blurring of lines between big business and the Trump administration, investing in broad index funds instead of stocks with political ties looks like a better bet.
Six Lessons From The Harvard Business School AI Project For Founders
Six Lessons From The Harvard Business School AI Project For Founders. HBS Foundary is a AI native platform developed at HBS to help founders
How a Grieving Trump Decided to Back Lindsey Graham’s Sister for Senate
The president initially backed a little-known congressman. Then he talked to Gov. Henry McMaster and Ms. Graham herself.
Democrats Prepare for Possible Election Clashes With Federal Government
Top officials overseeing state elections and law enforcement are stepping up plans to prepare for what they worry could be interference in the midterms.
Is the Amaury Family, Owners of the Tour de France, Hurting Cycling?
The Amaurys of Paris own the race, but won’t share any of the $170 million in media revenue. Sponsors and riders say their resistance is dooming the sport.
Voters Think All Politicians Are a Little Corrupt, but Trump Might Be Pushing It
There’s a difference between ordinary influence peddling and the first family’s outright self-enrichment.
Can This New Enzyme Turn Back the Clock in Bodily Tissues?
In a recent study, scientists devised a way of reversing the buildup of compounds that lead to some age-related diseases.
"Storm Emeralda" All 76 Main Set Cards Revealed!
All 76 cards from Storm Emeralda have been officially revealed! The set stars Mega Rayquaza ex and will release in Japan on July 31st as their sixth Mega
Maine Teachers Gather at Colby College for Free Computer Science & AI Workshop
Maine educators gather for sixth annual event focused on integrating computer science and AI into K-12 classrooms
Health Care Agency Discontinues Dozens of Active Research Awards
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality slowed the awarding of new grants last year. Now it is stopping existing ones.
Democratic Voters Keep Defying the Party Establishment
The House Democratic campaign arm has stepped up its interventions in high-profile contested primaries. But this week, it suffered its third primary defeat in two months.
This Undrafted Free Agent is 'Worth Monitoring' for Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles defense is loaded, but the Eagles have always found spots for talented, undrafted diamonds in the rough. Rookie undrafted free agent Deontae Lawson has the potential to be that, since Eagles Wire called him a candidate to potentially start at some point during the 2026 NFL season. Lawson projected as a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, yet he went unselected among the 257 players chosen in Pittsburgh in April.
Clint Reilly, Political Consultant Known for Feuding, Dies at 79
As savvy as he could be volatile, he advised Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein, ran for mayor of San Francisco and bought The San Francisco Examiner.
Movie Theaters Embrace the Bewilderingly Lucrative Business of Buckets
Once, a tub of popcorn was just a tub of popcorn. Now, “collectible concession vessels” could make one chain more than $100 million.
Four Young Mathematicians Receive Prestigious Fields Medals
The awards are bestowed only once every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40.
John Pardon Untangles the Theoretical Loops
The mathematics professor has won a prestigious Fields Medal for his work at the intersection of geometry, topology and physics.
Yu Deng Predicts the Actions of the Whole From Its Tiniest Parts
Dr. Deng, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, received a Fields Medal for his work on an equation describing fluid mechanics.
49ers players anchor Fox Sports' 'half-decade' team
Trent Williams and Fred Warner have been dominant at their respective positions over the past six seasons for the 49ers.
Ford Will Use Apple Maps in New Self-Driving System
In a first, Apple software will influence the way a new line of electric vehicles made by Ford Motor operates, and other automakers may follow.
A Florida pastor is suing OpenAI over ChatGPT health advice that nearly killed him
Scott Winters claims ChatGPT discouraged him from seeking care for six weeks as blood clots developed, exploiting his religious beliefs along the way
Fernando Mendoza Headlines a Young Raiders Core With Mismatched Timelines
The Raiders are not planning to contend in the immediate future. ESPN’s Aaron Schatz ranked all 32 NFL teams based on how talented the players under the age of 25 are on their roster. The Raiders clocked in with the sixth best mark.
A Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With R.F.K.’s Agenda
Agency scientists are advising against allowing widespread use of several peptide injections. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has said people should be free to experiment.
Amish Shah Wins Democratic Primary in Swing Arizona House District
Dr. Amish Shah, who beat the choice of the party’s House campaign arm, will face Jay Feely, a Republican, in a battleground district that covers parts of Phoenix.
With Saudi Deal, Trump Loosens Nuclear Standards for One Close Ally
Nuclear experts say it throws fuel on the smoldering fire of atomic proliferation, creating a destabilizing situation that could raise the risk of nuclear war.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Speaking for Fallen Soldiers, Trump Says They Supported the Iran War
President Trump attended a dignified transfer for the soldiers as Americans were growing increasingly critical of the war.
AMC Entertainment CEO says one long-running entertainment debate is finally over
For six years, the entertainment industry has been locked in a debate that touched everything from studio strategy to real estate valuations to the future of a 106-year-old American institution. The question was simple and existential: did streaming permanently replace movie theaters? July 20, AMC ...
Sony and Alamo Drafthouse are reopening Hollywood's Cinerama Dome
After a six-year closure and an uncertain future, the Cinerama Dome is back. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Alamo Drafthouse are restoring the historic theater and plan to reopen it in early 2028.
UT Martin offers public health concentration at regional centers
UT Martin's six regional centers now offer a concentration in public health as part of the health and human performance degree.
Commonwealth Games 2026 sports list: What's included and what's not
The Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow features a total of 16 sports - 10 able-bodied and six integrated para sports. Indian athletes will compete in 13 at the CWG.
Three Atlanta Falcons Rookies Who Could Make an Immediate Impact
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of an underwhelming 2025 season, finishing with an 8-9 record and falling just short of the playoffs. The Falcons and their new coaching staff looked to address holes and lack of depth at many positions including receiver, cornerback, and linebacker. Atlanta had six selections in this year's draft and although did not have a first round pick due to a trade with the Rams during the 2025 draft, selected three players that I believe could have an immediate impact.
OpenAI Sued Over ChatGPT’s ‘Dangerous’ Health Advice
The case appears to be the first to argue that a chatbot’s advice harmed someone seeking guidance about a medical condition.
Peña and Paredes homer, Imai fans eight as Astros get by Marlins 5-3
Jeremy Peña and Isaac Paredes hit home runs, Tatsuya Imai struck out eight in six innings and the Houston Astros beat the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Jen Palmieri Has a New Politics Show
Jennifer Palmieri has also brought on former NOLA mayor Mitch Landrieu and journalist Errin Haines for 'Long Play,' a six-part docuseries about the region’s complexities.
Stanford and SLAC to lead Genesis Mission projects
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the first phase of funding for projects using artificial intelligence to tackle the nation’s most complex science and technology challenges, including six led by Stanford and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
Bloomberg American Health Initiative Announces 10th Cohort of Fellows Working to Address Critical U.S. Health Challenges | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sixty individuals awarded full scholarships at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to pursue degrees while serving communities across the country
Ken Kollman to succeed David Campbell as Democracy Initiative director in January
As the University of Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative approaches its fourth year, Inaugural Director David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, is preparing to transition leadership of the initiative to renowned political scientist Ken Kollman, the Dr. William M. Scholl Professor of Politics in the Department of Political Science and the Keough School of Global Affairs. Kollman began a six-month term as director-designate on July 1 and will formally take over as Democracy Initiative director on Jan. 1.
6 Central Florida restaurants and 2 food trucks shut down after health inspections last week
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down six Central Florida restaurants and two food trucks for health code violations during the week from July 12-18.
New Science Fiction About Truth and Lies in an Age of War
Three recent novels explore the use of deception by both invaders and the invaded.
6 Takeaways From Arizona’s Tense, Trump-Dominated Primaries
Republicans nominated a former N.F.L. kicker in a top House battleground, a Trump loyalist for governor and an election denier for the state’s top election post.
Family business faces third theft in six months
Lucy Hardware in Intervale is in its fourth generation as a family business. In that time, owner Taylor Lucy said it's never seen anything quite like this until now: three thefts at the business in the past six months.
Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel
U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, to be announced Wednesday, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to develop nuclear weapons.
House Narrowly Passes Stopgap Spending Bill, but Shutdown Fight Looms
Republicans managed to push through legislation to fund the government through Dec. 4. But with Democrats opposed, the stage is set for a broader battle.
With His Latest Threats, Trump Signals to Iran That He Is Willing to Escalate
President Trump is facing a critical moment in the war, which has failed to bring about the “unconditional surrender” he once demanded.
6 teens arrested after employee attacked inside Rochester business
Six people, including five juveniles, were arrested after a fight inside a business on East Main Street on Tuesday morning, according to the Rochester Police Department.
With Another Storm On the Way, Businesses Brace for More Flooding
Some businesses in low-lying areas of New York City have developed routines to keep their goods and customers dry.
Health: Searching For The Source Of Cyclospora
You may have heard of a parasite that’s causing some gastrointestinal distress.Cyclospora has sickened thousands of people across 34 states this summer – more than six times the number reported at this point last year. The CDC has linked a major cluster to shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell in some states. And Taylor Farms de Mexico has now pulled all of its iceberg lettuce from the U.S. market despite an FDA finding that reports that its product contained the parasite were a false positive.We answer your questions about what cyclosporiasis is, how you get it, and why investigators have had such a hard time finding the source.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Monkeys Understand Shapes in Almost the Same Way as Humans
Our geometric intuition, long considered something that sets us apart, seems to be shared with other primates.
6 NFL Quarterbacks Facing the Most Pressure Heading Into 2026
Jordan Love is among six NFL quarterbacks who need to deliver in 2026 if they want to live up to their expectations and lead their respective teams to success.
Susumu Tonegawa Dies at 86; Nobel Laureate Showed How Antibodies Fight Infection
The first Japanese scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, he went on to discover how memories are stored, advancing understanding of how the brain works.
How Republicans Made Olive Garden Into a Voter ID Talking Point
Republicans claim that Olive Garden polices its Never-Ending Pasta Bowl more tightly than the United States does its elections. It’s not that simple.
Zohran Mamdani on Six Months in Office and the Democrats' Future
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on six months in office, the future of the Democratic Party, Israel-Palestine, Taylor Swift's wedding and more.
This Wearable Aims to Improve Your Blood Pressure. It’s Now in the US, and I Got a First Look
People in Europe who used the wearable significantly improved their blood pressure readings over six months.
Schedules announced for six fall teams
The 2026 fall sports schedules were announced by the Fredonia State Blue Devils.
Illinois cannabis demand grows despite falling prices
The amount of cannabis sold in Illinois rose 9.3% during the first six months of the year, showing demand is still growing six years after the state legalized recreational marijuana use.
Democrats drive voter opposition to data centers, POLITICO Poll finds
A new POLITICO Poll found that Americans’ attitudes toward data centers have grown increasingly sour and politically polarized in the past six months.
Seth Meyers Calls Trump ‘The Sports Reaper’
The late-night host joked that the president’s sports curse had struck again after he backed Lionel Messi of Argentina, which then lost the World Cup final to Spain.
Arenado Hits 2,000, Joins Elite Baseball Club
Nolan Arenado reaches 2,000 career hits with a double against Oakland, becoming just the sixth active player to achieve this rare feat.
Bills’ ‘Nightmare’ Scenario Revealed That Could Derail Josh Allen’s Season
The Buffalo Bills made a big decision this offseason when they parted ways with head coach Sean McDermott and promoted Joe Brady to the new role.Buffalo struggled to reach the Super Bowl over the last six seasons, so it needed to take action to give the Bills and their fans a boost, which meant parting […] The post Bills’ ‘Nightmare’ Scenario Revealed That Could Derail Josh Allen’s Season appeared first on HEAVY.
Trump Attacks National Academies Over Climate Chapter in Judges’ Manual
The president joined Republican officials who slammed the National Academies of Sciences for a chapter about climate science in an educational guide for judges.
Multi-Restaurant and Entertainment Concept The Forge Begins Soft Opening in Midtown Ocala
The Forge has officially entered its soft opening phase, with six restaurant concepts now open and additional businesses planned in the coming weeks and months.
The Sewer Knows What You Ate
During the Covid-19 pandemic, wastewater testing became a virus warning system. Now, scientists are using the approach to understand how communities eat.
G.O.P. Boxed In on Iran War as Trump Sidelines Congress
Republicans now face a worst-case political scenario of being asked to fund an unpopular war over which they have exercised little oversight.
New NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science Flights
The first of six new airborne campaigns will hit the skies this summer.
50 years of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards: How NCAA champions built the Honda Cup’s legacy
Forty-six women have won the Honda Cup. Forty-four won a national championship or reached the Olympics. Inside 50 years of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards.
As Budget Cuts Loom, French Theater Turns Up the Political Heat
This year’s Avignon Festival has transformed into a staging ground for protests, defiant new works and some early 2027 presidential campaigning.
‘Vibecoded’ Apps Are Flooding Apple’s App Store
Mobile apps are easy to make with artificial intelligence. That doesn’t mean people are excited to use them.
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
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New NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science Flights
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The Tennessee Titans have six RBs on the training camp roster, with Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears leading the way.
Six AMC theaters showed THE ODYSSEY for more than 85 hours
THE ODYSSEY's media-reported domestic gross reached approximately $124M; Rotten Tomatoes scores were 95% from critics and 97% from audiences. Ticket information is online.
In Maine Senate Race, Democrats Go From Chaos to Coronation
Troy Jackson’s emergence as the clear front-runner to replace Graham Platner spares the party some challenges but points to some new ones.
Can Arizona Republicans Stop Feuding Long Enough to Win Back the State?
Some Republicans fear the party is poised to repeat past mistakes by nominating candidates in Tuesday’s primaries who are viewed as too extreme to sway moderate voters.
Opinion | Capping the Price of Health Care Is a Mistake
A government bureaucrat doesn’t know how much your medicine or doctor’s visit should cost.
The Best Genetic Risk Tools Don’t Work Equally for Everyone
Genetic prediction models are poised to revolutionize medicine. But because they have been trained on European DNA, they threaten to widen health care disparities.
Opinion | America Has 2 Political Parties but 8 Political Tribes
Think of our two major political parties as two coalitions.
Why Epidemics Breed Rage at Health Workers
Some people have fought Ebola containment measures in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Scholars have seen similar responses across societies and throughout history.
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) Opens Record Coaster As Investors Ask If The Stock Is A Bargain
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) just opened Tormenta: Rampaging Run at Six Flags Over Texas, a record-setting giga dive coaster that could influence how investors think about the company’s park assets and guest appeal. See our latest analysis for Six Flags Entertainment. Despite the buzz around Tormenta: Rampaging Run, Six Flags Entertainment’s share price has softened recently, with the 30-day share price return down 29.71%, while the 1-year total shareholder return has declined 43.38%,...
AMC Entertainment Attracts More Than 4.3 Million Moviegoers Worldwide as THE ODYSSEY Delivers the Biggest Opening Weekend for an R-rated Film Across AMC’s U.S. Circuit Since 2024
Six U.S. AMC locations operated around the clock throughout the weekend, running THE ODYSSEY showtimes for more than 85 consecutive hours to…...
Report: LeBron James had conversation with Philadelphia 76ers owner
Free agent forward LeBron James recently ran into Josh Harris, the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers.
At World Cup Final, Trump Seeks to Bask in Another Sports Championship
The president flew in Marine One over MetLife Stadium on Sunday ahead of his arrival. It was the second time recently that he sought to seize the spotlight at a major sporting event.
In Maine Senate Race, Jackson Sprints Ahead of Pack, as Bellows Drops Out
Troy Jackson, a progressive, solidified his edge over his rivals in an abbreviated nominating contest to replace Graham Platner. Shenna Bellows, another candidate, bowed out.
In Maine, Bellows Ends Senate Bid as Jackson Builds Momentum
The Maine secretary of state ended her run in a crowded race to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate nominee.
Voyager 1 is still crossing interstellar space with six computers holding about 68 kilobytes of memory between them — less storage than a single compressed photograph on a modern phone
Voyager 1 carries six flight-computer units designed in the early 1970s, and NASA’s own accounting puts their combined memory at about 68 kilobytes. That is
Rangers edge Braves 7-6
Brandon Nimmo’s two-run single in the sixth inning gave Texas the lead as the Rangers rallied from an early deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Saturday in a matchup of first-place teams.
Six major questions for Georgia football
Georgia football heads to SEC media days facing questions about injuries, playoff failures, and new receivers.
New AI blood test predicts heart disease 15 years early
A new AI-powered blood test could give people a remarkably early warning of serious heart and circulation problems. Developed by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, CardiOmicScore analyzes thousands of proteins and metabolites to estimate the risk of six major cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. Unlike genetic risk scores, which remain fixed throughout life, the system captures biological changes linked to a person’s current health, lifestyle, and environment.
Students graduate from Carus Summer Science Camp
The 24th annual Carus Summer Science Camp concluded Friday with a graduation celebration at St. Bede Academy, marking the successful completion of another week of hands-on science exploration for local students entering sixth grade.
Orioles news: Bradish extension, Booth signs
The Orioles won their sixth straight, signed Kyle Bradish to an extension, and signed their first round pick. Good times.
Before Lettuce Felled Thousands, a Cilantro-Linked Cyclospora Outbreak Sickened New Yorkers
New York City health officials shared details of how they traced a much smaller cyclosporiasis outbreak, showing the difficulty of tracing contamination.
In Maine, Troy Jackson Gains Momentum in Bid to Replace Platner
Troy Jackson, a progressive former State Senate president, showed signs of significant strength, as half the state’s counties picked delegates to a convention where they will choose Graham Platner’s replacement.
New Hospital Reflects Commitment to Cherokee Health
Guest Opinion The new W.W. Hastings Hospital did not rise from the ground overnight. It grew from decades of planning, staff dedication, and a belief from everyone involved that Cherokee families deserve state-of-the-art care in the heart of the Cherokee Nation Reservation. That belief is now standing six stories tall in Tahlequah. This $470 million […]