For Immediate Release
Contact: Kevin Johnson
617 794 4383
kjohnson@electionreformers.org
electionreformers.org
Veteran Washington Political Leaders Chris Vance and Maura Brueger Join Bi-Partisan Election Reform Effort
Seattle, November 8, 2019: Two Washington state political insiders, one from a Republican background and the other Democrat, have recently joined the Advisory Council of Election Reformers Network, an organization of global election experts supporting nonpartisan reform in the U.S.
Chris Vance served as Chairman of the Washington State Republican Party from 2001 to 2006, twice won election to the Washington House of Representatives, and ran for Senate as the Republican Party nominee in 2016. In 2017 Vance left the GOP and he is now an independent, actively trying to build a centrist/reformist alternative to our two-party system.
Maura Brueger served for 12 years in senior staff positions to King County Executive Ron Sims and directed the Deputy Secretary’s Office at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development from 2009-2010. Maura also worked in international democracy support for the National Democratic Institute; female candidate recruitment and support for EMILY’s List and the Women’s Campaign Fund; and as staff for statewide and federal level campaigns.
Election Reformers Network (ERN) is a nonprofit organization founded in January 2017 by election experts with extensive experience in the United States and more than 75 other countries over the past 35 years. ERN’s founders played key roles in ending apartheid in South Africa and communist dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to lead America’s contribution to the greatest expansion of democracy in human history. ERN leverages this expertise to support nonpartisan election reforms that can reduce polarization and increase public confidence in U.S. democratic institutions. ERN has been actively promoting reforms such as ranked choice voting and independent redistricting, while developing new approaches in areas including electoral college reform.
Vance and Brueger are joined on the ERN Advisory Council by former Maine Attorney General James Tierney; former President of the National Democratic Institute Brian Atwood; former Republican campaign strategist and current head of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, Jim Jonas, and 26th amendment campaign director Patricia Keefer, among others.
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