Ray Haynes: Why Republicans Should Support the Popular Vote

“In the battleground states, since 2000, Republicans have won the popular vote four out of six times. In fact, Donald Trump—in 2020—won the battleground states by over 2.1 million votes.”

On January 14th, Merion West’s Henri Mattila was joined by Ray Haynes for a discussion about Mr. Haynes’ advocacy on behalf of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Mr. Haynes has served as a member of both the California State Assembly and the California Senate. Since leaving office in 2007, Mr. Haynes has worked on behalf of a number of political causes in California, along with his work to change how presidential elections are conducted. In his discussion with Mr. Mattila, Mr. Haynes explains why he believes presidential elections should be decided based on who wins the popular vote, as well as how Republicans—contrary to popular belief—may actually benefit electorally from this proposed change.

Today, I am joined by former Republican member of the California Assembly and State Senate—and former American Legislative Exchange Council National Chairman—Ray Haynes, who today is a senior consultant to the National Popular Vote organization. Ray, thanks for joining me today.

You bet, Henri, thank you for inviting me.

So can you start by explaining what the National Popular Vote initiative is?

It is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, in which the member states agree to award their presidential electors to the person who gets the most votes in all 50 states. So, once enough states (equaling 270 electors) join the compact, those states will—in-block—award their presidential electors to the person gets the most votes in the entire country. And that will mean that whoever gets the most votes will become President of the United States because 270 electors is what it takes to elect the President of the United States.