(The Center Square) – Business leaders and advocacy groups are urging moderate voters to engage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Leadership Now Project, a membership organization with more than 400 business leaders, launched the Catalyst Fund initiative to support political candidates and ballot measures aimed at reducing extremism. The 2026 election cycle has seen a rise of candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America and incumbent lawmakers losing primary elections after falling out of favor with President Donald Trump.
Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of the Leadership Now Project, told The Center Square she aims to advance initiatives across the country that reduce political extremism. The project is supporting the Coalition for a Healthy Democracy, which mobilized to advance a ballot referendum before voters in Massachusetts that would adopt an all-party primary system.
“Candidates aren’t forced as much to go to the extremes when you have an open primary and it also boosts participation because everyone can participate,” Ballou-Aares told The Center Square. “Independents can participate, Democrats and Republicans can participate.”
The fund is supported by business leaders including Melinda French-Gates and offers grants running from $50,000 to $250,000 in support of political candidates and ballot referendums.
“Our Catalyst Fund is focused on really supporting new constituencies that are towards the center, that kind of mobilized the majority of Americans that are typically disaffected with politics or don't feel well represented,” Ballou-Aares told The Center Square.
The primary proposal is a welcome suggestion for some voters and analysts across the country. California and Washington state use all-candidate primaries with the top two vote getters moving to the general election, Alaska uses a similar system with the top four vote getters moving forward and Louisiana includes all candidates in the general election.
Richard Barton, a researcher with the Unite America Institute, measured long-term political outcomes in states with all-party primaries. He found measurable improvements in crime statistics, educational attainment, housing availability and healthcare policy.
“Legislators facing pressure to appeal to independent voters may invest more effort in casework, facilitate economic development more actively, work across party lines more frequently on administrative matters, or signal different priorities to regulatory agencies – all activities that would not appear in legislative voting but could, in aggregate, improve governance outcomes,” Barton wrote in a March 2026 report.
He pointed to various examples of primary challenges where legislators survived in large part due to the multi-party system and significant policy achievements. Barton highlighted the expansion of Medicaid in Louisiana, an effort he credited with bipartisan collaboration, and races where incumbent candidates fended off progressive challengers.
In 2016, the Louisiana legislature approved Medicaid expansion, unlike many neighboring states in the south. The policy went on to increase the rate of insured individuals across the state.
“The result was a major healthcare reform that demonstrably improved outcomes for Louisiana’s most vulnerable residents and likely contributed to the state’s relatively better life expectancy compared to demographically similar states that maintain partisan primaries,” Barton wrote.
However, some researchers found that all-party primaries depressed votes in the general election. Colin Fisk, a researcher at Cambridge University, said voters will not participate in a general election if a candidate of their party is not on the ballot.
Fisk found that 10% of California voters chose not to vote in the 2016 U.S. Senate race that featured two Democrats.
“Among those who vote in the national November elections, orphans, or voters without a copartisan candidate on the ballot are more likely to undervote, opting out of voting in their congressional race,” Fisk wrote.
Ballou-Aares said she is optimistic that the ballot referendum in Massachusetts will pass. She credited a lack of awareness about the ballot initiative as a challenge to its passage.
“It's really important that any ballot campaign like this is building as broad a base of support as early as possible,” Ballou-Aares said. “The education piece is very important so people see the benefit of having this type of reform.”
The Leadership Now Project is working to support candidates across the country who promote policies that advance business growth. The organization’s Business Plan for America pairs immigration policies with tax reform, seeking to motivate centrist voters to support its candidates and causes.
The Leadership Now PAC supported and endorsed Mary Peltola, a challenger candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., and dozens of other candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“We interview all the candidates, we get an understanding,” Ballou-Aares told The Center Square. “Are they pragmatic, are they solutions oriented, are they focused on getting things done, are they bringing their expertise to the table?”
Commented